From listening to Korean boy band BTS to listening to Korean girl band BlackPink, Senior Elizabeth Pike has learned to enjoy music from another foreign country. This genre of music is considered K-pop and is known to have been an influence lately in the United States as boy band BTS has earned two ‘Top Social Artist’ awards at the Billboard Music Awards (BBMA’s) and two more at the American Music Awards (AMA’s). “It was my friend who got me into BTS actually,” Pike said. “I thought that the beats and sounds were interesting.”

Pike has been listening to boy band BTS since she was a sophomore in High School and says that one of her favorite albums from the boy band is ‘WINGS‘. “Looking back at their albums like WINGS and 2 Kool 4 Skool, it’s what got me into them,” Pike said. “From their new album (Love Yourself 結 ‘Answer’) my favorite song is Answer: Love Myself.” As their music continues to influence Pike’s life, she’s also gotten into other groups such as Monsta X, EXO, BlackPink and TWICE. Pike and many other teenagers at Columbus North High School have been inspired to love themselves or at least learned to accept themselves for who they are because of the messages that K-pop groups give out. “Even though I can’t understand fully the message of it, I know what they’re trying to get across and I found that it’s a very nice message to get to people,” Pike said.