Listening to a K-pop group on the radio, television or the internet has become second nature in recent years. With the popularization of the music genre, names like BTS, BLACKPINK, and EXO became known worldwide.
This style, which emerged in South Korea, has gained ground in the music scene, winning over audiences and critics alike.
The group BTS, for example, won two awards at the 2022 American Music Awards, one in the category “pop duo or group” and another as “K-pop artist”.
Check out 10 groups to know the Korean rhythm.
Meet 10 K-Pop groups
K-pop, short for Korean pop, is a musical style originally from South Korea that has become popular worldwide in recent years.
Unlike what happens in other countries, such as Brazil, for example, there is a business structure behind the creation of a K-pop group.
Korean entertainment companies launch auditions to recruit new artists and, from them, assemble groups, which train singing, dancing and other skills, such as public speaking.
After this process, the debut takes place, a term used to describe the debut of an artist or group within K-pop.
With this, diverse talents in the musical genre were revealed to Korea and the world. Check out a list of 10 of these artists.
1. BTS (Bangtan Sonyeondan)
A male k-pop group, BTS emerged in 2013, formed by the company Big Hit Music (a subsidiary of HYBE Corporation) and composed of seven members: RM, Jungkook, V, Jimin, Suga, Jin and J-Hope.
This was one of the first Korean music groups to become world famous. The music video for “Dynamite” broke YouTube views records in 24 hours.
Released in 2020, the composition, which was the band’s first produced in English, surpassed 100 million views in the first 24 hours after release, becoming the most watched on the platform so far.
Check out the official clip:
BTS artists have won awards throughout their careers, including “Artist of the Year” by Time magazine in 2020. Currently, Jin and J-Hope are serving their mandatory military service in South Korea.
2. Blackpink
BLACKPINK is a four-member female K-pop group. Jennie, Lisa, Kim Ji-soo and Rosé have been together since 2016, when they released their debut album titled “Square One”.
Since then, the artists have produced eight other works, including EPs and albums in Korean and Japanese.
The group held the record for the most watched video in the first 24 hours of release on YouTube before BTS, with the video for “How you like that”, which had more than 86 million views.
In 2022, the quartet returned after two years of hiatus with the single “Pink Venom”, which broke that record and surpassed 90 million views in the first 24 hours after its release. Watch the full clip:
3. EXO
Korean K-pop group EXO debuted in 2012, featuring twelve members in its original lineup: Chen, Xiumin, Suho, Lay, Baekhyun, DO, Chanyeol, Sehun, Kai, Luhan, Kris, and Tao.
Today, the group has nine members. Luhan, Kris and Tao left EXO between 2014 and 2015.
In 2015, already with the current lineup, the artists became the first Koreans with an album in the highest ranking of the Billboard 200 until then, reaching the 95th position with their second studio album, entitled “EXODUS”.
In addition to the main organization of the group, EXO also has two subunits, or subunits, which are smaller formations with specific members, aimed at one-off releases. Are they:
- EXO-CBX with Chen, Baekhyun and Xiumin;
- EXO SC with Sehun and Chanyeol.
4. Stray Kids
Active since 2018, the K-pop group Stray Kids was created by JYP Entertainment and has eight members: Bang Chan, Lee Know, Changbin, Hyunjin, Han, Felix, Seungmin and IN
The group emerged from a reality show developed by JYP Entertainment, which carried the same name as the band. In the program, the artists presented authorial creations, both music and dance.
In its original formation, the band also had Woojin. The artist left Stray Kids in 2019 and started his solo career two years later.
The group’s official debut took place with the album “I am Not”, released in March 2018. Since then, the members have recorded other projects, with the album “5 Star” being their most recent work.
5. TWICE
Also formed by JYP Entertainment, TWICE is a nine-member female K-pop group: Momo, Chou Tzuyu, Nayeon, Sana, Chaeyoung, Mina, Jihyo, Jeongyeon, and Dahyun.
Together since 2015, the artists also participated in a JYP reality show that aimed to create a new girl group. The program, titled Sixteen, was designed to elect seven winners.
