Embed Size (px)
Citation preview
DIVERSITY OF K-POP: A FOCUS ON RACE, LANGUAGE, AND MUSICAL GENRE
Wonseok Lee
A Thesis
Submitted to the Graduate College of Bowling Green State University in partial fulfillment of
the requirements for the degree of
MASTER OF ARTS
August 2018
Committee:
Jeremy Wallach, Advisor
Esther Clinton
Kristen Rudisill
© 2018
Wonseok Lee
All Rights Reserved
iii
ABSTRACT
Jeremy Wallach, Advisor
Since the end of the 1990s, Korean popular culture, known as Hallyu, has spread to the
world. As the most significant part of Hallyu, Korean popular music, K-pop, captivates global
audiences. From a typical K-pop artist, Psy, to a recent sensation of global popular music, BTS,
K-pop enthusiasts all around the world prove that K-pop is an ongoing global cultural flow.
Despite the fact that the term K-pop explicitly indicates a certain ethnicity and language, as K-
pop expanded and became influential to the world, it developed distinct features that did not exist
in it before.
This thesis examines these distinct features of K-pop focusing on race, language, and
musical genre: it reveals how K-pop groups today consist of non-Korean musicians, what makes
K-pop groups consisting of all Korean musicians sing in non-Korean languages, what kind of
diverse musical genres exists in the K-pop field with two case studies, and what these features
mean in terms of the discourse of K-pop today.
By looking at the diversity of K-pop, I emphasize that K-pop is not merely a dance-
oriented musical genre sung by Koreans in the Korean language. I argue that K-pop is not
confined to a certain region, ethnicity, or language. In the globalization era, it exists as a global
cultural flow amalgamating diverse races, languages, and musical genres. My thesis thus
demonstrates how diverse races, languages, and musical genres are interwoven in the K-pop
field.
iv
Dedicated with love and appreciation to Jiyoun.
v
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
First and foremost, I am immensely grateful to my advisor, Dr. Jeremy Wallach, for all
his guidance, encouragement, and valuable comments through this entire project. He inspires me
to pursue the field of ethnomusicology and cultural studies further. My special thanks goes to my
other committee members, Dr. Esther Clinton and Dr. Kristen Rudisill, for their insightful
comments. I do not think I could have completed this project without their support and
encouragement during the last two years.
I also want to thank the rest of the faculty in the Department of Popular Culture at
Bowling Green State University for their support, as well as Dr. Katherine Meizel and Dr. Sidra
Lawrence in the College of Musical Arts for their expertise in ethnomusicology. I was very
fortunate that I was able to take their classes. Their classes were extremely useful and I am
grateful for the time and energy they gave to me. In addition, I would like to thank my
colleagues. Specifically, I want to thank one of my colleagues, Jason Maageria, from Kenya. He
and I pushed each other to concentrate on each project. Meeting with him regularly was very
helpful for this thesis. And I must express my special appreciation to all the musicians,
informants, and interviewees for this project.
Finally, I would like to thank my family and friends for their support, understanding, and
patience throughout the whole process of this project. Specifically, I am extremely grateful to
Jiyoun for her constant love and support. This project could not have been accomplished without
her. I am truly indebted to her.
vi
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Page
INTRODUCTION ................................................................................................................. 1
Methodology .............................................................................................................. 6
Chapter Previews ....................................................................................................... 7
CHAPTER ONE: THE DEVELOPMENTAL PROCESS OF K-POP ................................ 11
The Appearance of Seo Taiji ..................................................................................... 12
Influences of the Trainee System on K-pop .............................................................. 19
The Involvement of the Korean government ............................................................. 28
CHAPTER TWO: RACE AND LANGUAGE ...................................................................... 35
K-pop Songs Sung by Koreans but in Non-Korean Languages ................................ 35
Lyric Translations .......................................................................................... 37
Lyric Translations .......................................................................................... 44
K-pop Songs Sung by non-Koreans but in Korean .................................................... 47
CHAPTER THREE: JAMBINAI AND 2ND MOON .......................................................... 62
Jambinai As Another K-pop ...................................................................................... 68
Musical Features of Jambinai ........................................................................ 70
2nd Moon ............................................................................................................ 76
The Gugak Project ......................................................................................... 78
CONCLUSION ...................................................................................................................... 88
REFERENCES ...................................................................................................................... 93
vii
LIST OF FIGURES
Figure Page
1 Seo Taiji and Boys’ first debut album (Bando, BDL-0023, 1992) ...................... 13
2 SM Entertainment’s Global Audition Official Web Page in 2017 ............................ 24
3 Poster of MU:CON 2016 ........................................................................................... 32
4 Oricon Single Chart on Feb 19, 2018 ........................................................................ 44
5 Comparison Reid’s original curly hair with her hair during “Star a Fire” ................. 53
6 The geomungo riff of “They Keep Silence” .............................................................. 70
7 Metric modulation part of “They Keep Silence” ....................................................... 71
8 The geomungo riff and drum pattern of “Time of Extinction” .................................. 71
9 4/4 time signature part of “Time of Extinction” ........................................................ 72
10 A vocal melody and chord progression in a verse of “They Keep Silence” .............. 72
11 Comparison of traditional geomungo player with Shim Eun-yong of Jambinai ....... 73
12 Comparison of traditional haegeum player with Kim Bo-mi of Jambinai ................. 74
13 A performance with 2nd Moon at Jeongdong theater in Korea in 2014 ................... 79
14 The guitar comping in the introduction of “Sarang-ga” ............................................ 82
15 A combination of Chunhyang-ga melody (upper) and 2nd Moon’s melody (bottom)
in the last part of “Sarang-ga” .................................................................................... 83
16 A melody in a verse of “Eosa Chooldoo” .................................................................. 85
viii
LIST OF TABLES
Table Page
1 The distribution of theme of popular songs from 1984 to 1994 ....................... 17
2 Assessment items of KOCCA for the popular music album production aid 2018 .... 33
3 Comparison between Japan and South Korea music consumers ............................... 43
4 20 K-pop groups having non-Korean members ......................................................... 48
5 Nationality and ethnicity of non-Korean members .................................................... 49
1
INTRODUCTION
After I finished my military service in spring 2006, I worked as a session musician with
famous popular musicians in South Korea (hereafter Korea). I performed with them in concerts,
festivals, and music TV programs in Korea as well as other Asian countries. Specifically, when
Sg Wannabe, a male vocal trio, and Lee Min-woo, a member of the idol group Shinhwa, were on
concert tours in Asia, I was able to perform with them in many cities in Korea, China, and Japan.
While participating in the concert tours, I was impressed by the enthusiasm of fans of Korean
popular music in other countries. Not only did they enjoy the concerts by singing along, some
fans awaited their stars in front of their hotels. One day in Japan, I asked Japanese fans what
made them become fans of Korean popular musicians and music. They told me that they loved
Sg Wannabe and their music because there were no such vocal groups in Japan. They especially
emphasized that the three members of Sg Wannabe were so attractive and good at singing. One
fan was very proud of the fact that she started to learn Korean in order to fully understand Sg
Wannabe’s songs.
Since the early 2000s, many Korean popular musicians have promoted their music to
other countries taking advantage of Hallyu, which is the term referring to the transnational
appeal of Korean popular cultural products, especially in Asia at that time. According to Lee
(2015), “The term Hallyu was first coined by Chinese media in 1998 to describe Chinese youths’
sudden craze for Korean popular-culture products. Hallyu floated to the other side of Asia as
well” (p. 6). By pointing out Hallyu’s fuzzy boundary, a film scholar, Choi Jung-bong (2015),
defines “Hallyu as the phenomenal success of Korean cultures in overseas markets including
films, TV dramas, music, foods, language, fashion, tourism, beauty products, and the like” (p.
33). Among these elements, Korean popular music (hereafter K-pop) is the most influential part
2
of Hallyu in conjunction with soap opera, according to Choi (2015, p. 34). In Korea, from my
experience, it was not difficult to encounter fans of Korean drama and K-pop from other
countries, including mainland China, Taiwan, and Japan, in crowded districts such as Gangnam
and Myeong-dong in Seoul around the beginning of the 2000s.
Moreover, by emphasizing the importance of cultural content for the national economy,
the Korean government actively promotes Hallyu to the world. For example, the Korea Tourism
Organization (KTO) in 2005 created travel programs based on soap operas such as Dae Jang
Geum to attract global tourists (Jang, 2005). In 2008, the Korean government launched the
“Global Hansik” (Global Korean Cuisine) campaign to make Korean food one of the five most
popular ethnic foods in the world (Na, 2009). In addition, the Korean government established
agencies such as the Korea Foundation for International Culture Exchange (KOFICE) to promote
Hallyu and conduct surveys. When it comes to KOFICE, Fuhr (2017) states that:
Its main business consists of conducting overseas market research and surveys, giving
policy recommendations for Korean Wave promotion, organizing forums and seminars
for cultural industry workers and experts from Asia, and (co-) hosting public relations
events, such as the Asia Song Festival [from 2003 to present], and exchange events with
diverse Asian countries, such as the Pattaya International Music Festival in Thailand,
which presents K-pop idols next to other Asian pop idols. (p. 144)
In this way, Hallyu has been supported for a long time by the Korean government not only as a
significant resource for the national economy, but also as a tool for promoting the national image
of Korea globally.
In conjunction with governmental subsidy, the technological development of social
media also contributes to Hallyu’s expansion. Specifically, K-pop as the most significant part of
3
Hallyu gradually spread not only to Asian countries, but also to American and European
countries in conjunction with fans’ involvement through social media. Choe and Russell (2012)
point out that “YouTube, Facebook and Twitter make it easier for K-pop bands to reach a wider
audience in the West, and those fans are turning to the same social networking tools to proclaim
their devotion” (New York Times). When it comes to the global success of Psy’s “Gangnam
Style,” no one, not even Psy himself, can explain this tremendous success except by the
influence of YouTube. A number of global fans celebrated “Gangnam Style” by copying Psy’s
horse dance and uploading it on YouTube, even though they might not understand the lyrics.
