K-pop Strikes Guys’ Hearts

K-pop, once considered a female only interest, has now, due to a turn of events, become dominated by the guys at PB3.

“For some reason, K-pop struck my heart and opened my eyes to new types of music,” said a male student who joined the bandwagon earlier this month. Korean pop was a music genre that had dominated recent music charts and attracted mostly female audiences due to either the elegant male artists, or the beautiful female performers. Most male students attracted to K-pop were influenced by the rising popularity of groups and bands coming from Korea. The West dominated the charts but when the band BTS debuted their song “No More Dream” in 2013, it peaked on the Billboard World Digital Songs at the 14th position. It attracted extensive attention from people around the world. With that, more groups started to form and soon enough, in late 2015, K-pop dominated the world with their music and choreography. With that, the K-pop trend arrived on campus and Indonesia, attracting immense attention from students.

According to blog.jakpat.net, there exists a population of 34% male K-pop fans. The numbers were based on the surrounding Jabodetabek area, where most listeners were located. Most listeners based their love towards a single band. Based on Kpopmap, TWICE, a female K-pop band, is the favourite among males in the Jabodetabek area, gaining around 60% male attraction. The lowest is Red Velvet, which is a competitor to TWICE, garnering only 30% of male attraction in the area. Most of the fans use a combination of Facebook and Instagram to browse their favourite artists.

K-pop attracted male students in early 2019, only harnessing a small group. By early August, most male students either have a playlist of K-pop songs or a background picture of their favourite Korean artists.

“The music is great and all and they have influenced me to dance around, one day I’ll become one of them,” said a male student. “I’ve decided to join the dance club because watching the girls dance make me think, I can do better!” said another male student.

Now, reaching September, the amount of students in the school listening to K-pop has exponentially increased.