Girl Crush: K-Pop group in India

OutlookIndia

Since the pandemic, K-pop and K-dramas have gained immense popularity in India, creating space for K-pop enthusiasts who had formed groups well before the trend took off. Outlook speaks to Girl Crush, a K-pop girl group in India that were finalists in the All India K-Pop Contest 2024.  Breaking away from the cutesy stereotypes often associated with K-pop, the group discusses the genre's relationship with hip-hop and Black music. Speaking with these girls reveals that the new generation is looking beyond 'idols' and recognising the choreographers and producers who put in the hard work, giving them the credit they deserve.  Reporter: Rani Jana Camera: Vikram Sharma  Editor: Ehraz Zaman  Follow us: Website: https://www.outlookindia.com/ Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Outlookindia Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/outlookindia/ X: https://twitter.com/Outlookindia Whatsapp: https://whatsapp.com/channel/0029VaNrF3v0AgWLA6OnJH0R Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@OutlookMagazine Dailymotion: https://www.dailymotion.com/outlookindia  #KPOP #KDrama #Korea #KoreanCraze #BTSArmy #HipHop #HipHopMusic #Dance #GirlCrush

Transcript

00:00Girl Crush was first established in 2016 and we were only five members back then.

00:30So I first started dancing in 2017 and that's when I stumbled upon BTS.

00:47For me it did start with BTS as well but as I went further and like researched I think

00:54I fell in love with the choreographers that were behind the scenes.

00:57For me it started very long ago like I started dancing very young actually like since I think

01:05since I started walking.

01:06I think for me I got introduced to my brother because I was like new and my brother used

01:11to bring the songs and he just used to play like EXO or Big Bang so that was my beginning.

01:18I am a trained dancer so I did not get into K-pop very early on.

01:22I got into K-pop in COVID only.

01:24I was introduced to K-pop when I was in school in 2016 but it was in quarantine when I like

01:32started dancing officially.

01:34I started indulging into K-pop quite a while ago like 2011-2012 K-round I was just a child

01:43back then.

01:45The main motive was to like break the stereotype of what K-pop is and like if we say K-pop

01:54to like people who don't know what K-pop is like professional dancers who are not aware

01:59of what K-pop is they will be like oh cutesy dancing very easy you know just it's just

02:04a show but we wanted to show what K-pop really is you know like from the roots from the beginning

02:10first generation which is like old-school hip-hop and then branching out to next generation

02:16how it evolved from the first generation then going on to third fourth fifth like that so

02:21we wanted to show them what we're made of what attracted us to K-pop and like K-pop

02:28is just not one box you know there's fashion there's makeup there's dance there's vocals

02:35it's everything.

02:37So as as artists who have different hobbies someone here is very into fashion someone

02:41here is very into makeup styling so it all just attracts us and brings us together and

02:47it just really picks on our strengths.

02:50I feel like whatever we see we also get influenced by that since K-pop doesn't have like a definite

02:55box so we also don't have a definite box so we also trying to branch out and do a little

03:01bit of everything.

03:07We used to practice like 10 or 10 like 6-7 hours a day but that was because we could

03:19only meet during the weekends because we had members in college, working, office all of

03:26that.

03:27It was really hard to match everyone's schedule so we used to practice six to seven hours

03:31for six months.

03:38I've said this before but I'm gonna say the northeastern part of India was very much exposed

03:45to it before so that side the northeastern side has had a long history with the Korean

03:50culture right with with the mainstream India I think Covid and the accessibility of internet

03:57and Netflix really ushered in the movement of Korean culture because everyone was on

04:02their phone everyone was on the screen and everyone was open to watching anything because

04:06everyone was dying outside so they were like okay I'm gonna get an escape and I feel like

04:10Korean culture the way it's marketed the way it's produced it's very escapist you see

04:16dramas oh it's so lovely to watch a drama because it it makes you forget everything

04:20you're feeling and that because statistically also Netflix said that 2020 to 2023 was the

04:29most watched for Korean content and that's how it helped especially after Covid everyone

04:35could watch it so that really helped the growth of it and the consumption of it.

04:41K-pop is a very derived form of music it has all been I would not say taken from I can't

04:48say that but I don't want to be controversial but it is inspired from the African American

04:52music community a lot the first the first hip-hop song like first K-pop song that's

04:57considered to be the start of K-pop is a pure old school hip-hop gangster rap and there has

05:04been a lot of issues with K-pop music appropriating black culture which has been very problematic

05:10and a lot of them have ignored it so I would also like to bring the point that Bonung said

05:15that now the artists behind the dancers are coming forward same as well in the music scene

05:22now I am seeing a change where they are giving credit where it's due they're saying where

05:28it's coming from.

05:29Our main motive right now is to like branch out not only confine us to K-pop and grow

05:45as dancers as individuals and grow as a group together in this journey together yeah.

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