ICONS: K-Pop Artists as Mega Influencers in the 21st century

The Korean wave, Hallyu, has become an influential phenomenon since the start of the 21st century, heavily affecting not only contemporary c...

The Korean wave, Hallyu, has become an influential phenomenon since the start of the 21st century, heavily affecting not only contemporary culture but also the music industry.

In 2009, A girl group named Wonder Girls became the first Korean singers to appear on the Billboard hot 100 with their famous song, Nobody.

In 2012, Psy’s “Gangnam Style” maintained its ranking as No. 2 on the Billboard Hot 100 for seven consecutive weeks and has reached three billion views on YouTube, the K-Pop craze started to spread across the world in earnest.

The worldwide success of it was followed by a surge of the all boy K-Pop group, BTS. BTS topped the Billboard 200 chart in 2019 and won the Top Social Artist award for the third consecutive year at the Billboard Music Awards. This attracted attention across borders, resulting in the global recognition of K-Pop as a genre. After landing at the top of the Billboard 200 chart in February 2022, “Map of the Seoul: 7” maintained high rankings for 23 consecutive weeks. BTS has achieved various Guinness World Records titles, including a title for most viewers for a music concert livestream. In August 2020, BTS made history by becoming the first ever South Korean act to top the Billboard Hot 100 with its first English-language song “Dynamite.”

We can never deny the fact that the influence of K-Pop not only in Korea but across the world is further expanding. In 2019, Best K-Pop, was launched as a new category at MTV to honor the best in music video medium.

K-Pop features remarkable feats of idol groups. Among more than 150 idol groups active in South Korea, including BTS, BLACKPINK, TWICE, Red Velvet, ITZY, EXO, MONSTA X, and more.

K-Pop has special value and is not limited to music only. The popularity of K-Pop lies in their splendid performances that harmonizes excellent singing skills, and flash dance moves. After years of systematic training programs, K-Pop Artists' songs and choreography creates a perfect performance.

One of the reasons for K-Pop's ever- growing popularity is their active communication with their fans. They are devoted to real-time communication with their fans from around the world by the means of social media, building stronger intimacy and bonds with them.

K-Pop artists are some of many reasons why K-pop is beloved by people around the world. One of its aspects why K-Pop’s popularity is how it infuses many international styles and genres. By incorporating international styles, K-Pop gains the favor of people who live in areas that have influenced their work. K-Pop doesn’t just influence music but also their fashion. As Korean Pop has spread well past across the borders, luxury fashion labels are cozying up to the genre’s megastars.

Truly, K-Pop Stars are the World’s Biggest influencers in a lot of aspects. K-Pop idols are even included in different western mainstream platforms. K-Pop’s trajectory is on the rise and, as long as it continues to influence others, Western media is likely to include more of it in its own pop culture.