From BTS to TVXQ to Seo Taiji and Boys, how K-pop’s biggest boy bands have evolved the genre over 30 years
- Think K-pop boy bands have always looked and sounded the same? Not so
- We take you on a tour of the genre over three decades, from Seo Taiji and Boys’ first hip hop steps to BTS’ social-consciousness themes
Think K-pop has always been about dewy boy bands and syrupy lyrics? You might be surprised to learn that the sound had a very different face back in the 1990s.
The genre has evolved so much and in so many ways over the years that it’s impossible to lump all K-pop boy bands together in the same category.
We go back through the years to look at the evolution of one of the world’s most popular genres to see what each generation’s biggest boy bands looked and sounded like.
1990-1995: Hip-hop? No, K-ballads
Picture this: it’s 1990 and sonorous Korean ballads and trot songs dominate the airwaves. Bringing in a new genre like rap, something so foreign, so Western, would seem like heresy. But that’s just what music group Seo Taiji and Boys did.
The trio made their debut on a TV talent show in 1992 with their song Nan Arayo. It was part syrupy love song and part swingbeat anthem with punchy rap verses – and was universally panned. Not that it would’ve bothered the group: their hybrid sound, bold look and hip-hop moves struck a chord with the public.