If you’d mentioned K-pop to anyone in the West in the first half of this decade, there was every chance they’d have looked at you blankly. South Korea’s boy and girl pop groups were beloved by millions for videos that ranged from the sublime to the surreal and their bold combination of genres – from hip-hop to Latin to EDM – but beyond Asia, they were little known.

“Gangnam Style” changed K-pop’s global status in 2012, but the shift in Western perception from one-off novelty record to bonafide pop juggernaut rests on the shoulders of BTS’s American breakthrough in 2017. This year alone, they sold four million copies of their latest album, Map Of The Soul: Persona, and earned more from their tours than The Rolling Stones or Metallica.

Blackpink, NCT, SuperM, Stray Kids and Monsta X have also been selling out arenas across Europe and the US; with language no longer an obstacle in the age of social media and multilingual fandoms, K-pop has finally found its feet outside Asia. As a new decade sits on the horizon, we look back at ten years of milestones and game-changing moments that led to K-pop standing tall on the world stage.

2010, the Golden Age boom: 'Lucifer' by Shinee

Halfway through what’s known as K-pop's Golden Age (2008-2012), the videos leaned hard into new wealth (gold, diamonds, sports cars) and glossy futurism (neon, gadgetry, and so many lens flares), while excessive vocoders and thick electronica saturated its sound (4Minute’s “Huh”, Super Junior’s “Bonamana”, and GD & Top’s “High High” are prime examples). “Lucifer” utilised the trend for hyperactive electro-dance but kept the tinkering of Shinee’s distinctive vocals to a minimum to create a perfectly balanced offering that would be a gateway for many into K-pop, rightfully earning its status as a classic single.

2011, the year of the girl group: 'I Am The Best' by 2NE1

In 2011, women owned K-pop. The disco of T-Ara’s “Roly Poly” dominated the charts, HyunA’s solo single “Bubble Pop!” took the 4Minute member to new heights, Girls’ Generation got sexy with “The Boys” and Brown Eyed Girls unleashed their anarchist diva on “Sixth Sense”. But three years into their career, 2NE1 would become legends with “I Am The Best”, an anthemic ode to self confidence. From the chanted title refrain to a video that was as slick as the clothes were over-the-top, 2NE1’s big sound and outré look not only brought K-pop to the curious attention of the Western fashion and music media but became a visual blueprint for the genre's feisty "girl crush" concept.

2012, youthquake: 'Warrior' by BAP

Although seen as the year that K-pop went global, thanks to Psy’s “Gangnam Style”, the industry didn’t seem to know what to do with the sudden influx of attention. Big Bang, one of its greatest groups, released the maximalist banger “Fantastic Baby” next to their more introverted “Blue”, a period in which they seemed primed to break America. But it wasn’t meant to be. Infinite’s “The Chaser”, although one of the most cinematic and sophisticated songs K-pop ever produced, was out of step with US trends. In hindsight, it was newer groups Block B and, particularly, BAP who would shake up K-pop by hitching their youthful energy to a grubbier, darker look. The latter’s lyrical angst and harder-edged sound, which hinged heavily on their rappers, created a generational gap in K-pop and a creative shift that was adopted by later groups, such as BTS, Monsta X and Got7.

2013, the Reign of SM: 'Growl' by Exo

Even K-pop’s hormonal rush – Vixx’s R-rated gothic, Miss A’s sensual “Hush”, Trouble Maker dry humping in the epic “Now” – couldn’t divert attention from SM Entertainment, which in 2013 released F(X)’s classic LP Pink Tape and dropped Girls’ Generation’s “I Got A Boy”, divisively referred to as the “Bohemian Rhapsody" of K-pop. However, SM struck pure gold with Exo’s “Growl”. The 12-member group, who debuted in 2012 with a sci-fi concept and flashy costumes, had done well but not soared. Here, Exo were stripped of the dramatics – instead, appearing in simple suiting in a one-take video – and their sound was pared back to a loop of synth, beatboxy clicks, sublime harmonies and a cantering chorus. Instantly addictive and ultimately timeless, it sold more than two million copies in South Korea and catapulted Exo into superstardom, a position they still hold today.

