**Last updated on 17 October 2020**
In the last blog post, I talked about the K-pop revolution brought by Seo Taiji & Boys who laid the foundation for the modern K-pop and the creation of the first-generation young idol groups in the 1990’s. From then onwards, K-pop has been designed to target the teenagers. In this post, I will talk about the 2000’s in which we saw the aggressive large-scale expansion of K-pop to other countries as part of the Korean Wave. Continue reading
In my previous blog posts in this Evolution of K-pop Series (which you may read by clicking the links under the “Related Blog Posts” section in this post), I talked about the evolution of K-pop music from its birth in 1885 to the 1980’s and the K-pop developed up to that period did not sound very similar to the present-day K-pop. In the 1990’s, Seo Taiji & Boys started a K-pop revolution by introducing a new form of K-pop which paved the way for the modern K-pop and K-pop idol groups. This period also saw the establishment of entertainment agencies which played a key role in the development of K-pop even today. Continue reading
In this blog post, I will continue with the Evolution of K-pop Series and talk about the K-pop in the 1970’s and 1980’s. In the last blog post, I talked about the K-pop in the 1950’s and 1960’s in which we saw the rise of Korean rock music under the influence of American pop music. In the 1970’s and 1980’s, the authoritarian government of President Park Chung-hee became the dominant influence on the development of K-pop and the ban imposed by the government stifled the further development of the nascent Korean rock music. Continue reading
Tomorrow (5 March 2015) is the Jeongwol Daeboreum (Great Full Moon Festival) in South Korea. Wishing you a happy Jeongwol Daeboreum! If you wish to know about the rituals and celebration events related to Jeongwol Daeboreum, you can read my blog post dated 2 March 2015.
In this blog post, I will continue with the Evolution of K-pop Series and talk about the K-pop in the 1950’s and 1960’s. This period was heavily influenced by Western pop music and some Korean singers who performed well in Western pop music even went overseas to give shows. Continue reading
In this blog post, we go back to the very early stages of K-pop and appreciate some older forms of K-pop. The influence of K-pop developed in this period can still be felt today. In fact, K-pop is a fusion of Korean and foreign (mainly western and Japanese) music forms. Throughout the history of K-pop, you may notice the influence of foreign music.
When talking about K-pop (케이팝 – Korean pop music), you may think of the songs sung by K-pop idol groups like Girls’ Generation, EXO, Super Junior, etc. However, if you watch the variety show, Immortal Songs (불후의 명곡), and the Korean drama “Reply 1994” (응답하라 1994), you may hear names like Shin Joong-hyun, Pearl Sisters, Patti Kim, Seo Taji & Boys and many other names who contributed to the development of the present-day Korean pop music. Looking at the evolution of the K-pop can help us better understand the characteristics of the present-day K-pop music and also gives us a chance to appreciate the K-pop music of the past, which is still very nice to listen to. So, I will start a blog post series on the evolution of K-pop. Continue reading
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