When Psy’s “Gangnam Style” was booming in 2012, some people were skeptical and argued that
the international K-pop sensation would just be a transient phenomenon. However, after 6 years,
there are many examples that show K-pop is still appealing to the world.
For instance, there is an annual K-pop fan convention today in the U.S., called KCONs.
According to Euny Hong (2016), tickets for KCONs sold out quickly, and more than 50,000
people attend KCONs annually. In addition, Billboard has had a K-pop column since 2013 in
order to bring K-pop news, songs, and music videos to its readers each week (Bae, 2013). A
prominent K-pop boy group, BTS (Bangtan Sonyeondan, “Bulletproof Boy Scouts” in English),
not only won “Top Social Artist” at the 2017 Billboard Music Awards, but also performed their
song “DNA” at the American Music Awards in 2017 — BTS was rebranded into English to
mean “Beyond The Scene” in 2017 (Marshall, 2017). Along with these examples, it is clear that
K-pop is an ongoing global cultural phenomenon. As K-pop became influential to the world in
this way, I noticed distinctive features that did not exist in it before.
I had long encountered global fans of K-pop; I encountered global applicants dreaming of
becoming K-pop artists beginning in the 2010s. For example, when I worked for Superstar K
4
from 2009 to 2011, equivalent to American Idol in the U.S., I met several global applicants
mainly from other Asian countries and the USA. Even though the majority of contestants from
other countries are Asians and Asian Americans, I met several Caucasian contestants, too. As a
member of the house band of Superstar K, I watched applicants from the beginning of the show
to the final round. Despite the fact that applicants from other countries were not good at speaking
in Korean (some of them did not speak Korean at all), they eagerly tried to sing in Korean in
order to get through the mission in this program. In addition, when I worked for Chungchun
Music Inc. as a producer, I received a plethora of applications from other countries including
Bangladesh, China, Japan, USA, and Russia. From what I remember, they normally covered K-
pop idol groups’ dance music. Although many of them were not good enough at it, they were
very enthusiastic; some of them applied again and again heedless of their failure.
Around that time, I was told by a friend, Kim Hye-jung who worked for SM
Entertainment (one of the biggest K-pop entertainment companies) and now works for Jellyfish
Entertainment, that many K-pop agencies have trainees from other countries and teach them not
only musical lessons, but also Korean language in order to make them K-pop artists. I also
personally taught Brad Moore, a member of the band BuskerBusker from Cincinnati, Ohio, how
to advance his drum skills.
It was the opposite phenomenon in the K-pop field at the beginning of the 2000s. At that
time, many K-pop musicians and agencies, as I mentioned, merely tried to promote their albums
in other countries. In order to promote their music, musicians learned and sang in foreign
languages. For instance, one of my friends, a member of the K-pop boy band izi, was taught
Chinese and Japanese to promote his music to China and Japan around 2003. The four members
of izi even stayed in Japan to learn Japanese language and culture before their debut in Japan. At
5
that time, although I had met many enthusiastic global fans in person or through social media, I
had hardly met any non-Korean aspirants dreaming of becoming K-pop stars. It was taken for
granted that K-pop was a music genre presented by “Korean” musicians irrespective of the fact
that they promoted their music to other countries.
Around ten years later, I witnessed a number of enthusiastic applicants from other
countries aspiring to become K-pop stars who were willing to learn Korean culture and language.
I also witnessed K-pop agencies completely embracing talented non-Koreans as future K-pop
artists. At present, it is not rare to meet non-Korean musicians singing in the Korean language in
the K-pop field. Furthermore, K-pop agencies and musicians still release songs in non-Korean
languages as a promotional tool aimed at the global music market. Among the five dimensions of
global cultural flows Appadurai mentioned, ethnoscape is an appropriate term that can exemplify
this phenomenon in the K-pop field. He (1996) states that “[I]t is to say that the warp of these
stabilities is everywhere shot through with the woof of human motion, as more persons and
groups deal with the realities of having to move or the fantasies of wanting to move” (p. 33-34).
Again, it is not rare to encounter “K”-pop songs sung by non-Korean musicians in the Korean
language, or “K”-pop songs sung by Korean musicians in non-Korean languages.
When it comes to music genre, even though K-pop has been considered dance-oriented
music, diverse styles of music including indie bands have recently captured people’s attention on
the K-pop field today. In this way, K-pop has become a cultural area in which many aspects
including diverse races, languages, and musical genres are interwoven.
Although many academic research articles and books examine K-pop, they mainly
discuss instances of global success rather than the diversity of K-pop, based on the assumption
that K-pop is dance-oriented popular music sung by Koreans in the Korean language. Though a
6
recent book, Globalization and Popular Music in South Korea written by Michael Fuhr in 2017,
deals with race, it merely covers Korean Americans and Asians. I, however, argue that such an
assumption is not enough to fully explain K-pop today. Through this thesis, I delve into the
diversity of K-pop, focusing on issues of race (non-Asian and non-Korean American), languages,
and musical genres in order to contribute to the discourse on K-pop. By looking at the diversity
of K-pop, I emphasize that K-pop is not merely a dance-oriented musical genre sung by Koreans
in the Korean language.
Methodology
I utilize an interdisciplinary approach in this thesis, consisting of popular culture studies,
ethnomusicology, data analysis, textual analysis, and musical analysis. Although the
methodology I use changes somewhat in accordance with the needs of individual chapters, based
on what I have experienced in the K-pop field, I mainly rely on the ethnomusicological methods
throughout. As an insider, I describe my experiences in order to clarify how K-pop shifted and
diversified in terms of race, language, and musical genre. Specifically, I illustrate my
experiences and thoughts when I performed with 2nd Moon, which is one of my subjects in
Chapter Three. As an outsider who scrutinizes popular culture, I also conducted interviews with
musicians and audiences in order to gather precise data; the most successful examples of this
approach can be found in Chapters Two and Three.
Aside from the ethnomusicological methods based on my experience, I draw from
various types of sources to bolster this research: 1) primary sources, including videos and sound
recordings, popular press articles, and institutional documents; 2) secondary sources, scholarly
articles, including articles published in Korean; and 3) Internet sources including social media. I
also utilize musical transcriptions when I scrutinize musical aspects of my two subjects, Jambinai
7
and 2nd Moon, in Chapter Three. In order to emphasize their musical differences, I transcribe
certain parts of their music focusing on melodic phrases, chord progressions, and rhythmic
patterns. After finishing my transcriptions, I checked them with members of Jambinai and 2nd
Moon.
Chapter Previews
Chapter 1 examines how K-pop has developed from the early 1990s to the present in
order to help understand K-pop today. Specifically, this chapter focuses on 1) a monumental shift
derived from the appearance of Seo Taiji in the beginning of the 1990s, 2) distinctive features of
the K-pop industry, and 3) the Korean government’s official support. These aspects are crucial to
grasp how K-pop developed and created an environment which enabled diversity to emerge in
the K-pop field today. To be specific, the appearance of Seo Taiji is meaningful in that he not
only introduced various music genres, including rap music, into the K-pop field, but also
influenced the change in popular music consumers to youth audiences. By analyzing his traits
and influences, I describe how he provided a tremendous shift in the K-pop field as well as
Korean society. Relying on Adorno and Horkheimer’s Culture Industry thesis, I also delve into
the trainee system for the reasons why and how K-pop artists are manufactured. I explore how
the trainee system contributes to the diversity of K-pop by embracing non-Korean musicians. As
much as K-pop has become an influential cultural flow, the Korean government has recently
tried to intervene in the K-pop industry. This intervention not only affects K-pop artists and
agencies per se, but also causes a certain phenomenon, 7th year jinx. In this way, K-pop today
can be interpreted precisely through these three aspects: for example, why the majority of K-pop
groups today are manufactured and dance-oriented groups.
8
Chapter 2 looks at diverse languages and races in the K-pop field. People today can
encounter many K-pop songs sung in non-Korean languages. In conjunction with a description of
Korean society in the beginning of the 1990s, this chapter examines how K-pop songs use non-
Korean languages. This chapter also delves into features of the K-pop industry to provide the
reason why many K-pop groups today sing in non-Korean languages. Such a phenomenon
provokes not only the globalization of K-pop as a gateway for global audiences, but also the
diversity of K-pop. It has become a norm; Korean trainees try to master at least one foreign
language before their debuts. In addition, this chapter investigates K-pop groups having or
consisting entirely of non-Koreans from Western countries but singing in the Korean language,
focusing on three instances: RaNia, CoCo Avenue, and EXP Edition. By looking at how they
become K-pop artists and what different features they have from typical K-pop musicians, it
examines what cultural meaning non-Korean musicians have in the K-pop field as well as in
Korean society. Having non-Korea musicians and languages in the K-pop field might cause
questions about the definition issue of K-pop because of the fact that the term, K-pop, clearly
represents a certain ethnicity and language. In order to clarify how it impacts the definition of K-
pop, I also conducted interviews with international students at Bowling Green State University.
Focused on musical analysis and my ethnographic approach, Chapter 3 explores the
musical diversity of K-pop, focusing on two groups, Jambinai and 2nd Moon. In order to bolster
my argument that they are K-pop group, I describe why the term, K-pop, is inauthentic and
examine what kinds of activities both groups do as popular music artists based on Peter Manuel’s
[1988] definition of popular music. By analyzing their distinct features, this chapter provides not
only the reason why K-pop cannot be interpreted as only dance-oriented music groups, but also
evidence of how diverse musical genres exist in the broader K-pop field. Specifically, this
9
chapter investigates four songs as examples of the diverse style of K-pop music; “They Keep
Silence,” “Time of Extinction” by Jambinai and “Sarang-ga” (“Love Song”), “Eosa Chooldoo”
(“Here comes the Royal Inspector”) by 2nd Moon. I rely upon global audiences’ comments
regarding these songs to describe how people absorb different styles of Korean popular music
and emphasize my argument about the musical diversity of K-pop.
