The band members of Big Ocean, who all have different hearing challenges. (Big Ocean pic)

SEOUL:

The K-pop industry has often been criticised for its lack of diversity, with its lineup of seemingly flawless idols. But it’s becoming increasingly open to difference, as evidenced by the enthusiasm sparked by a new boy band called Big Ocean.

This K-pop group is made up of three singers: Lee Chanyeon, Park Hyunjin and Kim Jiseok. At first glance, you might think they’re a boy band like so many others – but what sets Big Ocean apart is that all the members have hearing difficulties.

In fact, each of them has hearing loss, and Lee Chanyeon and Park Hyunjin both have cochlear implants.

Still, their disability hasn’t stopped them from getting into music. “The three of us have different levels of hearing ability. During recording, we often struggle to stay on beat because we can’t hear the rhythm of the track clearly. It’s hard to fix this on our own, so we rely on the staff’s hand signals to help us stay in sync,” Kim told the Korea Times.

They also used artificial intelligence technology to help record their songs.

As dancing is an integral part of the success of K-pop groups, the members of Big Ocean trained extensively to learn how to perform the routines that accompany their songs. This was supported by the use of smartwatches, which act as metronomes enabling them to dance in time, as well as by monitors displaying light cues.

All these efforts were applauded on April 20, when the boy band made its debut. The date was carefully chosen to coincide with South Korea’s national day for people with disabilities.

The band’s first tracks have proved successful: the official video for “BLOW” has been viewed over 226,000 times on YouTube since it went online on July 11, and the video for “SLOW” has been viewed over 98,000 times.

Creating space for difference

Many fans of the boy band see real hope in Big Ocean.

“I love the representation that they are giving the disabled community. This is literal proof for (a majority of) the community that, just because we are disabled in specific ways, it does not mean we are entirely incapable of doing the same things as able-bodied people,” reads one YouTube comment.

And this sentiment is shared by the band members. “While we do carry the title of the world’s first idols with hearing loss, we don’t want our disabilities to define our group’s entire identity.

“Like other K-pop groups, we want to carry out our activities just the same, and we hope that when people first encounter us, they’ll naturally think, ‘Oh, I didn’t know they are hard of hearing. That’s cool’,” Park told the Korea Times.

Big Ocean’s arrival on the K-pop scene is all the more remarkable given that few stars of this musical genre speak publicly about their disabilities. Ningning, one of the members of the aespa girl band, did so briefly in a video for Vogue Taiwan.

In it, she recounts having had problems with her eyesight since childhood, explaining that her “right eye can barely see” and that this is “her secret”.

This is because, in the world of K-pop, idols have to be perfect, striving to be irreproachable, both artistically and physically. It’s not uncommon for Korean pop stars to go under the knife to polish their image, contributing to a standardisation of physiques and the perpetuation of certain norms.

So, while there are growing calls for K-pop to diversify and showcase artists with aesthetics that challenge these beauty standards, there’s still a long way to go before this part of the Korean music industry advocates body positivism.

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K-pop strives for greater inclusivity with Big Ocean

This new South Korean boy band consists of members with hearing difficulties, while fellow artistes have been speaking up about their own disabilities.