Within the past year of being a fan of the music genre, ‘Kpop’ (Korean pop), I have found myself obtaining a small collection of albums, light-sticks, and concert items. Even though it is a polarizing music genre, I still love to listen to it, and people everywhere love the exciting music as well.
My fascination with Kpop is not anything new to me, but some people may not understand why Kpop is so popular. Kpop started to become popular because of the way entertainment agencies train their upcoming idols by expanding their vocals, learning to dance, etc. It has grown into becoming a mainstream part of pop culture.
“Agencies make their idols undergo a variety of processes to maximize their appeal to the public, constantly attempting to ensure perfection from these performers by pushing them to master complicated choreographies, embody appealing personalities, and cultivate impressive vocals.”
https://spec.hamilton.edu/the-growing-international-influence-of-k-pop-edd0ef8035ff
Starting a Kpop collection
When I started listening to Kpop, the only group I knew of at the time was a popular group named BTS. However, with the help of a few of my friends, I started listening to more groups so I wasn’t completely in the blind. Here is my collection.
An article written by aminoapps.com suggests that in order to start a Kpop collection, make a list. To start your list you need to pick what item you want to collect like albums or light sticks, and what group to focus your collection on.
A light stick is a key piece of memorabilia for any Kpop fan, and is exactly like it sounds: a light source for a concert. “These bright, beautiful lights are an essential part of any K-Pop concert-going experience,” claims Mashable and I feature two in the first picture.
For me, the beginning of my collection started with the album Empathy by NCT 2018. The album was a gift from my friend on my birthday last year. After the first album I received, I didn’t plan on purchasing any more; however, that changed as I started liking more groups.
The second thing on your list should be starting with the latest albums that come out. For me, I have never been one to collect older albums from groups because, as of right now, I like too many to buy all of them.
Last but not least on your list, set small achievements for yourself; don’t go crazy, but be patient. I almost never have the money to buy more albums or light-sticks simply because they can be expensive sometimes. For Christmas this year, I plan on adding to my collection by getting the rest of the An Ode albums by the group, Seventeen.
The groups I tend to buy albums from consist of the following: Seventeen, BTS, NCT 127, NCT Dream, ATEEZ, and SuperM. Some may argue that the need to purchase albums is not a worthy collection in a digital age of MP3s, but that makes the collection all the more valuable. It is a tangible reminder of my passion.
I have only been a fan of Kpop for a little over a year, but I have a decent collection for the amount of groups I like. Most of the places I get my albums from are at the Kpop Store in Doraville or on Amazon. Sometimes if I’m lucky, my friends would get me some for my birthday.
Starting a Kpop collection has left me broke in many ways–from buying concert tickets, to buying BT21 key-chains (the smallest thing in my collection). Although I have only been a fan of Kpop groups, specifically boy groups, I don’t exactly regret my decision in buying albums or light-sticks simply because I will always have something to remind me what impact the music genre has left in my life.
What collection do you have that’s valuable to you? Let us know, and we may feature your story!
THE WARRIOR WORD 
I’m happy to see others writing about BTS and KPOP. Why not make a stop at might stop at my site for some more content. Borahae!
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