K-Pop is world pop

If there was still any doubt that K-Pop was taking over the world (of music), here is proof: released one week apart, boy band BTS and girl band Blackpink are smashing all sorts of records with their respective new singles...

At this point, the K-Pop phenomenon is far from new, and we’ve long known that Psy was not a one-off, more like a sign of things to come (and stay). Superstar boy band BTS have been growing in stature steadily in recent years, even making waves earlier this year when they very publicly supported the Black Lives Matter movement, and their ARMY — that’s how their supporters call themselves — started trolling the pro-Trump cohort. You couldn’t make it a clearer message than that: the K-Pop group was now firmly expanding its reach to the US…

Now, they are back, on top and it’s all about music: their brand new single “Dynamite“, complete with English lyrics (and a special dance video) hit the airwaves (if by airwaves you mean Youtube and Spotify) on August 20th and it is… #1 on the Billboard 100! That would make it their first #1 hit in the US, a move that very clearly signifies that their sound — and therefore career — now fluidly translates to the North American market. And the video makes it clear: BTS are in Americana now, with your typical US teenage room, disco and record store (?) prominently showcased in there. Add to that a little more hair dyeing, and you have yourself a bona fide trend right there.

But that is merely part #1 of Korea’s beautifully crafted strategy to take over pop music: on August 28th, the female answer to BTS, soaring girl band Blackpink, released their new English-language single, and it’s called “Ice cream”. What could be more American than that? Perhaps a Selena Gomez featuring: luckily, the song has that too… While “Dynamite” managed to garner 280 million Youtube views since launch, “Ice cream” is already boasting nearly 170 million in just a few days… and their dance video is an actual — and official — 3D rendering of the group and Gomez performing together. Quite nice work…

While we can only predict how far “Ice cream” will go, it already seems obvious the single will fare well in the US, proving that Blackpink is now a force to be reckoned with — and Cardi B may soon want to collaborate with them. Or BTS. Or both.