The diverse races and languages in the K-pop field mean that K-pop is not only an
example of cultural globalization, but also a cultural area within which borders have been
diluted. I focus on the diversity of K-pop is not only to suggest different perspectives toward K-
pop, but also to look at how people interpret changed K-pop today. While K-pop has been
consumed by global audiences as merely a popular music genre from a small East Asian country,
K-pop holds different meanings to each audience. To them, it becomes a cultural area where
their political, historical, and social interests are mixed.
For example, a Taiwanese member of TWICE, Chou Tzuyu, apologized for waving a
Taiwanese flag on the Korean TV program My Little Television in 2015. During her segment in
this program, she waved a small Taiwanese flag alongside a Korean flag. After a male China-
based Taiwanese celebrity, Huang An, castigated Chou as a traitor by pointing out that her
behavior was against the One-China Policy — Beijing considers Taiwan a Chinese province
awaiting reunification with mainland China (Chung) — backlash from Chou’s actions intensified
with both Chinese media and netizens denouncing a 16-year-old Taiwanese K-pop artist. Even
some Chinese audiences commenced the “boycott JYP” movement and it impacted other JYP
artists’ promotion in China. Eventually, Chou’s management, JYP Entertainment, released an
apology video. By comparing this video to a hostage video by ISIS, the Taiwanese criticized JYP
for forcing Chou to make the video (Denyer and Jing). This incident turned out to be a huge
10
political controversy between mainland China and Taiwan. It even affected the presidential
election in Taiwan in 2016. According to Chung (2016), “Some election experts later said that
the apology video prompted many voters — who at first did not intend to vote — to cast their
ballots for Tsaii Ing-wen and her pro-independence Democratic Progressive Party” (South China
Morning Post). This is a clear demonstration that K-pop is no longer a popular music confined to
Korea, but a transnational popular culture that influences people around the world. In order to
understand such phenomena, it is necessary to look at the diversity of K-pop. Through three
chapters, this thesis scrutinizes how the diversity of K-pop emerges and the kind of diversity that
exists in the K-pop field today.
11
CHAPTER ONE: THE DEVELOPMENTAL PROCESS OF K-POP
This chapter sheds light on the developmental processes of K-pop from the early 1990s to
the middle of the 2010s. In this chapter, I examine how regional popular music becomes global
by focusing on three aspects; a monumental shift, a distinct feature of the K-pop industry, and
the Korean government’s official support. When it comes to the discourse of the development of
K-pop today, it would be impossible to ignore these three aspects. In the time between the
Japanese occupation era (1910-1945) and the military dictatorship era (1961-1993), popular
music in Korea changed in conjunction with the Korean society. To be specific, a popular music
industry, including mass product systems and broadcasting stations, were formed during the
Japanese occupation era (Son, p. 265). After Korea was liberated from Japan’s colonial rule in
1945, Korean popular music absorbed diverse American music genres such as rock, rhythm and
blues, and jazz, while the U.S. Army stayed in Korea. During the military dictatorship era,
people, specifically youths and college students, demonstrated against the autocracy by singing
folk songs in the style of Phil Ochs and the early Bob Dylan. In this way, folk music became a
central music genre in the popular music field in Korea during that time. The most revolutionary
shift of popular music in Korea occurred in the beginning of the 1990s.
As in many other countries, the globalization of American culture in the 1990s affected
popular culture in Korea. There was, specifically, a social group that did not hesitate to consume
Western culture. In conjunction with rising economic affluence since the 1980s, the new
generation (sinsedae), which had fundamentally different values, lifestyles, and mind-set from
the older generation (kisongsedae), actively consumed Western popular culture. According to
Eun-young Jung (2017), “sinsedae in a narrow sense refers to those born during the early and
mid-1970s who grew up in urban areas watching American TV shows, listening to American
12
popular music, eating American fast food, and consuming American fashion” (p. 144). One of
their different features is a pervasive individualism. Unlike the older generation, who have a
social consensus attitude to democratization and industrialization, the new generation (sinsedae)
does not share an experience of political conflicts and economic difficulties, owing to the fact
that the military dictatorship ended in 1993 and the average rate of economic growth in the 1980s
was around 10% (Lee, 2016, p. 5). In this way, individualism was pervasive among sinsedae
rather than the Confucian ideology of family and community. They relished the consumption of
Western culture without misgivings despite the fact that domestic media and the Korean
government criticized Western culture based on nationalism.
The Appearance of Seo Taiji
Not only because of social changes, but also because of a certain musician, Korean
popular music encountered radical transitions in the beginning of the 1990s. Seo Taiji, who is a
former underground bassist and singer-songwriter, led the transitions. He made a dance-oriented
boy group called Seo Taiji wa Aidūl (Seo Taiji and Boys) with two dancers (Yang Hyun-suk,
who later became a founder of YG Entertainment, and Lee Juno) and released his debut album,
Seo Taiji & Boys, in 1992. On this album, Seo Taiji first introduced rap music to the mainstream
popular music field in Korea and Korean audiences through his first title song “Nan Arayo” (“I
Know”). Although Seo Taiji and Boys had been criticized by critics and older pop singers —
their first major national exposure came on a broadcast program featuring several talking heads
who commented on new songs, and Seo got the lowest score ever (Lie, 2015, p. 57) — his first
album sold more than 1,800,000 copies, regarded as the greatest selling “debut” album ever, and
his group became an instant sensation (KBS, 2017).
13
Figure 1. Seo Taiji and Boys’ first debut album (Bando, BDL-0023, 1992).
From this moment, popular music in Korea changed in many ways. Seo Taiji has led to a
transformation of K-pop in terms of musical features as well as the music industry. In the
musical transition, for example, Jon Lie (2015) points out that Seo Taiji challenged and
ultimately destroyed many conventions of South Korean popular music, such as the pervasive
use of the Japanese pentatonic scale in trot, ballads, and folk music genres (p. 58). In addition,
whereas prior K-pop artists who were focusing on specific genres were called “ballad singers,”
“rock musicians,” or “folk musicians,” Seo Taiji has pursued various music genres. Whenever he
released an album, he introduced different styles of music. By listening to his albums, people in
Korea encountered hip-hop, heavy metal, dance, nu metal, etc.
14
Furthermore, Seo Taiji blended the rap-metal genre with a traditional Korean wind
instrument, taepyeongso, in his second album’s title song, “Hayeoga”1(“The Song of Why”),
released in 1993. This song starts with a beat box, which is a typical aspect of African American
music, along with a powerful distorted electric guitar riff. In all parts of this song, the electric
guitar riff is played as the main instrument and there is an electric guitar solo part, which is a
crucial aspect of the heavy metal music genre, for around one minute after the first chorus part.
Based on heavy metal sound, Seo Taiji frequently adds several elements of hip-hop such as a
beat box and DJ scratches, and Seo Taiji and Boys, in turn, rap in verse parts. In the chorus part
of this song, he adds taepyeongso (traditional Korean wind instrument); many critics at that time
appreciated it as an innovation in popular music (Bae, 2007). For the first time, this song
successfully blended popular with traditional Korean music. This album sold 2,200,000 copies
and is recorded as the first album which sold over 2,000,000 in Korea (KBS, 2017). Through his
song, Seo Taiji demonstrated how American culture, including the rap and metal music genres,
were localized in Korea. One year after rap music was introduced to the mainstream popular
music field in Korea through Seo’s debut album, Korean listeners were able to absorb a localized
rap music genre through the features of “Hayeoga,” such as the appropriation of a traditional
Korean instrument.
Lyrically, Seo Taiji was utterly different from other K-pop artists. Whereas the majority
of K-pop artists chose to write and sing about love themes, he chose various themes including
1 “Hayeoga” is basically the title of the old poem written by Lee Bang-won in Chinese characters in the end of the Goryeo dynasty (918-1392). Lee wrote this poem to persuade Jung Mong-joo, who was a scholar and government official of the Goryeo dynasty and murdered by Lee in 1392. After the success of the revolution, Lee Bang-won became the third king of Joseon dynasty (1392-1897) preceded by his father and older brother. Seo Taiji appropriates the title of the old poem.
15
not only love but also social problems. For instance, he pointed out educational problems
through his song “Kyosil Idea” (“Classroom Ideology”) on his third album, released in 1994. In
this song, Seo Taiji castigates the education system of Korea and its social context. When it
comes to such a context, Sarah Morelli (2001) points out:
The pressure for a place in a university often leads parents to enroll their children for
extra training at a hogwan, or institute. From an early age, many children in the middle
class not only at tend a full day of school, but also go to their hogwan between roughly
4:00 and 10:00 P.M. […] Such children are given little or no free time, and activities such
as sports and the arts go virtually unexplored—with the exception of an enthusiastic
interest in popular music and musicians. (p. 251)
For his part, Seo Taiji quit his schoolwork in the first year of high school because of the
dehumanizing educational system and competitive environment. He states that he never regrets
his decision to quit schoolwork. Rather, he regrets that he did not quit academic work in middle
school (KBS World TV, 2014). Through his lyrics, Seo Taiji, on the one hand, denounces the
educational system and parents who compel their children to only study. On the other hand, Seo
exhorts students to deliberate in terms of what education means to them and why they are not
happy. As an illustration of the first verse and chorus part:
Every morning by 7:30, you put us into a small classroom. And force the same things into
all nine million children’s heads. These dark closed classroom walls are swallowing us
up. My life is too precious to be wasted here. […] Why don’t you change instead of
wasting your life? Why don’t you change instead of wishing that others would change?
(E. Jung, p. 148)
16
During the industrialization of Korea, many people got high-paying jobs with college degrees.
