K-pop | |
---|---|
Stylistic origins | |
Cultural origins | 1980s and 1990s South Korea |
Typical instruments | |
Local scenes | |
Seoul · Incheon · Busan · Jeju | |
Other topics | |
K-pop (abbreviation of Korean pop; Hangul: 케이팝) is a musical genre originating in South Korea that is characterized by a wide variety of audiovisual elements. Although it comprises all genres of "popular music" within South Korea, the term is more often used in a narrower sense to describe a modern form of South Korean pop music covering a range of styles including dance-pop, pop ballad, electropop, R&B, rock, jazz, popera, hip-hop and classical music. The genre emerged with one of the earliest K-pop groups, Seo Taiji and Boys, forming in 1992. Their experimentation with different styles of music "reshaped Korea's music scene". As a result, the integration of foreign musical elements has now become common practice with K-pop artists.[5]
K-pop entered the Japanese market at the turn of the 21st century and rapidly grew into a subculture among teenagers and young adults of East and Southeast Asia. With the advent of online social networking services, the current global spread of K-pop and Korean entertainment known as the Korean Wave is seen in Latin America, India, North Africa, the Middle East, and elsewhere in the Western world.
Although K-pop generally refers to South Korean popular music, some consider it to be an all-encompassing genre exhibiting a vast spectrum of musical and visual elements. The French Institut national de l'audiovisuel defines K-pop as a 'fusion of synthesized music, sharp dance routines and fashionable, colorful outfits'. Songs typically consist of one or a mixture of pop, rock, hip hop, R&B and electronic music genres.