The K-Pop ABC for newcomers and professionals

Translation missing: en.pagefly.article.by_authorJul 22, 2021

The K-Pop ABC for Beginners and Professionals

Author: Helen Bosch / Jul 22, 2021

K-Pop has its own language - here is a brief overview of the most important terms including explanations so that you always have an overview and can have a say :)

A

Aegyo - The term in Korean refers to excessively cute behavior. For example, K-pop idols speak in baby voices or make hearts with their fingers when asked to do “aegyo.”

Akgae - A member of a band who receives a noticeable amount of attention compared to the other band members.

All-Kill - When a band's song or album reaches number one on all South Korean music charts, it is called an "All-Kill".

Anti - An anti-fan and hater who regularly expresses negative opinions about an artist, whether in the comments on the artist's official content or in discussions with fans.

B

Bias - Your personal absolute favorite of a band. Every fan has their own bias.

Bias Wrecker - The band member that attracts the most attention after the bias and sometimes even distracts from the bias.

Big Three - This refers to the big 3 entertainment companies that have dominated the K-Pop industry from its inception to today: SM Entertainment, JYP Entertainment & YG Entertainment. There are discussions about whether it has now become the "Big Four" with HYBE or that HYBE has replaced YG as a member of the Big Three. Nevertheless, the vast majority still think of SM, JYP, and YG when they hear the term "Big Three".

Black Ocean - At K-pop concerts or music shows, fans often wave the lightstick of their favorite band. When the entire arena, for example, is filled with red lightsticks, it is called a "Red Ocean." A "Black Ocean" occurs when "fans" coordinate and turn off all their lightsticks to boycott a specific band and their performance. In that case, the arena or part of it becomes dark and silent.

B-Side - A song that is not the title track of an album. If an album contains 5 songs, there are therefore 4 B-Sides. Exceptions are cases where multiple songs are promoted as the title track.

Often, the title track is the only one with a music video and the one that is performed in music shows. Sometimes, however, a B-side also receives a music video, for example, if it is just as popular or even more popular than the title track. Typically, the tracklist posters indicate which song is the "Title." All other songs on the album are automatically considered "B-Sides".

C

Center - The member of the band who dances in the middle most of the time during the performance and therefore gets the most screen time. Center is not a fixed position and changes often, although not always during a comeback.

CF - “CF” is the abbreviation for “Commercial Film” and in Korea refers to commercials that are shown on television.

Comeback - A comeback occurs whenever a K-Pop band or a solo artist releases a new song. The respective song is promoted on various music shows.

Concept - The theme of an album or photoshoot is referred to as "Concept". The official photos from an album or photobook are often uploaded with the title "Concept Photo" or "Concept Image". This concept is reflected not only in the photos but also in the music and stage design.

D

Dance Practice - K-Pop is known for the dance choreographies that match the songs. Fans also like to imitate these, and special “dance practice” videos are then published for this purpose.

Debut - The official entry into the entertainment industry. A singer's debut occurs when they release their first album or their first song.

In K-Pop, it sometimes happens that a group presents a song or an entire album and still has not officially debuted. Whether a release is considered a debut or not is determined by the entertainment company in the K-Pop industry.

Delulu - The term is derived from the English word "Delusional". K-Pop fans often use the term on social media to describe people with crazy fantasies or ideas. Often, it refers to other fans who have idealistic fantasies about their favorite idols.

Disbandment - When a group dissolves, it is called "Disbandment" (dissolution).

Discography - A discography is a detailed list of sound recordings. When it comes to K-pop artists, a distinction is usually made between studio albums, extended plays and single albums, which differ mainly in the number of songs they contain.

E

Ending Fairy - The member whose face is zoomed in on after a music show.

F

Fan Chant - Each song has an official “Fan Chant”, a fan chant to support their idols at concerts and music shows. This is created either by the fan communities or even by the respective band.

Fandom - The fan community of an artist. Fandoms in the K-Pop industry often have not only a name but also a specific color or even their own logo.

