[jpop fan]

Here's some kpop history if you didn't know where it comes from:

The emergence of the group Seo Taiji and Boys in 1992 marked a turning point for Korean popular music, as the group incorporated elements of American popular musical genres of rap, rock, and techno into its music. The tremendous success of Seo Taiji and Boys in Korea and other experimental groups (such as Panic) set the trend for the present generation of K-pop groups and artists. Following Seo Taiji and Boys, dance-oriented acts were dominant in the Korean popular music scene of the early 90s. By the mid-90s, teen idol groups such as Fin.K.L., g.o.d, H.O.T., Shinhwa, Sechs Kies, and S.E.S. were very popular, having strong fanbases and high-selling albums (with some groups having a "million seller", an album selling over one million copies). Starting with the break-up of H.O.T., most of these groups have disbanded, although some have continued their success in the following decade; new groups (such as TVXQ) have since taken their place. But still even today, Shinhwa still lives being strong for 9 years long.

Currently, in the 2000s, pop groups are still very popular, although there has been the emergence of Korean R&B and Hip-Hop. Artists such as MC Mong, 1TYM, Rain and Epik High have proven successful, and Hip-Hop is making its way into the mainstream. Recently, rock music has become noticed by the public, with acts like the Yoon Do-Hyun Band gaining national recognition. In addition, there are also some very popular techno/dance artists such as Lee Jung Hyun and Kim Hyun Jung, who both have had very long careers while remaining firmly entrenched in their genre of music.

There are also many artists who have had international success as well. BoA has become the highest-selling international artist from Korea, due to her strength in the J-pop market; this was in part due to Lee Soo Man's adaptation of the Blue Ocean Strategy. Since then, artists such as Rain and Se7en have also released albums outside of Korea, becoming well-known throughout Eastern Asia. Rain has also had an international tour, having tour dates at Madison Square Garden, the first Korean star to do so. Rain and Se7en both hope to enter the English-language music market sometime in 2007. They are not the first Asians to do so (Utada Hikaru has released an English-language album, but to poor results), both are being eyed very closely to see if they will be the first to succeed.