Even if you think you’re an avid lover of music, there is a genre of music that is a little different than what you know. K-pop, as it is commonly referred to, is pop-style music from South Korea that is characterized by a variety of different audiovisual elements. Although it compromises all genres of popular music in South Korea, the term is more often used in a narrower sense to describe a more modern form of pop.

According to Katherine Szewczyk from WPAW, this particular genre of music was spread from South Korea to the United States using technology.

“The genre has been around for a really long time,” Szewczyk said. “However I feel like it got popular in the year 2010 because that’s when the internet got big and more people started discovering the videos”

The genre’s biggest fans are aware of popular singer and multi-award winner Ailee. Although, even these diehard fans aren’t away that her music began at Pace. Before the international artist became a major hit in the musical world, she was a student at the Pace Pleasantville campus, majoring in communications.

Senior Jessica D’Angelo is a major fan of this genre she first heard of Ailee when she was watching a show on YouTube.

“I first heard of her [Ailee] when I was watching this show on YouTube called King of Mask Singer and she had such strong vocals and I was immediately interested,” she said. “One of the best things about Ailee is that she knows how to use all parts of her vocal range which I love. But her annunciation is amazing when it comes to singing.”

Despite her high praise, D’Angelo did have a few comments about areas Ailee could improve on.

“Besides the fact that she could use more content, I feel like a lot of her songs… start off and you immediately notice that she is using a lot of ballads. So I would like to see her get out of that comfort zone a little bit.”

Even though Ailee is a prominent K-pop singer,  she is not representative of a main factor in why the genre is so popular. In fact, according to Szewczyk, the K-pop genre has many more groups that people like to listen to than singular stars. The K-pop genre has many different avenues and reasons for consumption. However, next time fans are listening to Ailee, keep in mind that she walked the same halls of an everyday student.