(G)I-dle (Cube Entertainment)
The presence of English words in K-pop song lyrics has seen a substantial rise, mirroring the genre's growing international acclaim. Data from Circle Chart reveals that in the first half of this year, English words constituted 41.3 percent of the lyrics in K-pop girl groups' releases that secured spots on Circle Chart's Digital Chart Top 100. This figure represents an 18.9 percentage point increase from 2018 when the share of English words stood at 22.4 percent.
Analyzing the data on a group-by-group basis, (G)I-dle led with 53.6 percent of their lyrics in English in the first half of this year, closely followed by Le Sserafim at 50.5 percent, Blackpink at 50 percent, Nmixx at 49.3 percent, and NewJeans at 48.4 percent. In contrast, the group Ive used the least English words in their releases, at just 24.9 percent.
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| ▲ (G)I-dle (Cube Entertainment) |
The English words most frequently used in K-pop girl groups' singles included "I," "You," "Like," and "Love."
Kim Jin-woo, a senior researcher at Circle Chart, noted that as K-pop girl groups have expanded their global reach, especially following the global success of Blackpink, the use of English in their songs has surged. He observed a direct correlation between foreign demand and the incorporation of English lyrics.
Local music critic Kang Tae-gyu highlighted the fact that the younger generation in Korea is increasingly comfortable with English lyrics, which has made the language of K-pop songs more diverse, moving beyond just Korean.
Conversely, K-pop boy bands' releases that secured positions on Circle Chart's Digital Chart Top 100 in the first half of this year saw a relatively lower increase in the use of English words, with only 24.3 percent of their lyrics being in English. This marks a growth of 5.6 percentage points from the 2018 data. Kim explained that this difference is because girl groups are actively targeting both their domestic and global audiences, while boy bands tend to focus more on their established fan base.
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