{"id":406348,"date":"2026-01-13T11:32:18","date_gmt":"2026-01-13T11:32:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/406348\/"},"modified":"2026-01-13T11:32:18","modified_gmt":"2026-01-13T11:32:18","slug":"university-course-explores-what-g-dragon-reveals-about-k-pop-and-its-limits","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/406348\/","title":{"rendered":"University course explores what G-Dragon reveals about K-pop \u2014 and its limits"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"G-Dragon <\/p>\n

G-Dragon performs at the Tokyo Dome in Japan on May 10 and 11, 2025, for his \u201cUbermensch\u2033 world tour. [GALAXY CORPORATION]<\/p>\n

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[INTERVIEW]\u00a0
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At the University of Southern California (USC) this spring, a new course will cover G-Dragon \u2014 not to celebrate the K-pop idol\u2019s decades-long career, but to ask harder questions about the industry itself.
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The upcoming four-credit communication course at the USC Annenberg School for Communication and Journalism, called \u201cCrooked Studies of K-pop: Reimagining K-pop\u2019s Dominant Discourses Through G-Dragon,\u201d sets out to be something far less reverential than one might expect.
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\"Lee <\/p>\n

Lee Hye-jin, a clinical assistant professor at the Annenberg School for Communication and Journalism of the University of Southern California (USC) [USC]<\/p>\n

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Rather than revisiting the highs of G-Dragon\u2019s career, the class invites students to treat the singer as a case study to examine where K-pop stands today, and why the genre, despite its expanding global reach, remains constrained by persistent critical assumptions, according to Professor Lee Hye-jin.
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\u201cI did not create this class because I\u2019m a huge G-Dragon Fan,\u201d said Lee during a virtual interview with the Korea JoongAng Daily on Thursday. \u201cThis course is challenging dominant discourses through the body of work of an artist.\u201d
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That, Lee explained, is precisely why G-Dragon \u2014 one of the few K-pop idols to sustain such a long-running, influential career across music and fashion \u2014 makes an ideal subject.
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Lee, who describes herself as \u201ca generalist,\u201d earned her PhD in mass communication from the University of Iowa and has taught at USC Annenberg since 2015, becoming a full-time faculty member in 2017. Her earlier courses focused largely on Western pop culture, but she expanded into K-pop amid the genre\u2019s global rise, led by BTS\u2019s breakthrough later that decade.
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After developing a K-pop-specific course in 2019, she began teaching \u201cEvolution of K-pop\u201d in 2022, the first regular communication course centered on K-pop offered by a U.S. university.
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Because Lee\u2019s research is grounded in the broader pop culture rather than K-pop or its fandom specifically, she noted that responses to K-pop vary sharply among students.
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\u201cWe like to think that K-pop is very mainstream and liked by everybody, but that’s really not the case,\u201d noted Lee. \u201cThere’s still a lot of resistance and reluctance that I see from the non-K-pop fans.\u201d
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\"G-Dragon <\/p>\n

G-Dragon performs during an encore concert of his \u201cUbermensch\u201d world tour at Gocheok Sky Dome in western Seoul, held on Dec. 12, 13 and 14. [GALAXY CORPORATION]<\/p>\n

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That gap between K-pop\u2019s perceived ubiquity and its uneven acceptance has caught Lee\u2019s academic interest, the professor said, as she examines what continues to limit K-pop despite its global visibility.
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The following interview has been edited for length and clarity.
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Q. Why G-Dragon? And what is the analytical lens of the course?
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A. While the class is informally called the \u201cG-Dragon class,\u201d I did not create this class because I\u2019m a huge G-Dragon fan, though I do respect how he\u2019s been able to establish himself as a cultural icon.
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As someone who teaches K-pop classes and is aware of other pop-star-focused courses on, for example, Beyonc\u00e9, Taylor Swift or Madonna, I had been thinking about this format for a while. But I couldn\u2019t think of anybody until last year when I saw G-Dragon making a major comeback.
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There was an intergenerational reception to his comeback, and it was interesting, particularly because of his long hiatus. It\u2019s rare for artists who have been away from the spotlight for that long to still get that kind of welcoming response.
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\"Singer <\/p>\n

