K-pop - History

History

An old-fashioned style of Korean pop music called Trot (Korean: "트로트"), influenced by a Japanese pop music of Enka during Japanese rule over Korea (1910-1945), was popular in South Korea until the 1980s.

In the mid-1920s, Japanese composer Masao Koga mixed traditional Korean music with Gospel music that American Evangelists introduced in the 1870s. This type of music became known as Enka in Japan, and later in Korea as Trot.

As Korea was liberated from Japanese annexation in 1945, the country was divided into two nations: North Korea and South Korea. Western culture was introduced into South Korea on a small scale with a few Western style bars and clubs playing Western music. After the Korean War, which started on June 25, 1950 and lasted for 3 years, U.S. troops remained in South Korea for protection. With the continued presence of the U.S. military, American and world culture began to infiltrate South Korea. During this time, Western music became more accepted to a wider crowd of young adults. Improvements in the recording systems encouraged the production of LP records in the 1960s, which led to the pursuit of diverse voice tones. Many singers sang for the American troops in Korea at the time, and the appearance of chorus in performances was conspicuous. At this period of time, civilians were exposed to pop songs by commercial radio stations, which led to the great popularity of pop songs. The Kim Sisters, Yoon Bok-hee and Patti Kim were the first singers to debut in such countries as Vietnam and United States.

In the 1970s, the new career of DJs became popular, deeply impacting the teenage cultures. Guitars and jeans were the symbols of youth. This resulted in the introduction of more folk singers, such as Chang Sik Song, Young Nam Cho, and Hee Eun Yang. In 1977, the Seoul International Song Festival was launched, which encouraged cultural exchanges with other countries. In 1980, the Asia Music Forum was launched. National singers from five different Asian countries competed in the event. Cho Yong-pil won first place and earned a high reputation as a Korean singer in Japan.

In the 1990s, early versions of Korean pop incorporated American popular music styles like rap, rock and techno in their music. Since the debut of Seo Taiji & Boys, multiple singers began to switch their positions while singing and dancing, a strategy called "formation changing" (Korean: 자리 바꿈, Jari ba'ggum) and a turning point for the establishment of K-pop style choreography (Korean: 안무, Anmu).

The founding of South Korea's largest talent agency and record label, SM Entertainment, in 1995 by Korean entrepreneur Lee Soo Man led to the first K-pop girl groups and boy bands. By the late 1990s, YG Entertainment, DSP Entertainment, JYP Entertainment, and FNC Music had burst onto the scene and were producing talent as quickly as the public could consume it.

According to Mark James Russell from the global politics magazine Foreign Policy, K-Pop has now spread to the Middle East, Eastern Europe, and parts of South America. He acknowledges that Korean popular culture "may not (yet) turn heads in Los Angeles or London" and claims that "the West is actually late to the party". However, this may soon change because K-Pop's influence continues to spread as it finds more fans in the West.