Entertainment

You Need To Be Following This Massively Popular K-Pop Band

by Alani Vargas
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In the past few years, more and more Americans have discovered K-pop bands and been introduced to the sounds of South Korean pop music. The groups are getting bigger and bigger by the second, and one of these popular K-pop bands, B.A.P — which stands for Best Absolute Perfect — is even set to perform in PyeongChang towards the end of the Olympic games.

The Winter Olympics in South Korea has brought K-pop to the forefront of international attention. At the opening ceremony of the games, a medley of popular songs of the genre were played, including Psy's "Gangnam Style" and BTS's "DNA," which all made their marks on American audiences who might've previously been unfamiliar. "Gangnam Style" was already known by many, but "DNA" has over 98 million plays on Spotify, and BTS has claimed America's attention with "MIC Drop" featuring rapper Desiigner and EDM DJ Steve Aoki.

While the opening ceremonies of the Olympics were relatively mellow in terms of performances, the closing ceremonies are reportedly going to be more K-pop oriented, with the band EXO and artist CL rumored to headline the show. With the genre being such a force to be reckoned with, there's also a K-Pop World Fest on three different dates, with one left on Feb 24. And the band B.A.P is slotted to perform at it.

For those not in the know, B.A.P is a group made up of six artists, and they have a ton of loyal fans. Their music can be described as fast-paced and in the head-banger realm, heavily influenced by hip-hop and rock. The first member to be added to the band was Bang Yong-guk, who goes by the name Yongguk. He had a couple songs out before he signed to the group in 2011, including a feature on "Going Crazy" and "I Remember," which had another K-pop band's member, Yang Yo-seob, on it too (he's a member of Highlight, formerly known as B2ST). The next member to join was Himchan, and the Zelo followed, who actually was a duo with Yongguk for a bit.

The last three members followed after that, and they went on to have a TV show, called Ta-Dah! It's B.A.P. A fan site for the band described it as not being "your standard run of the mill pre-debut reality show with scenes of the boys training." It apparently saw the members as aliens who were on a journey to become singers — and, of course, take over the earth.

B.A.P has both Korean and Japanese albums, with their latest one being released in June 2017. And with a name like B.A.P (Best Absolute Perfect), it may be hard to live up to the hype. But from the looks of what their fans have to say, they'll have a ton of support no matter what.

Like with most stan accounts, these fans post often about how much they love the band, attaching photos, videos, and more of the members. Yongguk is a favorite, which makes sense since he's the leader of the group. And like with other K-pop bands, B.A.P. has transcended past just Korean audiences and now has many international fans, which the Olympics will most certainly add to.

It's not yet known for sure if B.A.P will be a performer at the Olympics closing ceremony, but it's definitely a possibility. As mentioned before, EXO is rumored to perform there, as is singer and rapper CL. She was featured in Psy's "DADDY" and has bangers in both English and Korean. So if you're a fan of B.A.P, keep a look out for some performances happening soon, and check out the other bands making waves during the Winter Olympics.

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