SEOUL, South Korea (AP) 鈥 An Apple TV+ documentary series, 鈥淜-pop Idols,鈥 premiering Friday, offers an intimate look at how the K-pop industry is embracing diversity while grappling with challenges in a field that demands perfection.
The six-part series features Korean American star Jessi and up-and-coming K-pop bands like Cravity and Blackswan, documenting the highs and lows of their careers.
K-pop is known for its blend of vocals with precise choreography.
Blackswan members Fatou and Nvee told The Associated Press they practice up to 10 hours daily, including choreography and vocal sessions before the 鈥渃omeback鈥 season which refers to a string of events to promote their latest songs.
The grueling practice starts early.
Once under contract, K-pop trainees enter a system that includes classes in manners, language, dance, and choreography. As of 2022, there were 752 K-pop trainees under entertainment labels, according to a Korea Creative Content Agency report.
Despite recent pushback against the perennial 鈥渄ark side of K-pop鈥 narrative, the documentary shows that some industry problems persist.
Former Blackswan member Youngheun said members had a curfew and were not allowed to drink or date. 鈥淲e even had to report when we were getting our nails done and going to the convenience store in front of our house,鈥 she shared in the documentary.
Rigid control extends to diet.
Blackswan member Gabi is seen eating a meal of egg, chicken breast and what resembles sweet potato sticks during her trainee period. 鈥淚 am dieting because Mr. Yoon (the label鈥檚 head) told me I need to lose weight,鈥 Gabi said.
The pressure applies to boy bands, too.
Cravity member Wonjin shared that he was given two weeks to lose weight to join the label. 鈥淚 would eat like one egg a day (...) I lost about 7kg,鈥 he said in the documentary.
Bradley Cramp, one of executive producers of the documentary, noted that such restrictions exist in other competitive industries as well.
鈥淚 honestly don鈥檛 know one idol or elite sports athlete or entertainer that doesn鈥檛 deal with the issue of diet and self-image and mental health to some degree or another,鈥 he told The Associated Press.
The documentary also touches on K-pop鈥檚 new challenge: embracing diversity.
Following BTS鈥 international success, K-pop labels have been actively recruiting foreign talents, which sometimes brings unfamiliar challenges.
In the documentary, Yoon Deung Ryong, the founder of Blackswan鈥檚 label DR Music, struggles to settle internal conflicts among members, which later escalated to online clashes between fans.
鈥淚f the company says, 鈥榙on鈥檛 fight,鈥 they won鈥檛 fight,鈥 he said, referring to traditional K-pop groups. He added that he can鈥檛 control a 鈥渕ultinational group鈥 the same way because of language and cultural differences. There are currently no Korean members in Blackswan after member changes.
With K-pop鈥檚 global expansion, fundamental questions about the essence of K-pop remain.
鈥淚n a K-pop group, if there are no Korean members, I feel like it鈥檚 just a K-pop cover group, isn鈥檛 it?鈥 Blackswan鈥檚 former Korean member Youngheun said in the documentary.
However, Cravity鈥檚 Hyeongjun disagrees. 鈥淚f foreigners come to Korea and sing in other languages, I am not sure if I can call that K-pop, but since they (Blackswan members) are active in Korea and use Korean, they are K-pop.鈥
Cramp said social media has impacted K-pop鈥檚 ecosystem in various ways, including creating a 鈥渟ymbiotic relationship鈥 between K-pop stars and fans, and forcing stars to live their lives 鈥渦nder a microscope.鈥
鈥淭here鈥檚 a desire to be real. But on the other hand, you have to obviously keep certain things kind of out of the public spotlight,鈥 he told the AP. 鈥淵ou want to be famous, but yet at the same time, you still want your privacy and you want to be able to go and have dinner with your friends and have a good time and not be filmed doing it.鈥
鈥淜-Pop Idols鈥 is now available on Apple TV+.
