Jessica Jung Praises BTS And BLACKPINK For Skyrocketing K-Pop Into The Mainstream

While Girls’ Generation is forever iconic, she shared how newer groups are taking K-Pop to the next level.

To promote her debut young adult novel Shine, TIME magazine interviewed Jessica Jung to delve deeper into its characters and how closely it resembled her life as a trainee before debuting in Girls’ Generation.

As someone who spent over seven years promoting in one of the most well-known girl groups and recently reaching thirteen years in her multi-faceted career, it was only natural for the outlet to ask Jessica’s thoughts on how K-Pop has evolved.

Looking back on how far the genre has come from before 2014 all the way to 2020, there were two groups Jessica credited in capturing the interest of newer fans and gaining more spotlight for Korean culture. “BTS, BLACKPINK: they’re on Billboard, doing a lot of collaborations and being on Western TV. It’s very exciting to see and watch.”

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Jessica even revealed how the influence of BLACKPINK and BTS has not helped bridge the gap between older fans and new ones, but also expanded its reach.

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Since K-Pop has become even more well-known worldwide, Jessica has noticed that people recognize her even when in different countries. “When I travel the world, people really recognize K-pop, and they recognize me, as well.”

After debuting as an idol, Jessica thought she wouldn’t be able to branch out into new pursuits.

Instead, its growing global influence has helped her, “When I debuted in Korea, I thought Korea was my only territory, and the only language that I’m ever going to speak when I work. But now, you travel all over the world; you meet a lot of different people from different countries.”

Even though Jessica may not be releasing music as a K-Pop artist, the genre will always be part of her career and something she’ll always keep her eyes on.

Source: TIME