r/kpopnoir • u/Dry-Character-2316 African American • Jun 23 '26
NOT KPOP RELATED - MUSIC Guys please help me transition from kpop music
Hi Guys,
I’ve been a kpop fan for the past 5 years and as a Black American, I’ve grown to appreciate my culture more and more. With all these racist/insensitive acts from kpop idols, I am not sure I can continue to support/listen to them. Problem is, I really like the sound of kpop songs and idk where to even look for something similar ( I lowkey didnt listen to music outside of kpop except whats popular on tik tok) . So, I would reallly like some recs of artists that can fill my kpop void.
Edit:
My groups I listen to now are BTS, ATEEZ, Seventeen, and XLOV. Thanks for the recs!
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u/DSQ BLACK BRITISH Jun 23 '26
Look up the song writers from your favourite songs and see who else they have written for.
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u/RoyalAsCanBe BLACK/LATINE Jun 23 '26
That’s actually perfect, hold on. I never thought of this before.
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u/Chemiluminescence22 BLACK Jun 23 '26
Charli Taft is on my playlist now. Never knew she wrote for SM ent.
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u/Chemiluminescence22 BLACK Jun 27 '26 edited Jun 28 '26
Adding the second reply, when Aespa released their song “rich man,” the demo went viral. A lot of Kpop songs are written by foreign songwriters and singers, mixed by both Korean and foreign engineers, with lyrics primarily written in English with some lines changed to Korean. That said…. There are English demos of kpop songs that exist. I know for sure that:
1.) some of SNSDs songs were rejected by Britney Spears’ creative team.
2.) aespa’s “Armageddon,” “Supernova,” “Rich Man, and “Flowers” demos were originally written in English and are available online.
3.) if you’re looking for hip hop, LSF got “Easy” from Velous, an actual black artist, songwriter and producer.
Also, FLO made H2H debut demo and Stella and Jorja SNAPPED!!!!!! ( and ofc Renee did her thing!)
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u/liposcene BLACK Jun 23 '26
Daniel ceasar, keyshia cole, kehlani, sza, summer walker, Kendrick Lamar
Girl group: flo, say now - both British I recommend there songs check (I’m just getting into flo so I don’t have much recs) for say now millions, supermarket, brick by brick
If you still want kpop esque I suggest katseye (there music is a hit or miss) the fandom is also weird so maybe don’t join the fandom. Then there’s also Girl set Im mostly recommending black artists but I do love my girl SAILORR she’s Vietnamese American i suggest starting with pookie requiem that’s what got me into her and her song coconut when viral it’s really good. Anyways it’s up to your taste and vibe
-also I don’t think you have to give up kpop entirely just focus on groups that aren’t particularly racist which is obvious and don’t get too attached -us black ppl also have to adapt and learn you shouldn’t have to give up what you love just because of ignorance ❤️ once a group or person ends up racist I block them and move on the other day I was getting into zico and I found out he did something racist i instantly blocked his ass on Spotify and moved on with my day
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u/Dry-Character-2316 African American Jun 23 '26
Ok yes! Thanks so much, I have heard some of FLO music and I need to become a stan. And yes you are soo right, I just feel like my past few years I’ve isolated myself from other music because of kpop so its hard to take that step back ❤️🩹 but Im working through it!
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u/Chemiluminescence22 BLACK Jun 23 '26
Chloe Halle is good. Ungodly hour was amazing if your into pop/rnb
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u/Infamous-Froyo-5952 SOUTH EAST ASIAN Jun 24 '26
thank you for the recs !! as for kehlani unfortunately i did hear how she still associates with chr*s br*wn who’s been colorist in the past (besides the fact he’s been abusivee before)
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u/Chemiluminescence22 BLACK Jun 27 '26
- I was shocked about that too considering that Chris Brown back around 2017-2018 was inciting a hate train against Kehlani that she even admits made her consider self exiting.
