Editing Hae-pop (section)

== History ==

=== 1967-1987: Countercultural origins ===
While the intellectual origins of Hae-pop are uncertain, with some scholars saying the history stems back to the global styles of the Suyang Blues in the 1920s and 30s, the concept of a modern Haean-language musical style began to emerge as Haesan rebuilt from the destruction of the [[Great War]].  During Maximusian administration and the solidification of English language governance, many in charge of reconstructing institutions of knowledge were increasingly dismayed by the destruction of Haean identity, as many of them were old enough to have memory of the First Commonwealth and grew up around stories of the decolonial movement.  Maximusian administration, and later Lagarde's insistence on using English, led to the creation of the Haeanization movement from those who desired to have Haean as legally equal and sought to preserve Haean traditions before they became lost to generational turnover.

Throughout the 1970s, a new generation of Haemi youth who grew up with the trauma and destruction of the Great War began to enter universities, where in hushed tones and backrooms became exposed to Haeanization and gradually became increasingly defiant against the regime.  As Lagarde continued a singular focus towards the sciences in pursuit of his trinity of "Sky, Space, and Atom," those in the arts were continually marginalized and subject to increasingly restrictive content guidelines to quell dissent against the regime.  Many of those students, exposed to bootleg rock and R&B albums from Libertas Omnium Maximus and other nations, sought to mix those styles with traditional Haean melodies and lyrics.  .  

The Media and National Security Act of 1974 banned "unpatriotic" music and forced the nascent musical scene underground.  Albarine University was known to be a particular hotbed of this growing arts movement, and police would regularly sweep dormitories for contraband records and cassettes, and spot checks were frequent in the broader Haeseomun neighborhood.  Despite this, many youth continued to mix tapes, and increasingly those from working class backgrounds would lend their own flair, mixing angsty, politically charged rap verses{{Efn|Often of the style known as Sunseong rap, named after the largely industrial district in northwest Suyang}} with beats from the university districts.  Throughout the late 70s and early 80s, musical innovation happened quietly on the margins of society in order to evade the law, but the introduction of new styles emerging from nations like Slokais at the time continued to transform the genre.

Democratization in 1985 led to the resurfacing of many underground musical currents, as certain provisions of the Media and National Security Act were scarcely enforced.  In January 1987, the act was sharply amended and removed virtually all restrictions on music production and distribution.  In March 1987, the Foreign Media Consumption Act was repealed, allowing for foreign media to be consumed in Haesan without risk of punishment.  In the ensuing months, artists from across Haesan were able to freely transfer and expand their ideas for the first time in over four decades.

=== 1987-1993: Youth-centered genesis ===
Within the months following liberalization several young acts debuted on live music panel shows, at the time one of the most popular forms of televised entertainment.  While for most of the authoritarian period, the programs had largely been dominated by [[Opthelia|Opthelian]] operettas{{Efn|Opthelian operettas were popular amongst the upper classes during the Lagarde administration, seen as sophisticated and modern, befitting of a society embracing his trinity.  They were also seen as a replacement to traditional Haesanite ballads, which were banned since they are sung in Haean}} and popular propaganda songs{{Efn|Nearly without exception, government sponsored or produced}}, the gradual breakdown of the censorship regime progressively enabled more diverse content to appear on the shows.  On March 18, 1987, the up-and-coming band Five Lions appeared on the Suyang Broadcasting Service's show ''Music Television Weekly''{{Efn|Now known as <i>SBS Weekly Review</i>}}, considered to be by many the start of the modern Hae-pop genre.  The group was uniformly panned by the panel of judges, receiving the mininum score of 5{{Efn|A result unmatched on the program's history; receiving a minimum score of 1 from all 5 judges}}; however, following the show the judges were pelted with cabbage by the group's loyal fans.  In the following weeks, the debuts of more fledgling Hae-pop groups with a rough, urban sound on the flagship music programs of Haesan Broadcasting Systems and Meridian Broadcasting Company's premier music TV shows signaled the start of a revolution, although the other groups also received similar negative reviews from their judges.

Throughout its genesis, Hae-pop was generally unpopular amongst the broader public, and was heavily criticized by popular political and cultural leaders.  The first Prime Minister Pak Ye-ju on various occasions called the genre "dangerously disruptive," and "a disgrace to our culture."  [[Celestialism|Celestine]] leaders of a more conservative ilk called those who listened to Hae-pop "condemned to live life in perpetual darkness and shade."  However, Hae-pop itself was also riding the tailwinds of another political movement, Haeanization, which was rapidly gaining momentum in post-democratization Haesan.  Haeanization protests driven by Haemi youth often used the Haean lyrics of Hae-pop as protest anthems and rallying cries in order to push for the legal equality of their language and heritage.  

When [[Conservative Party (Haesan)|Conservative]] Henry Bishop was elected in 1990 on a unity platform pledging to push through Haeanization reforms, it seemed like the movement was about to reach a critical victory.  Early the next year, the Haean Language Administration Act (HLAA) became law, enshrining Haean as an official language of Haesan and dedicating funding toward Haean arts and culture, ultimately forming the backbone of the government's support for and control of the Hae-pop industry.  The HLAA would also provide subsidies for organizations who supported Haean cultural programs and arts, provided that they met certain requirements regarding "Haesanite respectability."

