I love K-pop. I’ve loved K-pop (as we know it today) since its inception in the mid-1990s, and my book, I’ll Love You Forever: Notes From a K-pop Fan, is a love letter to the industry. Each essay in the book blends personal writing with cultural criticism, focusing on a different idol (e.g. H.O.T., IU, Taeyeon, Bangtan) and a particular theme (e.g. academic pressure, gendered double standards, body shaming). No previous knowledge of K-pop is necessary as the book is meant to be informative, and the essays often zoom back to provide a history of K-pop within the greater sociopolitical context of the twentieth century, which was hugely disruptive, violent, and tumultuous for Korea.
K-pop is broken into generations. First generation is roughly 1996 to 2002 (H.O.T., S.E.S., g.o.d., BoA, etc.), second generation from 2003 to 2011 (TVXQ, Big Bang, Wonder Girls, IU, Kara, etc.), and third generation from 2012 to 2019-ish (EXO, Bangtan, Red Velvet, Twice, etc.). Fourth generation K-pop felt like a blip, represented by aespa, Stray Kids, and NCT (127, Dream, WayV), because I would concede that we are currently in fifth-generation K-pop (Illit, Riize, Hearts2Hearts).
This is a playlist dominated by first- and second-generation K-pop with a smattering of representatives from third-generation K-pop at the end. It is ordered chronologically according to when the artist debuted, not when the song was released or became a hit.
- 서태지와 아이들 (Seotaiji and Boys), “난 알아요” (I Know)
Seo Taiji and Boys is not considered an idol boy band, but they are the group that turned the Korean music industry on its head, really bringing Western-style pop music to the forefront. The trio abruptly disbanded in 1996, but Seo Taiji pivoted to rock, had a few sporadic comebacks, and is still highly respected as the “President of Culture,” even though he keeps a low profile. Member Yang Hyunsuk would go on to found YG Entertainment, one of Korea’s Big Four best known for Big Bang and 2NE1.
- H.O.T., “빛 (Hope)”
H.O.T. is the first idol boy band, launched by SM Entertainment in 1996, and they set the formula for idol-dom that still continues on today. H.O.T. was my boy band, and my favorite member was Tony, and I still carry a playlist of their songs on whatever device I have. H.O.T. forever!!!
- S.E.S., “Dreams Come True”
S.E.S. was the first idol girl group, also debuted from SM Entertainment, and, during first-generation K-pop, you were either a fan of S.E.S. or Fin.K.L. (Fine Killing Liberty, DSP Entertainment). S.E.S. is one of the few groups whose name was an acronym that made sense — the three members were Sea (Bada), Eugene, and Shoo.
- g.o.d., “어머님께” (To My Mother)
g.o.d. (Groove Overdose) was one of H.O.T.’s rival groups. They also had five members, and they debuted from JYP in 1999 with this tearjerker of a song. Maternal sacrifice is a big theme in Korean culture, given how much Korea went through in the twentieth century.
- 조성모 (Jo Sungmo), “To Heaven”
Technically, Jo Sungmo is not K-pop because he’s a balladeer, but I’m playing fast and loose with the label “K-pop” here. Jo Sungmo debuted faceless; no one knew what he looked like, just that he had a clear voice; and “To Heaven” was his debut song.
- Lena Park, “꿈에 (In Dreams)”
Another balladeer because Korean music is full of incredible vocalists, from Kim Bumsoo to Yangpa to Sung Shikyung to Lee Sooyoung to SG Wannabe, and one of the essays I ended up not including in my book was a short piece on Korea’s melodramatic ballads and Korea’s tendency for melodrama. Lena Park is one of the many Korean Americans who went to Korea to pursue careers in music.
- BoA, “No. 1”
BoA is the queen of K-pop, a soloist who debuted from SM in 2000 at the tender age of thirteen. She helped form the Hallyu Wave by being the first mega-successful Korean artist in J-pop, charting alongside J-pop queens Utada Hikaru and Ayumi Hamasaki. BoA is the reason every K-pop idol debuts in Japan today.
- Psy, “Champion”
Psy might have blown up in the West in 2012 thanks to “Gangnam Style,” but he’d been a figure in the Korean music landscape since 2001 and continues to be.
- Epik High, “Fly”
Epik High is also not K-pop but hip hop/rap, and they’re unique in that they’re a rare hip hop/rap trio that has crossed into the mainstream. Their lyrics are poetic and thoughtful, and member Tablo is is Korean Canadian, so there’s often English interspersed throughout their songs. Epik High in recent years has really dug into being ajusshis (middle-aged men) as they are now all dads, and their YouTube content is also hilarious to watch.
- 동방신기 (TVXQ), “Rising Sun”
And now we cross into second-generation K-pop — TVXQ (also casually known as DBSK) was one of the boy bands of second-gen K-pop, standing out for their vocals, both individually and as a group, and I loved them. In 2008, though, three members sued SM, shed light on what came to be known as “slave contracts,” and ended up leaving the group and the company. TVXQ’s split is one major reason I took a break from K-pop for most of the 2010s, following it from a distance but refusing to let myself get attached to another group again.
- Se7en, “와줘 (Come Back to Me)”
After three members of TVXQ split from SM, I went through a brief YG phase. Se7en was a soloist who sang R&B-style music and performed smooth choreography, and he was tall and boyish. He had a fairly decent grasp of English, too, so YG tried to debut him in the U.S., but it was too soon and the wrong music, and Se7en eventually went off to fulfill his mandatory military service, got into scandals, and never recovered his career.
