For Santos Bravos, the first Latin American group to play KCON, pop has no borders

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Set us as preferred Under the hot lights of the Crypto.com Arena in Los Angeles, the five members of Santos Bravos stood center stage, ready to stake their claim to international stardom.It was the first night of KCON — a three-day festival of Korean pop culture, held every year since 2013 — and on Aug.

14, Santos Bravos became the first Latin American act ever to grace the bill.Despite the band having debuted less than a year ago, the crowd was buzzing with excitement, but its energy heightened as the slashing knife sounds of “Hooligan,” a song off BTS’ latest hit album, “Arirang,” began to ring out.Because of their popularity, BTS songs are frequently covered by groups at KCON, but newcomers Santos Bravos, who are under the same parent label, Hybe, had more to prove to this audience.“Hooligan” was produced by Spanish producers Fakeguido and El Guincho (who worked on two records with Rosalía), as well as South Korean producer Ghstloop and American producer Jasper Harris.

The multicultural song, with lyrics in both Korean and English, was an apt choice for Santos Bravos — between the five members, they speak and sing in three languages and represent several Latin cultures.For BTS fans, nothing less than near the performance level of the superstar group is acceptable.But as Santos Bravos sang the opening verses in English, the crowd roared with approval — especially as lead vocalist Kauê Penna, who hails from Brazil, slid onstage to take on the high parts of BTS lead Jungkook.While artists from different backgrounds working together is nothing new, Santos Bravos, like the Hybe x Geffen girl group Katseye, are part of an effort to bring K-pop training, marketing methods and fandom culture to other regions of the globe.Off the global success of BTS, Hybe evolved from a mid-sized label into one of the b...