Q-pop

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Q-pop or Qazaq pop is a music genre originating in Kazakhstan. [1] [2] [3] It is a modern form of Kazakhstani pop music sung in Kazakh, incorporating elements of Western pop music, Kazakhstani hip hop, EDM, R&B and Toi-pop, with heavy influences from K-pop of South Korea. [4] [5] [6] The genre first surfaced in 2015 when the first Q-pop group, Ninety One debuted. [7] Since then the genre has experienced growing popularity among Kazakhstani youths, with more Q-pop artists forming and debuting. [5] [8]

Contents

Background

Kazakhstan experienced the Korean Wave when South Korean dramas and movies started entering the country in the mid 2000s. [9] This phenomenon, assisted by the increasing accessibility of the internet, sparked more interest in South Korean pop culture among Kazakhstanis, which helped the popularization of the K-pop music genre in Kazakhstan. [10] [11] K-pop is regarded as an attractive, less-restrictive and unique genre. [12] The high popularity of K-pop in Kazakhstan spurred the creation of the first Q-pop project in 2014, when JUZ Entertainment formed Ninety One. [13] After the group debuted in 2015, it became instantly popular among youth, due to its high quality music and the use of Kazakh in its songs. [1] [14]

Current status

Q-pop is enjoying support from both the government and the people as a means to promote and popularize the use of Kazakh language and Latin script among youth. [5] [15] [16] However, it has also faced criticism and rejection from the traditionalist element of society, especially toward its performers' on-stage appearance. [17] [18] [19] Since 2018, there has been an annual q-pop music festival called the Q-Fest, usually held during Autumn in Almaty. [20] [21]

List of Q-pop performers

Boy bands

Girl groups

  • Crystalz (disbanded)
  • Juzim (disbanded)
  • Ayanat (disbanded)
  • Ice Blue
  • Ozge (disbanded)
  • IMZ1
  • Qiyal (disbanded)
  • Oasis
  • T'OI

Co-ed groups

  • Youngsters

Musical duos

Male soloists

Female soloists

Crossover artists

These artists also sing in genres besides Q-pop such as Toi, Hip-Hop & R&B

List of Q-pop record labels and management agencies

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kazakhstan</span> Country in Central Asia and Eastern Europe

Kazakhstan, officially the Republic of Kazakhstan, is a landlocked country primarily in Central Asia, with a small portion situated in Eastern Europe. It borders Russia to the north and west, China to the east, Kyrgyzstan to the southeast, Uzbekistan to the south, and Turkmenistan to the southwest, with a coastline along the Caspian Sea. Its capital is Astana, while the largest city and leading cultural and commercial hub is Almaty.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Astana</span> Capital of Kazakhstan

Astana, formerly known as Nur-Sultan, Akmolinsk, Tselinograd, and Akmola, is the capital and second-largest city of Kazakhstan with a population of 1,350,228 within the city limits after Almaty, which had been the capital until 1997. The city lies on the banks of the Ishim River in the north-central part of Kazakhstan, within the Akmola Region, though administered as a city with special status separately from the rest of the region. Initially founded as Akmoly in 1830, the city was later renamed Akmolinsk, Tselinograd, and Akmola before adopting the name Astana in 1998, which means "capital city" in Kazakh. In 2019, the city briefly adopted the name Nur-Sultan in honor of former president Nursultan Nazarbayev, but it returned to the name Astana in 2022.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Nursultan Nazarbayev</span> President of Kazakhstan from 1990 to 2019

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kassym-Jomart Tokayev</span> President of Kazakhstan since 2019

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Dariga Nazarbayeva</span> Kazakhstani politician who is the Chairwoman of the Senate of Kazakhstan

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Imangali Tasmagambetov</span> Former Prime Minister of Kazakhstan

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kazakh alphabets</span>

The Kazakh language is written in three scripts – Cyrillic, Latin, and Arabic – each having a distinct alphabet. The Arabic script is used in Iran, Afghanistan, and China, while the Cyrillic script is used in Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Russia, and Mongolia. In October 2017, a presidential decree in Kazakhstan ordered a transition from the Cyrillic to Latin script to be phased in from 2023 to 2031.

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Karim Qajymqanuly Massimov is a Kazakh politician who served as Prime Minister of Kazakhstan from 2007 to 2012 and again from 2014 to 2016. He was Deputy Prime Minister from 2006 to 2007 and held the positions of Minister of Economy and Budget Planning and Minister of Transport and Communications in 2001. He served as chairman of the National Security Committee from 2016 to 2022.

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">2016 Kazakh legislative election</span>

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Ninety One or 91 is a Kazakh boy group formed by JUZ Entertainment in 2015. The band consists of four members: Alem, Ace, Zaq, and Bala. Once a five-member group, A.Z. left in 2020. Ninety One is the pioneer act of a new musical genre called Q-pop (Qazaq-pop) which could be called a synthesis of Western and Asian pop music. The group was produced by Yerbolat Bedelkhan, a member of the Kazakh music unit "Orda".

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