Modern Korean popular music first appeared in the 1930s. In the 1950s and 1960s, the musical performances organized by U.S. forces in and around the American military bases in South Korea provided South Koreans with examples of other modern music.[1]
The South Korean pop music scene soon had several genres: Boy or girl bands whose appeal lay mostly in their appearance; a technically difficult, older genre that had its roots in the colonial period and was popular with older Koreans; and the often amateur acoustic guitar singer-songwriters, who became popular in the 1960s and sang in a simple vocal style.[1] In 1970s, rock music was introduced into South Korea, mainly popularized by Cho Yong Pil. Trot, pop music inspired by Japanese-styled music, also became a main genre in pop music.
The debut of the group Seo Taiji and Boys in 1992 marked a turning point in South Korean popular music, as the group incorporated elements of American popular musical genres such as rap, rock, and techno into its music, which brought a decrease in the popularity of trot. The tremendous success of Seo Taiji and Boys in South Korea and other experimental groups, such as Panic, set the trend for the present generation of K-pop groups and artists. Dance-oriented acts became dominant in the South Korean popular music scene of the early 90s including the legendary hip hop duo Deux. The mid-90's marked the emergence of teen idol groups, creating a different trend in the music scenes. Groups such as H.O.T., Sechs Kies, Shinhwa, S.E.S., g.o.d. and Fin.K.L became extremely popular, having strong fanbases and high-selling albums (with some groups having a "million seller", an album selling over one million copies). Starting with the break-up of Sechs Kies in 2000, however, most of these groups have since disbanded. Although some artists have continued their successes in the following decade, new groups have since taken their places.
Currently, in the 2000s, pop groups are still very popular although there has been an emergence of South Korean R&B and Hip-Hop: artists such as MC Mong, 1TYM, Rain, Big Bang and Epik High have proven successful. Underground artists such as Drunken Tiger, Tasha (Yoon Mi Rae) have also helped hip-Hop become mainstream. Recently, rock music has become noticed by the public, with acts such as the Yoon Do Hyun Band and Seo Taiji gaining national recognition. In addition, there are also popular techno/dance artists such as Lee Jung Hyun, Kim Hyun Jung, and Yoo Seung Jun, whom all had very long careers while remaining firmly entrenched in their genre of music. Just as well, ballads and R&B have remained popular, as singers such as Baek Ji Young and KCM, in addition to SG Wannabe, have continued their success for many years.
There are also many artists who have had international success as well. BoA has become the highest-selling international artist from South Korea, due to her strength in the J-pop market[citation needed]; this was in part due to Lee Soo Man's adaptation of the Blue Ocean Strategy.[citation needed] Since then, artists such as Rain and Se7en have also released albums outside of South Korea, becoming well-known throughout Eastern Asia. Rain has also had his international Rainy Day 2005 Tour, having tour dates at Madison Square Garden, the first South Korean star to do so. He has been recently featured two Hollywood films, Speed Racer and Ninja Assassin.[2]. He was also voted "Your #1 Influential Person in the World 2007" by a TIME Magazine online survey.[3]
Kim Bum Soo is the first South Korean artist to reach the U.S. Billboard chart and ranked as 51 on the Hot 100 chart in 2001.[citation needed] After that, solo female artist, mink and Korean-American group, S.Blush also reached the Billboard Hot Dance Club Play charts, where they ranked #1 in 2006[4][5] and #2 in 2007[6] respectively. Skull, a Korean reggae artist from YG Entertainment also ranked as #3 on the U.S. Billboard Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Singles Sales[7] and #14 Hot Singles Sales in 2007[8][9]. Se7en who is also from YG Entertainment[10], BoA from SM Entertainment and Rain from JYP Entertainment[11] are all currently concentrating on their U.S. debuts. Although Wonder Girls became first K-pop artist to have a song reach the Billboard Hot 100,[12] there has yet to be a prominent, successful K-pop artist in the American music industry
