The year was notably marked by a slew of rookie groups that came out swinging for their debuts, as well as female acts —new, up-and coming, and more established ones — constantly making waves in the scene with innovative concepts and music, and seemingly all the male acts went dark with their concepts, often with a deep house track. Whether that was topping the Billboard charts, performing at festivals, multiple world tours, or going on every other morning and late night TV show, K-pop was hard to overlook this year. As the decade came to a close, it unfortunately also took two K-pop greats: Sulli from f x and Goo Hara from KARA, highlighting the need to have conversations on online bullying, misogyny, and mental health and ultimately resolve the issues they raise.
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Korean artists made some of the most creative tracks this year. These are a few of our favorites. Skip navigation! Story from Music. Natalie Morin. It was also a year for major change in the Korean music industry. Even though K-pop prides itself on being a mix of genres and bending the rules , groups continue to further push past boundaries and experiment with innovative styles, concepts , and even languages. Beyond the sonic, however, the industry was faced with injuries, hiatuses, pain, and tragic loss , and forced to finally make steps to take better care of the health of its idols.
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Every year, the South Korean music industry serves up a wide array of music that spreads its reach across the globe, experimenting with the limitations of popular music. The past 12 months, however, were transformative for reasons beyond the music: long-overdue conversations regarding the unjust structural and social issues became unavoidable. We went into the year disillusioned by idol culture and facing the grim realities of power dynamics in South Korea, and are coming out with increasingly loud cries to protect our idols , particularly women.
For the visual elements, check out Emlyn's list of the best K-pop music videos! Did your faves make it? And if I missed your faves, I'd love to hear about them nicely! Cue the aww's.