Singer G-Dragon speaks during a talk show session at the 2025 Innovate Korea event held in Daejeon on April 9. [NEWS1]<\/p>\n

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For me, the goal isn\u2019t to celebrate his achievements. What I want to do is to use this K-pop artist as a way to challenge and to critically interrogate dominant discourses surrounding K-pop, particularly in Western contexts, where there\u2019s still resistance to embracing K-pop.
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K-pop artists are often perceived as \u201cmanufactured commodities\u201d without any originality or as carbon copies of Western music. There\u2019s also this idea that K-pop is childish and only for young people.
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Therefore, I needed to find an artist with a long career trajectory. G-Dragon is also a good case to talk about creative agency, as an artist with creative control over their own music.
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\"Members <\/p>\n

Members of K-pop band Big Bang [PLUS B]<\/p>\n

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How is the class structured? Did you consult with Galaxy Corporation or YG Entertainment in developing the course?
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The class meets once a week for two to three hours. We\u2019ll watch a lot of videos and have in-depth discussions, starting from Big Bang\u2019s formation and tracing the industrial, cultural and technological changes that shaped G-Dragon\u2019s career.
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We\u2019ll also look at how artists are promoted, how groups are formed, as well as the androgynous elements of G-Dragon\u2019s style and branding, which mirrors pop stars like David Bowie or Prince, but also differs from Western figures.
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This has nothing to do with the companies. I did tell the company that I was considering creating a course, but they made no request for any input, nor would I allow it. Companies cannot demand what can be discussed and what can\u2019t be.
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\"Singer <\/p>\n

Singer G-Dragon performs during the domestic leg of his \u201cUbermensch\u201d world tour, which took place on March 29 and 30, 2025, at Goyang Stadium in Goyang, Gyeonggi. [GALAXY CORPORATION]<\/p>\n

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Why do negative perceptions of K-pop persist in the West?
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To be honest, there\u2019s some truth to the criticism regarding its rigid structure and training system involving young people who may never debut. Even if they debut, K-pop artists are often not allowed to say things that are actually on their minds.
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The way artists are developed in K-pop is very different from the United States, where people still tend to think that musicians have to be developed organically or to be discovered organically, and are put off by the idea of people being modeled in a way a company wants them to be, as if being created as a product.
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So the question is what the K-pop industry can do to diffuse these negative ideas \u2014 I believe that\u2019s going to be one of the biggest assignments for them.
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\"G-Dragon <\/p>\n

G-Dragon performs during an encore concert of his \u201cUbermensch\u201d world tour at Gocheok Sky Dome in western Seoul, held on Dec. 12, 13 and 14. [GALAXY CORPORATION]<\/p>\n

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That said, there are also racialized and gendered perceptions of Asian people at play. I\u2019m not accusing people of being racist or culturally ignorant for not giving K-pop a chance, but because it is culturally and linguistically unfamiliar, people do naturally become more resistant to giving it a try.
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I do feel sometimes that it\u2019s unfair that it\u2019s only the K-pop industry that gets such a perception when U.S. entertainment labels also have a lot of problems, but don\u2019t get as much criticism by Western journalists and in the media as much as K-pop.
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What drew you to K-pop as an academic subject if you\u2019re not a fan of any specific artist?
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Because I\u2019m not a fan, I have an intellectual curiosity for what makes people embrace or listen to K-pop songs that are not in English and performed by Asian artists, given there\u2019s still a lack of visibility of Asian artists, especially in music in America.
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So I wanted to understand what it is about K-pop that allows people from different linguistic and cultural backgrounds to not only listen to it, but actively engage with it.
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My interest is less about fandom and more about the industry culture, such as who is making this music, how artists are promoted and what cultural differences are taken into account in different markets.
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I\u2019m also becoming more interested, as an extension of what I\u2019m doing now, in the role Korean diasporas are playing in shaping this so-called hallyu, or Korean wave. There\u2019s been a strong nationalistic framework in how K-pop\u2019s success is discussed, and I\u2019m trying to shed light on the roles of these in-betweeners, especially because I see myself as one as well.
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\"Netflix's <\/p>\n

