I must confess, I probably couldn’t name all the members of NewJeans. And if the members were scattered amongst a sea of contemporary female K-pop idols, I probably wouldn’t be able to pick them out of a lineup. But that doesn’t really matter for me. I’ve long explored K-pop for the music. I observe the trends. Study the songwriters and producers. Delve into how everything actually gets made. I like putting respect on Kenzie and teaching my students that the K in K-pop might just as well stand for her name rather than Korea. I love uncovering Teddy Park and G-Dragon’s role in shaping the most influential generation on K-pop. How rather than being an underdog, Bang Si-hyuk actually earned his spurs as “Hitman Bang” working with JYP on the Wonder Girls and helping them become the first K-pop group on Billboard. When I listen to K-pop to understand what’s happening, I will often search for playlists and mixes rather than the catalogue of one artist. House is generally my go-to and, for that reason, recent K-pop has been pretty good to me as many of the current acts are leaning
