How to Get Your Friends Into Kpop

Kpop is still pretty niche in the west despite its popularity, and you may be looking for some people to hang out with that share your passion for it. I’ve had this struggle too, so I’m putting together this article to help you share what you love. I will first plug the ManelyKpop Discord Server though which I’m starting to put more time into building and you are welcome to participate in. It is meant to be a safe and fun place to meet other fans and potentially do some gaming along the way.

I. Building Expectations

I think a lot of people don’t truly understand kpop, which means before trying to get your friends into it, help them to understand what kpop is. The first thing that I think needs to be dispelled is that kpop is just a genre of music. It’s an entire system built across music, tv shows, concerts, streams, music videos, youtube content, messaging apps and basically any other piece of media you can think of. That doesn’t mean it has to be complex, just letting them know that kpop is built to not just be heard but also to be seen helps bring that together. 

Introduce them to kpop with music videos, show them the beauty of how singing, dancing, and visual design works together to create a whole product. From there, if they really like the vocals, show them some incredible vocal performances, or if they like the dancing, show them cool dance practices, or if they like the aesthetics, show them some of the more artistic music videos. I truly believe that kpop has something for everybody.

There are two objections that I also tend to hear from people who are skeptical of kpop that you should be ready to address. The first is that it’s in a different language, which makes it hard to connect to and resonate with the music. The key response to this is that the voice is an instrument, a piano doesn’t say words but it still conveys an emotion, it can still tell a story, if somebody can resonate with that, this argument falls away. The second objection is that it’s all fake and production tricks are used to hide talent. If you’re reading this as a kpop fan you know that is a ridiculous thought, these people are confusing absurdly high quality production for talent covering production. Kpop idols are well trained, and although each one has strengths and weaknesses, take IU and Ateez’s Jongho who are great singers but weak dancers, just like artists in the west have strengths and weaknesses. If they don’t trust you on that, show them Taeyeon’s I, if they still don’t think idols are talented, they never will.

II. Finding the Right Starting Point

So now that we have laid a quick groundwork, what do we actually show our friends to get them into kpop? That depends on your audience and what they already love, try to cater to them and then have a set of follow-ups depending on what they like from the content you initially show them. In this section I’m going to give you a few good starter songs or overall artists based on your friend’s current taste.

For western pop the jump is not particularly far to be completely honest with you, a lot of modern kpop is pretty on trend with western music. I would point to a few groups in particular. If your friend is more likely interested in boy groups, BTS and Stray Kids seem like the easiest go-to artists to me. On the other hand, if your friend is more interested in girl groups I would point towards (G)I-dle and Blackpink. Although I’m not a huge fan of these groups personally, I think that’s largely because they line up with western pop well, which is not my taste. For an artist that I do like, I think ANS’s Boom Boom is really good.

For rock music I’ve got a few suggestions based on sub-genres. For that more chill and classic rock I would point to Lucy as a whole or Sober by N.Flying, which even manages to maintain the band setting that your friend may be more comfortable with. For emo and punk music I think TXT’s 0X1=Lovesong and LO$ER=LO♡ER are easy go-tos and even have ridiculous titles which this friend may be used to if they like older Panic! At The Disco or Fall Out Boy songs.

For heavier rock genres and metal the clear answer is absolutely the right one. Of course, this right answer is Dreamcatcher, they bring a darkness and a willingness to use heavier instrumentals than every other kpop group does. Interestingly enough, I think the TXT songs from the previous sections might also work pretty well here as a springboard into kpop, but it’s definitely harder with boy groups because they don’t truly have a Dreamcatcher equivalent.

For rap and hip-hop, there are some really fun and diverse examples to give. For boy groups I feel that NCT has some great songs for this, and MCND as well does this fantastically. For girl groups there aren’t as many rap focused artists, but some great rappers within their groups, Soyeon of (G)I-dle, especially in Senorita, and LE of EXID are the standouts here in my opinion, as they are probably the greatest girl group rappers of all time.

The last starting point we have a clear example for is ballads. If somebody loves their slow sad songs, if Adele is the best thing to happen to them musically, I would point them straight to Taeyeon. There are a ton of fantastic balladeers across all of kpop though, so honestly, pick your favorite and run with it.

