It has been 30 years since the Olympics last came to South Korea, and back then Korean pop music had a very different sound. In 1988, Korean radio was all about soft ballads, but K-pop has gone through a transformation and is now an umbrella term for the nation’s unabashedly chart-chasing music industry, with sounds ranging from pop to rock and hip hop to electronic.
The genre has claimed a global fan base, and the music has been a surprise star at the Winter Olympics in Pyeongchang, where athletes have shared tales of their connection to K-pop.
K-pop is making its way west! My students are loving it in Rome, Italy. Get ready….