Maggie Thorpe is a student in the University of Washington Department of Communication News Laboratory. CHS is proud to feature the work of promising young journalists provided by the lab.

The bright and colorful pop tunes thump away. The sounds are familiar, but have a unique rhythm. They encourage listeners to sway to the music. Eventually something becomes apparent: “Wait, this isn’t English!” For those who are unfamiliar with the increasingly popular music from Asia, it is most likely K-pop — Korean pop — or J-pop — Japanese pop.

JK Pop! Night is a new DJ night moving into Capitol Hill’s just-opened Barboza this Wednesday, May 16 from 9p to 2a This “labor of love” concept of a non-mainstream American music night began when three fans of J-pop and K-pop music met.

“I’d been toying around with the concept of a J-pop/K-pop dance party, primarily because I wanted to see if there was a thriving fan base of people in that particular genre of music,” said Reese Umbaugh, also known as DJ Bishie. “I’ve known Alex Thomas, DJ BabyLoveCrash, for years and knew she really loved Japanese music and culture, and I met Allen Huang, DJ Hojo, and immediately sparked up a conversation about K-pop with him, and it all just kind of came together from there.”

The monthly event was born in the Alibi Room near Pike Place Market, but it outgrew that location, organizers said. With the power of word-of-mouth and the Internet, JK Pop Night has steadily been gaining fans. 

The niche fan base was what attracted the DJs to collaborate, mainly because of their frustrations in trying to share the foreign music. 

“We were tired of bombarding our friends with links to video and dancing in our chairs at work, so we decided to reserve a space for a dance night. And then another one. And then another one. Really, we don’t see a reason to stop,” said Hojo.

“I would dance every day in my car and apartment to K-pop, wishing I could show off these sweet moves in a club,” said BabyLoveCrash. “I resigned to myself that I would have to save up to dance in a club in Korean one day, although they probably wouldn’t play the exact songs I wanted to hear.” 

The DJs guarantee that there will be an even mix of fresh songs and classics with plenty of remixes. While Bishie and BabyLoveCrash focus more on K-pop, Hojo will focus on J-pop. 

“J-pop has been a secret love of mine for forever,” said Hojo. “Right now, the electro-pop and dance music scenes in Japan seem to be really firing on all cylinders, doing stuff that’s really unique compared to the rest of the world.” 

J-pop and K-pop’s influence in the United States is growing. Earlier this year, Girls’ Generation, one of the front-runners for K-pop, performed on “The Late Show with David Letterman.” With little to no promotion in the U.S., K-pop has even been charting on the U.S. Billboard. 

“I see a small, but devoted fan base growing bigger and bigger as K-pop and J-pop gets better and better,” said Hojo. “It’d be amazing to hear stuff like Big Bang right next to Rihanna on Top 40 radio, but I’m not holding my breath for that.”

Of course, fans of J-pop and K-pop should definitely come to the event, but for casual listeners and those who have not heard of this genre before, Bishie said, “JK Pop! Nights are really fun, unpretentious, and you’ll see a lot of uncontrollable dancing. We just want people to have a great time, and I think that our efforts show.”

So get your kawaii clothes on and do an aegyo pose and get ready for, as DJ Hojo calls it, “the best night of the month.”

Are you a fan of an outside-the-mainstream DJ night on the Hill that others should know about? Let us know in comments.

For more information, check out JK! Pop’s Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/jkpopnight. Tickets are $3.