*updated* (2/13/22)

So, you want to know about Kpop? Good luck ever coming out of this dream once you fall in.

Seriously. It sounds dramatic, but once you fall into the rabbit hole that is Kpop, you will have a very hard time coming out. I know, because I've been in and out of Kpop for more of my life than I'd like to admit to most. (Click on the link in the sidebar to read more about that.)
My Journey in Kpop
I want to give a little bit of background here as to why you'd want to hear my explanation/thoughts on Kpop compared to your neighbor's kid who claims to be the biggest BTS fan of all time. Let me start by saying that I actually did not like Kpop at first. I was huge into J-pop (Japanese pop) in the early/mid 2000's and Korean...sounded weird. (Ironically, one of my favorite songs was 'Every Heart' by BoA. This song was the ending theme for one of the seasons of the anime 'Inuyasha'. As it turned out, BoA isn't even Japanese. She's Korean. My mind was blown.) There were a few songs I had heard that I liked well enough, specifically the one that really got to me was 'Secret Password 486' by Younha. I had decided that maybe I should try to branch out my music taste a bit more and see what else awaits. Let me tell you, I am so glad that I did. Mid 2000's and early 2010's was cosidered the second generation of Kpop, and contained acts such as Super Junior, TVXQ (DBSK), and Girls' Generation. I am honestly shocked when I say that I have been a SONE♥ (Girls' Generation fandom) since 2010. I was blessed to see them in concert twice as a 9 member group. (You can read about my concert experiences here.) I won't ramble on about my love for them anymore on this page, but all of this is to say that I've been deep in this shit for nearly a third of my life. There were a few years I fell out of Kpop (tbh, 2013-2015 were kinda boring/devastating years imo), but, I have always had it come knocking back on my door. I hope that if you're just now discovering Kpop that you love it as much as the fans do -- just remember that they're human too, and to take it for what it is. A happy place to escape to in this heartbreaking world.

What is Kpop?
Per Wikipedia, "K-pop (Korean: 케이팝) is a genre of music originating in South Korea as part of South Korean culture.[1] It is influenced by styles and genres from around the world, such as pop, experimental, rock, jazz, gospel, hip hop, R&B, reggae, electronic dance, folk, country, and classical on top of its traditional Korean music roots."