What I found unique about kpop is that there are always a large amount of group members and they each represent something in the group such as lead vocal, lead dancer, visual, etc. I think itâs really cool how all the groups have choreography to their songs. Having different dance moves that go along with the song are one of the biggest reasons why so many people are into kpop.
When youâre first introduced to kpop, you might be confused and overwhelmed especially if youâre watching the music video because there are so many things going on all at once. Itâs very hard to figure out what the music video is about because it doesnât really go with the lyrics of the song. Itâs almost always random things to gain more attention. Not everyone is into kpop for that reason, but itâs also the biggest reason why people like it. And to those who donât like kpop are the ones who listened to it for the first time and first time only. They watch one music video and think itâs stupid, so they donât watch another one to see if they will like it or not.
To the people who are into kpop, probably didnât like it at first either, but they had the patience to watch/listen to other songs and maybe one of them gained interest and kept looking for more to see if there were more they liked.
Music videos are always interesting to watch. If you ever get bored and have nothing to do, you might as well watch the music videos because itâll keep you entertained. Some kpop videos are very long and itâs almost like a short drama. Most songs are between 3 to 4 minutes, but the ones with short stories in them will last from 8 to 20 minutes. An example of this would be IUâs music videos and also T ARAâs music videos. It will feel like youâre watching a short musical/film or even drama if the story gets intense.
Hereâs a fun fact: average kpop group spends anywhere from a month to 3 months on one choreographed routine.  Itâs not because the choreography is hard to learn, itâs because there are other members besides yourself so just because you have it down perfect, doesnât mean everyone else does. All the members have to be on point and they keep on practicing until no mistakes are made. This is a lot harder than it sounds because every dance move has to be sharp and formations have to be correct every time. If one of this fails, the entire choreography will look messy no matter how great they were doing in the beginning. As a dancer myself, I know how hard it is to cooperate with many people while doing the same thing. Even if youâre an amazing dancer, you canât leave practice until all the members have caught up to your speed.
Another fun fact: most groups have at least 1 foreigner in the group. This is to help the group gain interest from different countries. For example, if the member is from the United States, people who are into kpop in the U.S. will be interested in that member and if he/she meets their expectations, they will become a fan of him/her. Also, if the group goes to a foreign country and if itâs the country the foreign member is from, that person will be in charge of talking and promoting the group. Itâs a win-win for the foreign member and also other members/company. The member who is not Korean will be able to live their dream of becoming a kpop idol and the other members will gain more popularity.
—-Juyeon Oh
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