After the end of the reality show, Momo and Tzuyu joined the winners to make up the group’s current lineup.
The first clip released by TWICE, for the single “Like Ooh-Ahh”, became one of the most watched within the K-pop genre by surpassing 50 million views five months after its release.
Check out the full video:
6. Red Velvet
Red Velvet is also among the Korean girl groups and consists of five members: Irene, Joy, Yeri, Wendy and Seulgi.
Created by SM Entertainment, the quintet debuted in 2014 with the single “Happiness”, still without Yeri in the lineup. The singer joined the group in 2015, when they released the mini-album “Ice cream cake”.
The last work of the group was the mini-album “The ReVe Festival 2022 – Feel My Rhythm”, which presented six new tracks to the public in 2022.
In addition to the main group, Irene and Seulgi formed a sub-unit to release the EP “Monster” in 2020. Wendy also carried out side projects with Red Velvet, with the solo EP “Like Water”.
7. Seventeen
Formed by Pledis Entertainment, another subsidiary of HYBE Corporation, Seventeen is a K-pop group consisting of 13 members: S. Coups, Jeonghan, Joshua, Jun, Hoshi, Wonwoo, Woozi, DK, Mingyu, The8, Seungkwan, Vernon and dino.
They debuted in 2015 with a live showcase – the first ever performed by a K-pop boy group at that time. A few days later, Seventeen released their first EP, titled “17 Carat”.
The project reached the 9th position of Billboard’s World Albums, a week after its release.
With the group’s most recent work, “SEVENTEEN 10th Mini Album ‘FML’”, released in April 2023, Seventeen reached the first position of the Billboard world ranking in less than a month of release.
8. TXT (Tomorrow x Together)
The K-pop group TXT (short for Tomorrow x Together), also created by Big Hit Music, is formed by five members: Yeonjun, Soobin, Beomgyu, Taehyun and Hueningkai.
In activity since 2019, the quintet debuted at the top of Billboard’s World Albums ranking with the EP “The Dream Chapter: Star”.
The group reached number one again with their most recent work, the mini-album “The Name Chapter: TEMPTATION”, released in January 2023.
Watch the video for “Sugar Rush Ride”, chosen as the main track of the mini-album:
9. ITZY
Formed by five members, the Korean K-pop group ITZY was created by JYP Entertainment and debuted in 2019 with the single album “It’z different”, which introduced two brand new tracks to the public.
Yeji, Lia, Ryujin, Chaeryeong and Yuna make up the girl group, whose most recent project is the EP “Cheshire”, released in November 2022 with four tracks.
10. Big Bang
K-pop music group Big Bang debuted in 2006 with four members: G-Dragon, TOP, Taeyang, and Daesung. Originally, Seungri was also part of the lineup.
In 2017, the group took a break from their careers so that the artists could fulfill their mandatory military service in South Korea.
After a period of hiatus, the quartet returned in 2022 with the single “Still Life”. This was the group’s first new project since the release of “Flower Road”, a single that debuted in 2018.
Check out Big Bang’s latest music video:
How was K-pop created?
Original style from South Korea, K-pop emerged from a mixture of different musical genres, such as hip-hop, electronic and pop.
One of the hallmarks of the Korean musical style, as it is known today, was the performance of the K-pop group Seo Taiji & Boys in the early 90s.
At the time, the trio participated in a television program for new artists and was successful among young audiences with compositions in the hip-hop genre.
Check out the group’s presentation:
The repercussion encouraged other Korean groups and the musical style gained support from the government, which has initiatives aimed at cultural development.
In 2020, for example, parliament passed a bill allowing artists who “stand out in popular culture and art” to postpone mandatory military service until age 30 – the originally envisaged age is 28.
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Source: CNN Brasil
I’m Robert Neff, a professional writer and editor. I specialize in the entertainment section, providing up-to-date coverage on the latest developments in film, television and music. My work has been featured on World Stock Market and other prominent publications.
