Korean Pop music, or K-pop music, is a popular genre of music that originated in South Korea. Not only is K-pop popular in its country of origin, but it is successful worldwide. It all began when Psy’s Gangnam Style caught the attention of many across the world in 2012, gaining more than two billion views on youtube. Now, the Korean artists with the most success in the United States, go by the name BTS, EXO and many more. This music genre’s rise to fame is most often described as the “Korean Wave”.

The Korean Wave, also known as Hallyu, is the increase in popularity of South Korean entertainment. The Korean Wave was created in the 1990’s by Beijing journalists, who were interested in the fast-growing popularity of Korean culture and entertainment. Not only does the Korean Wave include Korean music, but it also includes film, food, language, and manhwa, which are Korean comics and cartoons.

“K-pop is different from a lot of the other music I listen to. I love it because it’s unique and it’s interesting how these artists got so successful. They’ve done amazing work,” an anonymous Alliance High School student stated.

People travel worldwide every year to be able to attend KCON, a convention that showcases “all things Hallyu”, as said on their website at kconusa.com. There are many different countries and locations that this convention is held , with thousands of fans attending each year. Last year, KCON Los Angeles attracted more than 85,000 fans.

Not only do these K-Pop groups sing, but they are also expected to dance on stage or in videos. Dance is a very important aspect of K-Pop. These dances include formation changing, which is switching positions and singing in sync, and point dances, which are repetitive movements and hooking that matches the lyrics of the song.

“I was told by a friend of mine to listen to a song and instantly fell in love. My favorite artists are BIGBANG, BTS,  BLACKPINK, and a little bit of EXO and MONSTA X. They have meaning in their songs. The thing I really like about K-pop is how big the groups can be and the dancing. I can do a couple of BTS dances.” Da’Nautica Thomas, a sophomore, stated.

Using social media platforms and video-sharing networks, K-pop has been able to reach a worldwide audience, catching the hearts of a diverse fanbase. As long as the artists release music, KPOP will continue to rise in fame.