[Grace Kao] Le Sserafim’s ‘Spaghetti’ and K-pop’s obsession with food

I just watched the music video for Le Sserafim’s new single, “Spaghetti” (featuring BTS’s J-Hope), where you can see the members of the group selling spaghetti to a group of customers from a food truck. In a different scene, J-Hope is playing with the noodles in a bowl, but he never actually eats them. The promotional shorts focus on other food items with visual concept versions: (1) cheeky neon pepper; (2) knocking basil; and (3) weird garlic.

The video reminded me of K-pop’s obsession with songs about food. On the surface, this seems ironic since K-pop idols maintain severely restrictive diets. Then again, we all love songs about unrequited love and unattainable goals. Food may literally serve as forbidden fruit for our hardworking and svelte K-pop idols, but I doubt they are the ones responsible for the proliferation of food songs.

Thinking about “Spaghetti,” I noticed that it’s a bit different from other food songs because it’s about a savory dish. Then again, BTS had a huge song titled “Butter.” J-Hope is featured in the video, and it reminded me of his cover (along with Becky G) of the classic “Chicken Noodle Soup” (original by DJ Webstar and rapper Young B). Still, most of the K-pop songs about food are about sweet dishes. This makes sense given that idols and some pop songs are supposed to be sweet. Upbeat and light pop songs are sometimes classified as “bubblegum pop,” but these are not usually literal references to bubblegum.

There is “Ice Cream Cake” by Red Velvet (who themselves are named after a cake). There’s also “Cake” by Itzy and another by Kard. In fact, Blackpink (along with Selena Gomez) released “Ice Cream” about five years ago, but Twice had one two years earlier. After some digging, I learned that f(x) had a song called “Ice Cream” 8 years ago.

I believe I could make an entire playlist of K-pop songs whose titles include the word “Candy.” The first one that comes to mind is H.O.T.’s iconic song “Candy,” but more recently, Exo’s Baekyun released a song titled “Candy.” Come to think of it, Twice had one too. Apink as well. Astro had a fun single titled “Candy Sugar Pop,” and another song titled “Cotton Candy.” Close Your Eyes has a new song titled “Paint Candy.” There is also the song “Lollipop” by 2NE1 and Big Bang. I also saw GOT7’s Youngjae perform “Sugar” on KBS’s Music Bank. But if sweet is not your thing, you can always turn to “Sour Candy” by Blackpink.

Candy reminds me of gum, and I immediately think of NewJeans’ “Bubble Gum.” Kep1er also has a song titled “Bubble Gum,” while NCT Dream has a tune titled “Chewing Gum.” Yeonjun of Tomorrow X Together recently released a song titled “Ggum.” Stayc has a song titled “Gummy Bear,” although I thought it was titled “Teddy Bear.” It turns out there are two songs, but the one I was familiar with was the latter.

In fact, while I do not follow NCT Dream closely, I did remember their many songs about food. Off the top of my head, in addition to “Chewing Gum,” there’s “Hot Sauce” (maybe that belongs in the condiments section of my list), “Pretzel” and “Smoothie.”

“Smoothie” brings us to the beverages section of this list, which includes songs like “Lemonade” by NCT 127. Xodiac also has a song with the same title. There’s “Blue Lemonade” by Red Velvet, and “Blue Orangeade” by TXT. Red Velvet also has a song titled “Milkshake.” Even "KPop Demon Hunters" has the wildly catchy “Soda Pop” by The Saja Boys.

Idols are not supposed to drink, so I think there are relatively few songs about alcohol. Still, Red Velvet has a song titled “Mojito” and BTOB has one titled “Whiskey.” However, Twice reminds us that it might be good to be “Alcohol Free” — this is a great summer song. I also love BTS’s cover of Urban Zakapa’s “Coffee” — I can’t think of another song with the lyric, “caramel macchiato.”

Finally, there are songs about flavors. Aespa has “Spicy” and “Salty & Sweet.” n.SSign and The Boyz each have songs titled “Salty.” BamBam of GOT7 released “Sour & Sweet” in 2023, followed by Ampers&one’s “Sweet & Sour.”

Where does this leave us? Is it that entertainment companies love songs about food? These are likely seen as G-rated topics that will not offend anyone. Food can be used as an allegory for other emotions, and perhaps this is a way to offer suggestive but not explicit lyrics. K-pop songwriters are under tremendous pressure to produce an endless supply of songs as groups proliferate and increase the frequency and rate of their song releases. Still, I have trouble imagining that a songwriter felt particularly inspired to write song lyrics after eating a plate of spaghetti or enjoying a piece of candy. But then again, I’m not a songwriter.

Grace Kao

Grace Kao is an IBM professor of sociology and professor of ethnicity, race and migration at Yale University. The views expressed here are the writer’s own. — Ed.