All music that originates in Korea and that gains popularity overseas is broadly defined as "
K-Pop."
This umbrella term was first introduced only in the late 1990s. Up
until that time, "popular music" was associated with any music that came
from the U.S. or Japan. Largely influenced by Western music, Korea has
since that time created a new genre, K-Pop, which is now making its way
back across Asia and even further afield, to the U.S., Europe and
Central and South America.
In recent years, a new trend has emerged in the pop world centered on
K-Pop and its singers. As K-pop stars become increasingly popular on the
international stage, they are receiving a flurry of calls for
collaboration concerts from pop stars overseas. A range of musical
cooperative projects between K-pop singers and other pop stars is now
underway.
A month ago, the news hit the headlines that Korea's Crayon Pop, a
hyper-colored, super cute five-member pop band, was going to open for
global diva Lady Gaga on her upcoming tour. Gaga left a twitter message
on March 21 in her verified account saying that, "I'm excited to
announce June 26 through July 22 of Lady Gaga's artRave: The ARTPOP Ball
will be opened by CRAYON POP!" The video for the group's hit "Bar Bar
Bar" was attached at the bottom.
Crayon Pop's "Bar Bar Bar" took the nation by storm last summer. In the
video, Gum-mi, Ellin, Cho-a, Way and So-yul dance up and down like
super-cute engine pistons in colorful, eye-catching training sweats and
helmets. In addition to their melodies that linger on, their energetic
and fun dance moves, the so-called "Straight Five Engine Dance," assured
the group's stardom, leaving the audience hungry for more and inspiring
a series of parodies.
Five-member
dance sensation Crayon Pop (left), known for their cheerful songs and
"little sister" image, are scheduled to open for Lady Gaga (right)
during her North American June tour. (photos courtesy of Chrome
Entertainment, Yonhap News)
Lady Gaga, in search of an opening act, came across the music video and
made up her mind. Crayon Pop is set to open for at least 13 Lady Gaga
concerts during the upcoming U.S. and Canada tour.
PSY was invited by Madonna to perform his signature horse dance together on stage in November 2012. (photo: Yonhap News)
When discussing the popularity of K-Pop on the international stage, you
can't not mention the role of PSY. As his music video for "Gangnam
Style" on YouTube hit an all-time high in 2012, becoming the
most-watched video in the shortest amount of time, his horse-riding
choreography grabbed an enormous amount of attention, both at home and
abroad. The "Gangnam Style" video at his official YouTube channel has
just over 1.9 billion views.
In the wave of this newfound
popularity, his dance move has been shared with a number of overseas pop
stars. In November 2012, PSY joined Madonna on stage to dance the
horse-riding dance and to sing her 2000 hit song "Music."
Following the Madonna concert, PSY shared the stage twice with rapper M.C. Hammer at the American Music Awards and at
Dick Clark's New Year's Rockin' Eve where
the two stars did a wonderful collaboration on remixes of "Gangnam
Style" and "Too Legit to Quit." Currently, PSY is preparing for a new
album scheduled to be released in mid-April. His fans can't wait, as one
of the songs on the new album has a music video known to feature rapper
Snoop Dogg, along with Big Bang's G-Dragon and 2NE1's CL.
Collaboration with K-Pop stars is not limited to concerts. As mentioned
earlier, collaborative projects have gradually expanded in scope and now
include jointly recording albums and featuring in music videos.
(From
left) 2NE1's CL and Big Bang's G-Dragon worked together with electronic
dance musician Skrillex on his new album, "Recess." (photos courtesy of
YG Entertainment, Yonhap News)
Previously, G-Dragon and CL were featured on electronic dance musician
Skrillex's new album, "Recess," released last week. The album is now in
second place on iTune's Chart, and fourth place in the Billboard 200.
There is still more to come from G-Dragon. He recently announced that he
has a soon-to-be-released track with pop star Justin Bieber. Also,
recently via twitter, G-dragon exchanged messages with rapper and
producer Pharrell Williams that implied the possibility of
collaboration, raising hopes among his fans.
Hip hop and pop from Korea now attract attention from across the world.
It is Korean in origin, but its fanbase and influences are not limited
to Asia. Likewise, Western music comes from Western countries, but it
does not completely belong to Westerners. Similarly, good music is the
fruitful outcome of the endless back-and-forth of cultural communication
and exchange.
By Lee Seung-ah
Korea.net Staff Writer
slee27@korea.kr
[Source: korea.net]