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Blackpink, Le Sserafim, Ateez, The Rose: how K-pop and Korean music is becoming a core element of Coachella
- After Blackpink’s rise from newcomer to top-billed act, Coachella is already cultivating its next generation of K-pop and South Korean music more broadly
- Boy group Ateez, rock band The Rose and South Korean DJ Peggy Gou joined Le Sserafim as the Korean names taking this year’s event by storm
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This time in 2023, the five members of the K-pop group Le Sserafim were glued to the Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival live stream on YouTube, watching Blackpink make history as the first Korean headliner.
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On April 13, they were getting glammed up in an artist trailer all their own, hours out from making their own Coachella debut.
“Coachella was something I could hardly dream of coming to, even as a spectator,” said Huh Yunjin, of the girl group. “We’ve watched performances like Blackpink and Billie Eilish online and were like, ‘It’d be so amazing to stand on a stage like this one day.’”
“It’s a very famous festival in Korea as well,” added Kim Chaewon, through an interpreter. “For a lot of artists there, it’s a dream opportunity.”
This year, that opportunity arrived for a whole new generation of Korean acts. After Blackpink’s rise from newcomer to top-billed act, Coachella is already cultivating its next generation of K-pop and South Korean music more broadly.
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