2014, the rollercoaster: 'Catallena' by Orange Caramel

In this decade, three years devastated K-pop: 2014 (the deaths of Ladies’ Code’s Ri-se and EunB in a car crash); 2017 (the death of Shinee’s Jonghyun); and 2019 (Sulli and Goo Hara’s deaths; the Burning Sun scandal; and an unprecedented number of members leaving their groups). There were bright patches in this turbulent year – AOA’s tantalising “Miniskirt” and Apink’s fizzy “Mr Chu” – but most of all, Orange Caramel. Their candy-coloured and comically quirky videos – think Seventies British comic editing meets Tim Burton’s suburbia – have influenced visuals for girl groups such as Momoland, Red Velvet, IOI, Exid and Oh My Girl, but “Catallena”, which marries a sample of Punjabi folk song “Jutti Meri Jandiye” to classic disco strings and in which the trio dress up as sushi, is unrivalled for its sparkling, weird genius.

2015, a new era: 'Dumb Dumb' by Red Velvet

In the spotlight were heavy hitters Big Bang (following a long creative block) and Exo, with their formidable LP, Exodus, but K-pop’s wheel was turning. Seventeen debuted their self-produced funk-pop, Twice had overnight successes and BTS’s career rocketed when they reconfigured their look and sound for the narrative-led two part album The Most Beautiful Moment In Life. But “Dumb Dumb” was Red Velvet’s step up into becoming one of the decade’s best girl groups, while also marking the rise of video collective VM Architecture and British producers LDN Noise. The latter gave Shinee, F(X), Exo, Astro and NCT some of their finest moments, while VM’s block colours, overhead shots and stylised sets would be emulated ten-fold, helping shape K-pop over the next four years.

2016, the art of storytelling: 'Blood Sweat & Tears' by BTS

Twice became K-pop’s queens with buoyant mega-hits “Cheer Up” and “TT”, but BTS’s storytelling (in which they played troubled, volatile versions of themselves) had sent ripples through K-pop in 2015. Backstories and short films weren’t new in K-pop, but a parallel universe with a complex, consistent narrative was, and so was the favourable public response to it. In 2016 Monsta X, Loona, Got7 and Vixx emerged with their own storylines, but BTS (along with their sole video team, Lumpens) continued unabated. Herman Hesse’s novel Demian provided inspiration for the lavish visual production of the magnum opus, “BS&T”, where sharply combined moombahton and trap were offset by the sensual temptation and pain in the lyrics and melody. It was BTS’s first Korean No1 single and from here on in nothing would stop their ascent to being the world’s biggest boy band in 2019.

2017, survival of the fittest: 'Energetic' by Wanna One

Survival shows have been as much a staple in South Korea as they have in the UK and US, however Produce 101 was a beast that got out of control. Its first series, in 2016, featured 101 female trainees, whittled down by public vote to form the temporary eleven-member group IOI. Series two had the same premise but with boys (Wanna One, who sold a staggering million copies of their debut). Produce 48 created a second girl group (Iz*one) and Produce X in 2019 formed boy group X1, only for the entire franchise to be proven rigged shortly after their debut. The house-inspired piano pop of “Energetic” remains a genuinely exciting tentpole moment in K-pop, but fewer such shows, which chew up and spit out young hopefuls even more carelessly than K-pop’s standard training system, wouldn’t be a bad idea in the next decade.

2018, Blackpink in your area: 'Ddu-Du-Ddu-Du' by Blackpink

As YG Entertainment’s first girl group since 2NE1, we wanted Blackpink to have similarly chunky anthems imbued with the swagger their label was famous for. We didn’t get many of them but they were big and they were loud. “Ddu-Du-Ddu-Du” looked exactly as brilliant as OTT K-pop should, there was that hooky title refrain, the rappers injected sly confidence on the verses and an emotional build into the chorus gave the vocalists space to power up. It would eventually clock up more than one billion views on YouTube and, with its follow-up “Kill This Love”, propelled Blackpink into the West, where they’d headline Coachella 2019 and tour on four continents. Often touted as the next breakthrough act to follow BTS, whether or not Blackpink can reach those dizzy heights will be more clear when their long-awaited new material drops in early 2020.

2019, rise of the rookies: 'Crown' by TXT

K-pop’s pecking order is once more poised to shift as Exo continue sending members into South Korea’s mandatory military service – BTS’s Jin is due to begin his in 2020 – and groups Twice, NCT and Blackpink mature into established careers. A new wave of idols are already eagerly stamping their mark: the songwriting and producing groups such as AB6ix, (G)I-dle, and Stray Kids; the lovable brat-pop of Itzy; Ateez’s fiery, unbeatable stage presence; and the bright, effervescent pop of TXT who, despite being BTS’s younger sibling group, are in their own element as they playfully explore teenage growing pains. So where exactly are we headed next? There is no obvious answer, but if BTS’s unprecedented success is anything to go by, the advice would be never to expect the obvious and not to overlook the underdogs.

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