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 it’s 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 you’re first introduced to kpop, you might be confused and overwhelmed especially if you’re watching the music video because there are so many things going on all at once. It’s very hard to figure out what the music video is about because it doesn’t really go with the lyrics of the song. It’s almost always random things to gain more attention. Not everyone is into kpop for that reason, but it’s also the biggest reason why people like it. And to those who don’t like kpop are the ones who listened to it for the first time and first time only. They watch one music video and think it’s stupid, so they don’t watch another one to see if they will like it or not.
To the people who are into kpop, probably didn’t 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 it’ll keep you entertained. Some kpop videos are very long and it’s 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 IU’s music videos and also T ARA’s music videos. It will feel like you’re watching a short musical/film or even drama if the story gets intense.
Here’s a fun fact: average kpop group spends anywhere from a month to 3 months on one choreographed routine. It’s not because the choreography is hard to learn, it’s because there are other members besides yourself so just because you have it down perfect, doesn’t 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 you’re an amazing dancer, you can’t 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 it’s the country the foreign member is from, that person will be in charge of talking and promoting the group. It’s 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
