What to Remember When People Don’t Understand the K-Pop Hype

Discovering the K-Pop genre can be fun and exciting. Between the music being catchy, the exposure to a whole culture behind it all, and finding groups that make you happy, it can be a fun experience. However, many others don’t necessarily understand the hype around it, which can be for numerous reasons. As K-Pop continues to grow and go viral in one way or another, here are some things to remember when you come across those people.

First things first, it’s important not to let these people bring you down about what you like. It isn’t for everyone, and there’s no reason to feel bad for liking it. Everyone is entitled to their own opinions.

Many people simply can’t get behind the genre for the sake of the language barrier - and yes, that can be a really small reason (looking up translations is easy!), but it’s still reason enough. Many don’t want to deal with the effort to look up a translation every time they like a song. Looking up lyrics to every song can be a lot to do, and it is a perfectly viable reason to not get into the genre. Just remember these comments will roll off the shoulder easier with time because more often than not, these same people making those comments may listen to other non-English songs in other languages, just not Korean. 

At the same time, it’s also important to understand not everyone is going to like K-Pop regardless of any reason. If someone has their reason for not being interested, you should know not to cram it down someone’s throat. It’s okay if you’re excited about buying an album or going to a concert, but understand that not everyone will share that excitement which is also okay.

If you feel like negativity toward you listening to K-Pop gets to be too much, just look back at the moment you became a fan. Whether it be a music video, stage performance, or even just hearing a song that caught your attention, it’s important to know you’re allowed to like what you like, and if that’s K-Pop then that’s okay! K-Pop can be super fun, and there’s no reason to be brought down about enjoying it.