Fanservice - When an idol or actor does something to please their fans, it is called fanservice. This includes, for example, idols taking off their T-shirts or bandmates hugging each other, which fans would love to see in a bromance.

Fighting - A call for support and motivation.

G

Gaon Chart - The Gaon Chart was initiated in 2010 and gives an insight into the weekly best-selling songs and music albums in South Korea, which are included in the year-end evaluation - in the calculations of the award shows - factor in.

Generations - Generations are the different time periods since the emergence of K-Pop.

H

Hallyu - The term stands for “Korean Wave” and describes how K-Pop is literally overtaking everything and everyone and is becoming increasingly popular.

Hanteo Chart - In contrast to the Gaon Chart, the Hanteo Chart is a “real-time chart”. The counting takes place in real time and not cumulatively over a certain period of time. The chart obtains its data from Hanteo-certified stores, which report their actual sales to the end customer. This data is also included in the rating of the weekly music shows.

Here you can learn even more about the two charts!

Hiatus - The term refers to a pause or interruption of activities. If a K-pop artist announces a hiatus, he interrupts his activities for a longer period of time, for example to recover from an illness.

I

Idol - Members of the K-Pop bands. They are real role models for their fans.

Here you will find albums from your favorite idols. And of course also merchandise!

J

J-Line - When a K-Pop group has two or more Japanese members, they are referred to as the J-Line. The first group with a J-Line was the girl group Twice in 2015. It has 6 Korean members and three Japanese: Sana, Mina, and Momo.

If a group has several Chinese members, they are referred to as 'C-Line'. The same applies to all other nationalities. However, even though groups debut repeatedly with several members from mixed backgrounds, a 'Line' rarely forms, as not all foreign (non-Korean) members share the same nationality. 'J-Line' is still the most commonly used term today, as Japanese idols are relatively common in the K-Pop industry.

K

Koreaboo - A mostly derogatory term for non-Korean individuals who are obsessed with Korean culture. Many so-called "Koreaboos" want to date Koreans, move to Korea, or look more like a Korean themselves.

L

Leader - The leader is usually the oldest member of the band and is like a father/mother to the remaining members; That means he takes care of the others, motivates them and represents the band, for example by doing the speaking at award ceremonies.

Light Stick - A popular fan item that almost every K-Pop artist offers nowadays. This refers to elaborate, colorful light sticks that usually display the logo, name, or another symbol of the respective artist and can glow in various colors. Fans wave them at concerts to cheer for their idols. Since each group and artist has their own light stick, the stars can recognize their fans everywhere. For example, at festivals where the audience comes from many different fandoms.

Line Distribution - The distribution of song parts among the members of a band. In “Line distribution” videos created by fans, people often compare who sings how many lines of songs, with main vocals, i.e. the main singers of a group, usually having particularly large parts. Unfortunately, comparison often makes it clear that some members consistently have extremely few vocal parts.

M

Maknae - This is the youngest member of a band. This term is not only used within a band, but also within a family.

Multi Stan - A fan who likes many different groups and artists. "Multi" is derived from the English word "multiple," which means "several, numerous, manifold".

MV - Abbreviation for “Music Video”.

N

Netizen - Netizen is a combination of “Citizen” and “Internet” and describes people on the Internet.

Nugu - Artists who are referred to as "Nugu" are those who are relatively unknown or have little success. "Nugu (누구)" is a Korean word that translates to "Who." Nugu artists are thus a nobody; they are considered so unknown that one has to ask "Who is that?"

Unfortunately, "Nugu" is also used derogatorily. Some fans use the term for all artists they consider to be less successful than their personal favorite.

O

OST - Abbreviation for the Official Soundtrack of Korean television series.

P

Point Dance - A special, exceptional movement of each song's dance routine.

Pre-Debut - The term "Pre-Debut" refers to the phase "before the debut". For example, there are Pre-Debut photos, Pre-Debut singles, or Pre-Debut albums. "Pre-Debut" simply means everything that was released before an artist's official debut.

