Kathmandu- BLACKPINK created history almost four years ago. The formidable quartet made history in 2019 by becoming the first female K-pop act to perform on Coachella’s Sahara stage and proved they deserved such a title. At the time, their booking felt significant and like a sign that the tide was shifting because K-pop was still largely unknown in the west almost ten years after PSY’s “Gangnam Style” became a worldwide sensation.

Although looking at UK festival lineups might lead you to believe it, K-popularity pop’s in the west hasn’t just been focused on the US. Britain is far behind where events like Coachella have been proactive and accepting of Korean musicians’ rising appeal. Blackpink, who will once again make history in London’s BST Hyde Park, is the only K-pop act that has been announced so far to perform on British fields this summer. K-pop has been sorely underrepresented at recent festival seasons. Even Glastonbury, a haven of various genres, aesthetics, and civilizations, hasn’t made the transition yet.