K-pop gifts

"What is KPOP?

KPOP, which is short for Korean Pop and also makes up one part of Hallyu wave (Korean wave), is a genre of music originating from South Korea which plays quite a major role in Korean culture. KPOP has become increasingly popular over the decade and to date; there are fans all over the world.

Why is KPOP so popular? Good question. KPOP consists of many aspects from the concepts (cute, sexy, dark, futuristic and etc.), the visuals of the idol or idols performing the song, the catchy tunes and not to mention the synchronised choreographies.

KPOP begun around the late 90s with the debut of Seo Taiji and Boys, H.O.T, S.E.S, Uhm Jung Hwa, Park Jin Young, just to name a few. During the mid 90s to late 90s when was history was made as this was when the Big 3 Entertainments in Kpop were formed.

So who is the Big 3? The Big 3 Entertainments in the KPOP industry are:

• SM Entertainment (established in 1995)
• YG Entertainment (established in 1996, founded by Yang Hyun Suk who was part of Seo Taiji and Boys who were mentioned above)
• JYP Entertainment (established in 1997, founded by Park Jin Young who was mentioned above)

The Big 3 Entertainment would later form many idol groups that are known and loved today.

• SM Entertainment: TVXQ, Girls Generation, Super Junior, SHINee, EXO, Red Velvet, NCT, Aespa etc.
• YG Entertainment: Big Bang, 2ne1, Ikon, Winner, Blackpink, AKMU, Treasure
• JYP Entertainment: 2pm, Got7, Twice, Stray Kids, Itzy

There are also many other entertainments that have debuted powerhouse idol groups such as BTS, 4Minute, G(I)-Dle, BtoB, B.A.P, Ateez, Seventeen, Mamamoo and etc. Although not considered the Big 3 but should be mentioned anyway. Such as HYBE Entertainment (formerly known as the Big 3), Cube Entertainment, TS Entertainment, KQ Entertainment, Pledis Entertainment, RBW Entertainment and etc."

"You must also be wondering how these idol groups are formed and debuted. Idols typically audition for their desired entertainment and become a trainee if they pass the audition. There are also idols who are street casted such as Sehun from EXO, Sana from Twice and Jin from BTS. Although rare, it does happen, there are idols that are scouted via social media such as Karina from Aespa.

After becoming a trainee, they will go through vigorous and extensive training for an average of 3 – 4 years training in vocals, dance and even language classes. Although 3 – 4 years is the average, there are some idols who take less time than that such Suzy (formerly Miss A) who trained for 10 months, and there are idols who take a lot longer than the average time such as G-Dragon (Big Bang) who trained for a whopping 11 years.

In every KPOP group, there are different positions. The average idol group will have:

• An assigned leader (E.g. Solar from Mamamoo)
• Vocalists which are typically categorised by main vocalist (E.g. Taeil from NCT), lead vocalist (Jisoo from Blackpink) and sub vocalist (Yeri from Red Velvet)
• Rappers which are categorised the same way as vocalists (E.g. Hongjoong from Ateez, I.M from Monsta X and BTS Jungkook)
• Dancers which are the best dancers of the group and will usually dance in the front and may take on the more difficult dance steps such as stunts (E.g. J-Hope from BTS and Onda from Everglow)
• One or more visual which is the member or members who garner attention for their stunning looks and typically their looks are the ones that match Korean beauty standards the most (E.g. Eunwoo from Astro)
• Maknae which is the youngest member who is often associated with being cute and innocent, although there are many maknae who are the complete opposite of that (E.g. I.N from Stray Kids)

There have also been new positions formed over the years and not every group has them, such as:

• Official group center which is a member placed in the middle of the group during promotions, photoshoots, video shoots and performances (E.g. Taeyong from NCT and Nayeon from Twice)
• Face of the group which is often confused with the group’s visual but is actually the group’s representative that will represent the group in public events or variety shows (E.g. Hani from EXID)

So how do you get into KPOP and start “stanning” them? A good place to start would actually be variety shows such as Weekly Idol and Knowing Bros as you can see the idols’ personality and talents at the same time, whereas music videos only shows off talent and visuals. Don’t know where to start? Simply go to YouTube and type in any of the idols mentioned."