I’m ashamed to admit it but once I was a harsh critic of K-pop…

Years ago I had some Korean friends but I hadn’t been exposed to any Korean music yet. That changed when I moved to Sydney. My brother was already living in a big share apartment with mostly Koreans. I moved in as well and soon experienced a lot more Korean culture.

One of the first K-pop songs I heard was Big Bang’s ‘Lies’. And I absolutely hated it! One of our share mates played this song an awful lot. My brother and I made fun of it every time we heard it. And yeah we were pretty obnoxious about it…

I saw some other K-pop as well and all I thought was “what? Why are they dancing? This sounds so manufactured and 90’s”.

As a western person (particularly if you usually prefer rock or other types of music) there is a big wall to get through before you can enjoy K-pop. Once you get through it though it’s like “omg this is the best thing ever!”

My brother unfortunately had not got through that wall yet…

But, I did! It actually took me another year before I did and probably the main reason was because of G-Dragon. Yes, it’s all because of him. Although Big Bang was the first K-pop I really heard (and hated) actually now they are my favourite. (G-Dragon is a genius).

I still prefer bands that write their own music or are more involved in the process which is why I love CNBLUE as well.

I’m selective with what I like so just a few groups are my favourites but I’m aware and enjoy many more. I went to the 2011 Sydney K-pop music fest. Which was amazing! I wasn’t a huge fan of a lot of those groups, I originally went mostly for CNBLUE, but once I was there I really loved everyone. Please come back to Australia!

In conclusion I hope more and more people can enjoy K-Pop… even those who were obnoxiously mean about it.

Who are your favourite K-pop groups?