Only a select few songs can count themselves among the highest of echelons in the K-Pop pyramid; that envied position where everyone in Korea can at least hum along to the chorus, no matter how young or old you are. We’ve already covered a few of them; let’s talk about one more.
Brown Eyed Girls (BEG) is one of the oldest-running groups in K-Pop; they debuted in 2006 as a ballad group before pivoting to more mainstream pop. Abracadabra was part of their 2009 Sound G album, and BEG struck gold with both the song and the choreography, the latter of which would be imitated by every single celebrity on every single television program for the next year. (I’m not exaggerating.)
Abracadabra’s influence didn’t lessen over the years; Psy (of Gangnam Style fame) featured the trademark dance in his 2013 track, Gentleman, and even featured BEG member Ga-In in the music video. As late as 2016, popular girl groups like EXID were performing cover dances to this song.
K-Pop is always shifting; what’s popular one week may be old hat the next. Artists are born, and die, like so many mayflies every year. That makes this song’s longevity all the more surprising — and welcome.