Netflix’s animated film \u2033KPop Demon Hunters\u2033 director Maggie Kang, center, attends a press conference held in Yongsan District, central Seoul, on Aug. 22, 2025. [NETFLIX]<\/p>\n

\u00a0
You\u2019re also offering a course titled \u201cPromoting i-dle in the U.S.\u201d Is it an official collaboration?
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I have not consulted with Cube Entertainment directly, though I believe the company\u2019s aware of the class being offered, as I\u2019m working with i-dle\u2019s U.S. manager.
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\"Girl <\/p>\n

Girl group i-dle poses for a photo during a press conference held at Josun Palace hotel in southern Seoul for the release of its eighth EP \u2033We are\u2033 on May 19. [DANIELA GONZALEZ PEREZ]<\/p>\n

Some fans might think this is taking labor from students, but I\u2019m offering this class because I\u2019ve been getting a lot of requests from students asking how to get into the industry.
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I wanted to create opportunities for my students to understand what goes on behind the scenes and network with those who are in the industry through hands-on experience. Students will pitch ideas and learn from industry professionals, similar to an internship.
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This is the first time we\u2019re offering a class like this, so it\u2019s an experiment. If this one is successful, it can create other opportunities. I\u2019m open to working with other agencies if there are companies interested in collaborating with universities and students.
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\u00a0
From the academic perspective, do you think the NewJeans-HYBE legal dispute could transform the industry or its culture?
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I\u2019m not with ADOR or HYBE, so I can\u2019t speak to their thinking. People interpret the situation very differently, and I don\u2019t want to say who\u2019s right or wrong regarding what\u2019s happened.
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But honestly, what I can say is that it\u2019s very unfortunate because what happened with this case contributed to this perception of the K-pop industry being toxic. The fact that this case is being used to continue to talk about K-pop in a negative way is what makes it unfortunate.
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\"NewJeans <\/p>\n

NewJeans member Danielle, center, appears at Seoul Central District Court in southern Seoul on Aug. 14, 2025. [NEWS1] <\/p>\n

The K-pop production system, despite being criticized for its rigidity and intensity as you\u2019ve pointed out, has been expanded on a global scale into the pop scene, with HYBE\u2019s global girl group Katseye being one of the most successful examples. How do you interpret this?
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In such expansion, we have to think about the legal and cultural differences in different spaces, such as the child labor law.
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What\u2019s interesting is that back in the day, if you wanted to be a global superstar, you always looked at Hollywood and American labels. Now there are other options for people to become global superstars in the K-pop training system, and it’s not just Asian or Asian diaspora who are putting themselves in that space.
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With increasing people from different cultural, racial and ethnic backgrounds recognizing they have more options, when this system and idea of being superstars through the K-pop system becomes more widely popular, we’ll see more people entering into the system \u2014 maybe it will change how things are being done.
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\"Girl <\/p>\n

Girl group Katseye [HYBE LABELS]<\/p>\n

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\u00a0
\u00a0 <\/p>\n

BY SHIN HA-NEE [[email\u00a0protected]<\/a>]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"G-Dragon performs at the Tokyo Dome in Japan on May 10 and 11, 2025, for his \u201cUbermensch\u2033 world…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":406349,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[28],"tags":[49,48,75,341],"class_list":{"0":"post-406348","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-music","8":"tag-ca","9":"tag-canada","10":"tag-entertainment","11":"tag-music"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/406348","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=406348"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/406348\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/406349"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=406348"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=406348"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=406348"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}