K-pop: ranking of the 10 most listened to songs today on iTunes Peru

2012 was a significant year for the k pop music when rapper PSY released his catchy track Gangnam Stylewhich, after its worldwide success, put South Korea on the western radar, paving the way for other artists from the same scene.

Although other groups like Super Junior, Girls Generation, Wonder Girls, TVXQ, BIG BANG or soloists like BOA were already well known among the Korean wave-loving public (hallyu), the truth is that the feats achieved by the also interpreter of Gentleman made clear the potential of one of the most prominent industries in Asia to enter the western market.

behind this watershed the word “K-pop” began to be heard more often: when opening social networks, when watching television programs, when looking for something to listen to on streaming platforms, in large magazines, in the advertising of various brands and even in awards of the stature of Billboard or the grammys.

In this scenario, it is not surprising that various platforms have opted to give spaces to the greatest exponents of South Korean music with rankings such as iTunes “Top K-pop Songs Charts”which is available for various countries, including Mexico, Peru, Colombia and Argentina.

Here a list of the 10 most popular songs this day:

1.

Artist: jin

Song:The Astronaut

two.

Artist: PSY

Song: Gangnam Style

3.

Artist: bts

Song: Butter (Sweeter Remix)

Four.

Artist: bts

Song: Permission to Dance

5.

Artist: DPR IAN

Song: Welcome to The Show

6.

Artist: bts

Song: Life Goes On

7.

Artist: BTS & Megan Thee Stallion

Song: Butter (Megan Thee Stallion Remix)

8.

Artist: jin

Song: super prickly pear

9.

Artist: bts

Song: film-out

10.

Artist: bts

Song: Blue & Gray

What is the origin of K-pop

The members of the K-pop group, ATEEZ. (Photo: Instagram @ateez_official)

Modern K-pop (from the English “Korean pop”) originated in the 1990s with the rise of the popular group Seo Taiji and Boys in 1992, known for incorporating western music styles such as rap, hip-hop, rock, jazz, electronica and techno into their songs.

This trio, made up of Seo Taiji, Yang Hyun-suk and Lee Junomade his debut on an MBC network talent show with the song Nan Arayoshocking the jury, who gave them the lowest marks. However, the success that this single gained on radio and television was resounding, which led to the release of more songs of that style and more artists who bet on it.

It was not until 1995 when producer Lee Soo Man created one of the firms that to date remain a “heavyweight” in the music industry, S Entertainment; while former Seo Taiji & Boys member Yang Hyun Suk created YG-Entertainment (nineteen ninety six); followed by JYPEntertainment (1997), established by singer Park Jin Young.

These three companies were long dubbed the “Big 3” ‒until the success that BTS achieved with BigHit Entertainment (now known as Hybe Labels)‒ and were dedicated to training the first generations of idolsin order to meet the demand of the Korean public to want to see younger artists.

Along this path, the group HOT was one of the first to debut in the industry, followed by others who made up the well-known “first generation of K-pop” like Sechs Kies, SES, Fin.KL, NRG, Baby VOX, Diva, Shinhwa and god

At the beginning of the new millennium, some of the groups of idols that had debuted were without activities while others like Baby Vox triumphed in various regions of Asia, an example of this their song song match which was promoted in the 2003 Soccer World Cup and ranked first on the Chinese music charts.

Along with others idols that were released as soloists also marked a milestone: Boathe first Korean singer to top the Oricon chart in Japan, a chart equivalent Billboard but Asian and in which rarely artists from other countries manage to enter and Rainan actor and singer who gave a concert for 40 thousand people in Beijing.

the road to success

kpop infographic
A brief tour of the history of K-pop. (Illustration: Anayeli Tapia)

I would start the call later “second generation of K-pop”again in the hands of groups that were made up of young figures such as TVXQ (debuting in 2003), SS501 (2005), Super Junior (2005), BIGBANG (2006), as well as girl groups like Wonder Girls (2007), girls generation (2007) and KARA (2007).

By 2008, South Korea was already dominating the entertainment market in Asia with an annual growth rate of over 10% in exports of its music and television products with K-dramas, even accounting for 68% of the music market in Japan, ahead of China (11.2%) and the United States (2.1%).

Later, more groups like SHINee or INFINITYthe latter who managed to secure the record of being the first to top the list of emerging artists from Billboard in 2014 with his song Last Romeo; 2PM, EXO, 2IN1, all the way to the K-pop third generation where new groups such as BTS, Seventeen, GOT7, Twice, Red Velvet, BLACKPINK, MAMAMOO, among othersup to the present Fourth generation which are all those who debuted between 2017 and 2018 like Stray Kids, ITZY, Ateez, Astro and more.

It is worth mentioning that a watershed that should be considered is Gangnam Style of the rapper PSYa song that not only managed to break unimaginable records on music platforms like Youtubebut also went around the world and showed that language was not a barrier to success in highly competitive countries such as American industry.

To date, the baton as the greatest exponents of K-pop is held by the group bts ‒composed of Suga, RM, Jin, Jimin, J-Hope, V and Jungkook‒, who in addition to dominating the music industry in South Korea and establishing their fame in the rest of the world, have been named as “Asia’s trend leader” by The Economist and “Artists of the Year” by the magazine TIMEgoing through his nominations for the Grammy awards and his 10 awards Billboard.

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K-pop: ranking of the 10 most listened to songs today on iTunes Peru