K-pop is not just one of the leading genres of our time, but an entire subculture! Fans of this music not only enjoy the songs of their favorite bands, but are generally imbued with Korean culture, clothing, and food. They even call their idols in a special way – idols.
For fans of K-pop, this year was especially interesting. It’s time to figure it out – what happened in 2022 that moved the industry a few more steps forward?
BTS temporarily cease activities
South Korean boy band BTS is definitely one of the most famous and in-demand K-pop groups. In many ways, the projects of this particular group were able to bring this genre to the international arena and create their own culture.
This summer, the musicians pleased their fans with a particularly large work – the anthology album “Proof”, consisting of 35 tracks! Already on the day of release, the collection sold two million copies.
But not so long ago, fans were shocked by the news that their idols were temporarily suspending activities. The thing is that BTS members fall under the military draft by age and must go to the army. One of the artists, Jin, has already entered the military near the North Korean border. At the same time, shortly before leaving for the army, he managed to please the fans with the solo single “The Astronaut”.
It is not yet known exactly when the BTS group will fully return to creative activity, but it is worth focusing on around 2025. At the same time, fans will not be left without music at all – idols will temporarily take up solo projects.
Some of the participants have already presented their work. So, for example, Namjoon presented his solo album “Indigo” , RM recorded a joint track with alternative K-pop group Balming Tiger, and Jungkook released a video for the song “Dreamers”, which he performed at the opening ceremony of the 2022 World Cup.
Boys, move over! Blackpink break record after record
As popular as BTS is, this year they have a worthy competitor – the girl group Blackpink surpassed the boy band in many ways. These girls were named Artists of the Year by Time magazine in 2022!
This year “Blackpink” released their second album “Born Pink”, several tracks from which broke records and hit the top charts in the world. So, for example, the song “Pink Venom” in the first day became the most viewed in 24 hours in 2022 – now there are already more than 470 million views under the video for this song!
Shortly after the release of “Born Pink”, the Koreans performed the new song on the Jimmy Kimmel Show, and then went on the biggest tour in the history of the group.
Big Hit Music – ahead of the rest
Entertainment company Hybe is now one of the major players in the Korean and global music industry. It is she who owns the Big Hit Music label (formerly Big Hit Entertainment), under whose leadership such key-pop groups as BTS, Seventeen, TXT, Enhypen, Le Sserafim and NewJeans create.
The label is now expanding its reach to the United States by investing in Hybe America.
It is likely that such a rapid development of Hybe and Big Hit Music will contribute to the emergence of more and more Korean musicians and even more popularization of K-pop culture in the world.
GIRL POWER
Another interesting phenomenon that should be noted is the increase in the number of female musical groups. If before the main representatives of Korean music were mainly boy bands, now we can be pleased with the beautiful ladies from the groups TWICE, miss A, Red Velvet, IVE, Le Sserafim, NewJeans, ITZY and others.
With all this, South Korean girl bands in many ways even overtake their fellow guys. For example, Aespa released a wonderful mini-album “Girls” in July, which became one of the most successful releases of the year (although they are clearly far from Blackpink’s ratings). In the same month, Billboard recognized this compilation as the best-selling of the week.
Comeback time
The bands of past years also returned to the stage, which had to go into the shadows due to competition with freshmen and stop their activities. The group 2NE1, who worked from 2009 to 2016 and suddenly reunited at the Coachella festival, surprised everyone. Four Korean women performed on stage for the first time since 2015 together with their hit “I Am the Best” from 2011.
Yes, you can imagine, K-pop music existed ten years ago! That’s just the world was not familiar with it until recently – but now it is a whole industry.
After a five-year hiatus, Girls’ Generation returned to the game – the artists released a new album, “Forever 1”. The band’s fans once again heard their favorite turbo-pop sound in ten fresh compositions.
The K-pop industry is developing too fast, so it’s hard to guess what’s in store for us next year. Well, time will tell!
