K-pop for Beginners: The 3 Groups you Need to Know

K-pop or Korean pop is more popular now than ever before. However, if you’re like me, you may not be overly familiar with this style of music and its popularity yet. With K-pop evidently taking over the music world, I thought it was about time to get in with the trend. So from one K-pop beginner to another, here are three K-pop groups you can follow to get you started:

1. BTS

The 7-part boy band made up of members RM, Jin, Suga, J-Hope, Jimin, V and Jungkook began in 2013 under Big Hit Entertainment and in recent years have become international sensations. These guys have won numerous awards around the world and have teamed up to create bangers with musical icons such as Halsey, Steve Aioki, Lauv and Nicki Minaj. The boys have released songs in Korean such as DNA which has amassed over 1 billion views on YouTube, as well as songs in English including Dynamite which the band performed at the 2020 VMAs.

2. BLACKPINK

BLACKPINK is a girl group made up of members Jisoo, Jennie, Rosé and Lisa. BLACKPINK became the first female K-pop group to perform at a U.S. festival when they performed at Coachella in 2019, which featured headliners Childish Gambino, Tame Impala and Ariana Grande. The group has produced multiple music videos which have surpassed 1 billion views. One of the group’s most recent tracks is a collaboration with superstar Selena Gomez called Ice Cream.

3. SuperM

SuperM is one of the latest K-pop groups to launch to popularity. The group was formed in 2019 by SM Entertainment and is made up of former members of other K-pop groups – Baekhyun and Kai from EXO, Taemin from SHINee, Taeyong and Mark from NCT 127, and Ten and Lucas from WayV. The supergroup debuted with a self-titled EP which hit number one on the Billboard 200. It looks like it is only the beginning for these guys.

After checking out these K-pop artists, I am amazed by the talent and art that goes into creating these performances. There are without a doubt many more talented K-pop groups to be explored but by learning from these few groups, we can discover a newfound understanding and appreciation of K-pop.