K-pop has become popular in the past couple years. K-pop is Korean music. Don’t be fooled by the name because it isn’t just pop. The following genres are in K-pop: rap, pop, hip-hop, r&b, and plenty more. In Korean pop there are solo artists and groups. Around the world, there are over 150 million fans of this genre.
I started to listen to K-pop in February of 2023. Since then, my knowledge of this genre has grown massively.
Top 5 K-pop Groups of 2024 (My Opinion)
- Seventeen: Many would guess this group has 17 members, but they only have 13 members. This group’s name is from the 13 members + three sub-units + the team as a whole which equals to 17. The members consist of Mingyu, Jeonghan, Wonwoo, DK, Hoshi, The8, Joshua, Junhui, Woozi, Seungkwan, Vernon, S.coups, and Dino. They have been a group since May 26, 2015.
I believe this group was phenomenal this year. They came out with 2 banger albums called SEVENTEEN BEST ALBUM ‘17 IS RIGHT HERE’ and SEVENTEEN 12th Mini Album ‘SPILL THE FEELS’. Their album SPILL THE FEELS won Album of the Year at the Golden Disc Awards. Seventeen also won group of the year at 2024 MTV Video Music Awards in New York.
- Stray Kids: This eight-membered group is a personal favorite of mine. Stray kids formed on March 25, 2018. Their name represents the message of a lost child who wants to chase his dreams. The members of the group are Bangchan, Lee Know, Changbin, Hyunjin, Han, Felix, Seungmin, and I.N.
Stray kids came out with three albums this year: ATE, GIANT, and HOP. I believe this group has significantly grown in popularity. The group won Top Global K-Pop Artist at Billboard Music Awards 2024.
- Aespa: Aespa is a talented four-membered group. They debuted on November 17th, 2020. Aespa’s name combines the initials of “avatar” and “experience”, along with the English word aspect. It essentially means meeting another version of yourself and experiencing a new world. The group has an AI concept since the members Karina, Winter, Giselle, and Ningning have AI facial features. By AI facial features, I mean the group members have sharp jawlines and symmetrical faces.
Armageddon – The 1st Album, SYNK :PARALLEL LINE – Special Digital Single,
and Whiplash – The 5th Mini Album are the names of the three new albums they
dropped this year.
In my opinion the songs ‘Armageddon’ and ‘Supernova’, listed in the album
Armageddon, gave Aespa more of a following. Even a portion of their music
video (‘Supernova’) started multiple trends.
- NewJeans: If I had to pick only one group to listen to, it would be NewJeans. The group consists of five talented members: Minji, Hanni, Danielle, Haerin, and Hyein. Ever since NewJeans debuted on July 25, 2022 they have blown up with fame. NewJeans got their name from the phrase “new genes”, meaning to bring a new generation of pop.
In 2024, NewJeans came out with two new albums named How Sweet and Supernatural. Unfortunately, 2024 wasn’t the best year for this group. Due to conflict with their company, the group “disbanded.” Even though they disbanded, they still plan on being a K-pop group with the same members. I believe their numbers have grown substantially beside the spotlight from the disbandment.
- Kiss of Life: Compared to all of these groups, Kiss of Life debuted most recently. The debut date was July 5, 2023. There are four members: Julie, Natty, Belle, and Haneul. Kiss of Life’s name came from the plan to bring a new life to the industry with their charm.
The albums produced in 2024 include Midas Touch, Sticky, and Lose Yourself. Also, the group had a collaboration with the game Valorant, creating one song by the name of ‘Superpower.’ Besides their songs, Kiss of Life’s distinct beauty and powerful choreography brought them a lot of popularity in 2024.
As much as I believe my opinion is always right, I asked Trinity Thompson, a fellow student at West Boca and avid K-pop listener, who she thought was the best group of 2024. Her response was that Stray Kids is the best group “because they released the most content last year all while going on tour and keeping up with fanservice.” I completely agree with Trinity’s opinion and I hope to see Stray Kids in concert this year!
Though there were highs and lows in the industry, it was still a memorable year. K-Pop has grown worldwide significantly during the year and I can already tell that there is much more to come for this genre in 2025.
