8 Things That Happen In K-Pop That Make Things A Little Less Enjoyable For Fans

While nothing can ever take away your love of K-Pop, there are certain things that may cause you to have some reservations or stop you from completely enjoying it. Whether you’re a new fan or a longtime veteran in the world of K-Pop, these small things might take away a little bit of the joy you get when listening to your favorite artists or are communicating with fans and non-fans alike.

 

1. When you’re too broke for the lifestyle

Let’s be honest, being a part of the K-Pop way of life means that your wallet is going to suffer big time. You’re going to want to buy every album, your fandom’s light stick, and every other kind of merch available but you just can’t. And unfortunately, this can sometimes feel like you’re not being supportive enough of your favorite group.

 

2. How other people react when you tell them you like K-Pop

Maybe your lucky and you’ve found some other people who love K-Pop as much as you do, but for many fans, nobody quite gets your obsession with the genre of music. Non-fans can’t quite grasp why you would want to listen to music in another language or why you get so excited when you watch your favorite groups just living their lives on reality programs.

 

3. When non-fans think K-Pop is only “Gangnam Style”

Try introducing anybody to K-Pop and their thoughts will likely go immediately to “Gangnam Style”. While it’s somewhat understandable since it got such a huge reaction internationally, as a fan you desperately wish that people would understand there is a lot more to K-Pop than that one song!

 

4. When you’re introduced to the wrong song first

We all know that K-Pop can be used as an umbrella term for pretty much every genre of music sung in Korean. Since every person has a different taste in music if you choose a song that’s not like anything you normally listen to, you might not get the appeal of K-Pop right away. The right song can make a huge difference to your K-Pop journey.

 

5. When there is a lack of subbed content

A major problem for a lot of fans is that they can’t understand their idols. Whether you really want to know the lyrics to the song you’ve been listening to on repeat or are desperately waiting for someone to sub the latest episode of your group’s reality show, you just want to know what is going on! Although we can still laugh and smile along to most content there’s still that feeling we’re missing something. So the wait for subs is always an incredibly painful experience!

 

6. When you find yourself in the middle of a toxic fan war

Fan wars can just be so bad and can be a huge turn off for some fans, so much so that they won’t want to engage in any online discussions with other fans! But if you have ever found yourself in the middle of a fan war you know exactly why this isn’t enjoyable!

 

7. When you experience culture shock

We all know that there are some major differences between our Western culture and the culture in South Korean, but for new fans, they might also be surprised at the culture that is pretty unique to K-Pop. You’ll be introduced to new vocabulary, new ways to act cute, and so much content you might not know where to start. This culture shock may scare you at first but the longer you’re in the fandom the less likely you are to notice these things!

 

8. When saesangs are called fans

Probably the most hated “fans” in all of K-Pop, saesangs take their obsession to the extreme and can sometimes give a bad name to other fans. As long as other people are aware that saesangs are an extreme and not all fans are like this you’re good, but when they start making comparisons things can get super frustrating.