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Blackpink, Le Sserafim, Ateez, The Rose: how K-pop and Korean music is becoming a core element of Coachella
- After Blackpink’s rise from newcomer to top-billed act, Coachella is already cultivating its next generation of K-pop and South Korean music more broadly
- Boy group Ateez, rock band The Rose and South Korean DJ Peggy Gou joined Le Sserafim as the Korean names taking this year’s event by storm
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This time in 2023, the five members of the K-pop group Le Sserafim were glued to the Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival live stream on YouTube, watching Blackpink make history as the first Korean headliner.
On April 13, they were getting glammed up in an artist trailer all their own, hours out from making their own Coachella debut.
“Coachella was something I could hardly dream of coming to, even as a spectator,” said Huh Yunjin, of the girl group. “We’ve watched performances like Blackpink and Billie Eilish online and were like, ‘It’d be so amazing to stand on a stage like this one day.’”
“It’s a very famous festival in Korea as well,” added Kim Chaewon, through an interpreter. “For a lot of artists there, it’s a dream opportunity.”
This year, that opportunity arrived for a whole new generation of Korean acts. After Blackpink’s rise from newcomer to top-billed act, Coachella is already cultivating its next generation of K-pop and South Korean music more broadly.
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