Why I prefer K-pop over Pop

So, there’s like thousands of people telling me “Why K-pop?” or “What do you even find in K-pop? They look the same, you can’t even understand them!”

This is why I wrote this post. REASONS.

Reasons why I prefer K-pop over Pop.

Note – I’m not trying to change anyones opinions here, this is my way of looking at K-pop, and everyone has different opinions and I respect everyones’ opinions, so please respect mine as well, like a decent human being. I laughed while writing this sentence

Reason #1 – K-pop idols train, and work harder than pop idols.

Now I’m not saying pop idols don’t train, but K-pop idols are trained very roughly and it’s one of the thougest things, being a trainee, even harder, if you aren’t from Korea, since you will have to live away from your family and probably live alone, in some cases.

Being a K-pop fan, I know how much time and effort they put in to produce top-notch songs, practicing choreographies and maintaining their diet. All of K-pop idols go through years and years of training before they are even selected in a group. You need dedication and effort for all of this. And not only before debut, even after debut, they need to work extremely hard. So, I guess it’s a pretty hard life compared to a life of a pop idol. And that’s why I have a huge respect for all the idols out there!

Reason #2 – K-pop artists produce a lot more content while compared to pop.

When I say content, I mean albums, singles, EP’s and so much more. A typical K-pop group will produce atleast two albums a year. And that’s what fans like, new content, new variety, more songs! Now, American artists drop like one album a year (you might think it’s only “one album difference” but that one album is still a LOT keep reading to find out why). And if that album goes well, they’ll probably take a break (one to two years) and then drop another album. So let’s say, in 5 years, a typical K-pop group would have 5 x 2 = 10 albums and a Pop artist (let’s say the album goes well with a one year break) will have like 3 or 4 albums (see why I said more content?). And of course, if there are like more songs, I’d always prefer listening to variety rather than just four or five same songs everyday, I don’t know, your opinions can be different.

Also, aside from all this, K-pop groups have like variety shows. Like for BTS, they have this show called Run BTS where they do a LOT of stuff. So, I guess they must be really really tired after all the album work, but still take out time to shoot episodes and even vlogs. Plus they constantly update on Weverse, Vlive, Instagram and Twitter. I don’t see many pop artists do that.

Reason #3 – High Quality Music Videos

This is like my favourite part, MV’s!! K-pop music videos are so creative, the theories sometimes trace back to Greek gods as well!

Example – In BLACKPINK’s ‘How You Like That’ when the music video starts, we see a pair of huge black wings displayed as Lisa is ascending then descending a set of stairs in a long black dress. The wings may represent Nike, the Greek goddess of victory, who is infamous for her wings.

Then in Jisoo’s scene, Jisoo has a blindfold on, which may mean that Jisoo’s role in this scene is of her as Themis, the Greek goddess of judgement, who is usually shown wearing a blindfold and holding out a scale in one hand and sometimes a sword in the other.

There’s so much more behind HYLT.I’ll make a whole damn post explaning it’s theory. That’s why. The K-pop music videos are like movies. Even American Pop has good music videos. And I’m not saying that every MV has to be super high quality, for it to be a good MV, it’s just that K-pop idols choose to spend their time on making it look just perfect, and that’s what people like, perfection.

And when all of it is put together it just looks so mesmerising.

(Note – not trying to make K-pop look really superior, Pop artists are very talented in their own ways as well).

Reason #4 – Theres lot’s of different concepts in K-pop

Okay, so here, I’ve seen the concept really fits with the song. Boy With Luv, fits it’s aesthetic concept, where as Boy In Luv fits it’s school love affair concept. I don’t see different concepts by the same artists in pop (as far as I know, I may be wrong). K-pop gives importance to it. So I’d prefer listening to variety (opinions differ) rather than just rock or just metal.

Like now Twice, do more of cute concepts, but Blackpink do more girl crush concepts. BTS do almost all concepts. And I love that part.

They keep experimenting with new things rather than just sticking to one concept.

Reason #5 – K-pop performances are more fulfilling

So, when K-artists perform, they perform with choreographies. So they dance and sing at the same time. And the choreos are sometimes very complex trust me. Try watching BTS “IDOL” or “ON” it’s hard to sing when they dance such complex choreos and they work so hard and motivate fans, and that’s another reason I prefer K-pop

So like imagine going for a concert. A K-pop concert will usually have dance and singing together (sometimes they do play instruments as well). Where as a Pop concert would be just singing and probably a instrument. I haven’t seen them dance. So I just don’t know I like both of them, like their stage presence is equally amazing. But I guess K-artists work harder. . . and there’s more stuff in their concerts as well. Depends on what you like don’t throw hands at me.

Reason #6 – K-pop Idols care so much about their fans.

This is like true, I’m not even lying. Once when Jisoo was live, and she read a comment saying “I skipped a meal to attend your live” she immediately told fans not to skip meals just because of her. There are American artists who are humble and do care about their fans, but it’s kinda rare.

BTS has reached this high level, yet they are so so humble and care so much about the staff and their fans, I mean this needs to be appreciated. The love between BTS and ARMY is like one of the strongest bonds and no one can change my mind lol. If you don’t belive me, when BTS lost Grammys, the first thing they did was that they went live. Even though they were exhausted, they needed sleep, the first thing they thought about was ARMY. I mean it’s just so touching that even though they are so sad, they come to comfort their fans first. Also other K-pop groups, when they win an award, they first thing they do is thank their fans when they worked so hard, so please-

I guess that’s it. So I don’t think K-pop is just people wearing make up and using autotune. There’s so much more. And as I always so NO ONE in this world deserves to be hated for what they are doing.

Yes, living a life as a trainee is very unhealthy, as you don’t get sufficient sleep and are forced to reduce weight, but the fact that all the K-pop idols we know till date, have done this (except for few like QUEEN HWA SA). So I guess y’all should actually see what K-pop is without hating it.

Let’s just appreciate people for who they are, and make this world a better place!

Thank you for coming to my TED Talk 😭 I’m sorry I couldn’t add humor here and this post is like so long-

Take care of yourselves now!!

Byeeeeeeeeeeeeeee <33