With all of my favorite bands having comebacks lately, plus this past year diving deep into the K-Pop universe, I thought that this would be a fantastic topic to write about. I will be talking about my overall journey and then discuss how it can be a lifestyle.
My Personal K-Pop Journey
First, let me begin this post with the discussion of my particular K-Pop journey.
The first considered “K-Pop” artist I kept up with back in 2008 was the Artist BoA which was because of the ending song of “Every Heart” from the Inuyasha anime.
After I relaxed on BoA and Alan (J-pop singer), I stopped listening to this type of music for awhile especially when I was not able to listen to them outside of the computer. Then about 2016-2017, I was introduced to K-pop yet again by my best college friend to Super Junior in particular their “Mamacita” song.
After this group was introduced to me, I still was not quite sold with male K-Pop groups especially since I only liked (at least at this point in time) only a couple of songs from this group; “Mamacita” and “Magic”.
It was only when an author friend of mine used Vixx’s “Fantasy” in their book series playlist, I fell into a Vixx/K-pop hole.
Around this point in time, BTS and TxT (Tomorrow x Together) were coming onto a lot of people’s radar and I was shown “Dionsysus” and “Lights” by BTS as well as “Crown” and “Our Summer” by TxT. I thought: “These guys are awesome, but do I have a favorite?” or better yet: “Is there more?” Little did I know, I was hitting the tip of the iceberg with both male and female groups.
Tomorrow x Together
BTS
Rocket Punch
Dreamcatcher
Is listening to K-Pop a lifestyle?
Now that my personal journey of K-Pop is presented in this post, the greater question is whether this genre can become a lifestyle or it is a part of someone’s overall musical knowledge.
For me personally, I am in the between camp; this means listening to K-Pop is not the only music genre I obsess over or have favorite artists from. Plus there are a ton of artists that I enjoy their music from but I cannot keep up with all of their comebacks/ other news stories (for instance TxT came out with their latest comeback a few days ago and I had absolutely no idea).
It can be a lifestyle for some people
For some people, they can keep up with entire groups by collecting every photocard that comes in every version of album merch etc. They also can buy DVDs of the concerts, wearables and something called slogans to have during a concert if they so choose along with mascot merch with some groups. There are so many different options out there for this to become a lifestyle for some people like any fandom for that matter. I am sure all of the K-pop groups out there appreciate those fans dearly.
There are plenty of casual fans out there as well
Because of BTS making such a difference worldwide, I am sure K-Pop has become more mainstream than it used to be. Because of this, there are a lot of people who only listen to BTS than anyone else in the K-Pop world along with other artists out there for example Lady Gaga and Katy Perry. Those fans are still valid though because they still listen to the music; the music is what matters here. I know at the start, as you can see from my journey, I turned from a casual fan to one that is not fully invested but with an expansion of more K-Pop than just the most famous.
Conclusion
K-Pop has become a part of my lifestyle, I have to admit that but no more than anything else for me. I still love reading, watching anime, and of course helping others. The best thing K-Pop has done for me though, is expand my music knowledge for the better and if you have not tried it at least a little, please do so.
What about you guys do you think a genre of music can become a lifestyle? Let’s talk about it!
Sushirainbow 