Kacie on K-pop: Coachella takes K-pop acts to the next level

I’ve never had a desire to go to Coachella. Thinking of paying hundreds of dollars to spend hours in the desert wearing an impractical (albeit beautiful) outfit is, quite honestly, the last thing I’d want to spend any of my time doing. 

But recently, I’ve gotten close to changing my anti-Coachella mindset. As always, the reasoning behind my new thought process is rooted in K-pop. 

SM Entertainment’s latest girl group, aespa, was announced as a main stage performer for Coachella’s second weekend on Monday, making them the third ever K-pop group to perform at the festival and the first to perform on the event’s main stage.  

It’s a move that shocked me, but it’s also one that I really should have seen coming. 

As established in previous installments of my column, K-pop holds its roots in capitalism. Recently, many groups have aimed to achieve their financial goals by targeting fans around the globe, specifically through the American music industry. With so much promotion such as English singles and U.S. exclusive album pre-order benefits — targeted toward an American audience, it makes sense that the next move for K-pop groups is to perform at high-visibility American events. We saw this when aespa and labelmate NCT 127 performed at Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade, BTS at the iHeartRadio Jingle Ball Tour and, now, Coachella. 

Despite my qualms with the possibility of K-pop groups  sacrificing their culture for Western validation (and I still don’t support that), I really have no issues with U.S.-specific promotions of the songs they’re pushing domestically. In fact, I actually really like them. Not only do they give me increased access to goods and events related to my favorite groups, but the group also represents a growing amount of support for Korean acts abroad, a recent phenomenon I support rather wholeheartedly. 

Yet, something feels different — and perhaps even more special — about aespa’s upcoming Coachella stage. Even though they’re not the first to perform at the festival — BLACKPINK did in 2019 and 2NE1 surprised fans with a reunion last weekend — they are the first to perform on the festival’s main stage. BLACKPINK’s performance attracted thousands to the festival’s side Sahara stage, and 2NE1 performed during member CL’s set, who attended the festival through her partnership with Asian record collective 88rising.

In no way is the honor undeserved. In the mere two years since the four-member group, consisting of Karina, Giselle, Winter and Ningning, debuted, their third single, “Next Level,” won Record of the Year at the Melon Music Awards and was one of 2021’s biggest songs on YouTube Music in South Korea. The group also served as a brand ambassadors for Korean makeup brand CLUBCLIO and global ambassadors for French luxury fashion brand Givenchy. 

To me, however, the significance of aespa’s performance on the main stage, rather than a side stage or in partnership with other acts, should not be overlooked. This feat represents more than validation of aespa’s accomplishments as a group, but even more so of the American music industry’s recognition of the genre they represent.

Coachella, one of the most renowned music festivals in the world, attracts up to 125,000 attendees per day and brings artists of a myriad of genres together to perform in a beautiful Southern California desert. These artists range from Top 40 frequenters like Harry Styles and The Weeknd to up-and-coming acts like Jean Dawson and Channel Tres. And, it’s without question that an overwhelming majority of these artists are based in the U.S. or produce music in English. 

Aespa’s invitation to perform not just at the festival but on its main stage is a clear acknowledgment of the K-pop music industry. By uplifting the voices and performances of these acts that fall outside of the American music industry’s typical demographic, Coachella gives K-pop groups a shot at entering a new demographic. Moreover, it gives them a platform to showcase their performances to exponentially more people  who probably would have never otherwise listened to their music. In this way, Coachella is a unique vehicle that can propel the K-pop groups to the — no pun intended — next level. 

Yet, it’s clear that this exchange is mutual. Following the announcement, aespa fans, or MYs, trended “AESPA AT COACHELLA” globally, and the group announced its plans to perform unreleased tracks, including, “Life’s Too Short,” which will be performed fully in English — a strategy that will ensure MYs around the world never stop discussing this weekend’s performance.

Aespa’s inclusion is important because it not only will it exponentially benefit aespa’s members and their fanbase, but even more so, it symbolizes a necessary shift of K-pop into mainstream media. At this rate, maybe my trek to the desert will come sooner than I thought.

Kacie Yamamoto is a  junior writing about Korean pop music. She is also an associate managing editor at the Daily Trojan. Her column “Kacie on K-pop” runs every other Thursday.