Ask a Korean! Wiki: Submit Your K-Pop Pantheon

Dear readers,

Now that he started a music corner on AAK!, the Korean is on a roll. Now the Korean wants to have a gigantic AAK! music series that showcases the most hallowed members of K-Pop -- the K-Pop Pantheon, if you will. Essentially, the series will discuss the top-25 (or 30, or 50, or whatever the Korean ends up deciding,) musicians/bands in K-pop history in order. Like everything else on this blog, this series is guaranteed to be arbitrary and capricious to the Korean's whim. But the Korean wishes to have at least some semblance of reason, and that is where you come in.

Submit your very own K-pop Pantheon! In doing so, please consider the overall picture instead of just submitting the people you like. While you can employ whatever criteria you want, here are some criteria to guide your thoughts with:

- Sheer ability: Does the artist have incredible voice (example: Lee So-Ra) or the ability to constantly churn out popular music over a long time? (Example: Yoo Yeong-Seok.)

- Artistry:  Is the artist innovative or original in his/her music and/or presentation? (Example:  Jaurim.)

- Genre-defining/leading:  Did the artist create a genre? (Example:  Shin Joong-Hyeon.) Is the artist essentially synonymous with the genre? (Example: Song Dae-Gwan.) Is the artist so far ahead of everyone else in the genre? (Example: Seo Taiji.) Perfected an archetype of a genre? (Example:  H.O.T.)

- Popular appeal:  Did the artist completely dominate an era? (Example: Cho Yong-Pil.) Was the artist simply everywhere in Korean pop culture for a time? (Example: Lee Hyo-Ri.) Is the artist staying in the public consciousness for a very long time, for whatever reason? (Example:  Shin Hae-Cheol.) Does the artist dominate a certain segment of the population? (Example:  Jang Gi-Ha.)

- Social impact:  Did the artist change the society around him/her, through his/her music or otherwise? (Example: Kim Min-Gi.)

- Cultural reflection:  Does the artist serve as the epitome of the society around him/her? (Example:  Kim Gwang-Seok.)

- Historical perspective:  Is the more recent artist getting overvalued at the cost of the more classic artist?  (Example:  Picking Girls' Generation over Sanullim.)

The Korean is doing this so that he does not miss anyone significant. Mad props will be given to those who include artists from pre-1990s K-pop. Also, feel free to accompany the names with the most representative song for the artist. (Here is an example: Regret of the Times (시대유감) for Seo Taiji. Discuss.)

Also, please tell your k-pop loving friends! The Korean really wants to have the most comprehensive list possible. Burn down the comment thread!!

Got a question or a comment for the Korean? Email away at askakorean@gmail.com.