Which K-Pop Boy Group Could Be the Next One to Break America?
K-pop has been gaining a huge following in the U.S. in the past few years. BTS has been leading the way and becoming more mainstream every day. As such, it seems likely that another group could soon find success with the American public as well. While no one can predict the future, here are a few boy groups that seem poised to take over the U.S. next.
Seventeen
SEVENTEEN debuted in 2015 and has been extremely successful in South Korea, with many popular songs such as “Pretty U,” “Don’t Wanna Cry,” “Home,” and “Left & Right.”
SEVENTEEN has also found success in Japan and Southeast Asia. The group has been expanding into the U.S. and Europe as well. Before COVID-19 hit, they performed three shows in the U.S. on their world tour.
With 13 members, some might argue that SEVENTEEN is too big for the American public to take in. However, the members can often split into smaller sub-units. Plus, there are two fluent English speakers in the group.
NCT 127
NCT 127 is a part of the larger NCT unit with 21 members. NCT 127 contains 10 members—three of whom speak English fluently.
Since 2018, the group has been promoting diligently in the U.S., even releasing English versions of their Korean songs. They have appeared on various American talk shows and had a North American tour with stops in several big cities.
SuperM
SuperM is from SM Entertainment, one of the biggest and most influential entertainment companies in South Korea. NCT 127 is also from the same company.
SuperM is quite different from your average K-pop group, however. The members are all from several already-established groups under SM, including two members from NCT 127. They have been described as the Avengers of K-pop.
Since the beginning, SuperM has been completely focused on getting attention internationally. The group rarely charts in South Korea and has only performed in North America and Europe. As such, they are one of the rare K-pop groups around who were specifically made for Western audiences.
Ateez
Ateez debuted in 2018 and has since found a huge following in Western countries. They are extremely popular among international K-pop fans and have toured in Europe, North America, and Australia. In fact has only been recently that Ateez managed to gain more success in South Korea.
Ateez makes music that is rather internationally-friendly, which explains their large fan base abroad. Additionally, while they currently do not have fluent English speakers, some members can still handle English interviews quite well.
Stray Kids
Stray Kids debuted in 2018 after being formed on the reality show with the same name. They have found decent success in South Korea, but their hard-hitting, hip-hop sound has also made them very popular with international fans. Stray Kids have toured in North America, Europe, and Southeast Asia.
Perhaps what makes Stray Kids appealing on the international stage is also the fact that they have four English speakers—two of whom are from Australia.
