Kpop will never fully flourish as a legit musical genre

This is right but there's a deeper issue lying here..

The problem is that locals tend to only focus and dwell on the toxic fandoms instead of actually giving kpop as a music genre a try.

If people focused on the good of kpop and pressed the block button on their social medias, kpop will become more legit and less taboo. The toxic fandom may be loud but you can choose to shut them out with all kinds of methods.

If people really want the genre to flourish, I think they should demand more from agencies and not rock with anything under a certain quality (MVs are usually slick, but the music at times isn't) even if some pretty faces and nice bodies are attached to it.

Kpop is at its heart boyband music. That's what it is and that's what locals will always associate it with. Backstreet Boys, 1D, Spice Girls, etc. Even if there were 20 bands that sold millions of records like BTS and topped charts, the bands would never be respected the way that the Beatles, MJ, Beyonce, U2, Springsteen, Elton John, Queen, Prince, Madonna and the other local pop legends are revered.

But i do agree that it is in in the interests of every Kpop fan and act and label to make sure that Kpop continues to grow and flourish, at least financially, even if it never gets the respect it deserves. Kpop is the seventh largest music genre in the world and i'm sure everyone in the industry wants to keep it that way, or even move up the rankings. I think this is why you see even arch enemies like YGE and BH collaborating on ventures to ensure Kpop's continued viability as a profitable industry.

I think of it like mafia dons. They may bicker and fight and feud with each other, but there comes a time to close ranks and work together to achieve a common goal.

it does need to find it's musical identity to distinguish itself as a genre. Currently it's just mainly pop music that's in Korean and it borrows a lot from other genres so it's expected. Unless agencies allow their artists to creatively try and push the genre and give it an identity, it'll keep being what it currently is.

Quote from BlackpinkHouse

Kpop is at its heart boyband music. That's what it is and that's what locals will always associate it with. Backstreet Boys, 1D, Spice Girls, etc. Even if there were 20 bands that sold millions of records like BTS and topped charts, the bands would never be respected the way that the Beatles, MJ, Beyonce, U2, Springsteen, Elton John, Queen, Prince, Madonna and the other local pop legends are revered.

end thread.

Literally girl groups and boy groups have always been (probably always will be) seen as corny, cringey shit for kids and teen girls and be looked down on as overproduced pop nonsense, no matter how famous they get.

In Korea, just like the US, the GP dont see idols as "artists" or "musicians"

there are exceptions like IU or Zico who write/produce/compose, but for the rest of them? Nah

Quote from chan-chan

end thread.

Literally girl groups and boy groups have always been (probably always will be) seen as corny, cringey shit for kids and teen girls and be looked down on as overproduced pop nonsense, no matter how famous they get.

In Korea, just like the US, the GP dont see idols as "artists" or "musicians"

there are exceptions like IU or Zico who write/produce/compose, but for the rest of them? Nah

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IU isn’t considered an idol

It's pop music so it's seen as "uncool" after a certain age.

It's in a different language so the usual "you don't understand what they're saying" rhetoric

Boy/girl groups are really a thing a anymore outside East Asia

The cringey and toxic fans are off putting

Having 1 or 2 groups find international succes doesn't mean the entirety of kpop is suddenly at the same level or other groups will get the same shots

Well, kinda true.

And also because its in a different language, its pop, its seen as cringey (because of the aegyo and all that from male and female idols).

what's wrong with social justice, peace, and equality? :confused:

Don’t tell me you think stan twt is the reason why kpop is looked down on??

Majority of the world don’t care for Stan twt you know. And it is not only kpop fans tearing each other’s throats. Western stans are worst. They basically create accounts and setup their faves just to have some fun. I’ll admit that kpop stan twt has started to adopt some of these bad habits from western stans so now you can barely tell a difference from who.

The only legitimate reason here is the bad publicity the media is trying to portray about it. But that’s normal. The west do these stuff when they feel threatened by something and has to nip it at the buds. The only way to overcome this wall is for kpop acts to be overwhelmingly better artistes than the West and to force the industry to forcefully recognize you. That’s how it works

Quote from wendii

IU isn’t considered an idol

exactly lol

she debuted as an idol, but has now transitioned into singer-songwriter/ actress

I agree with most things said already but one thing I've noticed is a lot of people, in the west (us mostly) won't accept it because of the language barrier. I've heard people I know tell me I listen to "fake ching chong" music. A lot of people are ignorant and I wish they were more open minded.

Dunno if fanbase is a cause per se. Once upon a time other music genres didn't have respect like rock and metal. For metal in specific, the fanbase did similar things to Kpop fans as well with their fanwars, bullying others, and their equivalent of social justice. No internet at the time, sure, but it wasn't that dissimilar and fans and artists got accused of being satanist and druggies on top of that.

Just give it time. People who grew up with Kpop will become the adults who complaint about the youth's music taste soon.