K-Pop Music and How it Relates to My Writing

Music is important to me. It’s a source of inspiration and often acts as an escape when I needed it. If you haven’t heard of K-Pop Music before, the ‘K’ stands for Korean Music. I’m not Korean, but I do like good music and cute boys and K-Pop music has both. It’s gaining a lot of popularity here in North America a lot more recently and that’s why I wanted to share my faves with you and tell you how they relate to my writing.

Previously, I never used to listen while I wrote. It can be too distracting and I have enough voices in my head to keep track of. However, since discovering K-Pop music, I’ve found that I can listen and still keep the character’s voices in my head on track. The main reason is obviously because I’m not fluent in Korean so unless I look up the lyrics, I really have no idea what they are saying.

This is a good and a bad thing. It’s good because that means I can write to the music. Previously, I used to be jealous of those writers who could put their headphones on and block out the world to write. But now with K-Pop, I can do the same. I can set the mood for a scene with a certain song and write to that.

Here’s a little secret about me: I tend to listen to a song repeatedly until I get sick of it. This is great for me because I can often write a book to one song. The only downside is that the people around me tend to get tired of it.

But the beauty of K-Pop music is that there’s so much to explore. While I do know some Korean words, these idols often talk so quickly that it’s hard to catch it all sometimes. There are two groups that have really stood out to me and have vastly improved my writing (in my opinion). And if it doesn’t, it at least makes writing that much more fun to do.

The group that really started it all for me is Big Bang. These guys have been around for more then ten years so they’re really the veterans of the K-Pop industry and a lot of other younger K-Pop bands look up to them. If you haven’t heard of G-Dragon then you have probably seen him. He’s the leader of the group and is truly amazing with his creative mind. The four other members, T.O.P, Tae Yang, Seung Ri, and Daesang are all talented as well. I love their presence on stage and would love to see them in concert one day. But since T.O.P has now gone to serve his mandatory military service, I’m not sure when that’s going to happen.

The other obsession I have is BTS (Bantang Boys). These guys are much younger and have only been on the scene for the last five or so years. Like I mentioned earlier, this is one of the groups that look up to Big Bang. BTS has a different style. They are more Tumblr in style and I think that’s probably why they’ve gained some fans internationally. While still a Korean Hip Hop band, they do have some idols who are great in Contemporary dance and music as well. My personal favorite is Jin. He’s the oldest but gets overlooked so much. His style is much softer and he has a beautiful voice, but because the group is a Hip Hop group, he doesn’t always get to show off his talents. My other fave is Jungkook, who is the youngest and probably the most popular of the bunch. I would say he’s the most Americanized of them all, which explains why he has so many fans overseas. I discovered them because of the Blood, Sweat, and Tears music video and have quickly fallen in love with their music.

I’ve just wrapped up rewrites on my Moonrise Beach series. It’s a Contemporary Romance series that has a small-town vibe. I’ve created a playlist of my favorite Big Bang and BTS songs for you to listen to. This is what I’ve been writing to. Maybe you’ll be able to catch the inspiration and influences in the books if you listen to it.

If you listen to K-Pop and have some recommendations, please leave a comment down below. I would love to discover new talent and music. And if you are a writer, what music do you write to, if any?