Flashback to 2012, when Psy’s Gangnam Style was everywhere. If that’s the only exposure to K-Pop you have, it’s time to come out of the rock you’ve been living under. We don’t know what your impression of K-Pop is: maybe you vaguely know some groups, have GD posters all over your dorm room, or don’t even know what the K in K-Pop stands for (it’s Korean, by the way. And not the North, obvs. Pretty sure they don’t have access to YouTube) (Ed. note: they don’t). But whatever your impression, this monthly corner brought to you by Penn’s own k-Beats will enlighten you. Honestly, just give it a try. You need to procrastinate on that essay anyway. Your ears can thank us later.
To kick off with our first playlist, we’re giving you a crash course on K-Pop. We’re mixing up essentials- the most recent hits of K-Pop, and then do a little catch-up session with the essential, classic hits. Warning: you will get earworms. You will sometimes be confused (we still are too, sometimes). But you’ll catch yourself humming the tunes the next time you take a shower.
About k-Beats
k-Beats is Penn’s undergraduate all-girls K-Pop dance group, specializing in K-Pop and pop choreographed by Korean dancers. k-Beats has regularly performed at Penn’s various events, such as aKDPhi’s Coffeehouse, KPop Night, and Korean Culture Show. The group has had their own concerts in the past years. Like their Facebook page if you’d like to keep an eye out for future cover dance videos.
Released in June of this year, the video to this hypnotic, extremely catchy and sexy song has already garnered 6 million views. EXO is undoubtedly the biggest boy group in K-Pop right now (I mean, nine really hot guys who are dancing some crazy choreography- sign me up please). They have a huge worldwide fanbase with record-number album sales.
TLDR; watch the video. They’re trendy, hot, cool, and overall badass.
Blackpink is a new group on the block. They debuted in August, but have already topped the charts. This fun tune will have you singing with them: Blackpink in the areaaaaaah! Also check out their other title song, Whistle.
If you’re more into hiphop, this is the jam for you. Bobby brings you a hip-hop-meets-club-night tune. I could totally see this blasting from the stereo at a frat party.
Released in 2012, the music video of this upbeat dance tune boasts more than 24 million views- meaning, you might have had a K-Pop fanatic friend who made you watch it with them. We’ve done that before. Big Bang is one of, if not the, biggest groups in K-Pop. This particular song, along with their other hits like Bang Bang Bang, Loser, and Bae Bae, have gotten worldwide fans on their feet.
I know, the video quality is cringeworthy. Cut it some slack though- this single came out in 2009. However, it is the most well-known girl group song in the industry. Its catchy Gee Gee Gee Gee Baby Baby Baby line won the hearts of many at the time. Girl’s Generation is by far the most well-established and popular girl group- although, considering they hit their nine year mark couple weeks ago, they are moving to the sidelines to make room for more fresh acts. If you’d like to see a more recent hit of the group, I suggest Lion Heart (and our dance cover of it).
Also another pretty low quality music video from back in 2009. We’re sorry sorry (actually really sorry for that one), we’ll make it up soon with super recent, 1080p videos. But this song is so important to K-Pop. One of the biggest appeals of K-Pop is the visual and the choreography it offers to fans. K-Pop has heavy emphasis on dances and choreography, and Sorry Sorry is one of the most classic boy group dances.
Another throwback while we wait for Secret to finally release a new song (it’s literally been years at this point??)
Hope you like these songs, hand-picked for you by k-Beats. Come back next month, where we will have a new list of fresh hits. Now go watch more of those Suggested videos on the side of the YouTube tabs. You know you want to click on them.
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