For this reason, many people think that the key to success is to go to renowned colleges, and
Korean parents force their children to study to enter highly competitive colleges. In many cases,
Su-Nung, which is a college scholastic ability test (CAST), is the most significant element to be
admitted into college. In every year, the news media in Korea reports that a number of students,
unfortunately, commit suicide after (or before) the test because of severe stress. Korean society
and parents agree that it is a serious social problem. Such education fever in Korea, however,
does not decrease. Based on his personal experience and the Korean social context regarding
education fever, Seo Taiji decries such phenomenon. Although this song has been banned by
public media and criticized by conservative older generations, many teenagers are still thrilled by
the song and empathize with what this song says.
Another song, “Balhaerūl Kkūmkkumyeo” (“Dreaming of Balhae”) on the same album,
describes the Korean unification. While other musicians avoid this topic due to political issues,
Seo Taiji was willing to deal with this topic in his “title” song. Seo points out the divided
circumstance of the Korean peninsula in the first verse part. As an illustration: “Truly to me,
there is one thing to which I aspire. When can I see friends in the split land? While we hesitate,
we lose ourselves.” He asserts that it will be unified as soon as possible by singing “vividly, let’s
open our hearts and look for the way for us to go. There must be a happier future for us”
(translated by the author). Korea officially has been divided since 1948. After the Japanese
occupation, South and North Korea had a confrontation regarding ideological conflicts between
capitalism and communism. Furthermore, Korea has been in a truce since 1953, the year the
Korean War ended. It would be a very touchy topic, specifically for popular artists, to discuss the
17
circumstance of a divided Korea because of the fact that politics on both sides utilize the
situation for their own purposes2.
Nevertheless, from that time to the present, diverse forms of popular culture such as
movies, TV dramas, novels, poems, and art dealt with such a sensitive issue and tragic situation
of Korea. Popular music, on the other hand, merely coped with the situation of divided Korea.
By analyzing the themes of popular music songs from 1984 to 1994 that ranked among the top
three on the Melon chart; the biggest streaming music service in Korea, I found that there were
204 songs by 115 artists and groups. The majority of the songs, 164 to be specific, expressed the
theme of love. The second popular theme was life, which appeared in 25 songs. The third one is
the themes of youth and freedom, which were expressed in 9 songs. The theme of memory and
friendship was next, with 5 appearances. There was only one song that expressed the longing for
Korean reunification, which was Seo Taiji’s “Dreaming of Balhae” (Melon Chart Finder, 2017).
Table 1. The distribution of theme of popular songs from 1984 to 1994
2 For example, Chun Doo-hwan, who is a former soldier who became an autocrat, deceived people by arguing that South Korea had been attacked by North Korean emissaries after he illegally seized power.
Love80.8%
Life12.1%
Youth and Freedom4.3%
Memory and Friendship2.4%
Korean Unification0.4%
Love Life Youth and Freedom Memory and Friendship Korean Unification
18
No one expected that a huge pop star would directly sing about a very sensitive issue through his
title song. According to Shim (2006):
Seo Taiji’s music was so critically acclaimed that in 1998, when a group of music critics
and industry people compiled the best 100 albums in Korean music history, all four of the
band’s albums were included. Furthermore, Seo Taiji was chosen by The Monthly Joong-
Ang in 1994 as one of 50 people who had changed Korean society since 1945. (p. 36)
He and his songs affect people of all ages, specifically including teenagers who were less
interested in Korean unification. For this reason, people consider him as an influential person in
terms of music and society.
Also, Seo Taiji, as an innovative musician, expands a range of popular music in terms of
the music industry. Following him, many post-Seo Taiji K-pop artists now attempt diverse music
genres and lyrics. Furthermore, it is a kind of norm to take a rest after K-pop artists complete
their activities following a new song. Before the appearance of Seo Taiji, there was no such
norm. He was the first one who officially announced that he will take a rest in order to prepare
the band’s new album. To be specific, he announced on the TV program, Tukjong TV yeon-ye
(Exclusive scoop TV entertainment), after he completed his first album that he will take a
tentative retirement in order to prepare his next album (MBCfestival, 2012). Following Seo Taiji,
many popular musicians rested after they completed new songs. And since then, it has been
formalized in the popular music field in Korea.
When it comes to fandom, youth became a dominant group in terms of consuming
popular music after Seo Taiji’s appearance. According to Eun-young Jung (2017), “his impact on
popular music in Korea was immense, dance-oriented songs with increased visual focus,
allowing a clear distinction to be made between the music of youth and adult audiences. From
19
this point the youth became dominant in the broadcast and marketing of Korean pop” (p. 146).
Moreover, since many aspects of K-pop today derived from Seo Taiji; dance oriented-music,
youth fandom, and certain period of activity, Lie (2015) argues that:
Given what I have said about the ambiguous ambit of K-pop, it is perfectly fine to
suggest that So T’ae-ji wa Aidul [Seo Taiji and Boys] invented K-pop […] [S]omething
of a paradigm shift occurred between the advent of So T’ae-ji wa Aidul and the
appearance of the export-oriented K-pop of the latter half of the first decade of the
twenty-first century. (p. 99)
Even though it seems a little bit like a controversial argument, it is indisputable and agreed by
musicians and critics in Korea that Seo Taiji led prominent transitions of popular music field in
Korea regarding the music as well as the industry. Along with his influences, K-pop idol groups
have emerged in the middle and end of the 1990s.
Influences of the Trainee System on K-pop
In 1996, H.O.T (High-Five of Teenager) debuted as the first K-pop idol group. Their first
song “Chõnsa ūi huye” (“Warrior’s Descendant”), which adopts the hip hop genre, describes a
school violence, which was an uncommon topic for Korean popular music. Combining dance,
rap, and vocals, they criticize one of the most severe social problems in Korea. It is an unusual
case of not choosing the love theme for their first debut song as most rookies do; even Seo’s
theme for his first title song was love. Through this innovative debut song of H.O.T, we can
detect influences of Seo Taiji. According to Maliangkay (2014):
Although Seo’s innovative music and presentation found instant appeal, he continued to
innovate and set many popular trends in music, dance, and personal styling throughout
the 1990s. Borrowing sounds and dance routines from a wide range of musical styles,
20
including rap, hip-hop, and metal, his act became a major inspiration for the new
generation of students as well as other successful boy bands such as H.O.T. and Sechs
Kies, which did not innovate much and relied considerably on their teenage idol status in
their repertoires and performances. (p. 297)
Although H.O.T was affected by Seo Taiji in many aspects, unlike Seo Taiji, H.O.T had been
thoroughly created by their agency, SM entertainment. Producer Lee Soo-man, who founded SM
entertainment in 1995, held auditions to create an original boy dance group. After the five
members of H.O.T passed their auditions, they were trained for several years in order to hone
their musical talents and make a debut. According to Russell (2008), music companies at that
time could not rely on only genius and zeitgeist as in Seo Taiji’s case. In order to prosper and
thrive in the long run, they needed a system that could provide a steady supply of hits and
superstars (p. 147). H.O.T’s producer, Lee Soo-man, was the first person who executed such a
system when he produced H.O.T in the middle of the 1990s.
If Seo Taiji contributed to the musical diversity of K-pop, H.O.T contributed to the K-
pop industry system and standard K-pop sound today in conjunction with its tremendous success.
Whereas Seo Taiji always tried to attempt new style of music whenever he released his album,
H.O.T. and its successor groups relatively kept one specific music style by following the same
simple formula. To be specific, from the first album to fourth album of Seo Taiji and Boys
(1992-1995), the title songs of each album were in different styles — a dance oriented rap music
“Nan Arayo” (“I know”) in 1992, a trash metal mixed with hip hop and traditional Korean music
sound “Hayeoga” in 1993, an alternative rock “Balhaerūl Kkūmkkumyeo” (“Dreaming of
Balhae”) in 1994, and Cypress-Hill style hip hop “Come Back Home” in 1995.
21
On the other hand, H.O.T. and its followers such as Sechs Kies, Shinwha, NRG, and
TVXQ relatively focused more on dance-oriented music based on hip hop sound. Such
propensity to follow maintained throughout K-pop groups debuted in the 2000s and 2010s. Four
years after its debut, Seo Taiji and Boys disbanded in 1996 leaving behind a vast vacuum in the
youth-music scene (Lie, p. 100). H.O.T and its successor groups filled such vacuum with their
faithful youth fans. In this way, a dance-oriented music of idol groups from H.O.T. to
BIGBANG became standard K-pop sound today.
Furthermore, since H.O.T proved the efficiency of the trainee system as the first
manufactured K-pop group with its tremendous success, other K-pop companies followed the
trainee system when they created their new groups/artists. As a result, it has become a norm and
almost all the K-pop artists today have been manufactured by the trainee system and followed a
certain musical style. This phenomenon clearly shows a feature of popular culture referred to by
Adorno. He points out standardization of popular culture. Adorno said, “The original patterns
that are now standardised evolved in a more or less competitive way. Large-scale economic
concentrations institutionalized the standardisation and made it imperative” (Witkin, p. 103). In
line with Adorno’s claim, the trainee system as a certain pattern in the K-pop industry is
magnified with H.O.T’s tremendous success, and it becomes a standardization and distinct
feature of the K-pop industry. Under the capitalist system, popular music should be sold to
people to create revenue. As Witkin (2003) mentioned, “The necessity for standardisation
derives from the fact that the popular music must meet the demand of grabbing the individual’s
attention and it must also fall within the category of what the listener views as natural music” (p.
103). Needless to say, the trainee system is proven by H.O.T to be a conducive way not only to
get people’s attention, but also to make profits.
22
The trainee system has a specific process to encourage K-pop agencies’ success. In the
trainee system, many applicants who want to be K-pop stars audition first. If they pass the
audition, they will be trained for several years. During that time, a K-pop agency provides their
trainees with lessons such as singing, rapping, dancing, musical instruments, foreign languages,
etc., without any charge. Some K-pop companies, such as JYP, even provide a humanistic
education and sexual education for their trainees in order to prohibit unexpected affairs and
create an ideal superstar everyone can love (Ha, 2014). After its trainee becomes a star, the
agency can get more profits when the agency and a star share the profits. That is the main reason
why agencies provide classes without charge.
