K-pop means Korean pop, which is a musical genre, sometimes described more as an umbrella term, consisting of different music styles, including hip-hop, rap, jazz, r&b, dance, rock music and ballads. The name for the genre is first recorded in English around 1990–95. Strongly influenced by Western popular music, K-pop took off in 1992 with Seo Taiji and Boys, who incorporated rap, rock, and dance elements into Korean popular music.
Modern K-pop "idol" culture began later in the 1990s, as K-pop idol music grew into a subculture. The very first group in K-Pop to exist was H.O.T., which debuted in 1996 and has been credited as the group that started the Korean pop culture.