Popdust

History of Kpop: The Rise of the Boy Band (H.O.T. and Sechs Kies)

In the mid-1990s, South Korean record labels injected the burgeoning new genre of K-pop with the first generation of "idol" boy groups – charismatic teens who helped build a global audience in the pre-Youtube era

Kpop was born in the late 1980s and early 1990s, a hybrid of Korean 트로트 trot, American hip hop, and Eurodance.

And as the decade continued, a certain template emerged: The tunes were catchy, the pop stars were unbelievably photogenic, and the performances were half athletic showmanship and half poetic-rage-feels that Koreans call 한 han.

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kpop

History of Kpop: The Rise of the Boy Band (H.O.T. and Sechs Kies)

In the mid-1990s, South Korean record labels injected the burgeoning new genre of K-pop with the first generation of "idol" boy groups – charismatic teens who helped build a global audience in the pre-Youtube era

Itaewon Freedom

You Wanna Be a K-pop Star? Get on TV and Perform Like It's Your Last Night on Earth

Kpop Starts Selling Millions of Records by the Mid-1990s

클론 CLON

터보 Turbo

The Age of the Idol Trainee Groups Begins: H.O.T.

Rivals to the Boy Band Throne: 젝스키스 Sechs Kies

Rivalry Between H.O.T. "White Angels" and 젝스키스 Sechs Kies "Yellkies"

And then...an economic crisis leads to new plans