Since participating in the trainee system is the most reliable way to become a K-pop star,
trainees are mostly willing to fully participate by staying in housing provided by their agencies
and following the training timetable. Some trainees even quit their schoolwork to be engrossed in
the trainee system. In this way, the trainee system affects not only the K-pop industry per se, but
also Korean society. The trainee system is a significant element when looking at K-pop as a
music industry as well as social phenomenon. K-pop agencies consider their trainees as valuable
resources and cultural commodities to make profits; they thoroughly oversee trainees’ musical
discipline as well as their personal affairs. For example, trainees have to undergo regular
assessments in order to verify their musical evolution; normally, weekly or monthly. If they do
not provide evidence of progress, they are eliminated from the trainee program. When I worked
for Chungchun Music, Inc., I conducted a lot of auditions. In some cases, applicants had no prior
audition experience. In many cases, however, applicants had already trained with another
company for one or two years. When I asked them why they were eliminated from the program,
they said that “I failed monthly or last assessment of getting debut team.” By providing several
23
classes, K-pop agencies expect trainees to show their potential because it is the way the agencies
can withdraw their investment from a business perspective. If trainees do not prove their
progression, their agency considers them useless. In this way, trainees are forced to concentrate
on taking lessons and practicing to become an artist. For this reason, they cannot have personal
cellular phones and, even sometimes, they cannot use the Internet during training sessions. For
the same reason, K-pop agencies frequently hold auditions, and they have a Department of
Rookie Development to care for their trainees as significant resources.
As mentioned above, taking an audition is the most assured way to participate in the
trainee system for applicants. In the same vein, it is the most effective way to gather talented
trainees for K-pop agencies. In order to expand their opportunities, almost all K-pop agencies
hold auditions every year. In particular, some agencies, including the major three K-pop
companies — SM entertainment, YG entertainment, and JYP entertainment — hold auditions
every year not only in Korea but also in the other countries.
24
Figure 2. SM Entertainment’s Global Audition Official Web Page in 2017.
As the trainee system is rooted in the K-pop industry, taking the audition is considered as one of
the procedures to become a K-pop artist. And this phenomenon provokes people’s interests in
terms of such a procedure.
In conjunction with people’s interest, broadcasting stations in Korea competitively have
created audition programs from 2009 to the present. Numerous people who dream of being K-
pop stars have attended these audition programs. For instance, Superstar K4, which is an
audition program made by M.net, recorded over 2 million applicants in 2012 (Hong, 2012).
Since audition TV programs employ the trainee system’s procedures, laymen also can get used to
the trainee system. Furthermore, there are a lot of global applicants from Asia, America, and
Europe. Many foreign contestants, including Asians from other Asian countries, Asian
Americans and Canadians, African Americans, and whites from America, attended Superstar K.
25
Not only K-pop agencies’ global auditions, but also audition TV programs, promote K-
pop’s globalization by embracing non-Korean contestants. For instance, in K-pop Star, which is
a kind of audition program aired by Seoul Broadcasting System (SBS), there are a lot of non-
Korean applicants such as Brody, Kriesha Tiu, Peter Han, Erin Miranda, etc. It is not rare to see
non-Korean contestants in other audition programs too, such as Produce 101, Sixteen, Mix Nine,
etc. In this way, many K-pop groups today often include non-Korean members, usually Asian or
Asian American. For example, Girls’ Generation has a Korean American member named
Tiffany, who talked to host Kelly Ripa on the TV program Live! with Kelly in the U.S in 2012.
Other K-pop idol groups, such as EXO, f(x), TWICE, 2PM, etc., also have non-Korean
members. These groups have Japanese, Chinese, and Asian American members.
Although it is not easy for non-Korean performers to become K-pop artists due to cultural
differences and the language barrier, the trainee system gives them some time to acclimate to
Korean culture and language. After they pass K-pop auditions, non-Koreans learn Korean culture
and Korean language through the trainee system. For example, Lisa, who is a member of female
idol group BLACK PINK from Thailand, said, “It’s been 6 years since I came to Korea. At first,
I couldn’t speak Korean at all. It was frustrating how I couldn’t communicate. So I received
Korean lessons every day and my [fellow group] members also helped me a lot on my Korean”
(International Business Times, 2016). If Korean trainees learn foreign languages to promote
them to the overseas market, non-Korean trainees learn the Korean language in order to
assimilate to Korean culture. From my personal experience, I, as a producer, offered foreign
language class to Korean trainees and taught Korean language to Brad Moore of BuskerBusker.
In this way, the trainee system improves non-Koreans’ chances of being K-pop stars and makes
them a bridge between Korean popular music and global markets in the same way Tiffany of
26
Girls’ Generation led the interview on Live! with Kelly in 2012. From the local trainee system to
global auditions, this transition of K-pop has become a reason why K-pop groups today have
non-Korean members and a principal factor for the globalization of K-pop in conjunction with
K-pop’s global success.
The trainee system affects K-pop artists’ images and styles as well. Willoughby (2006)
quotes from Time magazine, “the manufacturing process not only tutors prospective teen stars in
singing and dancing, but also notably, shapes the image and style of each, controlling the
costumes that will be worn in performance as well as casual clothing and the kind of car they
will drive” (p. 101). As well-made cultural commodities, each member in the K-pop group
strategically has specific characters and different roles. It is determined by the producer or their
agency while they are participating in the trainee system. When K-pop artists introduce
themselves, they usually reveal their role in the group. For more details, Ji-min, a member of
BTS, said, “I’m taking the masculinity image in this group. I’ve been burdened because I’m the
only person who can show abdominal muscle among BTS members. But I’m happy to be
remembered as abdominal muscle boy.” Another member, V, said, “I’m taking a character of
desultory person in this group” (enews 24, 2013). This phenomenon is revealed in female idol
groups as well. For example, Jung-yeon, a member of TWICE, said, “I’m taking boyish image in
TWICE.” Another member, Sana, said, “I’m taking cute and sexy image in TWICE” (Kim,
2016). Whereas the majority of K-pop artists usually pursue a heterosexual image, there are
some artists who aim to project a homosexual image. Amber, for example, who is a member of
f(x), never wears skirts and acts like a boy (Liebler, 2013). Since she has never mentioned her
gender identity, people don’t know if it is a strategy of her agency or her own personality. As
Butler (1990) expanded the definition of gender and sex by refusing a binary gender system:
27
When the constructed status of gender is theorized as radically independent of sex,
gender itself becomes a free-floating artifice, with the consequence that man and
masculine might just as easily signify a female body as a male one, and woman and
feminine a male body as easily as a female one. (p. 6)
Amber of f(x) does not fit within a binary gender perception. In the K-pop industry, gender or
sexual images are strategically transformed by the trainee system of their agencies. In many
cases, specifically, before the debut, trainees willingly conform to what their agencies decide
because of the fact that agencies have authority to decide their debut.
The relationship between production companies and trainees is a good example to show
how hegemony exists in the K-pop field. In this relationship, companies are ruling classes and
trainees are subalterns. Trainees as a subaltern group willingly follow the ideology of their
agency. K-pop companies as a dominant group possess hegemony, in this case authority over
when to debut, and force their trainees to follow their rules. The relationship is able to be
maintained for a long time because of the fact that it is based on their agreement. John Storey
(2009) points out:
Hegemony involves a specific kind of consensus: a social group seeks to present its own
particular interests as the general interests of the society as a whole. In this sense, the
concept is used to suggest a society in which, despite oppression and exploitation, there is
a high degree of consensus, a large measure of social stability; a society in which
subordinate groups and classes appear to actively support and subscribe to values, ideals,
objectives, cultural and political meanings, which bind them to, and ‘incorporate’ them
into, the prevailing structures of power. (p. 80)
28
In this way, this system is maintained due to their consensus regarding the debut, albeit with an
unbalanced power dynamic.
However, such an unbalanced power dynamic often causes social problems, for instance,
scams, sexual harassment, and exploitation. These problems sometimes cause legal conflicts
between agencies and trainees. Under the unbalanced relationship, many trainees have no other
choice but to follow their agency. In some cases, if trainees quit the training program by
themselves, their agency will ask for a certain amount of money they spent during the training
span. Since many trainees, of course, are not able to reimburse the huge amount of money, they
merely conform to the agency or run away. Either way, it leads to legal conflicts in many cases
and this unbalanced power dynamic continues after trainees’ debut.
The Involvement of the Korean government
Despite the fact that the trainee system seems to be the reason for the origin of the
unbalanced relationship, there is a positive change in recent years. An abnormal contract period,
which was once a serious problem, has been solved after the Korean government enacted certain
laws in 2009. Before that time, some trainees might have been abandoned by their agency
regardless of how many years they spent together. Furthermore, they have to make a contract
with their agency, if the agency requires that. For more opportunities, K-pop agencies tend to try
to seize a lot of trainees as potential resources without any assurance for trainees’ debut; which
means trainees cannot be sure about their future. Since there were no limitations of contract
period before, some K-pop agencies made ten or more years’ contracts with their artist who was
once trainee. Such phenomena were criticized as “slave contracts” (Williamson, 2011).