=== 1993-2000: Corporatization and standardization ===
On May 3, 1993, former government music-propaganda creator turned ad man Heo Seung-hwan saw an unexploited opportunity created by the HLAA, and decided to create a music records studio, Hwanseong Records.  Inspired by Mizu pop music which consisted of tightly curated group acts and had received great domestic acclaim but little international fanfare, Heo decided that he could use a similar premise combined with the modern beats of Hae-pop, and not only win over youth support, but also government funding.  With an HLAA grant approved in late 1992, Heo quickly assembled a group of talented dancers and debuted the first ever Hae-pop idol group, Believe Our Infinity{{Efn|So named by Heo due to the belief that the group would "transcend the stars".  Heo is a devout Celestine}}, better known as B.O.I.  The girl group's debut single, "To Infinity", immediately topped domestic charts, with a catchy, modern rhythm, Haean lyrics, and tight, well-rehearsed choreo; it was the first corporate Hae-pop performance and by far the most successful commercially.

Others immediately tried to imitate Heo's success.  Min Yu-seong saw a similar opportunity to form a boy band along a similar premise, and launched Min & Sons Studios in mid-1994.  Their debut group, Far Apart, relied heavily on traditional ballad styles mixed with electronic beats and a distinctive rap portion, and instantly distinguished itself as a chart-topping artist.  In February 1996, Son Yu-ra, a music theory professor at Albarine Univeristy, decided that she was unhappy with the direction of the Hae-pop genre and wanted to direct it more towards the sound that she had experienced as a student during the authoritarian regime.  Organizing a mixed-gender group based on hip-hop and R&B samples, she aimed to woo youth with an energetic sound more reminiscent of the original Hae-pop of the 80s.  The initial group, SUN{{Efn|An abbreviation of Stylish Undercover Newcomers}}, gained a small but devoted following, but the second debut from YuRa Records with a similar concept, the boy band Avarice, was one of the leading groups of the late 1990s and early 2000s.  More international was Seolmi Artists{{Efn|So called because of its founding in Seolmi-dong, Miyu-gu, Suyang}}, founded in 1998 and devoted to melding Haean culture with the world.  Unafraid to use foreigners or immigrants in their idol groups, Seolmi idol groups were some of the earliest to gain a sizeable audience abroad, with girl group BluePower touring the Slokais Islands as early as September 2000.  

This era also saw high levels of government oversight and intervention in to the Hae-pop industry.  YuRa Records was a particular target of the government, having been the largest Hae-pop corporation to have not received grants from the HLAA in order to maintain its artistic independence.  From 1998 to 2000, YuRa Records' Haeseomun headquarters were raided by the [[List of intelligence agencies#Haesan|National Investigations Office]] on four separate occasions, on the last of which Son Yu-ra was arrested on charges of embezzlement and tax fraud.  The charges were dismissed in November 2000, as the newly elected Lenoir administration asked the Ministry of Justice to drop the suit.  However, over the course of the 1990s, it is estimated about a dozen small to medium sized Hae-pop production companies were forced to shut down due to government interference or pressure.  

=== 2000-2010: Entering the mainstream ===
By the early 2000s, Hae-pop had become the predominant form of music in Haesan.  In 2001, the HBS Music Chart's top 10 were all songs from Hae-pop groups for the first time, and every single week of ''SBS Weekly Review'' was won by a Hae-pop group.  The predominant battle became internal, as the four major corporations, Hwanseong, Min, YuRa, and Seolmi all sought to promote their groups and style and seize an ever larger share of the domestic market.  During the Lenoir administration, some Hae-pop artists' lyrics returned to their blatantly political origins, beyond even the YuRa Records artists who had long been known for pushing the boundaries of the genre.  The Min & Sons boy band No Altitude gained popularity for its ballad like melodies and willingness to talk about issues like overwork, social atomization, and anxiety.  In this increasingly socially conscious era of Hae-pop, the emphasis was on the domestic consumer, and plays for international appeal were largely contained to Seolmi Artists' groups, who at this time were regularly touring Eastern [[Hesperida]].

The Monetary Crisis of 2004 caused significant turmoil and upheaval in the Hae-pop industry.  Hwanseong Records, having taken out loans on their future growth to invest in a new corporate headquarters and performance spaces, soon found themselves deep in debt at unsustainable interest rates, and was forced to declare bankruptcy in April 2005.  The company was then purchased by Min & Sons Studios to become a mega-label rebranded as HM Entertainment, at the time accounting for about 60% of all Hae-pop revenues.  As HM Entertainment, the company would combine the Hwanseong drive for popularity with Min & Sons' penchant for societally aware lyrics, and would start to try and breakout internationally.  In 2007, the HM Entertainment boy band Modern Spirit became the first Hae-pop group to make an appearance on the internationally acclaimed [[Novella Islands|Novellan]] music TV show ''[[Live! on Culture One]].''  While critics in the nation were largely underwhelmed by the performance, the fan reaction was resoundingly positive as at times it was difficult to hear the music over the broadcast due to the screaming fans in the live audience.

=== 2010-present: A Globalized Hae-pop ===