By Sam Manzella
Darren Criss is a huge fan of K-pop, and he doesn’t care who knows.
In a recent interview with MTV in which he detailed his top musical inspirations, the Assassination of Gianni Versace star revealed he frequently turns to K-pop greats like BTS and Blackpink for inspiration. In fact, there’s actually a “huge K-pop song” featured in Royalties, his new comedy series from Quibi satirizing the world of songwriting.
“There’s this just sort of outrageousness and just in your face-ness to those songs, which are always really cool and sophisticated,” Criss told MTV.
The Glee alum added that he listens to “a lot” of K-pop, and he thinks superfans will really appreciate his nods to the genre as Pierce, his Royalties alter-ego. Each episode of the series, in which Criss stars alongside Kether Donohue, includes different entertainment personalities, like Jennifer Coolidge and John Stamos, who play fictional musicians.
“People who speak Korean and pay attention to K-pop will probably be like, ‘Why does this make no sense?’” he said. “I kind of liked the idea that there was what I actually said [in the song], what the Korean translation was, and then ultimately what the English translation of the Korean translation, of the original thing is. But I did it on purpose ‘cause I know K-pop fans, especially those who speak Korean, will watch and be like, ‘That’s not…’ I’m like, ‘I know, I know!’”
As if we needed another reason to stan Criss. Find out which songs he’d recommend to a friend and his “cardinal rule” for karaoke by watching the actor-singer’s full Music to Blank To interview above.
