Whilst I was in Memphis I became a reporter for The Daily Helmsman newspaper for one semester. The University print newspaper had daily editions in both digital and print formats distributed across the city.
The Daily Helmsman
The Daily Helmsman
J-pop, K-pop and LMNOP-pop?
By Luke Chapman
K-pop is notably one of the main genres spearheading this movement, bringing names such as BTS to American and British audiences. Not only are these bands reaching the charts, they’re achieving HUGE success. BTS are heading to Wembley stadium this Summer, whilst Blackpink are one of only a few female acts to headline Wembley arena. Rosalía is one of the first ever foreign language artists to have reached the “BBC Sound of” list with her spicy and authentic Spanish tunes. It’s fantastic to see these new artists flourishing and bringing something brand new to audiences who could certainly learn a lot from cultural integration in today’s political climate.
One key question arises on this topic, why now? Why was K pop, J-pop or Spanish music not topping the charts ten years ago? Although there is no definitive answer, there are a few theories which could have helped the rise of these musics. Integration into popular UK music is one of them, there are countless songs released by pop giants which have now featured foreign languages in them. Demi Lovato and Enrique Iglesias with “Échame la Culpa”, Clean Bandit, Marina and Luis Fonsi with “Baby”, more recently Madonna has released “Medellín” with Maluma, and some mention annoyingly needs to be made to “Despacito”. These are just a handful of examples which have familiarised British ears to these new and exotic sounds, and have some what normalised them. If most people were to hear a Spanish song on the radio, it would no longer be deemed out of the ordinary. This process, I believe, has given artists such as BTS and Daddy Yankee the stepping stones to make their own music succeed in countries like the UK
Taking a slightly more academic approach to this new music, there are many theories which can be seen to suggest the standard lifecycle of genres. Some of these models state that any genre (such as rock and roll, blues and many others in the past) will eventually undergo some form of appropriation from other genres, being pushed to the outside, and a natural progression of the “new” will take place. This model fits to that of the foreign language song, now becoming the new genre we have come to expect, and is truly excelling above some of the more traditional British music, but if this development has already occurred, what’s to come next.
There is also the political side of this phenomena, in the current climates of both the UK and the US, exposure to these exoticised countries and lands can be no bad thing? The UK is rich with other cultures, languages and traditions, but still some people take issue with languages they don’t understand. This slow integration of the unknown can help to create more of an understanding of other cultures and processes. Is the success of these bands some form of political activism against what’s happening to countries across the world?
Our globe is slowly shrinking (and dying) with the process of globalisation. Plane rides can take you anywhere in the world with a direct flight, and we can now contact who we want, when we want, wherever we want. This also means it is so much easier for music from these distant places to find listeners across the world, we can now listen to Mongolian singing or Peruvian grooves at the touch of a finger tip. This shrinking is leading to cultural integration across the globe, introducing new languages to deaf or ignorant ears, and teaching us new ways of life. I cant help but think the spread of this global music is an outstanding positive to Britain, and we should be embracing these new and wonderful genres and artists.
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BTS, Blackpink, Rosalía and Christine and the Queens are all names you may have heard of, and are all foreign language singers reaching the charts in the UK. These recent years have seen a huge rise in artists from different countries landing on UK shores, and achieving huge success. This time it’s different, we’ve always had Swedish mega producers, French DJ’s and… Pitbull??? but these new rising stars aren’t compromising their nationalities for the sake of monolingual native English speakers.