Discovering the genre of Kpop

*Remember to be respectful of my story. If you don't agree with anything, please still be kind. After all, this is my story and we may have different experiences, so please be respectful of what I have to say. If you would like to share a nice story of how you discovered Kpop, go right ahead. I would love to read what you have to say, as long as they are humble and respectful. Kpop is something we can all enjoy and don't have to argue over.*

I am not Korean. Let's just start with that. I first heard a sample of the genre was when I was younger as Gangnam Style was released in 2012 by the famous Kpop artist PSY. This song was really popular when I was younger (and still is) and is one of the songs that people think of when they hear the word ''Kpop''. I remember dancing to it at school every Friday (we had a thing called ''Fun-Fit-Friday'' where songs were played on the announcements for everyone to dance to. Gangnam Style was one of the most played songs.) Even though I heard it, I didn't really take thought into it or listen to it. Little did I know, I would be obsessed with it a few years later. PSY was still my only taste of Kpop that I have heard as I was a big fan of Just Dance. His songs were featured on Just Dance multiple times (New Face, Daddy, Gangnam Style, Gentleman). A few years later, on September 5th, 2018, I was watching America's Got Talent and in between watching, B.T.S. performed their song ''Idol.'' I knew B.T.S. was huge where I was but never listened to them previously. Some friends of mine talked about them and were fans while I was not at the time. Although some of my friends really enjoyed the genre, I knew some that didn't. I really didn't have an honest opinion about it since I haven't listened to more things from the genre. I don't like to judge things before I take a chance to look deeper into it so I tried but to be as respectful as possible whenever others were talking about it. I listened to all sorts of music like, 80's, 90's, R&B, House, mostly American pop and more. When watching them perform, I really enjoyed the song but never listened it to it after. A month later, near Halloween, my friend, who is a Kpop fan was playing ''DNA'' while I was working and I loved it. It was so catchy and made me want to get up and dance. Later that day, I searched up the song and looked more into the artists. I know this seems like how I discovered B.T.S., but really, finding B.T.S., also inspired me to find and look into more artists. Back to the story. I didn't think much about it when I was listening to the music, I thought I wouldn't ever get into it. I even watched a few funny videos of B.T.S. in America which I thought were hilarious. I thought to myself, ''I don't think I'll be into this. They are just funny, that's all. No need to get too over-hyped.'' I was clearly wrong. I kept watching more and more videos and loved it. I played and listened to more and more of their songs. I didn't consider myself a ''Kpop Fan'' at the moment because I only stanned/listened to 1 group (B.T.S.). It was during Winter time (November-February) when I would really say I am a fan of the whole genre. I listened and discovered to more groups like BLACKPINK, TWICE, Red Velvet, Stray Kids, Astro, ITZY, TXT, Exo, Got7, Momoland, Girls Generation, IU, Eric nam, Hyuna and many more. I am now obsessed. Discovering Kpop has created me to be more a open minded person, wanting to listen to new things. It has changed my taste in music for the better since Kpop is such a wide variety of sounds, making me listen to more different type of sounding music. It has also made me happier. Even though these artists don't know me personally, the Kpop community has such a diverse and amazing way to connect everyone together. Even though we may speak different languages, we all share the same messages. The music unites and brings us together. That's an amazing lesson that I've learned throughout the journey.

B.T.S on America's Got Talent

Here is a link to B.T.S. on A.G.T.:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9XZmUvIgCLc Question: How did you discover kpop? Was it because of a friend? Family member? Were you randomly scrolling through youtube?

How has discovering Kpop affected your life?