MEGHAN KHARSYNRAP
disco. There’s significant influence from the 60s, 70s and 80s
America as well. The eastern and western styles merging is
what makes kpop unique.
This Korean wave is called, Hallyu. The word was created
in the late 1990s by Chinese media to define the influence of
Korean popular culture in China. There are two phases of
Hallyu. The first wave, in the late 1990s was characterised
by an onslaught of media in forms of film, shows, dramas
and popular songs. In July 1997, the Asian Financial
Crisis created many losses in the manufacturing sector.
The government started to create suitable environments
for prompting a handful of businesses to move to the
entertainment sector. From here on, through successful
promotion, Korean pop music and especially dance music
began to gain popularity. Chinese teenagers were particularly
hooked after it was introduced in 1997 by a radio program
called Seoul Music Room that was broadcast from Beijing.
In India, in the 2000s, separatists had banned Bollywood
entertainment in Manipur, consumers took to Korean
entertainment to fill the gap. Culture was smuggled through
HALLYU
THE KOREAN WAVE
I
f you’re wondering why KPOP has been getting so popular,
you’re not alone. When at one time western media used
to dominate youtube, radio and television, all at once,
everything is becoming Korean in the culture industry.
Ariana Grande is on twitter battling it out with an ex Kpop
star who used to be part of the boy band EXO. The music
videos in western media and concepts are getting brighter.
They’re following similar styles like that of Kpop, at least
that’s what the conspirators on the internet are saying.
In India as well, Korean Culture has been a big influence,
especially in the late 1990’s and is recently gaining traction as
of the 2016s.
Kpop for non veterans, is an acronym for the word ‘Korean
Pop’. It is much like your typical pop music with both types
having catchy tunes and patterns, but the similarities end
there. Unlike typical popular music, Kpop has more variation
in tunes and structure. Melodies in Korean pop go through
several transitions within the song, with interesting use
of harmonies. In fact, unlike the easy listening of typical
Billboard Top 100s the music tends to be more subtle. You
don’t realise it’s catchy until it’s stuck in your head. Although
this is not true for all music. Kpop definitely has western
influence, especially from the areas of electronic, dance and
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Burma and ended up in the Markets of Manipur and then
spread across the Northeast.
The second wave of Hallyu is defined by Psy’s song Gangnam
Style. Initially, when this brand of music and entertainment
was pitched to American Producers and Record Labels by
Mnet Media, they reacted coldly. Only a few years later, Psy’s
Gangnam style went viral and became the first video to reach
a Billion views on youtube. It topped several charts in the UK,
US and other places. Other musical acts made their way out of
Korea with EXO, BTS, Bigbang and Girls Generation securing
positions across the world.
It is said that the boy group of 3 members ‘Seo Taiji & Boys’ in
1992 started the wave. Their experimentative music won over
fans around the world selling around 1.6 million albums, the
highest then. But the real amber started the wave in the mid
2000s: Youtube. Entertainment companies took to youtube in
2009. The second wave of Hallyu ( Hallyu 2.0) took off in 2010.
These entertainment companies like SM, YG entertainment
and JYP entertainment helped create interest in the Korean
culture. Today, user generated content is ammasing million
of views. Fan reactions, dance, video and music covers of
kpop and kdrama entertainment have built an interactive and
loyal community, something musicians outside of Kpop have
never seen and can only dream of.