The involvement of the Korean government somewhat solved the problems of the
unbalanced relationship and generated a certain phenomenon in the K-pop industry. It affects not
29
only artists and businessman of the K-pop field, but also K-pop fans. When it comes to contract
span, after the Korean government got involved, K-pop agencies today are only able to make
contracts with their artists for a maximum 7 years. It gives a reason for a phenomenon that is
called “7th year jinx” in the K-pop industry, which indicates that many K-pop artists or groups
break up 7 years following their debut. Indeed, numerous K-pop groups, such as 2ne1, BEAST,
4minute, Miss A, and Sistar broke up in their 7th year of contract. It is highly related to the law
that the Korean government has enacted. Some fans of K-pop are worried about when their stars
are in 7th year of contract. For example, when BIGBANG was in 7th year of contract in 2015, a
number of people, especially fans, paid attention to whether they would make a renewal contract
with YG entertainment or other companies, or break up. G-Dragon, who is a member of
BIGBANG, revealed that it was the hardest decision of his life to make a new contract with YG
entertainment (VIP4DAESUNG, 2016). I assume that he might get irresistible suggestions from
other businessmen in the K-pop field. Normally, before the 7th year law, the conditions of the
contract are covert, including distribution rate of profits, contract periods, and other conditions.
However, contract span is no longer furtive because of enacted law by the Korean government.
In other words, many other companies have enough time to prepare attractive propositions to
renowned artists such as BIGBANG. Needless to say, artists’ decision or hesitation affects their
fans. In this way, we can see how the involvement of the Korean government impacts people
involved in the K-pop field, including fans.
For the further efforts, the Korean government through a government institution, named
KFTC (Korea Fair Trade Commission), offers the standard contract form and admonish K-pop
agencies and artists to utilize such standard contract form when they make a contract. This
30
contract includes certain clauses in terms of contract span, a specific range of work, transparent
revenue sharing, and protection of trainees’ rights (KFTC).
In addition, through another government’s institution, named Korea Creative Content
Agency (KOCCA); which is a subordinate institution to Ministry of Culture, Sports, and
Tourism, the Korean government cares for trainees by providing official education programs
without any charge. In this program, trainees are able to take classes such as general knowledge
of copyright, psychology counseling, sexual education, and how to make a contract with
potential companies. As such, the Korean government today considers trainees as a social group
and protects them from unexpected conflicts derived from the unbalanced relationship. KOCCA
also provides a three hour per year mandatory education program to K-pop agencies. Since 2014,
the Korean government has enacted a certain law and provides a certificate of the popular culture
entertainment business to qualified companies. In order to be qualified and receive the
certificate, applicants who want to enroll popular culture entertainment business have to prove
not only her or his experiences in the field of entertainment for more than four years, but also
clear information about company such as fiscal condition, location of company, name of the
company, and name of representative. When it comes to this ordinance, specifically, KOCCA
runs an official web-page (ent.kocca.kr) in which people are able to figure out which companies
are legitimately enrolled. Although it seems to be controversial if it would be effective or not,
one thing is clear: these are all efforts of the government to prevent potential conflicts.
When I worked for Chungchun Music Inc., I attended the annual mandatory education. In
the first class, the organizer, KOCCA, described what element of law has changed and guided
what companies have to do (or not do) when they run their company. KOCCA also invited
specialists such as an attorney and a resident employee in order to instruct knowledge regarding
31
copyright law and overseas promotion. To be specific, the resident employee explained several
tips including cultural differences and local preferences for promotion to the Chinese market.
Through KOCCA, the Korean government subsidizes concerts, album productions, and
global promotions. Specifically, KOCCA annually supports several K-pop groups to get them
performing at SXSW festival (South by South West), which is an annual popular culture
convention held in Austin, Texas. KOCCA held “K-Pop Night Out” in SXSW 2014. The head of
KOCCA, Hong, said that “Recently, the generation of K-pop 3.0 is occurring with global
audiences’ attention toward not only idol dance group but also diverse music genres of K-pop.
This SXSW would be a momentum for the K-pop 3.0” (Shin, 2014). As Hong said, diverse styles
of K-pop, including rock, electronic, dance, and hip hop, were performed in SXSW 2014. Since
then, K-Pop Night Out has been held in SXSW and this year, 2018, is the 5-year anniversary. In
addition, the government offers other opportunities of global music festivals, such as TGE (The
Great Escape) music festival in the U.K. Although it can be changed depending on festivals, in
many cases, KOCCA provides whole expenditures of itinerary not only including flight tickets as
well as lodging charge for artists and certain number of staff. Many K-pop groups, regardless of
their popularity, could get chances to perform in global popular music fields.
KOCCA not only supports global promotion, but also holds a music convention in Seoul,
named MU:CON. It is Asia’s leading music business market, focusing on interaction and
communication of Asian and global music industry. KOCCA provides classes, conferences,
performances, and business meetings with global company to local musicians and music
businessmen. Through competition, KOCCA offers local musicians chances to perform in
famous music festival such as SXSW, Glastonbury, The Great Escape, and Canadian Music
Week. In order to make MU:CON as global music convention, KOCCA invites world well-
32
known musicians, producers, and entrepreneurs. Specifically, Fernando Garibay, who produced
Lady Gaga, Whitney Houston, and Britney Spears, attended MU:CON 2017 as the keynote
speaker. As such, KOCCA is trying to make MU:CON a significant opportunity to local K-pop
musicians, and an attractive music market in which global music companies can communicate
with Asian popular music fields and find talented musicians.
Figure 3. Poster of MU:CON 2016. The expression “대한민국 영토, 콘텐츠로 넓힌다!” means
“We expand territory of Korea with Contents” (image from www.kocca.kr).
Such governmental supports often affect the way that popular music is produced in
Korea. To many K-pop agencies, governmental aids are highly conducive to overcome the
limitations of the domestic music market in Korea (discussed in the second chapter). When the
33
Korean government promulgates supportive programs, it also reveals a certain rubric for
evaluating applicants. For example, KOCCA provides a specific rubric when it promulgates the
subsidy plan of popular music album production and promotion. In the rubric of this plan, there
are several aspects in terms of sanitization such as appropriateness of contents, commerciality,
popularity, and professionality (KOCCA, 2018). KOCCA considers such elements as a measure
when it evaluates applicants. The below table represents an example of a rubric provided by
KOCCA.
Assessment Items Details Points
Planning skills
Ability of the agency (production performance, staffs’ professionality) 10
30 Possibility to reach goal (schedule plan, appropriateness of contents) 10
Possibility of success (commerciality, popularity) 10
Capability of
Musician
Capability of Musician (reputation on media, awards) 15 30
Musical activity (albums, sales, concerts) 15
Advertising Plan
Advertising and promotion in media 10
30 Social Media promotion and fan marketing plan 10
Plan for the album showcase 10
Budget Distribution
Allotted charges of agency 5 10
Appropriateness of budget distribution 5
Total 100
Table 2. Assessment items of KOCCA for the popular music album production aid 2018 (www.kocca.kr).
If a K-pop agency is anointed as a successful company, the government will want to
support them by providing a fiscal subsidy equivalent to around 3 million Won (approximately
28,500 USD) for one regular album production. Of course, there are other supportive plans for
different style of perquisites such as overseas promotion. In these plans, the Korean government
34
also suggests similar assessment rubrics for the plans. In order to obtain opportunities of
supports, K-pop agencies consider certain standards set by the Korean government when they
produce new albums and groups. In this way, popular music in Korea is sanitized and becomes a
government-supported commodity.
There were certain grievances of people who work in the entertainment industry
regarding mandatory class and required enrollment. When I attended the annual mandatory class,
someone had complained in the question and answer session why the government considers us as
potential sexual criminals, impostors, and abusers. Some people might feel that way because
many classes mainly focused on prevention of such crimes. However, considering mandatory
education and assistances for global promotion, I assume that the Korean government wants not
only to control social influences of K-pop in order to prevent unexpected social losses, but also
to utilize K-pop as a promotion tool for the national image of Korea.
From the monumental shift to the Korean government’s official support, K-pop has been
developed and become an influential content producer including local scenes as well as the
global scene. Such noticeable transitions are crucial aspects of understanding K-pop today. In
addition, those aspects are helpful in the way to look at how K-pop represents Korean people and
society. It is imbued with the new generation’s thirst for global culture, anxiety of many trainees,
and the Korean government’s concern. For these reasons, K-pop has no other choice but to be a
diverse cultural content producer.
35
CHAPTER TWO: RACE AND LANGUAGE
This chapter sheds light on K-pop today, focusing on race and language. The term “K-
pop” implies that K-pop is Korean popular music sung by Korean musicians in the Korean
language, but this is not always the case. For a long time, such a perspective was taken for
granted and it was true in many ways. As K-pop expanded and became more influential in the
world, it developed distinct features that did not exist in it before. One of them is that many K-
pop songs are sung in non-Korean languages. From a single word to an entire song, for example,
English has been present in K-pop lyrics since the 1990s. Along with the globalization of K-pop,
various languages including English, Chinese, and Japanese are now utilized for K-pop songs
and the functions and impacts of the foreign languages vary. If small portions of mixed English
lyrics mainly act to attract audiences’ attention, entire lyrics in foreign languages in K-pop songs
express K-pop’s diversity, features of the K-pop industry today, and even complex identities.
Another feature is that many people, Koreans as well as non-Koreans, are interested in becoming
K-pop artists. There have been, indeed, many cases where talented non-Korean musicians from
diverse countries have been selected by K-pop agencies to be members of K-pop groups. In this
way, K-pop has become a cultural area in which diverse races and languages are interwoven. By
looking at two different kinds of K-pop groups, one consisting of all Koreans but singing in non-
Korean languages and the other having non-Korean members but singing in the Korean
language, I explore how K-pop has a diversity of race and language and what this phenomenon
means for interpreting Korean society and K-pop today.
K-pop Songs Sung by Koreans but in Non-Korean Languages
It is not rare to see K-pop songs today released in other languages. For example,
prominent K-pop idol groups such as EXO, BTS, BIGBANG, and TWICE usually sing in the
36
Korean language as well as non-Korean languages when they release brand-new songs.
