Music / Idols
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Dubstep: The Future of Korean Pop?

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Written by On January 11, 2012

Fans of Korean Pop are growing increasingly disgruntled and frustrated by the increasing frequency of redundancy and repetition, both musically and conceptually, in Korean Pop. 2011 featured many songs, many good songs in fact. But none of them were able to catch the same “syndrome” status that songs from previous years were able to achieve due to the resulting rise in predictability and lack of originality presented by the industry. However subtle, in the midst of 2011 and surely towards the end of the year, a new trend has been begun development, a trend that could break the cycle electronic, dance songs, a trend circa 2008 which Korean Pop has been subjected to since.

In the year 2011, this trend can be traced back to Hyuna’s “Bubble Pop.” While the song progresses in traditional shape and form, Hyuna’s melodic vocals transform into clipped samples as an accompaniment of reverberant drum patterns and overwhelming bass lines dominates the melodic line. Clipped samples, reverberant drum patterns, and overwhelming bass lines are not traditional features of the electronic, dance genre of Korean Pop; rather, it is the defining features of another a genre, another genre originating in South London circa 1998—another genre known as dubstep.

The appearance of dubstep in Hyuna’s “Bubble Pop” received mixed reactions. While some fans disliked it to the point of creating versions of the song and music video without the dubstep break, other fans rejoiced. Regardless of fan reaction to the inclusion of dubstep, “Bubble Pop” went on to receive multiple recognitions and accolades, with the dubstep section being a critical component of the song and thus, a critical component of its success. After Hyuna’s “Bubble Pop” however, dubstep returned to the likes of deadmau5, Skrillex, and Nero and stayed out of Korean Pop for most of 2011. But with the multiple Gayo Daejuns, which symbolize the celebration of the year that has passed and the year that is to come, dubstep returned. During the SBS Gayo Daejun, EXOPLANET’s Kai, SHINee’s Taemin, and Super Junior’s Eunhyuk held a special stage which featured dubstep music and the very name “dubstep” being repeated several times. And now, with the Wonder Girls’ teaser for “The DJ is Mine,” which also features dubstep, this could be a trend that is very well set for take off.

Regardless of dubstep’s polarizing effects, the very fact that it possesses some measure of receptivity and that it will, without a doubt, yield to some freshness (liked or disliked) that the genre requires at this given moment, the industry will soon employ dubstep in the very same way it has employed electronic dance. Electronic dance music possessed popularity and it was a fresh turn of events from the bubble gum pop that was inundating the industry from its inception. And so, knowing that there was a market for it and knowing that it was new and fresh, companies began using electronic sounds everywhere. Now, as we know, it is essentially monopolizing mainstream Korean music. The basic conditions are there — the reaction isn’t definite but it is possible, perhaps even probable.

For those of you who dislike dubstep, this could very well be the end of Korean Pop. This industry is defined by excess and exaggeration and so, any employment of dubstep will occur accordingly. It will be anywhere and everywhere. For those of you who do like dubstep, this could be a brand new beginning to Korean Pop. It will lend to the break in the repetitive cycle that has unfortunately marked the genre right now. But if it does catch on, which is definitely a possibility at this point, it will undoubtedly become the very thing it is meant to change. If dubstep is adopted, it will be adopted in order to maintain/increase popularity and to maintain/increase originality. But with the way this industry works, dubstep will become overused and there will no longer be anything that is either popular nor original about it over time.

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  • Lady Caca

    Although i love dubstep, i’m hesitant for it to be future of kpop. In the west, Britney used this early last year already, and it may reinforce the perception of non-kpop fans that kpop is just about copying trends. It would be good if the future of kpop is a different format that is uniquely kpop, not a derivative of a tired western trend.

  • Anonymous

    Dubstep was really popular back in the beginning of 2011, wasn’t it? KPOP is slow again.

    The same thing with shuffling. It’s old now. And KPOP is only now starting to use it. 

