From the start, the world is their stage. These “4th generation idols” have recently quickly dominated global music fans, including TOMORROW X TOGETHER, ITZY, and aespa.
Right from the start, the world is their stage. These so-called “4th generation idols” has recently quickly dominated global music fans, including TOMORROW X TOGETHER, which Big Hit Music introduced to the industry six years after BTS, ITZY, a genealogy of JYP Entertainment girl groups, and aespa, which expanded the horizon of girl groups by combining the concept of virtual avatars. 100 million views on their debut song on YouTube is a given. They are becoming the main characters of the industry as they continuously “entered the U.S. Billboard Main Chart” as if it were a relay. Famous music media such as the U.S. Billboard, Rolling Stone, and the U.K. NME also rushed to publish various interviews and related news, paying attention to the phenomenal fourth-generation K-pop idols.
◇ Focusing on the conceptual worldview more than addictive lyrics
If the 1st generation idol, which was born in the mid-1990s, formed the fandom culture, the 2nd generation, including TVXQ, BIGBANG, Wonder Girls, and Girls’ Generation, led the Korean Wave in Asia. Since then, 3rd generation stars such as BTS, BLACKPINK, and EXO have put K-pop flags on the mainland of pop such as the United States and Europe.
Recently, new K-pop artists who stress on overseas markets first are forming a “4th generation idol” era. They are mainly male groups such as Stray Kids (JYP), ATEEZ (KQ Entertainment), TOMORROW X TOGETHER (Big Hit), and ENHYPEN (BE:LIFT LAB), and girl groups such as aespa (SM), ITZY and NMIXX (JYP), StayC (High Up), IVE (Starship), Kep1er (Wake One and Swing).
The secret to their rapid settlement in the global market is the performance of their senior groups above all else. In addition to topping the Billboard Hot 100, awareness of K-pop has increased more than ever through BTS, who has conquered overseas markets such as the U.S. AMA (American Music Awards), and BLACKPINK, who has exceeded 22 billion views on YouTube. In the case of TOMORROW X TOGETHER‘s second full-length album “The Chaos Chapter: Freeze,” it ranked fifth in sales in the U.S. last year and achieved the highest selling record among K-pop albums. An official from Big Hit Music said, “All five members are participating in the producing work, melting their own stories into sincere lyrics that arouse sympathy. Music with TOMORROW X TOGETHER’s unique colors is becoming the playlist of Generation Z.”
The so-called concept worldview, which has continued since the 3rd generation, has also become more solid in the 4th generation. Just as the group aespa debuted with the AI avatars set-up which excited Generation Z, they debut with a clear worldview from the beginning. Lee Moon-won, a pop music critic, said, “Commonly, Korean pop music required a ‘hook’ with addictive melody, but recently, such unique worldviews are drawing more attention.” In addition to large agencies, small and medium-sized agencies that can produce content liked by foreign fandom through YouTube will be able to grow world-class K-pop stars,” he said. “In the future, we will gain popularity first from overseas and re-import them back to Korea.”
◇ Captivate the TikTok generation right from their debut
One of the most representative characteristics of established idols of previous generations is “mysticism”. This was maintained in the form of throwing only some so-called hints regarding which trainee would debut. However, the 4th generation groups share everything with the public from the beginning. They even communicate with fans around the world before their debut through broadcast stations’ auditions or their own YouTube live broadcasts. In the case of broadcasting, most are also broadcast live around the world through OTT content. ENHYPEN, who recently topped the U.S. Billboard chart for three consecutive weeks, and Kep1er, who topped the global music streaming platform iTunes chart with its title track “WA DA DA“, are from audition programs of broadcast stations.
Fans are interested in what kind of songs they will release, which soon leads to album sales. IVE’s album “Eleven”, released on January 1st, has become a hot topic, topping the Billboard Hot Trend Song chart for the first time in just 7 days. The U.K’s NME also commented, “Now, if someone is called a ‘rookie’ in K-Pop, it means the ‘next-generation global stars’.”
A representative from a broadcaster said, “As I watch the narrative selected by the members like watching a drama, I feel that the immersion level is higher than that of the previous generation. More and more fans are producing second and third stage content with the idols as the main characters using short-form platforms such as TikTok, which is popular with Generation Z.”