Specifically, whenever EXO, a typical boy group produced by SM entertainment, releases their
new songs, they sing not only in Korean, but also in Chinese; they even film their music video
twice, a Korean version and a Chinese version. A female idol group, TWICE, also sung in
Japanese when they released their song “TT” in Japan in 2017. Unlike EXO and TWICE, who
have non-Korean members from mainland China, Taiwan, and Japan, K-pop groups only
consisting of Koreans also sing in foreign languages. For example, two renowned K-pop boy
groups today, BIGBANG and BTS, have been releasing their songs in Japanese.
Whereas many K-pop songs today are sung in foreign languages, it was hard to find
foreign languages in Korean popular music before the 1990s. When it comes to Japanese,
specifically, since the Korean government officially banned Japanese popular culture until 1998,
there were definitely no Japanese lyrics in the Korean popular music field. For a long time,
people in Korea could not access Japanese popular culture in legal ways, even though it was
prevalent through illegitimate ways. From my personal experience, I often went to the Sinchon
area in Seoul to obtain the rock group X-Japan’s concert videos when I was in middle school. I
learned from school and the media that Japanese popular culture is filthy and lascivious which
are things that have to be avoided, notwithstanding that I was able to access Japanese popular
cultures under the table. Due to the fact that many Koreans suffered during the Japanese
occupation era (1910-1945), anti-Japan sentiment was pervasive in Korean society at the time.
For this reason, while South Korea and Japan officially agreed to a diplomatic exchange between
both countries in 1965, cultural exchange was not inaugurated until the end of the 1990s. It was
only when the Kim Dae-jung administration in 1998 allowed legal imports of Japanese popular
culture that Korean society gradually accepted it — “the Korean government inaugurated its
37
open-door policy toward Japanese culture by lifting the ban on Japanese film, videos and
publishing in 1998, on the Japanese performing industry in 1999, and on animation, pop music,
music recordings, games, and broadcast programs from Japan in 2000” (Fuhr, 2017, p. 137).
Before this took place, it was impossible to imagine hearing Japanese songs in the Korean
popular music field.
English also was not a part of the Korean popular music discourse in the 1970s and 1980s
(Lee, 2004, p. 429) because Western culture was considered unhealthy and something to be
avoided for a long time. To be specific, the Park Chung-hee authoritarian regime (1962-1979)
categorized Western popular culture as unhealthy and therefore as a subject of governmental
censorship and bans (Fuhr, 2017, p. 136). In conjunction with the emergence of the new
generation (sinsedae) as the backbone of the society in the beginning of the 1990s, people’s
thoughts towards foreign culture gradually have changed, and mixed English lyrics have
occurred in the Korean popular music field.
Since the 1990s, many Korean popular songs have included English words or sentences
in order to emphasize certain parts. As an example, a female group debuted in 1998, Fin.K.L
(“Fine Killing Liberty”, pronounced Pingkle), commences a chorus part of their song “Nae
Namja Chingu Aegae” (“To My Boyfriend”) in English lyrics; and subsequently, Korean lyrics
followed.
Lyric Translations. The lyrics below describes how they underscore their chorus parts
using English phrases (in italics) and subsequent Korean lyrics are translated by the author.
Call me, call me, call call, give a call
내 모든걸 원한다면 너에게 줄게.
Call me, call me, call call, give a call
If you want my everything, I would give you.
38
내 모든 사랑은 너를 위한거야.
Call me, call me, call call, give a call
내 모든걸 원한다면 너에게 줄게.
지금 이대로 너의 품속에 나를 데려가줘,
난 네거야.
All my love is waiting for you.
Call me, call me, call call, give a call
If you want my everything, I would give you.
Take me into your heart, right away.
I belong to you.
Another female group in the same era, S.E.S (Sea, Eugene, Shoo), released their song
“Dreams Come True” in 1998. This song is a remake version of Finland female duo Nylon
Beat’s “Like a Fool.” When S.E.S remade it, they maintained the first line of the original English
lyrics at the beginning of their chorus part:
Funny how all dreams come true
나를 지켜줄거야, 아껴왔던 작은 사랑도
Funny how all dreams come true
너의 곁에 그려질 꿈결같은 나의 미래도
Funny how all dreams come true
Like a fool I’m into you. The day we met I
lost my sanity
Funny how all dreams come true
Like a fool I’m into you. You washed away
my insecurity.
When it comes to the reason and impact of English lyrics in K-pop songs, Lee (2004)
states that “the increasing influence of Western music on non-Western music either in music or
lyrics is often connected to the issue of economic growth and modernity” (p. 432). Along with
economic growth from the 1970-80s and the first civil government under Kim Young-Sam
(1993-1998), Korean society was ready to embrace western culture, and its influence increased
39
as Lee pointed out. In addition, an ethnomusicologist, Fuhr (2017), states that the successful
usage of English not only constructs a sophisticated image of K-pop, but also builds a linguistic
gateway in which international fans can reach the songs (p. 66). As Lee and Fuhr point out,
English phrases in K-pop songs are a testimony to Korea’s strong economic growth, the
modernity of Korean society, and an exertion of constructing sophisticated images of K-pop. Not
only did K-pop songs include English catch phrases, but K-pop is increasingly written entirely in
foreign languages in order to be a gateway for global fans.
This phenomenon accelerated after the middle of the 2000s. In the first generation of K-
pop artists, BoA, a female singer who debuted in 2000 in Korea, is considered a successful K-
pop artist in Korea as well as Japan. She subsequently debuted in Japan in 2001 and had a huge
success with her first regular album Listen to My Heart. As a typical artist manufactured by her
agency, she learned the Japanese language while she was in the trainee system and mastered it
before she debuted in Japan. Except for one remix song sung in English, by singing all the other
songs of this album in Japanese, BoA was able to appeal to Japanese audiences and surmount
any language barrier; she even stayed with a Japanese family in order to overcome cultural
differences (Lie, 2015, p. 102). Although this scheme met with success in Japan, singing in the
local language does not always assure success. When BoA attempted to make a foray into the
U.S popular music field with her first single album Eat You Up in 2008, she again sang her song
in the local language, English in this case. In order to support her debut in the U.S., her agency,
SM entertainment, even opened its U.S headquarters and hired a range of top-hit producers, such
as Bloodshy and Avant, and Sean Garrett and Brian Kennedy, who have worked with Madonna,
Britney Spears, Usher, and Chris Brown (Ohanesian, 2009). Nevertheless, her debut in the U.S.
is evaluated as a flop (Oh, 2011). Other K-pop artists such as Se7en, Wonder Girls, and Girls’
40
Generation also failed in the U.S music market even though they sang in English (Herman, 2014)
— Wonder Girls’ producer Park Jin-young officially admitted Wonder Girls’ failure in the U.S.
market when he had an interview on a Korean TV show (Alona, 2013).
It might not be necessary to sing in local languages to be successful in the global music
market. For instance, Psy and BTS all sang in Korean and achieved huge success in the U.S.
After Psy’s “Gangnam Style” success in 2012, BTS is considered the most successful K-pop
group in the world. They, as I mentioned above, not only won “Top Social Artist” at the 2017
Billboard Music Awards, but also performed their song “DNA” in the Korean language at the
American Music Awards in 2017. They have been added to the Guinness World Records for the
being most mentioned musician on Twitter. According to Kim (2017):
The Guinness Book of World Records congratulated BTS on its official Twitter account
for their appearance in the reference book as well as their performance on the 2017
American Music Awards that took place at Microsoft Theater in Los Angeles on Sunday,
local time. (The Korea Times)
Not only Korean news media but also the U.S. news media, such as CNN, focus on BTS’
accomplishments in the world. Marian Liu of CNN, for example, notices BTS’ prominent
success in the world. Regarding BTS’ global success, Liu (2017) describes that “From the US
and Poland, to Hong Kong and Brazil, the Korean pop group’s latest album, Love Yourself: Her,
currently holds the top spot on iTunes’ top selling album chart in 73 countries and territories in
three continents” (CNN). Considering “Gangnam Style” and “DNA,” it seems like there is no
certain causation between musicians’ success and fully singing in local languages; these two
songs were sung in Korean and included limited English expressions. Nevertheless, K-pop
musicians including BTS have been releasing their songs in Korean as well as local languages in
41
order to appeal to global fans and obtain more opportunities. Specifically, after its debut in 2013,
apart from interlude tracks, remix versions, and skit tracks, BTS released 98 songs, of which 70
songs were sung in Korean and 28 songs were sung in Japanese, including their typical songs,
“DOPE,” “DNA,” “MIC Drop,” and “Pi, Ttam, Nunmul” (“Blood Sweat & Tears”). In addition,
6 songs are only sung in Japanese, not Korean.
The reason why K-pop musicians, not partly but fully, sing in foreign languages is highly
relevant to the Korean popular music industry. Although there are a number of aspirants for
becoming K-pop stars from other countries, it does not mean that the popular music market in
Korea is sizable. This is because it not only has a limited number of local audiences — the
population of South Korea is only 51 million (Worldometers, 2018) — but also local audiences’
tendency in consuming popular music is less aggressive.
When it comes to Chinese and Japanese lyrics in K-pop songs, there are reasonable
purposes that can clarify why many K-pop groups sing in Chinese and Japanese languages.
According to Russell (2008):
Korea’s music sales before Internet file-sharing hurt the music business were surprisingly
small — just $300 million in 2000, versus $6.4 billion in Japan, and $14 billion in the
United States. China was very small then, at $78 million, but with Hong Kong ($108
million) and Taiwan ($244 million) added in, Chinese-speaking territories’ sales were
quite substantial, and mainland China was growing quickly. (p. 156)
Russell (2008) points out that Lee Soo-man, SM entertainment founder, was aware of how small
the Korean market is and embarked on his business in neighboring countries in order to enlarge
business beyond the limitations of the Korean music market. Not only are China and Japan
geographically close, but both countries also have attractiveness towards K-pop agencies. First of
42
all, China is the most populous country in the world; the population of China is 1.41 billion in
2018, which is around 27 times more than the South Korea’s population (Worldometers, 2018).
