How We Get Down: KPK Documents Your Stuff!

As part of KPK’s decennial year, we are launching K-pop Commons, a repository of K-pop project ephemera – documents and artifacts that were not created for formal publication or commercial display (e.g., books, book chapters, galleries/exhibitions), but that are meaningful to the creators of the items and that reflect the impact of K-pop on those…

Mini Data Note: Why Fans Like Red Velvet

Survey results suggest that ReVeluv, fans of the female K-pop group Red Velvet, like the group because of its versatile concepts, its music and the personalities of the members. These are preliminary findings from the U Go Girl: The K-pop Girl Group Fan Study and are based on responses from individuals who identified Red Velvet as…

Panelist at #ICA19!

Crystal S. Anderson, PhD,  will be presenting as part of the panel, Deconstructing Cultural Boundaries: K-pop’s Participatory Culture in the Digitally Networked Era with scholars Dal Yong Jin, Seok-Kyeong Hon and Jee Wong Lee, Ju Oak Kim and Wonjung Min at the 2019 International Communications Association Conference (#ica19) in Washington, DC on Monday, May 27,…

#WheeWednesday: “Heaven,” EXO

Crystal S. Anderson, PhD Director, KPK: Kpop Kollective Last week, I kicked off the first #WheeWednesday with a song by an artist unfamiliar to many K-pop fans.  This #WheeWednesday, it’s a song by a group most K-pop fans know: EXO! EXO burst onto the K-pop scene seven years ago with 12 members and the Gregorian…

U Go Girl! The K-pop Girl Group Fan Study

U Go Girl! The K-pop Girl Group Fan Study is the latest survey in the iFans: K-pop’s Global Fandom project. This survey seeks to understand the appeal of K-pop girl groups for female fans outside of Korea and will be open March 20, 2019-September 20, 2019. Click here to take the survey! If you have…

The Creative Input of K-pop Artists

While many K-pop artists are managed to varying degrees by entertainment agencies, there have always been those who participate in the creative production of music. It is common for those who write about K-pop groups to bemoan the lack of creative input by K-pop artists, particularly those who are identified as “idols,” individuals who engage…

New K-pop Stans, Here’s What You Missed: Fan Favorites, 2012-2015

The K-pop fandom landscape has changed in the past few years. Data suggests that the general K-pop “idol” fandom is more divided than it was less than 10 years ago and challenges some widely held notions about the preferences of global K-pop fans. With the expansion of K-pop globally has come increased division among the…

The Music of INFINITE

Crystal S. Anderson, PhD Longwood University Infinite consistently produces electronic pop. While they have their share of fans, their releases receive few reviews. However, “Amazing” and “The Chaser” have received a positive reception. Arnold notes: “This song is spot on when it comes to fusing Infinite’s voices and a flawless pop arrangement. It’s got a…

3 Useful Things To Know About Cultural Appropriation and K-pop

  It was great to be a part of the “Black Popular Music and K-pop” panel at #KCON17LA. The session was lively! In light of that discussion, here are three things that may be useful as people continue to think about the session or for those who could not attend. The session was important, not…