Shreya Lenka Opens New Vistas For Indian K-pop Artists
When the members of the K-pop band EXO came to India in 2015 to test the waters, people hardly recognised them. However, the scenario has rapidly changed within a few years. K-pop and Korean culture in general, have undoubtedly taken over the news recently with two most recent events- BTS being invited by US President Joe Biden to the White House and 18-year-old Indian, Shreya Lenka making her way to the globally acclaimed girl group “Blackswan”. The latter is especially a great feat for aspiring Gen Z artists who can actually think about entering into the ever-growing K-pop industry.
Blackswan consists of artists from various parts of the world including leader Youngheun from Korea, rapper Fatou from Senegal, Korean singer Judy and Brazilian-Japanese singer Leia. The group had first debuted in 2011 as “Rania” but underwent many rebrandings subsequently. In 2020 it went through another major rebranding and came up as Blackswan with the current members.
Shreya is said to have prepared for her audition for DR Music Entertainment in her house’s terrace, since the studios were closed due to COVID-19 restrictions in 2020. After this, she moved to Seoul for her rigorous training process.
Earlier, the doors of Z-pop were opened to India’s Priyanka Majumdar and Siddhant Arora. Z-pop comes under the wide umbrella of K-pop that tried to apply the systematic training and selection process to international artists and global performers.
Shreya who hails from Odisha’s Rourkela district is one of three siblings. Her father, according to her is her strogest pillar of support and inspiration. From an early age she started pursuing performing arts and has training in hip-hp, freestyle, contemporary and Indian classical (Odissi) dance.
When she was first introduced to ‘Growl’ a smash hit by the South Korean–Chinese boy band Exo, she found a new passion. When DR Music came up with the Cygnus project, Shreya had sent an unedited song and dance video for her audition for Cygnus. After being selected as a finalist in July 2021, she moved to Seoul for the last leg of training.
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For a phenomenon like K-pop that started in a country of 50 million, in the late 1980s after South Korea’s democratisation, it has now grown into an unfathomably huge industry. What started with Seo Taiji and the boys has not left any corner of the world untouched. There is hardly any person, regardless of age, that hasn’t been acquainted with K-pop. Let’s keep rooting for more Indian artists to make their way into this worldwide phenomenon.
– Doreen Bora
(Doreen Bora is a graduate from Ramjas College, Delhi, with an honours in History and have a passion for writing. Her interests range from sports to Indian classical dances as well as K-Pop. She is a also a national level badminton player besides being an avid dancer.)