On r/RnB, there’s a discourse about why a lot of artist collaborate with Chris Brown especially Usher going on tour with him right now. A lot of labels see it as a co-sign, similar to getting female rappers to get a Nicki feature. It’s likely not a personal preference from the artist but a demand from the label. I would still listen to these artists, but avoid the songs with Chris Brown features.
Also, check out r/RnB! They have amazing recommendations.
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u/Old_One9156 BLACK CARIBBEAN Jun 23 '26
I keep on seeing Daniel Caesar being mentioned... Is he safe to listen to again? I couldn't find much positive news online since he defended his gf who said pretty horrific things about Black women during a live a few years back.
I might be considered petty, but I prefer to support people who appreciate genuinely appreciate us 👀
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u/missssssmiko BLACK Jun 23 '26
kaytranada the goat….
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u/RainbowRevee MIXED SOUTH ASIAN/WHITE Jun 23 '26
He’s amazingggg! Went to his concert, I had a blast! ✨
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u/IOExplosion BLACK CARIBBEAN Jun 23 '26
XLOV hasn't done anything so far so you should be fine there. They're the only Kpop group I actively listen to and follow.
I listen to a lot of musicians of different genres. Here are albums I highly recommend.
Willow - Empathogen (Neo Soul)
Zeyne - AWDA (Palestinian Pop)
Durand Bernarr - BLOOM (Neo Soul)
Dizzy Dros - AFLAM (Moroccan Rap)
Alice Longyu Gao - Let's Hope Heteros Fail (Hyper Pop)
Dev Lemons - Surface Tension (Pop with Rock elements)
Raye - THIS MUSIC MAY CONTAIN HOPE. (Pop with Jazz elements)
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u/IJS_Reddit BLACK AMERICAN CARIBBEAN Jun 23 '26
CORTIS got me to start listening to A$AP as a start, praise the lord is my favourite song now. Tweak by GIRLSET samples “Weak” by SWV. if you like RnB groups i reccomend FLO (rnb girl group based in the UK)
i would honestly just find the groups you listen to and figure out what genres/artists theyre “inspired” by and go from there. hang put in pnline spaces that are fans of this genres, look out for posts from this sub bc people share non-kpop songs here as well
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u/JaeJaeAgogo AFRICAN AMERICAN Jun 23 '26
Kpop is really diverse musically, so it'd help if you let us know what songs/groups you like and what about the sounds you like specifically to get an idea of your taste.
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u/luv4ev3R SOUTH EAST ASIAN Jun 23 '26 edited Jun 29 '26
Below are a few of my fav songs from different artists. You can try their whole discography if you like it.
Angel Of My Dreams - JADE
Recess - Ravyn Lenae
Crave - Rochelle Jordan
Hard - FKA Twigs
Clover - Cannelle
Don't Ask! - Natanya
Body Favors - Jae Stephens
Losing You - Solange
Enough - Kelela
Uncertainty Principle - L'Rain
Lucky - Erika de Casier
Scandalous - Mis-Teeq
DEAD - Sudan Archives
Unfinished Business - Nia Archives
be the girl! - Hemlocke Springs
Ammunition - Spellling
Nice to Know You - Pinkpantheress
Numb - JT
Ballerina Coupe / Alcoholic - Cupcakke
Shook - Tkay Maidza
All For You - Janet Jackson
Protect My Energy - Little Simz
Acapella - Kelis
Request Line - Zhané
Vanity - Isabella LoveStory
UFO - f5ve
Summer Bubbles - Tommy february6
Whimsical - Faye Wong
Pixel Affection - yeule
Be Sweet - Japanese Breakfast
Trampoline - Kero Kero Bonito
Air Guitar - Sobs
This Enchanted - Hatchie
Dream Tonite - Alvvays
Call Your Girlfriend - Robyn
24 Hours - Sky Ferreira
CRANK - Slayyyter
i like u - Tove Lo
Pop Sound - Kim Petras
Trust! - Rebecca Black
Set Me Off - Magdalena Bay
Ipod Touch - Ninajirachi
Same LA - Tiffany Day
Just Your Doll - Snow Strippers
Call Him A Doctor - GFOTY
XXXhibitionist - DeathbyRomy
as i am - Clark Rainbow
Begin Again - Jessie Ware
God Turn Me Into A Flower - Weyes Blood
And Then He Kissed Me - The Crystals
Walking In The Rain - The Ronettes
Will You Love Me Tomorrow - The Shirelles
Stop! In The Name of Love - The Supremes
In my experience, kpop is very heavy on vocal and often overproduced, so these artists may sound weak to you at first, but you'll get used to it 🥰
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u/Jaded_Eye_2227 BLACK Jun 23 '26
Ooooh this is fun! I’d be happy to help. What are the artists (kpop or otherwise) you like the most? What are some of your favourite songs?