  • Andi

    I hesitate to call whatever that break was in Hyuna’s horrible and overrated “Bubble Pop” dubstep, and listening to the new Wonder Girls teaser, while it does have some dubstep influences, I’d say it’s more influenced by Progressive House music. My prediction for K-Pop in 2012 is that it will feature harder electronic sounds, borrowing heavily from European House music. I’m actually pretty excited for K-Pop acts to introduce some more prominent House influences in their music!

    • Anonymous

      Yeah, I feel like House (the genre originated in Chicago btw, but is widely popular/has variations in Europe so you’re not completely wrong there) would fit in to K-pop quite nicely…. it’s less obvious than dubstep, but K-pop has been experimenting with it lately as well. Park Bom’s Don’t Cry incorporates strong House beats, and it sounds friggin awesome.

  • Littleredchilli

    I don’t have a problem with dubstep, my only concern is that if it proves to become popular, then ALL korean company CEOs across the music company will try and use it in their own groups. Then I will get pissed. the same thing tends to happen whenever there’s a popular trends, be it idol groups, concepts etc.

  • Anonymous

    as long they can make it part of the song without making it random.

  • Geekyninja7

    Dear Kpop,

    Leave dubstep alone. Thank you.

    Sincerely,

    Disgruntled Fan

  • UsuallySilent

    I don’t think they’ll make dubstep work as well as it should be, honestly. Maybe it’ll work, but I don’t think it will. I’ll keep my mind open to it, but I’d rather K-Pop leave dubstep where it is.

  • shuting l.

    Dubstep paired with vocals? And choreography?
    I see where you’re coming from, the Gayo Daejuns have really been full of that stuff but I do not think it could serve as anything else than dance break music. Which I find annoying, since I in most of the cases don’t see any use in dance breaks. 
    I was seriously appalled by the dubstep part in Bubble Pop, it absolutely didn’t fit into the rest of the song.

    It seems to me they just tried out something new for the special stages at the year end festivals and this is awesome, who wants to basically see a repetition of all the weekly music shows? But in the end, I was left being utterly bored already by the heavy usage of dubstep, which is another reason why I sincerely hope Kpop will not go this direction this year; it’s just not my type of music. And this year already started out so good :P

    About Kpop being mainly electro dance, that may be true if you focus on the title tracks, but listening through all the songs on a mini album or full length album one can often find different musical genres, influences of r&b, hip hop or even jazz. I’d say that a lot of songs are rather typical pop songs and some of them even real pop gems, nicely produced and just a pleasure to listen to.

    Some diversity wouldn’t hurt kpop, though. So if dubstep should find its place in upcoming kpop songs, it’s probably not the end of the world. As you pointed out it’ll pass like a phase eventually and I highly doubt it’ll destroy the musical variety Kpop atm definitely has imho.

  • VeryCuticle

    the thing with dubstep is that it all sounds the same  now because kpop is kpop everyone hops on the next money wagon train now if dubstep is the next money maker and everyone starts doing it i doubt i will continue listenin, skrillex is enough dubstep for me tbh…

  • http://twitter.com/FailureDude Kum Dikson

    i’ll still listen to the rnb-inspired ballads, which i dont think they wills top making.
    anyway, speaking of deadmau5-inspiration in kpop.. anyone hear the latest single by Seo In Young, Oh My Gosh? Try comparing it to Deadmau5 – A City In Florida, almost smells of ripoff:> 

  • Anonymous

    i agree that the dubstep trend infiltrating kpop is inevitable… sadly. these music fads just get recycled globally. i mean, something that started in europe has blown up the past few years and is now a mainstream feature at any stupid college party here in the states. i’m not completely against incorporating dubstep into pop songs, because i believe that it can be done well and sound awesome. perfect example of dubstep/pop music fusion= “freakshow” by britney spears. the thing that turns me off/worries me immensely about dubstep in kpop is that kpop has a tendency to GO HARD. like, typically when a kpop song uses auto-tune its done to the point where it can be GRATING on the ears. of course, there are exceptions to this, but i think every fan knows what i’m talking about when their favorite artist comes out with a new song and you’re like “wtf is this?”. oh kpop… i love you, but sometimes i think you really need to take a step back and say to yourself “is this really necessary?”.

