Why is K-pop such a rage?
I don’t know. Admitted, they are all pretty boys. Their dance moves are slick, very slick. But they sing in Korean, a language I don’t understand.
And that’s true for most of their fan base. I know they say music transcends barriers — language too.
But still, the K-pop mania is baffling. Surely, they are not like the Beatles. Not even Abba. Tell that to the K-pop fans!
BTS is her favourite; she calls it her bias (whatever that means). When EXO came to Dubai, she gave me a master class in K-pop.
I was forced to watch a series of BTS videos: Their albums, BTS at the American Music Awards, BTS on the Ellen DeGeneres show. I soon found out how a BTS band member learned English watching the American TV series Friends.
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It didn’t stop with that. A history of EXO came unsolicited.
How the company, SM Town, dropped the Chinese band members — something that riled my daughter. I had little interest in all these details. But my curiosity pushed me to lend a patient ear.
My wife wouldn’t want to hear none of this. And I didn’t want to disappoint my daughter. So she served more K-pop on my plate: How the EXO boys act in films, TV series ... which is why one of them didn’t show up in Dubai.
K-pop concerts have been held in the UAE since 2012, and last year’s K-Con Abu Dhabi at Yas Island was the biggest K-pop concert in the region.
A cultural takeover
More surprise was in store: A Korean channel in etisalat’s eLife TV bouquet. Need I say that my daughter is glued to it; the TV series are all subtitled.
When my daughter insisted on going to Sahara Centre in Sharjah to pick up a gift for her friend, little did I know that she was taking me to a store that sells Korean wares.
And there was another near the Food Court, a kiosk selling BTS T-shirts, EXO posters, G Dragon mugs and other such stuff.
I told this to my friend in Sydney. And she turned out to be a fan of G Dragon. “My daughter too is heavily into K-pop,” she said enthusiastically.
“BTS is her favourite too. And she studied Korean as elective in grad school.” I was lost for words.
What’s this? A Korean cultural takeover, I wondered. But this is adequate proof that Korean pop culture has stolen the hearts of teenagers.
There’s a Korea beyond Samsung and Hyundai. A Korea I didn’t know. The Korea I know is in a perpetual state of tension with its northern neighbour.
A Korea that shudders when Kim Jong-un fires a missile over Japan from Pyongyang.
These teens know nothing of that. For them, Korea is K-pop: A genre that was thrust into the spotlight by Psy’s record-breaking hit Gangnam Style. A song that sneaked into popular cultures around the world through YouTube.
Dancing to a different beat
But BTS, G Dragon and EXO have shown that there’s more to K-pop than Psy. A younger Korea that dances to a different beat.
When EXO came to town, my daughter dragged me to the Dubai Fountain. There was no concert.
The band just showed up when their hit song was added to the fountain playlist.
The throng of girls who came to catch a glimpse of the band members were all teenagers. Waving banners and EXO light sticks, they let out a collective shriek when the boys came into view in front of Burj Khalifa.
When the fountain started dancing to the EXO hit Power, the crowd spun around and ran to the fountain. I was nearly trampled. All of them swayed and sang along. There it was. Right in front of my eyes. The power of K-pop.
