introduction
kpop is a music genre that stands for "korean pop". as you can infer from the name, kpop comes from south korea, where it started in the 90's and since then has evolved to what we know it as today. kpop is used as a general umbrella word for a lot of sub-genres of korean music, including k-r&b, k-rock, k-rap, and other specific genres that fall under pop.
kpop performances usually include singing, dancing, and extravagant costumes and stage decorations. kpop choreographies are usually very large with lots of formation changes and it is also common for them to have dance breaks.

companies
all kpop groups are under companies that run them. the most prominent companies that have (arguably) contributed the most to kpop are called the "big four" : jyp entertainment, yg entertainment, sm entertainment, and hybe labels. all of these companies have very popular groups under them like twice and stray kids (jyp), blackpink and bigbang (yg), nct and aespa (sm), and bts and newjeans (hybe). because most companies have multiple groups under them, "company stans" aren't too uncommon, where a kpop fan will specifically stan any/all artists under a certain company. other prominent companies outside of the big four are cube entertainment, p nation, stone music entertainment, starship entertainment, and pledis entertainment.

vocabularykpop has a lot of specific vocabulary that fans use, so here's a list of the most common phrases/words:idol
a kpop starbias
a person's favorite member(s) of a group
"who's your bias in twice?"ult
short for "ultimate"; a person's ultimate favorite group/idol/etc.
"red velvet is my ult group, and wendy is my ult bias"maknae
the youngest member of a groupanti
someone who doesn't like a specific group/idol/song/etc.
"i don't wanna be friends with anyone who is a seventeen anti"b-side
any song on an album that isn't the main title track/main song being promotedcomeback
when an idol/group releases new musicmini album / ep
a short album, usually between 4-7 songs long. most kpop releases are ep's rather than full albumsfancam
a recording of a group's performance that specifically focuses on one member of the group
"tsuki's fancam went viral last year"
example of a fancamfanchant
a guide for fans to chant along with a group's song while they're performing
example of a fanchantlightstick
a stick that lights up with the music at kpop artists' concerts. most groups have individually designed lightsticks for their fans
examples of lightsticksposition
In groups, idols have separate positions. "Main~" is higher than "Lead~", and "lead~" is higher than "sub~"
Common positions are main, lead, or sub vocalist, main, lead, or sub rapper, main, lead, or sub dancer, face of the group (fotg), center, and visual.face of the group (fotg)
"Face of the group is usually the member who basically represent[s] the whole group when he/she appear[s] on variety shows etc because they are the most popular member in the group." This is sometimes an unofficial position given by fans.
(- @zhou jia hao on quora)
examples of fotgs : nayeon (twice), irene (red velvet), lisa or jennie (blackpink), yuqi (()i-dle)center
the member that is most often center in dance formations, has the most lines in songs, and is usually also fotg or visual.
Examples of centers : nayeon (twice), irene (red velvet), jennie (blackpink), soyeon (()i-dle)visual
member that is objectively the best looking member in a group. It is not uncommon for the visual member to be the most biased in the group (because people like pretty people)
examples of visuals : tzuyu (twice), irene (red velvet), jisoo (blackpink), miyeon and shuhua (()i-dle)

generations
kpop is generally split into four generations (frequently called gens).gen 1 / 1st gen - 1996~2003
groups : Shinhwa, S.E.S, Sech Kies, Turbo, G.O.D, Fly to the Sky and H.O.T
Soloists : Rain, Lee Hyori, and BoAgen 2 / 2nd gen - 2004~2011
groups : Big Bang, t-ara, TVXQ, Super Junior, 2PM, wonder girls, Shinee, 2ne1, girls generation (snsd), Beast, apink, f(x), and Infinite
soloists : hyuna, iu, taemin and sunmigen 3 / 3rd gen - 2011~2018
groups : twice, red velvet, bts, seventeen, monsta x, blackpink, exo, got7, nct, mamamoo, gfriend, oh my girl, and dreamcatcher
soloists : chungha, somi, alexa, baekhyun, b.i, kai, nayeon, moonbyul, hwasa, wendy, seulgi, and joygen 4 / 4th gen - 2018~present
groups : stray kids, xg, newjeans, weeekly, itzy, ateez, aespa, ()i-dle, txt, fifty fifty lesserafim, everglow, ive, kep1er, iz*one, nmixx, billlie, and treasure
soloists : kwon eunbi, choi yena, jo yuri, bibi, and woodz(these obviously aren't all the kpop artists to exist, just some of the popular ones)

