- This is a little cheesy for my tastes.

♪ (industrial intro) ♪

- (FBE) So since we're approaching the end of 2017,

we're going to listen to the mountain of comments

and show a selection of K-pop songs that came out this year.

- Oh! Oh my god!

- I actually contributed in those comments of doing K-pop.

When the YouTubers reacted to K-pop way in the beginning,

and it just started from there. And I haven't stopped since then.

- (FBE) All of these songs were hugely requested.

And although we can never satisfy everyone,

it has been a while since we've covered K-pop

on this channel, so we're gonna hope we satisfy some

of the rabid K-pop fans with the selection

of songs from this year. - Cool, 'cause you're

satisfying me right now. I'm super excited.

- I don't listen to it. It's not something

I like to listen to.

- (FBE) So first up, we have a song by the most requested K-pop group

that we have not yet covered on this show over the years,

Monsta X. - (gasps) Oh! Ah, yes.

- Monsta X. Okay, let's watch this.

- ♪ Dramama ramama ramama, hey ♪

- Woo! I like it. They're going acapella.

- ♪ (singing in Korean) ♪

- They're so cool looking.

- They got the sickest fashion. That's by far...

- "Sweet auditory hallucination." [Bleep].

- Ah, I love the production they have for the music videos!

- ♪ Dramarama ♪ - ♪ Dramama ramama... ♪

- I really wanna be in a boy band just because of this.

- Why are Korean boys so cute? Oh my god.

- ♪ (rapping in Korean) ♪ - This is jiggy.

- Their music videos, I'm telling you,

they're so good.

- ♪ (rapping in Korean) ♪ - (chuckles) I can't.

I can't! I don't like that one.

- You're not gonna fall asleep to this music, you know?

It's very hype up, amped style. I like it.

- This group, I could just bop my head to.

Like, if I'm playing video games,

I feel like this would get me in the zone.

- (FBE) So the members of Monsta X were chosen through a survival show

called "No Mercy" on South Korean music channel MNet.

- What? "No Mercy"? Sounds intense.

- (FBE) In 2017, they had their most successful year so far

on the American music charts. And like other big K-pop groups,

they have their own variety show

on Korean TV called Monsta X-Ray. - Ooh.

- (FBE) What do you think about how you could

have a favorite music group and then also be able

to not just have music and music videos,

but even TV shows to see them on?

- It makes you connect with them more.

I really like that idea.

- That is also why there's more of an aspect of a stronger fanbase.

I love when I see shows like that for members

of K-pop bands, 'cause you're literally

learning about the member. You're learning their names,

their family members. You feel connected with them.

- (FBE) So next, we have a music video from a group

called Twice... - (exhales shakily) Wait, wait.

Wait. (laughs) Oh my gosh, I love them.

- I love Twice so much. I know the dances and everything.

- (FBE) ...who we have shown before on a YouTubers React episode

who was also formed from a musical survival show,

this one called "Sixteen." - Okay.

What's up with all these K-pop bands coming from TV shows?

- It narrows down all of the talents and then they just pick out people

who would be good matches for each other. It usually works.

♪ (bright pop music) ♪

- Ooh, girl. Okay.

- ♪ Dan, dan, da-nan ♪

- ♪ (singing in Korean) ♪

- Very pop. - It's a very different vibe

(laughs) than the last group. Very different vibe.

- See? This is so cute! This is pure.

This is what I love about them.

- This is a little cheesy for my tastes.

Not something that I would necessarily listen to.

- They're so cute.

- Oh my god. (gasps) They're so cute!

- ♪ (singing in Korean) ♪

- Ah, I love them so much!

- I love this.

- That was cool. I liked that one.

They're very creative with their music videos.

- (FBE) So Twice apparently broke a YouTube record

for a K-pop girl group with the most views

in the shortest amount of time with that single

with more than 90 million views in only 27 days and just 20 hours.

- Woo! You go, girls!

- (FBE) Even if you are seeing this video for the first time

and haven't heard many K-pop girl bands before,

what do you think it was about that song or video

that sets it apart from the rest to have garnered

this many views so quickly? - I mean,

it was a really catchy song, an uplifting, happy song.

- It's so catchy. They're so cute.

Their dances, they're really cute to do.

And it's like, there's something you've never thought of before

and it's like you wanna do it.

- (FBE) So we have a few more videos to show you for today.

The next one is the video for the single "Clap"

by the band Seventeen. - (claps softly)

- ♪ Seventeen right here ♪ - I'm digging his hair.

- Dude, these dudes dress so fresh,

I swear to god.

- So many people in these groups!

- Holy crap! Why are there so many of 'em?

- ♪ (singing in Korean) ♪

- (man yells) (silence)

- ♪ (singing in Korean) ♪

- (softly) What? (laughs)

- They're all such great dancers.

- Woo! Mm.

- ♪ (singing in Korean) ♪

- Their music videos are lit. There's a lot going on in this.

- This looks like so much fun. I'm so jealous.

- Everything's so colorful and pretty.

- This is also really catchy.

- Whoa.

How many of them are there? Is there 17 people?

- It's a nice song, it's just not something I'd listen to.

I like that they're all into it.

- I like this one the best so far. They were fun. They were really fun.

