KPop Sweeps the Western Music Industry Off Its Feet!

Nashlie Butanas

Recently, K-Pop has been gaining popularity on a global scale. Artists like NCT, Aespa, Blackpink, BTS, Stray Kids and Seventeen have been dominating the charts and are setting record breaking achievements. Here’s a look into what they’ve been up to in 2022.

Johnny Suh, from the group NCT, wowed audiences at the 2022 Met Gala with his elegant and silky black suit. Johnny is one of the few very select kpop idols to have attended this event, which include Rose from Blackpink, Psy, Rain, and more. He was dubbed as the man of the hour and the most talked about celeb at the gala.

On another note, Aespa, a group from the same agency as Johnny, got to perform at Coachella 2022! This makes them the first ever K-Pop idols to ever perform on Coachella’s main stage and only the third K-Pop act that has performed at the famous music festival. This not only marked their first time ever performing at such an event but also their first time ever performing on an American stage.

Speaking of Coachella, fans were shocked as the stage lit up with a surprising reunion from the members of the girl group 2NE1! CL, a former member, planned a surprise reunion with her group members as a part of her set in the 88 Rising Head in the Clouds Forever stage. The group finally reunited on the stage after seven years since their last performance together. 

2NE1’s labelmates Blackpink have also been preparing for new music. That’s right: a Blackpink comeback! Although, their comeback is not yet confirmed and has only been speculated by the Korean media, they estimate that they could be coming back as early as June. Get ready for new performances and new music that’ll be sure to shatter the charts as soon as it releases. 

Met Gala debuts, Coachella, new music- what else are we missing? World tours! Amongst the multitude of new music released in 2022 alone, we have been blessed with news of multiple world tours. BTS, the biggest boy band of today, just finished their “Permission to Dance on Stage” world tour on their last stop at Las Vegas in April. This marks their fourth worldwide tour, along with the release of their first English single album “Butter.” Along with BTS, Twice also came in for their fourth world tour this year. Consisting of fourteen total shows, five in Asia, and nine in America, Twice has been rocking the world stage. 

Newer groups like Ateez, Stray Kids, and TxT have also announced news of their world tours. Tickets to Stray Kids’ North American shows have sold out faster than the views they racked up on their new title track “Maniac.” Tickets were in such high demand that they added new tour dates in places like Newark, New Jersey and Seattle, Washington.

Now, for my personal favorite world tour announcement, Seventeen! The thirteen-member boy group recently announced their world tour “Be the Sun” soon to take place in August of 2022! Along with a world tour, new music! They are coming out with a full new album this month (which I will be trying to buy before it sells out). 

All this exciting news in the K-Pop community has me excited for what else is to come for the next half of this year. We are constantly being surprised with new music and new performances--and honestly? I don’t mind.