1st gens.e.s
girl group (disbanded)
debut : 11.01.1997
company : sm entertainment
members : bada, eugene, and shoo
songs :
dreams come true
i'm your girl
just a feeling
be natural
i love youboa
female soloist
debut : 08.25.2000
company : sm entertainment
songs :
no. 1
forgive me
better
only one
woman

2nd genwonder girls
girl group (disbanded)
debut : 02.10.2007
company : jyp entertainment
members : Yeeun, Sunye, Sunmi, Hyuna, yubin, and Sohee
songs :
tell me
why so lonely
nobody
rewind
so hotgirls generation
girl group
debut : 08.05.2007
company : sm entertainment
members : Taeyeon, Sunny, Tiffany, Hyoyeon, Yuri, Sooyoung, Yoona, Seohyun, and Jessica (former member)
songs :
into the new world
i got a boy
the boys
gee
lion heartshinee
boy group
debut : 05.22.2008
company : sm entertainment
members : jonghyun (passed), Onew, Key, Minho, and Taemin
songs :
view
one of one
replay
ring ding dong
luciferiu
female soloist
debut : 09.23.2008
company : edam entertainment
songs :
twenty-three
lilac
good day
palette
bbi bbi

3rd genbts
boy group
debut : 06.12.2013
company : hybe labels
members : Jin, Suga, J-Hope, RM, Jimin, V, and Jungkook
songs :
fake love
black swan
boy with love
run bts
butterred velvet
girl group
debut : 08.01.2014
company : sm entertainment
members : irene, seulgi, wendy, joy, and yeri
songs :
psycho
bad boy
feel my rhythm
zimzalabim
power upmonsta x
boy group
debut : 05.14.2015
company : starship entertainment
members : Shownu, Minhyuk, Kihyun, Hyungwon, Joohoney, I.M, and wonho (former member)
songs :
jealousy
love killa
gambler
alligator
rush hourseventeen
boy group
debut : 05.26.2015
company : hybe labels/pledis entertainment
members : s.coups, jeonghan, joshua, jun, hoshi, wonwoo, woozi, dk, mingyu, the8, seungkwan, vernon, dino
songs :
very nice
hot
don't wanna cry
falling flower
hometwice
girl group
debut : 10.20.2015
company : jyp entertainment
members : nayeon, jeongyeon, momo, sana, jihyo, mina, dahyun, chaeyoung, and tzuyu.
songs :
cheer up
tt
alcohol-free
feel special
fancyblackpink
girl group
debut : 08.08.2016
company : yg entertainment
members : jisoo, jennie, rosé, and lisa
songs :
how you like that
shut down
pink venom
whistle
ddu-du-ddu-duchungha
female soloist
debut : 06.06.2017
company : mnh entertainment
songs :
snapping
gotta go
bicycle
sparkling
killing me

4th genstray kids
boy group
debut : 03.25.2018
company : jyp entertainment
members : bang chan, lee know, changbin, hyunjin, han, felix, seungmin, i.n, and woojin (former member)
songs :
case 143
god's menu
back door
maniac
the sound()i-dle
girl group
debut : 05.02.2018
company : cube entertainment
members : Miyeon, Minnie, Soyeon, Yuqi, Shuhua, and soojin (former member)
songs :
tomboy
nxde
uh-oh
latata
oh my goditzy
girl group
debut : 02.12.2019
company : jyp entertainment
members : yeji, lia, ryujin, chaeryeong, yuna
songs :
dalla dalla
cheshire
icy
wannabe
locotxt
boy group
debut : 03.04.2019
company : hybe labels
members : soobin, yeonjun, beomgyu, taehyun, huening kai
songs :
crown
anti-romantic
run away
blue hour
sugar rush ridekwon eunbi
female soloist
debut : 08.24.2021
company : off the record entertainment
songs :
glitch
underwater
door
esper
croquisive
girl group
debut : 12.01.2021
company : starship entertainment
members : gaeul, yujin, rei, wonyoung, liz, and leeseo
songs :
love dive
eleven
after like
my satisfaction
royalnmixx
girl group
debut : 02.22.2022
company : jyp entertainment
members : lily, haewon, sullyoon, bae, jiwoo, kyujin, and jinni (former member)
songs :
love me like this
dice
o.o
young, dumb, stupid
tanknewjeans
girl group
debut : 07.22.2022
company : hybe labels
members : minji, hanni, Danielle, haerin, hyein
songs :
hype boy
omg
ditto
attention
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