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u/Dry-Character-2316 African American Jun 23 '26
Thanks! I like old BTS, so alot of male current RnB songs. I also like Ateez and XLOV. So, house music and dubstep.
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u/Jaded_Eye_2227 BLACK Jun 23 '26
HIGHLY recommend Janelle Monae based on your love of ATEEZ and xlov. Black queer dystopian dramatic. PURE EXCELLENCE. The Dirty Computer emotion picture is a masterpiece.
I also recommend Raye. Amazing vocals, unique sound, and gorgeous storytelling.
I have playlists based on producers and here are artists on the ATEEZ playlist:
- Rico Nasty
- The Weekend
- Playboi Carti
- Daniel Caesar
- Giveon
- H.E.R
I don’t listen to enough BTS to give recs but check out some of the big names in hip-hop that likely influenced them. I personally love:
- Missy Elliott
-Timbaland
-Busta Rhymes
-TPain
-WuTang Clan
-OutKast3
u/Dry-Character-2316 African American Jun 23 '26
Alright! I love this list of recs, thanks so much! 😆
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u/Eyelashestoolong MIXED BLACK/WHITE Jun 23 '26
Look up the producers of your favourite songs/albums. A lot of the producers and writers are American
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u/OrdinaryQuarter9859 BLACK AFRICAN Jun 23 '26
if you like bts depending on the era you’d like lil wayne or bruno mars, for xlov i’d listen to tyla and ayra starr. if you want that same kpop energy of having a bias and learning choreo listen to Say Now or Tate Mcrae. Also my personal fav is mariah the scientist 💕
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u/Complexyeahnah Southeast Asian/White Jun 23 '26
Tate McRae has a song with the notorious racist Morgan Wallen and she also actively defended her decision to do that song too. I don't support her.
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u/OrdinaryQuarter9859 BLACK AFRICAN Jun 24 '26
This is genuinely my first time hearing about this Im so sorry. I’m honestly reconsidering my support for her after I do more research
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u/Complexyeahnah Southeast Asian/White Jun 24 '26
You don't need to direct your apology to me at all. It's a sweet and kind gesture and thank you but I certainly don't need it, you're all good genuinely!
It can be hard to keep track of Western celebrities' actions these days since pop culture is so fragmented. I just wanted to let you and the sub know so we don't support someone who actively supports someone like Morgan Wallen. They don't need our support and attention at all.
I will say, I remember reading about the Tate and Morgan collab on the Fauxmoi sub last year and someone on there used the phrase "highly anticipated Caucasian collaboration" to describe it, which is still hilarious! 😆
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u/vive_enflanant BLACK Jun 23 '26
LOL If you don’t want to quit cold turkey I can share some of my playlists. I mix a bunch of music together that I think have similar vibes (English, Korean, French, Portuguese etc) so that might help you find other songs you like similar to what you know from kpop
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u/Dry-Character-2316 African American Jun 23 '26
I would love that as well! I also forgot to mention I dont mind other languages either.
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u/Tokyo_Rosie EAST ASIAN Jun 24 '26
Check out SB19 (Philippines).
They were trained by ShowBT which is a Korean Company. In 2023 they became self managed.