Pre-Release - Normally, new songs are released on the same day as the album to which they belong. However, nowadays it is common to upload one or two songs in advance. These songs are referred to as "Pre-Release" because they have been released "before the release". In most cases, Pre-Release singles are released a few days before the album. Sometimes, however, there can be months in between.

R

Rookies - The term “rookies” refers to young artists who have recently debuted. Young artists stay in this phase for around 1-2 years.

S

Sasaeng - “Sasaeng” describes extreme fans. Most often, the term is used as a negative term for fans who stalk public figures or otherwise invade their privacy.

Selca (Day) - “Selca” is the Korean term for “selfie”. Every band has its own so-called Selca Day with an associated hashtag. Fans can then post a picture of themselves combined with their idol including the appropriate hashtag on each day.

Here you can learn more about the Selca Days!

Shelfie - A "selfie" of your shelf and your K-Pop collection.

SNS - The term is derived from the English word "Social Network Service". It refers to social media such as Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, Pinterest, and so on.

Solo Stan - A fan who is only interested in a single member of a group. Either they do not like the rest of the group or they only know that one member - for example through solo projects - and therefore would not consider themselves a fan of the whole group.

Stan - K-Pop fans who have a great interest in an artist are called "Stan." So if you really like BTS, you are a BTS Stan. If you celebrate Blackpink, you are a Blackpink Stan. "Stan" can also be used as a verb in a sentence: "I stan Blackpink."

In general, the term refers to a very eager and obsessed fan of a celebrity. In the K-Pop industry, however, it simply expresses that one is a passionate fan.

Sub-Unit - When individual members of an idol group come together to form a smaller group, this is referred to as a Sub-Unit. These Sub-Units release their own albums and also perform in this configuration on music shows or at concerts. Nevertheless, the members remain active in the larger group. Some groups have multiple Sub-Units. Occasionally, it even happens that a member is active in more than one Sub-Unit.

Sub-Units usually arise within a group. However, there are also cases like the sub-unit "Super Junior M". The members include the Chinese singers Henry and Zhou Mi, who are both not part of Super Junior. They were both only active in the unit. However, this is extremely rare.

Survival Shows - Korean casting shows in which individual candidates or groups compete against each other and are eliminated one by one until one or more winners remain.

Here you can learn more about survival shows!

T

Trainee - This is what the young people are called who train in entertainment, hoping to debut one day. They practice singing, dancing, and rapping, and some even live in the agency. Some talents are trainees for 10 years, while others are only for 1. Not everyone makes it to debut.

U

Ultimate Bias - The absolute favorite singer, not just within a band, but in K-pop as a whole. The favorite among the favorites, so to speak. Logically, the ultimate bias is also the bias from the respective band.

Unboxing - There are countless “unboxing videos” on the Internet from fans and increasingly from K-pop shops in which albums and other fan items are unpacked in front of the camera to show the content. Unboxings help fans decide whether or not they want to buy an album.

Underrated - In German “underrated”. Fans often talk about “underrated” bands; Groups that deserve more attention and whose talent is underestimated.

Unit/Sub-Unit - Larger bands in particular are often divided into “units” that also release their own songs. In addition to these smaller groups that emerge from a band, there are also special units or project units that consist of members of different bands and usually only exist for a short time.

V

Visual - The visual is the member who represents the group - the face of the band.

Vocal Line, Dance Line, Hyung Line (…) - When you talk about the "vocal line" of a group, it refers to the main singers. The “dance line” therefore refers to the main dancers. The boy band Seventeen had already clearly defined who belonged to the vocal, dance or rap line before their debut and were also active separately in these groups. Outside of this division into positions, there is also the term “Hyung Line”. This refers to the older members of the band; for BTS that would be RM, J-Hope, Suga and Jin. In contrast, the younger members Jungkook, Jimin and V form the “Maknae Line”.