The Era of Girl Groups Dominating K-pop
Girl groups dominate the K-pop industry, such as NewJeans and Ive. Many factors support their popularity.
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New Jeans is a K-pop group under the Ador label who debuted in 2022.
Throughout 2023, the new generation of girl groups will prove to dominate the K-pop industry both locally and globally. This trend seems to continue this year. What is the appeal of these groups?
NewJeans, Ive, and several other girl groups are leading K-pop these days. In the global realm, the EP albumGet Up (2023) from the New Jeans group made by Ador launched its debut and immediately landed in first place on the Billboard 200 album chart. Time< /i> included this group as Next Generation Leaders 2023.
NewJeans' popularity in their hometown is no less. The group emerged as winners at the two biggest K-pop music awards in South Korea, namely the MAMA Awards and the Melon Music Awards, claiming two of the four major wins at each event.
”Many groups pursue ‘maximalism’ by releasing wild electronic pop songs that usually consist of an intro, a chorus, and a break. However, NewJeans has thrown this convention out the window. "This group is more carefree, relaxed and natural," said music critic Kim Do-heon to The Korea Times, quoted in Jakarta, Wednesday (17/4/2024).
This group has also achieved various other acknowledgements this year. In February 2024, the International Federation of Phonographic Industry (IFPI) placed NewJeans at eighth position in the Global Artist Chart 2023. In March 2024, NewJeans received the Best Group of the Year award at the Billboard Women in Music.
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Likewise, Ive has won various domestic K-pop awards since 2022. Continuing their achievements, the group, which debuted in 2021, scored new hits with the songs "Kitsch" and "I Am" from the album I've Ive< /i> (2023). In total, five albums from this group have taken first place on the Circle Album Chart. Ive also made his debut on the Global Artist Chart 2023 by IFPI at 12th place.
K-pop group Aespa from SM Entertainment
A number of women's groups also made achievements in 2023, namely Le Sserafim, Aespa, and (G)I-dle. Despite the internal conflict that occurred, the rookie group Fifty Fifty also made history on the Billboard Year-End Hot 100 in 2023 with the song "Cupid" (2023).
This year, the K-pop industry is becoming increasingly crowded with the debuts of new girl groups such as Illit and BabyMonster or Baemon. Catching the public's attention, Baemon's debut music video, "Sheesh" (2024), reached 100 million views on YouTube in just around 10 days. Thus, the group now has three music videos with 100 million views on this platform.
The domination of K-pop girl groups occurred after two of South Korea's most popular groups, BTS and Blackpink, were on hiatus. BTS is undergoing mandatory military service, while Blackpink has just finished a world tour and is undergoing a number of changes regarding individual contracts. Several other K-pop groups also continue to exist on the K-pop music scene, for example Stray Kids, Seventeen, TXT, and NCT Dream.
Friendly invitation
The factors determining the popularity of girl groups are multifaceted. They often promote themselves on social media with catchy songs, energetic dance routines and attractive fashion styles.
”(Additionally) Girl group songs have a real women's empowerment energy to them, like 'come and join our gang',” says Claire Rodrigues Lee, the group's songwriter Girls' Generation and Red Velvet, to The Guardian.
Girl group songs have real female empowerment energy in them, like ’come and join our gang’.
It was that sense of camaraderie that captured the hearts of fans, most of whom were young women. With lively voices, these groups sing lyrics that contain no regrets. They counteract the sad girl era which was trendy thanks to Billie Eilish, Tate McRae, Olivia Rodrigo, and Mimi Webb.
K-pop group Twice from JYP Entertainment
In addition, these groups promote uniformity without hindering the individual values of their members. For example, the group Twice has Dahyun, who is humorous, and Mina, who is introverted. Fans can feel connected to the group through one of its members.
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"K-pop is constantly growing rapidly due to the large number of followers on social media and a lot of interaction with fans. Personal relationships and innovative trends are the two biggest selling points today. K-pop groups are designed to have both from the beginning," said a K-pop fan from England, Ketan M.
English
Another factor that supports the popularity of female groups is the use of English lyrics. A study by Circle Chart found that K-pop artists, especially female groups, now use more English lyrics.
The findings are based on data analysis taken from songs that reached the top 400 in the first half of 2018 and 2023. Circle Chart examined 38 songs from female groups and 76 songs from male groups in 2018, as well as 63 songs from female groups and 24 songs from male groups in 2023. This research did not include songs with all English lyrics.
During the first half of 2023, 41.3 percent of songs by female groups used English lyrics, while only 24.3 percent of songs by male groups used English lyrics. These percentages have increased by 18.9 and 5.6 percentage points respectively, compared to the year 2018.
”The significant increase in English lyrics is due to girl groups' efforts to expand their target audience to overseas listeners following Blackpink's global success in 2020,” Circle Chart Chief Researcher Kim Jin-woo told the Korea JoongAng Daily. .
The English lyrics make up 48.4 percent of NewJeans' songs, 50.6 percent of Le Sserafim, 49.3 percent of NMIXX, and 53.6 percent of (G)I-dle. The English lyrics in Blackpink's songs reach 50 percent.
King Charles III of England spoke with members of the K-pop group Blackpink, (from left to right) Roseanne Park, Jisoo Kim, Jennie Kim, and Lalisa Manoban, after a special coronation ceremony at Buckingham Palace, London, England on November 22, 2023 to award them with Honorary MBEs (Members of the Order of the British Empire).
The difference in the percentage of English language lyrics usage between female and male groups is influenced by differences in target audiences. If female groups target the general public as fans, male groups aim for a smaller but more loyal fan group.
The use of English lyrics has proven to be an effective strategy to penetrate the Western market. Although only making their debut in 2022, Fifty Fifty with their song "Cupid" in English version went viral on Tiktok and even reached the charts in the United States and United Kingdom.
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However, England usually refuses to accept foreign-language pop songs. "Even no one knows that the song comes from a girl group in K-pop," said another K-pop fan from England, Gloria Pinamang.