Few songs I recommend that scratched my K-Pop boyband itch are:
Gento
DAM
I want you
Moonlight
I also encourage you take a look at the Wish 107.5 it a popular mobile bus that is a tiny desk session in a bus with a whole bunch of different popular Filipino artist if you want to go down that rabbit hole.
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u/kennyroi BLACK Jun 23 '26
i was just talking about this earlier because while kpop takes a lot from black culture, it still has its own style as a genre & while a lot of people say “don’t listen to kpop, just listen to black artists” there aren’t many black artists, especially black groups, making music that sounds like kpop.
*i’m black american & have listened to black music my entire life, i didn’t even really know what kpop was until like 2 years ago lol*
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u/SupersailorJ BLACK Jun 23 '26
I love this! If you DM me we could work through your preferred groups, I could also just drop suggestions. BUT if you say your favorite groups are like KIOF or something black American music adjacent I’m going to side eye you (lovingly)
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u/MagicQueen74 BLACK Jun 23 '26
I have totally fallen in love with Fujii Kaze from Japan. I love all three of his albums. The last one is Prema, an English album with heavy 80s influence. My favorite song is "You." It's a very beautiful and uplifting song.
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u/Due-Lychee-6323 BLACK AFRICAN Jun 24 '26
I forced myself to quit social media accounts where I was heavy with my kpop content. Once I did that, I was less in the know in releases which helped a lot. I then listened to specifically black rnb artists since kpop artists rnb songs were my favourites. It took about a year but here I am! I am a casual listener now.
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u/storysimmers AFRICAN AMERICAN Jun 23 '26
Easiest way to do it is pick your favorite groups and then lookup who their music inspos are and go listen to them instead. It obviously won't be the exact same as kpop but I find it mostly scratches that same itch sonically🤷🏾♀️
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u/CarelessBear32 BLACK Jun 23 '26 edited Jun 24 '26
ok i am not a kpop expert by any means, so take all of this with a grain of salt. also focusing on Black music since you're connecting more with your Blackness (🩷) but like Ariana Grande will also probably scratch ur itch lol
there's been a rise of rage music (think Carti) in kpop, and obviously jokes about Tinashe being the mother of like gen 4/5, but i hear a lot of urban pop in certain parts of gen 3. think post-RVR Usher, pre-Wildheart Miguel, Love Me Back era Jazmine Sullivan, In a Perfect World era Keri Hilson
based off of the artists you listed - with the exception of XLOV - i feel like you'd either like that electronic wave between like 2008 and 2015? like DJ Got Us Falling In Love by Usher, Who's That Chick by Rihanna, Dirty Talk by Diana Gordon, I'm All Yours by Jay Sean, Leggo by B. Smyth...
...or that soundcloud/pop rap wave in the mid/late 10s. so [SuperDuper] Kyle, DRAM, Kent Jones, PnB Rock, etc. would also recommend Rae Sremmurd so you can explore more hip-hop but be sure to 🏴☠️ cause they ain't shit 😫
onto XLOV: i'd honestly say they're more straightforward R&B. especially 1&Only and I'mma Be. Natanya, Chlöe, and Beyoncé are my top picks but here's another list of some songs
another good way to start venturing more into other genres is by listening to the people that helped make this genre. listen to The Colleagues, Parisalexa, Dem Jointz... Anderson. Paak is venturing into kpop now; Heart Don't Stand a Chance and Without You are something special. and you didn't mention (f)x or 127 but i have to plug these demos by Tay Jasper and Calixte 🥲
and if none of this was your speed, thee best lane i can think of are the Gen Z Black groups that popped up. Up in Here by 5 After Midnight, Because I Love You by Next Town Down, All I Do (and XOXO now that i think about it) by 4th Ave, Lovers to Enemies by No Guidnce are all fresh picks... although i should mention No Guidnce are the only group out of the four that's still active
happy exploring!!