- Tim, “사랑합니다” (I Love You)
Another of Korea’s great balladeers who also happens to be a Korean American, Tim felt like he came out of nowhere with “사랑합니다” (I Love You). It felt like the song was everywhere at the time.
- 윤하 (Younha), “잘 지내 (How U Doing)”
Younha was famously rejected from twenty-some companies in Korea and had to debut in Japan first before debuting in Korea. Her voice has really warm tones, so her music tends to sound really comforting.
- Big Bang, “거짓말” (Lies)
Big Bang is one of the most influential and impactful boy bands who truly paved the way for K-pop and really got K-pop started in the West. I don’t think it’s possible to understate how Big Bang also changed the soundscape of K-pop by bringing in electronic elements — K-pop completely changed sonically as the industry followed the trend that Big Bang set, and you can still see the hold the group has not only on K-pop but on the general Korean populace today now that leader GD has staged a comeback after seven years.
- Brown Eyed Girls, “Abracadabra”
This song was everywhere in 2007, along with its choreography — a hip-swaying dance called “arrogant dance” — and I want to say that this is the song that made Brown Eyed Girls mainstream. Brown Eyed Girls weren’t idols from Big Four but a four-member girl group known more for their vocals.
- 소녀시대 (Girls’ Generation), “다시 만나는 세계 (Into the New World)”
소녀시대 (Sonyeo Shidae or Girls’ Generation) is one of the girl groups of second-generation K-pop, debuting as nine members from SM. Their debut song, “다시 만나는 세계 (Into the New World),” is the unofficial national anthem of Korea and sung regularly at protests, first by students at Ewha University in 2016 while protesting unfair admissions. That protest then fed into the nationwide protests to impeach then-President Park Geunhye.
- 2AM, “죽어도 못 보내” (Even If I Die, I Can’t Let You Go)
I’m going to be honest; this is the only song from 2AM or its dance counterpart, 2PM, that I know; but I love this song because the chorus is so damn melodramatic in a way I find very Korean — “Even if I die, I can’t let you go / How can I let you go? / If you want to go, if you want to leave, / Fix my heart first.”
- IU, “스물셋” (Twenty-Three)
IU is one of the most beloved singers and celebrities in Korea. She’s one of those annoying unicorns who can truly do everything and do it well — she sings, she acts, she writes music. She’s beautiful and hugely popular. I love IU.
- 2NE1, “Come Back Home”
2NE1 is the female counterpart of Big Bang, and I get so angry when I think about how YG mismanaged and tore down 2NE1. Girls’ Generation and 2NE1 were the girl groups of second-generation K-pop, along with JYP’s Wonder Girls, but 2NE1 was stifled by YG. Yang openly called them ugly, and he eventually put them in the figurative YG basement, held the members back from releasing solo music, and anticlimactically disbanded them after years of silence. 2NE1 has gone on a reunion tour since 2024, but their future (or, even, present status) is unclear as they are still with YG.
- EXO, “Monster” and “Universe”
Two songs, one a dance song, the other a ballad, for EXO as we move into third-generation! When EXO debuted, I was on my emotional break from K-pop, refusing to get attached to another boy band, so I only got really into EXO at the end of 2024 after leader Suho was the EXO rep on the Channel Fullmoon x SM collaboration episode to celebrate SM’s 30th anniversary. He showed up looking like a random, albeit very good-looking, dude who had just wandered in, and I liked his ability to laugh at himself and his lack of self-consciousness. I’m currently obsessed with EXO — their vocals remain unmatched in K-pop, and I really want SM to go back to this and give us another boy band who can sing like EXO.
- 방탄소년단 (BTS), “봄날” (Spring Day)
The Korean in me will always refer to BTS as Bangtan because Bangtan is one of the rare groups in K-pop with a Korean name and Koreans call them Bangtan. I actually avoided Bangtan for years because I know who I am as a bbasooni; I fall for one member then get obsessed. I did listen to “Dynamite” when it came out, hated it for how insipid the lyrics are, and ignored the group for another two years, then got really into Bangtan in late 2022 when they were on hiatus as a group to focus on solo activities before enlisting to fulfill their mandatory military service.
- Mamamoo, “HIP”
This one is for my friend, Dan, Mamamoo’s number one fan. Mamamoo is a four-member girl group who did not debut from Big Four but hit mainstream success (these girls can sing), and I asked Dan which Mamamoo song he would pick if he had to select one, and he said, “HIP” — this is the song that really helped them go mainstream.
- Taeyeon, “그대라는 시 (All About You)”
Taeyeon is actually a second-generation idol as she’s the leader of Girls’ Generation, but she debuted officially as a soloist in 2015. In the lead-up to her solo debut, she’d already established herself as an OST queen — OSTs stand for original soundtracks for dramas, and they’re a whole genre in Korea. This was the theme for 2019’s Hotel del Luna, led by IU and Yoo Seungho.
- aespa, “Supernova”
Here’s a representative from fourth-generation K-pop to round out this list because aespa is the girl group of the moment. aespa is a four-member group from SM that has become known for their “iron taste,” and SM has been killing it with aespa’s branding and sound. (I just wish SM would go back to killing it with the live vocals, though, and stop pushing lip syncing and leaning on loud backing tracks.) 2024 was truly aespa’s year — “Supernova” was the song of the year until they released “Whiplash” in the latter half, and theirs is well-deserved success in my opinion. I have a huge soft spot for aespa because I feel very overprotective of Karina, who is fifteen years my junior.