III. Following Through

Listen to the feedback from your friend on the starter songs you show them, and remember to keep it custom, my suggestions are just that. If they didn’t have any real highlights try a few more times to see if you can get a positive reaction, it took me a few songs to really get into kpop. Once you have something that your friend has honed into, use that as a baseline to build more diversity in their interest, based on their feedback I have a few suggestions.

If the members of a group you show them stand out to your friend, keep going with songs from that group. Additionally, this might be a good jumping off point to show your friend a Weekly Idol episode, or that group’s individual variety show. In general, if the personality side interests your friend those are the things I would look to. Weekly Idol is great for learning groups, and some groups have really fun variety shows that are easy to jump into. The highlight group based variety show for me is Channel_9 for Fromis_9, very goofy and light, very easy to get into.

If your friend really likes the vocal side, lean into vocal powerhouses. For male artists look at Onewe, Baekhyun, or the Super Junior vocal line. For the girl group side, Taeyeon, IU, Mamamoo, and Purple Kiss are all great continuing points.

If they love the dance side, dance practices that are intricate or powerful might appeal to them. Try some Seventeen, Ateez, or TXT dance practices for your potential boy group fan. For a girl group fan I would point to GWSN, Gfriend, or Itzy dance practices.

For your rap interested friend, I would point them to some of the great solo work that’s out there for idol rappers. Even some of the great non-idol rappers like BeWhy would be good, especially his song Gottasadae which has a fascinating video and fantastic rapping.

If the video production and artistic content appeals to your friend, look towards more artistic videos. Think of Dreams Come True by WJSN, Closer by Oh My Girl, Fade by Philtre, White Night by Nell, and basically anything by Vixx. Alternatively, if they like the quirky side or artistry, they may be interested in Orange Caramel, Crayon Pop, or WJSN Chocome.

Other than that, just listen and customize the content you show your prospective kpop fan to make it good for them, even if that means ignoring personal bias, not every fan is ready for Crayon Pop or Orange Caramel right out of the box.

IV. Letting Loose

Assuming your friend that you’re opening up to kpop has acclimated enough to start seeking out more content on their own, show them the outlets you haven’t exposed them to, variety shows, dance practices, fancams, whatever they may be interested in. At least exposing them to all these things lets them figure out how consuming kpop works best for them, ultimately we’re all different and will handle it our own way. If they don’t consume it the way you do, that’s okay, be happy they met you this far along, that means you did a great job of opening this world to them.

At this point you can also start showing them more of what you personally like, maybe you haven’t exposed them to your favorite group because it isn’t their taste, this is the time to do so. They still might not like your personal favorites, but at least now they’ll give it a genuine try. For example, I’m fairly unlikely to start people with WJSN, but if they get to this point you better believe I’m showing them As You Wish to ease them in. Maybe they liked vocals but aren’t really into rock and you love Dreamcatcher, this is the time to show that off using their great vocals as a start point. Or maybe they loved the artistry but don’t naturally tend towards darker concepts, now is your time to bring them to your favorite Vixx song.

Basically, at this point, you’ve built your friend into at least a base level kpop fan and should be comfortable sharing with them, and that’s the goal we all have. You could even invite them to concerts, especially for groups that you know have better behaved audiences, I think I could bring anybody to an Ateez concert and they would have a good time.

V. Conclusion

I hope this helps you expand some of your friend’s horizons, and remember, if it isn’t clicking for somebody, do not force kpop onto them, they certainly won’t want it then. Music has to be opted into ultimately and some music just won’t click for certain people, even if it seems like it should, because they aren’t willing to be receptive to it. And that’s not a bad thing, just respect their boundaries. Also, this can be a long process, the first exposure step could consist of sharing a new song every once in a while to somebody who is willing to give songs a listen even if they aren’t sold on them, so be patient.

One last bonus thought, don’t be afraid to show songs you don’t like, they may love them. I don’t listen to Blackpink because their music just isn’t for me, but I know they’re one of the best gateway groups for western listeners, so I won’t shy away from sharing their songs if I think it’s best for the person I’m sharing with.

I hope you have a great day kpop fans, and good luck building up the kpop fandom numbers, but teach your new kpop fan friends to be good and kind and open to all groups. There is way too much negativity in this scene and so many fans that hate anything that isn’t what they love, let’s have the ManelyKpop community start a healthier wave of fans that focus on love and building people up instead of hate and tearing people down (while claiming love).