K-Pop: BoA

The summer of 2009 was a great time for me, musically. I had just graduated high school and had plenty of time to roam the internet looking for new music. One of the genres I discovered that summer was K-Pop. At that time Korean pop music was just starting to get more popular globally, a phenomenon known as the Korean Wave (or Hallyu). And riding that wave was Boa Kwon, simply known as BoA. Although the singer already debuted in 2000 at age 14 and became a major star in both Korea and Japan, it was not until 2008 that she released her first English singles. It was one of these songs, Energetic, that caught my eye. Admittedly it is probably not her best song but I was hooked regardless (I cannot exclude her looks played a part as well :p). The States however didn't work out for BoA so she returned to Japan where she released Bump Bump!! and has been releasing music from there and Korea ever since. Her most recent single is called No Matter What and was released last month. It has a cool house-beat and seems perfect for the time of the year.

Other personal favourites: Hurricane Venus, The Shadow & Kiss My Lips

Check out more songs at her YouTube playlist.