They were like the turn up squad.

- (FBE) So Seventeen is made up of 13 members...

- Jeez. - (FBE) ...and are multinational

with Chinese, Korean, and Korean-American,

which also is a trait of some K-pop groups.

- Oh, I actually really like that.

- (FBE) They are one group, but have focused sub-units

within the band. One focusing on vocals, one on performance,

and one on hip hop, allowing them to perform as a unit

without overlapping, but still coming together

as one. - That's actually really sick.

- Cool, it's like a mega group.

- (FBE) People say their live shows are incredible. What do you think

about that concept? - I think that's kind of cool.

- That's strategic, and that's really smart.

There's no way for them to slip through and fall through

or anything, 'cause it's all calculated.

- Honing in on their talents is genius. I never even thought

of doing that, and now I get why they have 13 members.

- Multi-diversity and multi-countries

and even different focuses on music,

you can come up with so much more stuff.

- (FBE) So the next music video is from the band Red Velvet.

- Red Velvet? They're gonna be sweet like cake.

- I love them, 'cause they were cute when they came out,

and then they grew to be more mature

and they matured in their music and it built up.

And that's one of the really big girl groups that I love.

- ♪ (singing in Korean) ♪

- There's so much going on. There's so much fruit.

- This is different.

- This almost looks like a commercial.

- Their hairstyles are so cute.

- (giggles) I can't.

- This music video's weird.

- Are they judging fruit? I'm so confused.

- (mouthing along)

- God, I'm so frustrated by stuff. I'm like, it's super cheesy,

but I'm bopping in my chair.

- I like that one. That one is my favorite.

- This is a song where you wanna go skipping in a field,

like all of this. I just wanna skip in a field of flowers.

- They're good songs. It's just not something

that I would like to listen to.

I'm not really into girl groups either,

so I think that's kind of it too.

- (FBE) Red Velvet's band name is actually a representation

of their sound as a whole that is somewhat unique

from what we could research. But people at home

should let us know if there are any other similar groups.

The "red" represents the catchy pop in their music,

while the "velvet" is representative of their slower R&B-based sounds.

- Okay. Yeah, I did notice that one didn't have the bass drop

like the other ones had.

- (FBE) And fandom names are a thing across the world and also in K-pop,

so if you are in Red Velvet's fandom,

you are part of the ReVeluvs. - Oh, okay.

- (FBE) Fandoms is a massive part of K-pop in a way

unparalleled possibly with anything in music today.

We know this from the endless requests

to cover K-pop to endless people who wish we would

leave their fandom alone, kind of a double-edged sword.

What is your opinion on the K-pop fandom at large?

- The K-pop fandom is a wonderful place.

It's full of so much diversity and so much togetherness.

- I've never seen fandoms this dedicated to the artists

that they listen to. And I think that's one of the things

that contributes to the, you know, wide success of K-pop artists.

- When you find a group, it's kind of your thing,

especially if no one's told you about it.

So you wanna keep it your thing for as long as possible,

but it's so good that you wanna share it with everyone.

- (FBE) So these days, we can't do a K-pop video

without including BTS... - Of course!

- (FBE) ...because no matter how many times we cover them,

people will get upset if we don't show them,

so we have a clip from this year's American Music Awards

where BTS made their US TV debut and made history

as the first K-pop group to ever be on the AMAs.

- That's wild. That's so sick.

- That's just showing how K-pop is moving over to America.

- (Alex) Making their US TV debut, make some noise...

- Is that the Chainsmokers? (laughs)

- I remember watching this and I was crying.

- ♪ (singing in Korean) ♪ - He is so fine! Oh my god!

I love him.

- It would be cool to see a K-pop performance live.

- Man, the people are loving it.

- That crowd's going nuts.

They have such a presence worldwide.

- This song is a banger.

- Man... look at 'em go.

- They're great! How could you not be excited about this?

- Hey, it's Ansel Elgort! (laughs) He was so into it too.

He was like, "Oh my god!" (laughs)

- They're such good dancers.

- (claps softly - (fans screaming)

- Everyone was going crazy.

- I like to watch their fans. I could get into that.

- That opens a huge door for K-pop groups going forward,

so yeah, big ups to BTS. That's big time.

- A different culture literally coming in

and everyone just loving it, that's super cool to see.

- (FBE) So we have now been covering K-pop for over half a decade

on this channel, and you could say that now compared to then,

it has become much more known. Do you think it would get

so mainstream that it won't be considered niche

at all anymore and just like a full subgenre

of music here in America?

- No, 'cause of the language barrier.

- I really hope that it stays a niche,

'cause I'll probably stop liking it if it gets really big.

- If you even look on your phones, it's already a genre

on your Apple music,

so why wouldn't it become a major genre?

- I don't think there's this cultural barrier anymore

that we used to have years ago where it was kind of like,

"We don't want any different types of music.

We have our American music."

Everything's blending together, which I love.

- K-pop's just gonna be everywhere. I feel it.

I feel like it's gonna happen.

- Thanks for watching this episode of College Kids React.

Shoutout to Tahlia Johnson for watching last week.

- Subscribe if you want a shoutout like Mia Marie.

- Want a shoutout like Sneaky Wizard?