The time has finally come to start our new segment, “KMusic Guide for Newbies!” If you don’t know what we’re talking about, please check this article.
So, to start the introduction to the K-Pop world, we decided to highlight Korean and English terms that are commonly used by K-poppers, which may not exactly known or understood by outsiders. I remember that when I joined the K-Pop world, I was bombed with words that everyone seemed to know but sounded so confusing to me.
So, let’s start our first lesson!
Bias: your favorite member of a particular group. Ultimate Bias is your favorite artist in all of K-Pop.
Companies: agencies to which the groups belong. The main three are YG, SM and JYP, but there are many other important ones like CUBE, 1theK, Pledis, Starship, FNC, TS, DSP, Core Contents Media, and Big Hit, not to mention the lesser known ones like Top Media, Star Empire, and Jellyfish. Don’t worry, there’s no need to memorize them all.
CEO: Head of the company. The most known ones are Yang Hyun Suk (YG), JYP (JYP), and Lee Soo Man (SM, but he is not the head anymore).
Debut: first song/music vídeo of a band. The group’s first performance on a Music Show is called “Debut Stage.” “Pre-Debut” is the time before a group debuts, from which embarrassing photos and vídeos of the members usually surface.
Comeback: when a group comes back with a new song or album.
Music Show: There are five music shows in which the groups perform weekly. Show Champion (Wednesdays), M! Countdown (Thursdays), Music Bank (Fridays), Music Core (Saturdays), and Inkigayo (Sundays). In each episode, a group or artist that does well in the charts, wins.
Fandom: each K-pop fandom has it’s own name and color, and it’s very important for the fans to fill stadiums with lightsticks of the appropriate color, and sing the fanchants to support their favorites.
Sub-unit: a group formed by only some members of a group, or a collaboration between few artists from different groups.
Trot: another Korean music genre, which came before K-Pop.
Maknae: The youngest of the group, who is usually “bullied” by the older ones because he/she has to do whatever they say.
Aegyo: to act in a cute, child-like way.
Oppa: how a girl calls an older boy.
Unnie: how a girl calls an older girl.
Hyung: how a boy calls an older boy.
Noona: how a boy calls an older girl.
Flower boy: a guy who seems to be more feminine and pretty; something very common in Korea and Asia in general.
K-drama: Korean soap operas, which usually have idols in them.
Daebak: what you say when something is amazing, incredible.
Ottokhae: what you say when you don’t know what to do. In the sense of “Oh no! What do I do?”
Shipping/Ships: pairing up two idols romantically, be them from the same group or different ones. There are male/female ships, male/male ships, and female/female ships.
Engrish: a terrible English pronunciation from a K-idol, or a terrible English line in a song.
Army: all Korean men, including idols, must enlist in the army at some point between the ages of 18 and 35.
There are probably lots of other terms that we haven’t mentioned, but I believe that knowing these ones you’ll get along well with other K-poppers, and will be able to have a basic understanding of memes and conversations.
Has this segment been helpful to you? Stay tuned to Officially Kmusic for more weekly posts about K-pop, as we’ll still be talking about the main groups, historical scandals, K-dramas and more!
Edited by: Laura Dees
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