Love it or hate it, there’s no denying K-pop’s got a hold on our psyche. Korean rapper Psy’s “Gangnam Style” has become a cultural phenomenon—the video’s more than 402 million views on YouTube show that the success of K-pop around the world is no joke.
In fact, several students are so serious about their adoration for K-pop that they devote their free time to learning, practicing and performing their own version of the trend.
Meet Afterparty, Northwestern’s only K-pop dance cover group. The members of the group are bringing together American and Korean cultures and diversifying the University’s performing arts community.
And K-pop is the perfect platform. Unlike American popular music, which celebrates an individual artist’s creativity, Korean pop music is a factory-like industry in which the companies generate everything: They choose singers, choreograph dances and write music.
“There has been a huge K-pop boom in the past couple of years, so I also saw it as an opportunity to bridge gaps not only between Korean-Americans and international Koreans but also between Koreans and non-Koreans,” says Afterparty founder and Weinberg senior Linda Hong.
Afterparty joined the Northwestern dance community in 2010 when a group of students decided to transform their annual performance at the Korean American Student Association show into a year-round experience.
These performances are more about the dancing than the music itself, although many people enjoy the love ballad lyric style.
"When [groups] do a music video, a lot of them will try to do half dancing, half ‘story-singing,’” says Afterparty member Jasmine Hubbard, a Weinberg senior. "Some of them will have two music video releases—they do that on purpose so people can learn the dance.”
Afterparty is making a splash in the world of K-pop covers. In August, the boys of the group placed fourth at the Chicago Korean Cultural Festival, and Afterparty member Jun Sung Ahn, a Communication sophomore, won Psy’s “Gangnam Style” video cover contest.
Though most Afterparty members are Korean, they encourage people of all ethnicities and cultures to audition.
“Especially with ‘Gangnam Style’ becoming so popular outside the Korean circle, I feel like Afterparty can provide an opportunity for non-Koreans to learn Korean culture,” Hong says.
Though successful so far, Afterparty is more than just an ambitious dance group.
“I hope Afterparty can participate in newer, not necessarily Asian events so we could spread K-pop campuswide,” Hong says. “But most of all, I’d like Afterparty to have fun dancing.”