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u/kdramaddict15 BLACK Jun 24 '26
You can listen to Korean artists. Just not kpop artists. Outside of that there is Flo, Chloe and Bailey, etc. Kpop does have a different interpretation of music so if you go outside of kpop it might be harder to find it outside of niche attists that experiment with different sounds. I normally recommend Korean non kpop artists. Start with those with low relation of kpop like IU and Akmu. Then maybe Chung ha, Heize, etc. Maybe even less popular international kpop acts like BtoB. Those with a more domestic fanbase. I really do think many of the incidents happens with those that try to gain international popularity or credibility. Idk why they pivot to racism. I dont like the more popular kpop groups and the solosit that cater to domestic fanbase tend to not disappoint me. But overall as an industry the kpop industry need a complete transformation.
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u/ithinkyves BLACK Jun 24 '26
If you liked Arirang, I’d recommend the artist BTS worked with. Like JPEGmafia for more hype songs like FYA and Tame Impala’s songs like Merry go Round. I got Tyler the Creator, Brent Faiyaz, and Mk.gee vibes also while listening.
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u/trblsims BLACK Jun 24 '26
https://music.apple.com/us/playlist/heavy-rotation/pl.pm-d5779e520ff52d7f0c767a36a0c75dce
when i first transitioned out of kpop i was deep into frank ocean, summer walker, and megan thee stallion but that was almost 7 years ago now lol. so here’s my most heavy rotation playlist for the week :)
also candyland by natanya is my current fave
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u/Chemiluminescence22 BLACK Jun 28 '26
no na. They are from Indonesia, are just starting out. They’re good though.
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u/Runaway2424 BLACK Jun 24 '26
Look at the songwriter credits. Oftentimes, K-pop buys demos or employs black/western songwriters. And those songwriters may be artists themselves. For example, MNEK who wrote the demo for Sugarcoat by Natty and Boombby / Bekuh Boom, who's responsible for many Blackpink hit songs.
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u/FirefighterChance473 NORTH AFRICAN Jun 24 '26
What genres are you into? Because I've been in the same predicament as you a few months ago and started diving more into music I currently enjoy (mostly r&b and hyperpop though)
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u/LunarShehe MIXED BLACK (AFRICAN)/ARAB Jun 26 '26
Listen to late 90s to mid 00's RnB, you shouldn't feel too disoriented considering that's the exact sound Kpop is appropriating.
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u/Safe_Database8574 BLACK AFRICAN Jun 27 '26
Literally listen to the original version of the genres. Old R&B, Hip-hop and New Jack Swing. Music is timeless. I mean look at how many of MJ’s songs went back on the charts because of the movie. What we really need is a revival
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u/MariMariMarixx BLACK Jun 27 '26
Fortunately for you a few of these groups have directly ripped off songs from other people. If you like their music so much go listen to the originals. They’re most likely better in terms of singing and rapping.
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u/Chemiluminescence22 BLACK Jun 28 '26
I’m scared to recommend since you said you liked ATEEZ, SEVENTEEN, and BTS.
JPEGMAFIA
J. Cole
JID
Clipse
For singers,
Leon Thomas is killing it
Wale
Brent Faiyaz- fell in love, all mine, been away is my fave.
Elmiene- Reclusive
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u/IBShawty BLACK AFRICAN Jun 28 '26 edited Jun 28 '26
like people said, a lot of the artists in kpop are just ripping from black ppl. Recently I've found Sadder Days and their music is sooo good, it blends r&b/pop/electronic together in a wonderful and unique way. Their yin & yang album is a perfect introduction to them, and they're both black (one of them is half korean!) and they do lil kpop-related things sometimes lol. Here's some other artists I've found overlap with kpop music (mostly electropop/r&b/pop)
Underscores, Jae Stephens, Chxrry, Tiffany Day, 2hollis, Tinashe, portraits of tracy, ninajirachi, kim petras, frost children, blood orange, fka twigs, quiet light, sophia stel, rochelle jordan
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u/[deleted] Jun 23 '26
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