How I got into K-pop
- Angel R
- Jul 4
- 4 min read
Updated: Jul 7
Where it all started
Before I got to know K-pop, I was very into Anime and J-pop.
Through GoSuperModel. I got to know Buono!.
This was the song they posted on the forum and I got hooked! After this song I looked up other songs from them as well. If I made a playlist it would probably look like this mixed with Ellie Goulding, Ariana grande, Selena Gomez and Taylor Swift.
Few weeks later, My brother introduced me to Sistar19! This was when I was 11 or 12 years old? He liked the instruments on the song, I liked the dance and the song.
The first time I saw the video and listened to the song, I didn't know what to think about it. After hearing it for the second time, I noticed it's different from J-pop. Singing while dancing caught my attention.
After this video I went through a K-pop rabbit hole. I saw video's from Girls Generation, Kara and searched for more video's from Sistar. Through Sistar I stumbled on my first Boy group called BOYFRIEND and also saw video's from EXO. I first got into BOYFRIEND with the song Obsession.
The Kpop Journey
So between Sistar, Girls Generation and BOYFRIEND and EXO, I eventually stumbled on this Korean broadcast channel, KBS WORLD. I think I was watching a live television and saw programs about the food, culture and news. That made me want to learn Korean, so I did that. I also had twitter so I followed all the groups mentioned and other artists like Ariana grande, Taylor Swift and Selena Gomez.
My First Bias
What is a Bias?
A bias is your favorite member of a group. They are the idol you naturally gravitate toward, support the most, and root for. It is the K-pop equivalent of a "favorite" or "crush". -Google
Other Fan terms are:
Ultimate Bias or Ultimate bias group: Your absolute favorite K-pop idol or K-pop group across all groups you listen to
Biaswrecker: Another member of the group that makes you question who your true favorite is
OT (One true): When you love all the members from a group equally and can't pick just one.
Multistan or Multi-stan: A multistan (or multi-stan) is fandom slang for an obsessive or devoted fan of multiple people or things
When it comes to Girlgroups, it is Bora from Sistar. When I got to learn more about sistar and the company and found Boyfriend, I found my bias Kwangmin. I don't remember watching a lot of performances from them. But I really liked and found them pretty and handsome!
KBS World and Variety shows
In the weekends I would watch KBS World, because every weekend the program Music Bank was on. One day in 2014 I think I was waiting for Boyfriend, when all of a sudden another boyband was performing. It was BTS. They made a comeback with Danger. It was either Music bank Live performance or Music Bank HOT stage. I think it's a mix. I remember that they were performing in the clothes from music bank Live performance, but they performed it in a format from music bank HOT stage. I remember I was charmed by the charisma of Jungkook.
That's how I changed groups and bias. I still supported boyfriend when they made a comeback with the song 'Bounce'. Of course they performed with my other bias, Bora.
I also started watching variety shows on KBS World. I watched 'Invincible Youth 2'.
But I also watched other shows like: Hello Counselor, Showtime , Superman returns and Weekly Idol. There are probably more, but these were the main shows I watched.
I remember SNSD made a comeback with MrMr in 2014 and Jessica became my bias. Later she and her sister Krystal had a tv-show called Jessica&Krystal and it was a hype! Jessica started the airport fashion trend and after other idols from different groups followed.
So in 2011/12 I got to know K-pop and in 2015 I started stanning a lot of groups that eventually I made a poster. I became a multi-stan. But my Ult. groups became Sistar and BTS. BTS made a comeback with I Need U and Sistar with Shake It. Sistar became known as Summer Queens and they both won at music shows and for BTS it was their first time!
So I was busy following the socials while enjoying variety shows. From entertainment to food shows or the daily news! It also led me to K-drama's.
KBS, K-drama's and Photoshop
I think the first K-drama I watched was 'My Dear Cat' on KBS and The Masters Sun. Hyolyn from Sistar sang the OST. I don't remember what K-drama's I watched after that. Some of the drama's I watched was on Dailymotion or other sites. After that I watched K-Drama's on Viki. I also watched Descendants of the Sun. I really like watching drama's. If it has a good storyline and when there are good plot twists then I'm hooked!
My weekend consisted watching music shows, after that variety shows and ended the day with a k-drama!
Eventually it messed up my sleep schedule and got scolded for it. At the same time I was also learning about photoshop. The poster is an example of me practicing! After that poster I really loved working with the program. I just found it fun to work with.
And one day KBS World announced that they needed a new banner for their youtube channel. The prize was winning a trip to Korea!
I can't find my banner that I made for KBS World, but here's a banner I made for my twitter account:
In the end, I didn't win the contest. But it was still a fun experience!
This is how I got into K-pop. I think I'll make a second part on how I started to collect merchandise etc!
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