K-Pop 101 - An Introduction
Anything with a giant passionate fan base or sub-culture has terms and aspects that are taken for granted by the people in it but are confusing to people outside, or just trying to get into it. So, just like I did with fanfiction, I decided it would be helpful to create a K-pop 101.
I’m using the term k-pop, but a lot of what I discuss here is applicable to k-rock as well (I don’t know the underground rap scene at all so I’m not sure about applicability there). But some of it is more k-pop specific. Of course, just like in American music, the lines between what is rock and what is pop are incredibly blurred. Regardless, this will hopefully give you a baseline for understanding the colorful and amazing craziness that is K-pop.
It’s an audiovisual experience
Visuals play a huge part in k-pop. Music videos have been a key part of popular music for decades now, but k-pop videos are a huge focal point for lead singles. Groups will drop trailers for a new video (and thus new single) that is coming out, as part of the lead up promotions. Some groups go beyond having single video storylines and have a full on “concept” which is when multiple videos are all part of one giant story. And then there is the choreography, which can be mesmerizing and mind-blowing. This has led some people to to be dismissive and state that it just shows k-pop isn’t really “about the music” - and I have read some really nasty articles to that effect from American commentators - but that could not be further from the truth (Also I dare anyone to listen to A Book in Memory and say the music doesn’t slay). The visuals, ideally at least, inform and enhance the music, turning a song into a whole experience.
All Groups have Fandom Names
Nearly every k-pop, and k-rock groups have fandom names. People may be fairly familiar with the fact that BTS fans are called ARMY, but fandom names aren’t limited to the biggest groups, or even just the pop groups. Day6 fans are known as “My Day.” ONEUS fans are known as “To Moons.” Groups, when talking to their fans, refer to them by the fandom name.
Music Isn’t Always Released as an Album
Korean groups put out music in a variety of different formats, for lack of a better term. A lot of groups produce EPs – extended plays – which are short albums of about 5 or 6 songs. Full-length albums can be either contain all new music or be what is effectively a compilation album containing songs from previous EPs and new songs. There are also single albums, which contains anywhere from 2 to 4 songs. They nearly always include an instrumental version of the main single, and usually if there are 2 songs, one is the single and the other is an instrumental of that single.
Groups Have Sub-Units/Lines
Many k-pop groups break themselves into various sub-units, either musically or socially. Giant bands can form musical subunits due to sheer size – NCT has 18 members and a number of sub-units. There can be linguistic sub-units, such as in the group Super Junior, which has a sub-unit of members who sing in Mandarin. Sub-units are often referred to as lines. So a sub-unit made up of all the rappers in a group is known as the rap line. Members can also be in multiple lines. J-hope in BTS is a member of the rap line and the dance line, the members who are the best and most featured as dancers. But a group doesn’t need a large number of members to have sub-units. ONEWE has 5 members and two members, Kanghyun and Yonghoon, are known as the “leader line,” as Kanghyun was the leader when he formed the group and Yonghoon is the current leader.
Age Matters
There is a lot of emphasis on the relative ages of members of a k-pop group. Age is based on the year of someone’s birth, and there are sometimes lines based on age. There are ones comprised of members born in the same year, such as Jimin and Taehyung in BTS who are the “‘95 line” since they are both born in 1995. There may also be a hyung/unnie (older brother/older sister) line of a given group made up of its older members. Finally, the leader of the group is frequently, although far from always, the oldest member of the group.
Terminology
And now for some terminology. Like any sub-culture, k-pop stans use a ton of jargon that can be confusing. Here are some key terms you might run across.
Bias: A fan’s particular favorite member of a group, i.e. the person they are biased towards.
Bias-wrecker: The person that makes you rethink or question your bias because they are so awesome.
OT7 (or OT6 or OT5): When you can’t choose a bias and love all the members equally. The number at the end is the number of people in the group.
Comeback: A comeback is when a group releases new music, usually a new EP or album, but it can be just a single that a group or singer releases. Generally, comebacks involve promotions, a new music video, and performances on the various music shows. Groups can have multiple comebacks in a year.
Aegyo: Deliberately cutesy behavior. Aegyo is common and often expected from both male and female groups.
Maknae: The youngest member in the group. There is a lot of emphasis on age hierarchy in k-pop groups, and so being the youngest is its own special position.
“I Purple You”: This is an ARMY-specific phrase that is a way of saying “I love and appreciate you.” ARMY say it both to the members and to fellow fans. Online, this is often expressed in the purple heart emoji. In Korean, the term is “borahae.”
Final Thoughts - K-pop is a Wonderful Rabbit Hole
I don’t know what it is about k-pop specifically, but it is a rabbit hole of fandom. I just wanted to check out a couple BTS videos out of curiosity in fall of 2019 and now I’m a full on stan of multiple groups and firmly embedded. And I am far from the only person I know who did that. That’s not to say that everyone who gets interested becomes a full on stan – there are plenty of people who listen to a few songs and like them and don’t fall into it. But for me and many other people I know, you just fall in and fall hard. And I’m so glad I did.
