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When B.A.P. takes the stage, you know something special is going to happen.
INTRODUCTION
CHAPTER 1
CHAPTER 2
Interview with Eat Your Kimchi
Interview with Kevin Kim from Ze:A
Interview with Brian Joo from Fly to the Sky
CHAPTER 3
BIG BANG
SUPER JUNIOR
TVXQ!
2AM
2PM
B.A.P.
BEAST
BUSKER BUSKER
CN BLUE
EXO
FT ISLAND
INFINITE
MBLAQ
SHINEE
ZE:A
CHAPTER 4
GIRLS’ GENERATION
2NE1
WONDER GIRLS
4MINUTE
AFTER SCHOOL
BROWN EYED GIRLS
DAVICHI
F(X)
KARA
MISS A
SECRET
SISTAR
T-ARA
CHAPTER 5
PSY
BOA
JAY PARK
RAIN
YOON MI-RAE
IU
CHAPTER 6
K-pop fans can never get enough of their favorite groups.
Wonder Girls is one of the most successful K-pop groups of the last few years.
The stadium lights darken, replaced by thousands of fluorescent sticks waving madly as screams fill the air.
Then comes the boom and flash of fireworks from the stage as silhouettes strike dramatic poses, waiting to begin. Somehow, the impossibly loud screaming grows louder.
Finally, as anticipation reaches an apex, a deep bass kicks in. The stage lights suddenly blast, the bodies on stage start dancing. The concert has begun, and for the next two hours the cries of joy from the legions of fans will not stop.
It’s K-pop (an abbreviation for Korean pop), the musical mania that has come out of South Korea and enraptured a world of fans. More than just music, K-pop is also about fashion and style, fun and the future, of a new wave of attitude coming from an old world. And, of course, it is also about the beautiful stars and their adoring fans.
The names of the bands may look strange—Big Bang, Super Junior, 2PM, 2NE1, TVXQ!, Girls’ Generation, U-Kiss, T-ara, EXO, JYJ, 4Minute, MBLAQ. And as K-pop becomes more popular, the list grows ever longer.
For me, it’s hard to believe K-pop has come so far. When I first arrived in Korea, one of the first and greatest K-pop groups, H.O.T, was just getting started, setting off a wave of mania that could not compare to anything I had seen in North America or Europe. Their first big hit, “Candy,” was on the air and on TV everywhere, and at the time H.O.T featured a cuddly, cute image, with the group’s five members dressed in bright colors, often in large, plush jumpsuits. Only later would they take a turn toward the goth. But soon came other groups, nearly as popular—S.E.S., FinKL, g.o.d., Shinhwa and more.
I soon began writing about Korean music for a variety of Western publications, including Billboard, talking about the coolest new groups and the hottest new music labels. And gradually it became clear that K-pop was also building
