It's hip to be K-popped!

According to Forbes.com, one of the 20 trends sweeping the globe is grooving to K-pop! Now aren’t you glad you’ve been K-popped!?

The report dated Jan 9 says that Korean pop has made waves across Asia (the article writes “from Kyoto to Kuala Lumpur”. Hey it’s a rarity that Kuala Lumpur is mentioned over Singapore in articles like this. We love our Southern neighbour, but yay!) for years but the West has been a little slow in catching on.

Apparently, the Korean starlets and goody-two-shoes boybands are too saccharine for Western tastes.


However, things are about to change especially with indie bands making waves and singers such as Eun Ji-won (pic above), who fuses Latin music with hip-hop, creating a truly original sound. Check out his Adios MV below.

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And of course, there are all those things Rain will bring in 2008.

The 20 trends sweeping across the globe, in no particular order, are:

* Naach! – Dance Bollywood style
* Make a molecular cocktail - molecular mixology is an outgrowth of the molecular gastronomy movement pioneered by a Spanish chef
* Beep someone – communicating by calling and hanging up before connection
* Meet the 99 – a Muslim comic book
* Groove to Korean pop
* GPS treasure – High-tech treasure hunt
* Turn Harajuku – Dress up like your favourite comic book characters
* Mash up some music – whip up crazy musical concoctions
* Run up a straight wall – running, jumping and tumbling over obstacles at high speed
* Create reality ring tones – Turn gaffes, insults and heartfelt urgings from your favourite celebrities and politicians into ring tones
* Make Bahn Mi - A culinary fusion from the days of French Indochina, the banh mi sandwich is rapidly invading the U.S.
* Design a haute couture bag
* Learn to draw anime
* Build your own radio station
* Know Thyself – analyse yourself in ways both useful and bizarre, and instantly send the results to friends or would-be dates
* Get handy with a sack - if you've ever had a hankering to balance a pen or lighter on the back of your hand, myachi may be the sport for you.
* Network while you play – one word: Scrabulous, ‘nuff said.
* Love Lucha Libre – Mexican wrestling
* Collect Online art
* Create some urban vinyl- An urban vinyl toy is a regular, old off-the-shelf action figure, which has been deconstructed and decorated into a work of art.

Source: Forbes.com