The Big Boom of 2024 KPOP 

2024 was a year for the KPOP industry with all sorts of captivating song releases. From the global sensations “APT” by Bruno Mars and Rosé; “Touch” by the diverse girl group KATSEYE; to “Magnetic” by the budding girl group Illit; and “Supernova” by Aespa, fans of KPOP and newcomers alike had a wonderful year. 

KPOP itself is an interesting genre of music because it’s literally “Korean pop,” however, the term “KPOP” also ends up being the main term that a lot of other Korean genres fall under. Because of the influence of music made by Korean idols, it causes many from outside of Korea to view any song or composition from Korea as “KPOP” while that isn’t necessarily true. However, it simultaneously gives people an exposure to Korean media, and with time, will hopefully expand their knowledge of the genres available other than “KPOP” itself.

At the same time, many view KPOP as weird or negative mainly due to the obsession with some idols and groups by fans. The music itself isn’t the big problem, the fans are. But this isn’t the point of the article, the point of the article is to talk about how the KPOP industry basically exploded in 2024, and how there were many great songs released.

Okay, let’s do this.

Let’s break this down into parts:

1)      The Insanely Famous

2)      The Somewhat

3)      The Newbies

The Insanely Famous

Bruno Mars and Black Pink’s Rosé are two people from the music industry that many current Gen Z know of. If you haven’t heard of their names, you’ve definitely heard one of their songs (ex: “Hit You With that Ddu-ddu-du” by Black Pink or “Runaway Baby” by Bruno Mars.) Even if you don’t think you’ve heard them, you’ve probably heard one of their songs before in a department store or restaurant. However, many were hit with a shocking, yet brilliant, collaboration between Mars and Rosé in 2024. The hit song “APT” made by the collaboration between a Hollywood star and a former KPOP Idol was something you probably didn’t have in your 2024 bingo card.

 This marks the beginning of a new era…right?  Not really.

Many may think that this was a unique collaboration and that it introduced a new form of music where mainstream artists from the US POP industry collaborated with Idols from Asia—however there are already a couple of artists who have explored the possibilities of collabs. Take MAX for example, his songs “Stupid in Love” (collab with a member from Le SSerafim) and “Blueberry Eyes” (collab with Suga from BTS) is a perfect example of a collaboration between an Idol and a Music artist from the USA gaining incredible traction. It’s been done before, just not blown up as greatly as “APT.” MAX and many other artists making collaborative songs before Mars and Rosé paved the way for this 2024 hit. 

What gives “APT” its unique and enthralling vibe is its lyrics. It maintains a light and playful chorus which consists of the repetitive chanting of ‘ah-pah-tuh’ (“아파트” the Korean term for “apartment”) which draws in listeners. When the lyrics “don’t you want me like I want you baby” come in its melody stops people in their tracks. The harmony of the vocal tracks sung by Mars and Rosé are truly top-notch and is definitely one of the reasons why it gained so much attention.  

Side Note: When they say “meet me at the APT” it directly translates to “so meet me at the apartment” due to the Korean terminology for apartment.

“APT,” a fun and relatively short song captured the hearts of many all over the world and propelled the solo career of Rosé to heights many could not even dream of achieving. It seems like an overnight success, but actually has years of build-up and can credit its success to the strong music background of its creators and the creation of many other songs before it. 

The Somewhat

Though it pains me to say this, not many knew of the group Aespa before their now famous songs, “Supernova” and “Armageddon,” were released in 2024. We’ll keep them in the “Somewhat” zone for now because their success seems to only have happened now for those who do not regularly seek out KPOP groups. Unlike Rose and Bruno Mars who had a consistent career before 2020, this girl group debuted in November of 2020—a very big difference when we’re talking about extremely successful idols and celebrities. 

Aespa’s “Armageddon” helped gain a bigger audience overseas and also created some trends in social media, such as the Armageddon dance trend that boomed within the KPOP TikTok community. Just like how quickly Armageddon’s dance gained popularity, a dance from the song “Touch,” by girl group KATSEYE, rose to the top just as fast, if not faster. Thanks to their catchy songs and fun and rigorous choreography, KATSEYE’s popularity also grew rapidly. 

There is one thing different about KATSEYE, however. Compared to other typical KPOP groups, they’re not really a KPOP group. Instead of there being overlapping ethnicities and cultures, their group is specifically curated to encompass as many diverse members as possible, and thus which makes them, in definition, an international girl group which contain some KPOP tendencies/inspirations. They don’t necessarily have to work under the same conditions like how a typical KPOP group would, with their restrictive contracts, but instead the members of the group have more leeway in having a say in their work. This can be seen in how they’re easily given hiatus for their health, and how their outfits are carefully curated to their tastes—not just their group’s vibes. 

The Newbies

Illit, one of Korea’s newest girl groups, rose to fame faster than lightning with their debut single “Magnetic.” Because of this hit, Illit received 12 first place awards, and is now an internet sensation with multiple albums. Unlike some other groups which had to curate years to boost their credit and works, Illit’s debut single gave them a boost that allowed them to be at the same level as groups such as New Jeans or IVE; it took them less than one year to curate a following of millions. 

The debut timing of Illit was one of the things that helped them shoot to a status of a professional, coveted, KPOP group. But, that doesn’t mean that their place within the industry is set in stone. Because Illit is still a relatively new group, they can easily be replaced with another group that has the same ‘luck’ with debut singles. This is the reason why Illit is classified as a Newbie, because the group can be switched out with a blink of an eye.