‘Lucifer’ Gets Meta With Surprise K-pop Easter Egg

When you think of Lucifer, K-pop is not the first thing comes to mind. The TV series is based on one of Vertigo’s most popular comic runs, but its gritty action and drama are more aligned with a K-drama than South Korea’s brand of pop goodness.

That is, unless you know who SHINee is. If you do, then you know why Lucifer has a connection to the wide world of K-pop.

Tonight, Lucifer aired its latest episode of season three, and it featured its share of K-pop nods. Part of the episode follows Pierce and Lucifer as the pair helped Chloe with her latest murder case. A chemistry teacher named June Lee was found dead, and her laptop happened to have the secret formula to K-pop on it.

Not the music genre, that is. No, Lucifer is talking about K Pop, the latest and best brand of ecstasy to hit Los Angeles. The trio learn Lee was actually cooking the drug for the gang Korean Power. So, when Chloe takes the boys to confront the gang at a karaoke bar, things get crazy.

Not only does Lucifer rush into the hotspot yelling in broken Korean, but he gets into a hilarious fight. The action sequence is timed beautifully to one of SHINee’s most popular songs – yes, that one. Lucifer went straight-up meta and timed its latest fight scene to a song titled “Lucifer.”

Once the gang run-in closes, Lucifer moves away from any K-pop connections, but this hilarious nod has fans feeling good. The upbeat song was a perfect choice for Lucifer, and SHINee’s inclusion marks another crossover moment for the music genre into U.S. media. Other acts like BTS and BlackPink have also had tracks of theirs used in TV and film. In fact, the latter group had part of its song “As If It’s Your Last” in Justice League while BTS was sampled in a teaser for Silicon Valley.

Were you surprised by Lucifer’s use of SHINee? Hit me up on Twitter @MeganPetersCB to let me know and talk all things comics, k-pop, and anime!