Watching YouTube again, huh? You’re scrolling down and you see an ad about KPOP. What do you do? You ignore it. Why? Because according to you, ¨K-pop is boring and they all wear so much makeup.¨

Now let me ask you something, how many songs did you hear for you to criticize them? None, right? Or well, maybe you heard 1 or 2. Compared to the whole K-pop industry, you only saw a very small section of it.

K-pop is a music genre that has given the world of music a huge big turn. There’s singers like Sebastian Yatra, Natti Natasha, Reik, and even Cardi B that have collaborated with K-pop groups such as BLACKPINK, Super Junior, Monsta X. Mixing in K-pop and reggaeton, rap and many other genres, many good songs have been produced. 

K-pop didn’t just promote music, but also fashion. K-pop inspired many more dance steps, clothes, and of course more cultural diversity. 

K-pop did not only just inspire music and clothes, but also the people. A young freshman who is a big fan of K-pop named VA said, “I like kpop, it inspired me to sing and dance like my favorite idols. I listen to ENHYPEN, TXT, Chung ha, BLACKPINK, IZ ONE, Stray kids, HyunA and Dawn, IU, (G) – Idle, Le Serrafim, NCT 127, Kep1er, XG and IVE. K-POP influenced me to become a kpop idol. I want to audition but because of my introverted self, I can’t. K-pop influenced me to become a kpop idol. I want to audition but because of my introverted self, I can’t. I think K-pop influences the world by listening to it. Some people think that men can’t wear makeup and K-pop is gay but from perspective from others, K-pop could be a great opportunity to one who wants to know more about the korean language and could actually learn from subtitles. And it’s okay if people think Koreans are just not good, it’s their opinion and they just don’t really know much on how to understand.” 

There’s many people like VA that feel a great respect and admiration for K-pop. But there’s also people who think K-pop only demonstrates boys who are gay and have no talent. Every K-pop band and solo singer has gone through a lot to get to where they are. They have to go through intense training to improve their singing, dancing, and have to speak a foreign language to become a K-pop Idol. 

Many students have thought about becoming a K-pop idol, and some aren’t even Korean. Essentially Pop said “But when you get deeper into K-Pop music, you’ll realize that it can be inspiring, too. Many tunes inspire students to work hard to achieve their dreams. Just take a look at the lyrics of ‘Breakthrough‘ by Twice. When a student struggles to write papers or study for the exams, that particular song can have an uplifting effect.”

Students like myself have been influenced a lot by K-pop. There were times in which I was in a really bad mood, so I would put K-pop on my computer to listen to while I was listening to BLACKPINK, and in the end I would feel much better. 

My brother first introduced K-pop to me. He listens to IKON. At first, I did not like K-pop at all. The beats, the rhythm, it was all something much different from what I’m used to listening to. Afterward, I started listening to it more often. I began to love K-pop. I started off listening to IKON, BLACKPINK, BTS and now I listen to a whole never ending list of K-pop bands. But I don´t only listen to K-pop, I also listen to Bachata, Reggeton, etc. Now, sometimes I even learn some dance steps from the songs.

There’s some people who don’t care what other say about K-pop. A freshman named Leok Kio Sou said, ¨I listen to Twice. Mostly Twice. I had a huge BTS phase but I like their old album like the 7 one. I also like listening to Hyuna… K-pop really didn’t influence much on me, I just didn’t care about what other thought about it cause there’s people that make fun of K-pop think its like gay. It shows diversity and it changed people’s views in songs and taste in music.¨

With this mentioned, I wanna bring up something really important. People think K-pop is gay. Why? 

 In Quora, someone responded to this question. Here’s what they said, ¨ Why? Because in western society, girls are usually the ones who hug/lean on each other often, but if guys do it, it’s because they’re dating or interested on each other. Another thing that makes ignorant people assume that an idol is gay is the fact that they wear makeup/nail polish/certain fashion items. In my honest opinion, this is the stupidest. In most western countries, girls can shop from the mens area in the store and no one bats an eye. They don’t assume who she likes based on what she wears, she would just be called a tomboy. But if a guy were to wear makeup, or have nails, or wear a skirt, he wouldn’t be called feminine, people would assume he’s gay (or even trans).¨

I’m not going to lie that I actually thought the same before I began listening to K-pop. This genre of music even teaches us a big lesson over judging others. Because of us judging people like these, we fail to experience so many new things.  

A frshman student named Jose Quintanilla said, ¨I like K-pop. I listen to BLACKPINK, BTS, Stray kids and many others. K-pop has influenced music by it just over categorizing every other type of music because nowadays other singers or artists are just releasing music that isn’t even good (MY OPINION) AND K-pop just has a vibe most songs don’t get especially if it’s a BTS song.”

K-pop is a really cool type of genre. People should really try listening to K-pop. I know it may seem quite different from what you’re used to. But right after a while of listening to it, you’re going to realize the magic K-pop holds. If you want to start with a specific singer or band, I recommend starting with BTS or BLACKPINK. Try it! I’m sure you will enjoy it soon after.