As one of those people obsessed with manga, anime and all things Japanese in my early teens, I have maintained what I can only call a 'soft spot' for Asian music. I recall listening to (and still have on my iPod) Visual Kei bands such as the Gazette, Alice Nine, pop artists such as Ayumi Hamasaki and Aya Kamiki and epic punk/metal/funk bands such as Maximum the Hormone (CHECK THEM OUT!).
Somehow, at some point, I discovered Korean pop, or as it appears to be known on the global stage - K-Pop!
The first K-Pop songs that I can remember finding randomly on YouTube were by a boyband named BIG BANG. It was catchy, fun to listen to - despite the language barrier! - and visually grabbed my attention, a factor in common with all of the K-Pop acts that I've encountered.
In early 2011, I chanced a search of Taeyang's (BIG BANG member) solo album on iTunes, and to my great surprise, found it sitting there ready for purchase. In the past year, Korean music labels have been making their music more and more accessible for the western market, and this has - finally! - culminated in the worldwide craze that is 'GANGNAM STYLE'!
Perhaps it's been hinted at before with O-Zone's 'Dragostea din tei', but 'Gangnam Style' has swept the media and continues to snowball, help largely due to its funny and easy-to-learn dance moves!
The rapper responsible for the craze, PSY, is labelmates with BIG BANG on YG Entertainment (one of the 3 main labels, S.M. Entertainment and JYP Entertainment being the other 2), and the song, due to its funny and easy to replicate dance, has been parodied (Gandalf Style - LOL!) and much covered by the Western media. Who knows, this in turn may mean that you may be seeing and hearing more K-Pop music on our screens and airwaves in the near future!
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