What Does K-Pop Tell Us about Diversity in the Music Scene?
Looking into the American music industry, the lack of diversity is evident, especially for Asian Americans. Asian musicians, singers, and other related workers make up less than 4% in the American music industry, compared to the largest group being White at 73% and the second largest, Black, with 13%. The few Asian American artists that do exist in these spaces face many obstacles and much discrimination. Artists like Jay Park, born in Washington, often end up relocating to countries like South Korea, where they are more likely to make a career.
For many, K-pop’s growing popularity has become a sign of Asian acceptance or representation in the American entertainment industry. As such, Asian American artists like renowned DJ Steve Aoki and electronic music group Far East Movement openly welcome artists from Asia, such as BTS. The acceptance of their “foreign music” lessens the underlying stereotypes surrounding these artists and groups — promoting that these musicians are not just passable and “cool for an Asian,” but accepted and cherished for tremendous talent and hard work.
Additionally, many of these artists are socially active in breaking social and gender stereotypes. For many Americans, Korean male idols fit very unique and feminine beauty standards for their culture. Male artists can often be found showing their skincare routines, putting on makeup, or being affectionate towards male friends. Although toxic masculinity exists worldwide, many of these artists attempt to break it through performance and music. These are all reflections of the belief that “gender presentation does not map onto sexuality in any way,” found in Korean culture. This is another unique aspect of these groups encouraging their fan base of all ages and gender identities to be confident in both their identities and appearances.
Beyond providing memorable songs and challenging choreographies to their fanbase, many Korean artists are also very active in giving back through service. Many K-pop groups are active members and partners with prominent charitable organizations. Famous groups like EXO and BTS are known for their partnerships and donations to the United Nations. The most well-known and powerful demonstration of the K-pop fandom’s political influence in the U.S. was during the Black Lives Matter protests. Americans feel appreciated and loved by their favorite Korean artists for the consistent support shown toward social issues that directly impact much of the fanbase.
Shortly following #BlackoutTuesday, the hashtags #WhiteoutWednesday and #Blacklivesdontmatter attempted to gain support. However, many K-pop fans blocked out this type of racism and harassment by flooding these hashtags with pictures, gifs, videos, and fancams of their favorite Korean artists. Due to their action, the negative comments from these posts were drowned out by Wendy from Red Velvet’s dancing video, Lucas from NCT’s cheeky wink gif, or pictures of Stray Kid’s Felix posing.
However, it wasn’t just fans that were actively involved in raising social awareness. Many K-pop artists directly donated money to help the BLM movement, show their support to the non-violent protestors being arrested, and support their Black fans. But the move that received the most coverage was BTS donating 1 million dollars to the Black Lives Matter foundation, which was then quickly matched by the BTS fanbase “Army,” creating a donation total of 2 million dollars. This type of influence and positive impact towards community and social justice is not only extremely impressive and rare but also shocking, especially from non-American artists.
Their heightened awareness of social issues falls in line with Korean idol groups and artists’ commitment to changing the American music scene with their emotional vulnerability and challenge of social stereotypes. For their fans, this commitment is clear: Kpop artists have shattered records, changed lives, and helped communities to the point of being recognized in headlines as an army. Still, the public needs to realize that it’s unfair to categorize K-pop as “just this Asian thing,” when its impacts extend far beyond music and into reshaping our expectations for the social awareness of celebrities.