K-POP: “What isn’t there to like about it?” Most would agree with what Alan Lu has to say about it. “It” is an Asian invasion sweeping over the country. This is K-pop, which is the abbreviation for Korean Pop, and what is so special about it? K-pop is like the Koreans’ take on America’s boy band craze of the early 2000s.

K-pop is mostly popular with today’s teens, and what most fans love about it are the fun, addictive beats and the gleeful vibe the music creates. If the music alone wasn’t enough, the music videos for K-pop groups are usually full of skilled and amazing choreographed routines performed by the artists that just make you want to listen and dance to it for, well just about the rest of your life. So anyone who even dared to think that America had finally exited the boy band craze, they are dead wrong because it’s back, new and improved… Korean style.

Danielle Ross, one of this school’s devoted K-pop fans, discovered the world of K-pop years ago and is still entranced by it.

“I started listening to it in seventh grade,” Ross said. “I was really into modern Asian cultures.”

Ross gives us the details on her K-pop addiction. She explains that what she loves about it is “the upbeat tempos, the choreography, and just the fun feeling about it.”

She’s not the only one.

“My friends (Thomas, Andrew, Jonah, Joe) and a lot more also [listen to K-pop]. There’s a lot of people now that do, it’s getting pretty big” Lu said.

An informal poll revealed that there are fifty-one people here who listen to K-pop music. The number is growing weekly thanks to sites like YouTube, and now that iTunes recently added K-pop to its lists genres. Bands such as SHINee, Super Junior, TVXQ! and Girl’s Generation are the big name bands that can be found in this section of iTunes music.

This is K-pop: a whole world of music out there that’s just starting to enlighten people. Addicting beats, flawless dancing, and the most uplifting music a person could ever listen to.

By Chloe McCrossen and Ellis Holdsworth