  • http://twitter.com/fireonice k

    I’d sincerely appreciate music written by the band members over Dubstep, but I enjoy the freshness Dupstep is bringing to the Kpop at the moment. It’s a natural progression from the direction Kpop sound has been moving in.

  • Bob

    Wow seriously? Repetitive, predictable my ass. If you think kpop is like that, stop listening to Snsd, Shinee, and all those overrated big groups. Listen to IU and Davichi and the like, who dont follow “trendy music”.

    • Anon

      They may be overrated, but it doesn’t change the fact that SNSD/SHINee/etc. are all categorized within K-pop. Good for IU and Davichi for being original and unpredictable, but they don’t represent the trend in K-pop as a whole.

    • xian1989

      Thank God I’m not listening to such groups like snsd and shinee

  • http://twitter.com/cobyness11 coby

    have to google dubstep! haha

  • Boo

    I had to pause upon reading about dub step being a critical component to Bubble Pop because I was laughing too hard. Girl, you know that song could lose that ridiculous dub step section and still stand on it’s own. It was awkwardly placed there as it is.

    I don’t know about dub step being the future of kpop yet because so far no one really seems to know how to use it or dance to it properly. When used well, dub step can be sick! When not, it just sounds like a dishwasher. I think they’ll be using it for dance breaks or dance battles mostly.

  • Yuchen1290

    I already feel like banging my head against a wall just thinking about the obvious shift to dubstep kpop will take. I haven been impressed with EXO’s dubstep teasers at all. It just so waaay overdone in my opinion and i have a feeling that kpop will run dubstep into the ground quicker than they did electro pop. I think it tweaks my nerves more from the anticipation of every idol group under the sun going dubstep. Also, when Eunhyuk, Taemin and Kai were doing there dance during gayo daejun I was really laughing my ass of when they were announcing pretty much that it was dubstep. I feel like if you have to announce to people during a performance what it is then you probably arent doing it right.

  • http://twitter.com/#!/perfumeah perfumeah

    Dubstep? All I heard were club/house style beats and regular electronic music, nothing new or groundbreaking. Which is why it should be used sparingly and incorporated only when it can be done well.

  • Atrapforfools

    I’m sure kpop will run dubstep into the ground faster before anyone even knows its happening. That said, I don’t mind it’s implementation when it’s subtle and actually flows with the song (Kan MiYeon’s “A Man Ah”), for example.

  • http://twitter.com/MassMinority Tamar Linger

    i cant stand dubstep omfg -_- and the way its been used in kpop recently is fucking ridiculous and it makes no senseee

  • G.

    Anyone with Garage Band on their computer can make a dubstep remix of any song. If Korea seriously embraces this shiteous fad, I’m going to laugh.

  • http://twitter.com/mellowyel Mellowyel

    eh. somehow i’m not feeling anyway about dubstep in k-pop. they’ll probably be like all other pop artists using it in the US, UK and Japan and simply add a dubstep dance break to their pop songs. it’ll never be full-on/real dubstep, and it’ll always be the same clip used in every song. now, if they took dubstep and did something interesting with it, then i’d pay attention. until then, i’ll just wait for the fad to pass.

  • JN

    “If dubstep is adopted, it will be adopted in order to maintain/increase popularity…”
    In a nutshell, that’s what this is. It’s an insult to the genre and the artists who devote themselves to its production. Not everything with a wobble and cuts is good dubstep, which is all I heard from that horrendous segment in “Bubble Pop.” 

  • A.

    Ah, the best news. Dubstep FTW, and live it is so much more fun than regular electronic music. I’m all for a dubstep revolution.