From professional to fanmade

So far I have only talked about the professional side of K-pop, but I also want to talk about the fan side of K-pop. K-pop is known for having very dedicated fans. As a K-pop fan, you are part of one or different fandoms. In my case, I am an official BTS Army, but I also consider myself a stay (fan of Stray Kids) and a MooMoo (fan of Mamamoo).

There isn’t anything special you need to do to belong to these fandoms, however, there is a lot you can do. BTS fans very frequently “stream” (listen to one or a few specific songs the maximum amount of time in an hour without getting flagged as a bot) music so the best possible scores can be achieved. It is also common to mobilize as many people as possible to vote for awards so BTS will win them. Other K-pop fandoms tend to do the same. Due to the still very common racism and xenophobia against K-pop, K-pop fans tend to go above and beyond to get their artist the recognition they deserve.

However, there is another side to K-pop fandoms: the very talented side. K-pop has a lot of media to consume, from music to videos and everything in between. And many fans draw inspiration from this.

In the picture you see many earrings, but the ones I want to talk about are the two long black ones. The one on the left is a swan, based on the BTS song “Black Swan.” The one on the right is an earring with the text “대취타, Daechwita”, based on the song Daechwita by Agust D (aka Suga from BTS). The designs are not just based on the different songs however, they are also based on the type of earrings BTS themselves often wear. Most members of BTS wear earrings, and you can often see these types of big rings with chains on them. I personally really love these earrings because you won’t know it’s merchandise unless you are familiar with BTS. While I am not ashamed to be a fan, I do also like these types of subtle merchandise that can easily blend in with my daily wardrobe.