Even though there are rampant piracy issues, and the majority of the Chinese people might not
be music fans or suitable audiences in terms of consuming popular music, the Chinese popular
music market still has potential to be the biggest music market in the world. When it comes to
the potential for music streaming services in China, Andy Ng, Tencent Music Entertainment
Group’s vice president, says:
Our number of monthly active users accessing music is actually over 600 million, which
means, at 15 million, our conversion to subscription is still less than 3%. If you look at
other services, in other conversion rate is more like 20-30%, so we see a huge
opportunity and potential for growth, as long as the market situation keeps improving and
the piracy issues keep improving. (IFPI, 2017, p. 28)
In addition, recorded music revenues grew 20.3% in China in 2016. For these reasons, the three
global music companies today, Sony Music, Universal Music Group, and Warner Music Group,
are also competitively trying to expend their business in the Chinese market, according to an
IFPI report.
Next, Japan, following the U.S music industry, has the second largest popular music
industry, which is a magnitude of $4,615 million in the world; South Korea ranked as the 10th
largest music industry, $833 million, in 2015 (KOCCA, 2016). Based on its large magnitude of
music market and passionate music consumers, the Japanese market is an attractive field that can
bring greater revenues to K-pop companies. Table 3 below describes how Japanese music
consumers are more passionate about purchasing music than Koreans.
43
Table 3. Comparison between Japan and South Korea music consumers
(IFIP, Music Consumer Insight Report 2017).
Whenever I visited Tokyo and Osaka in Japan, I met a number of Japanese people who
willingly purchased music albums at music stores such as Tower Records and HMV. I was
surprised that the prices of albums were not that inexpensive; many Japanese purchased them
though, at least three to five albums, without any hesitation. It was very impressive because I
was barely able to meet people like that in Korea. According to IFIP’s Global Music Report
2017, although the physical format of global recorded music revenues declined by 7.6%
compared to the previous year, the physical sector still accounts for 34% of the global market
and is particularly significant in leading countries such as Japan and Germany (p. 12). Compared
to Korean audiences, Japanese audiences are enthusiastic consumers in the popular music
market. For these reasons, it is not weird that many K-pop agencies are fascinated by Chinese
and Japanese music markets. According to KOCCA (2016), Japan has the biggest rate of export,
63.6%, of Korean popular music. Following Japan, China has a subsequent rate of export,
23.6%, of Korean popular music in 2015. The next one is South East Asia, which records 10.6%.
Although several K-pop groups sing in English, North America interestingly has the lowest rate
of export, 0.3%, of K-pop.
44%
30%
5%
21%
Japan
Purchased Music Video StreamingAudio Streaming Radio
29%
22%29%
20%
South Korea
Purchased Music Video StreamingAudio Streaming Radio
44
K-pop songs sung in foreign languages are an indication of the globalization and
diversity of K-pop. K-pop today successfully (or unsuccessfully) exists in China, Japan, and the
U.S. in conjunction with their local languages. For example, TWICE released its recent song
“Candy Pop” and a male idol K-pop group, B1A4, also released its song “Do You Remember” in
February 2018. Both groups ranked number one and two on the weekly single chart on February
19, 2018 (data derived from February 5th to 11th) of the Oricon, the Japanese music chart
equivalent to Billboard in the U.S.
Figure 4. Oricon Single Chart on Feb 19, 2018 (Oricon, 2018).
Even though both TWICE and B1A4 are typical K-pop groups — B1A4, specifically, consists of
five Korean male musicians — they did not release their songs in Korean, rather, they released
both songs in Japanese. Interestingly, in both songs, TWICE and B1A4 commence with an
English expression in the chorus part and subsequently sing in Japanese.
Lyric Translations. The lyrics below describe how K-pop groups utilize two foreign
languages in the chorus of their songs. English phrases are in italics and subsequent Japanese
lyrics are translated by Keisuke Kimura.
45
“Do You Remember” by B1A4
Do you remember, do you remember?
あの夕日 あの浜 ?
Do you remember, do you remember me,
yeah?
Do you remember, do you remember?
the sunset, the beach?
Do you remember, do you remember me,
yeah?
“Candy Pop” by TWICE
Candy Candy Pop Pop 君の
Honey Honey な笑顔に
ドキドキ Heartbeat
止まらない
ねえどうして Sweetie
Candy Candy Pop Pop, My heartbeat won’t stop pounding by your Honey Honey smile Tell me, why is it Sweetie
Since neither song has been produced in the Korean language yet, Korean audiences have
no choice but to listen to these songs in a foreign language. In other words, they listen to “K-
pop” songs that they might not understand because of language barriers. It might cause a
confusion as to the genre definition. I thought some people might not think that such songs are
K-pop because of their non-Korean language lyrics. Regarding my curiosity, I conducted
interviews with 10 non-Korean students including students from Japan at BGSU by having them
listen to K-pop songs including EXO’s “Growl” in Chinese and TWICE’s “TT” in Japanese. The
majority of my participants, interestingly, said that K-pop songs sung in non-Korean languages
are K-pop regardless of non-Korean lyrics.
One of my interviewees, Mariia Spirina from Russia, focuses on the agency when she
defines if it is K-pop. According to her, “I don’t see common thing musically between them […]
What I see the common thing is a marketing like where they were produced, what companies
released their music. They all focus on Korean market” (M. Spirina, personal communication,
46
November 11, 2017). The other interviewees, Niket Khetan from Nepal and Hugo Rocha from
Bolivia, think that they are all K-pop groups despite the fact that they sing in non-Korean
languages. They said that “we are not familiar with K-pop. But K-pop has to do dancing, a lot of
colors, and more group people sing together. Those are things to define what K-pop is” (N.
Khetan and H. Rocha, personal communication, November 11, 2017). My Japanese
interviewees, Emily Ambrose and Risa Suzuki, even focus more on appearance, even though
they did not figure out which members of TWICE are Korean and Japanese. In terms of TWICE
“TT,” Ambrose said that “I couldn’t really tell who was Japanese and who was Koreans. But I
know that TWICE are very popular right now in Japan. I did see that they are on TV a couple
little bit ago. But I could not tell them while I’m watching the video.” Suzuki also said that “I
know there are Japanese. But I couldn’t find well them. Because their faces are similar. Their
pronunciation is good. So, I don’t find which one is Japanese.” It might sound like TWICE is a J-
pop group in conjunction with a similar facial appearance and sufficient pronunciation in
Japanese. Both interviewees, however, think that TWICE is a K-pop because of their fashion,
style and certain gestures that are not Japanese. Suzuki said that “Their fashion and makeup […]
It’s a little bit different from Japanese makeup or fashion style […] Korean fashion is like no
sleeve, short pants, and red lip. A Japanese version is not so much sexy. And their hand gesture
making a heart is Korean thing” (E. Ambrose and R. Suzuki, personal communication, February
11, 2018). Although my interviewees agree that language is an important aspect to define a
genre, the majority of them focus more on other aspects such as appearance, musical/dance style,
the number of group members, certain gestures, and foundation, rather than languages. They tend
to consider singing in foreign languages as a tactic of promotion.
47
In order to obtain more of the audience’s attention or express otherness, K-pop songs
have been sung in diverse languages and this aspect becomes one of the distinct features of K-
pop. As Stevens (2008) stressed in her book Japanese Popular Music: Culture, Authenticity and
Power, utilizing foreign languages in other countries’ popular songs might be a process of
“internationalizing” (p. 132). K-pop expressed by diverse languages means that it is now
undergoing the “internationalizing” process and becoming an example of cultural globalization.
Such a phenomenon is not confined to language. As much as diverse languages exist, diverse
races also exist in the K-pop field today.
K-pop Songs Sung by non-Koreans but in Korean
When it comes to non-Korean musicians, I analyze 20 K-pop groups having non-Korean
members. The number of non-Korean musicians out of 149 individuals is 51 in this analysis. The
majority of non-Korean musicians among these K-pop groups are Asians or Asian-Americans
from Japan, mainland China, Taiwan, Thailand, and the U.S.
48
No.
Group
Debut
The Number of Member
(non-Korean)
Non-Korean Members
Remarks
1
Girls’
Generation
08.05.2007
9 (3)
Tiffany, Jessica, Sunny (USA)
Both are Korean American. Jessica quit the band in 2014. Sunny is dual citizen Korea and USA.
2 Super Junior M 04.30.2008 8 (2) Henry (Canada), Zhoumi (China)
Henry is a Chinese-Canadian.
3 2PM 09.04.2008 6 (1) Nichkhun (Thailand)
4
f(x)
09.05.2009
5 (2) Victoria (China), Amber (USA)
Amber is a Taiwanese-American. Sulli quit the band in 2015.
5 miss A 07.01.2010 4 (2) Jia, Fei (China) Disbanded in 2017 6 M.I.B 10.25.2011 4 (1) Gangnam (Japan) Disbanded in 2017 7 BuskerBusker 03.29.2012 3 (1) Brad (USA) 8 Fiesta 08.31.2012 6 (2) Cao Lu (China),
Cheska (USA) Cheska quit the band in 2014.
9
EXO
06.03.2013
12 (4)
Lay, Tao, Kris, Luhan (China)
Kris & Luhan quit the band in 2014. Tao quit the band in 2015.
10
Got7
01.20.2014
7 (3)
Mark (USA), Jackson (China), BamBam (Thailand)
Mark is a Taiwanese American. Jackson is from Hong Kong.
11
CLC
03.19.2015
5 (1)
Son (Thailand)
2 members added in 2016. One of them is Elkie from Hong Kong
12
TWICE
10.20.2015
9 (4)
Momo, Sana, Mina (Japan), Tzuyu (Taiwan)
Mina is dual citizen Japan and USA.
13 WJSN 02.25.2016 13 (4) Cheng Xiao, Xuan Yi, Mei Qi (China)
14 PRISTIN 06.27.2016 10 (2) Kyulkyung (China), Kyla (USA)
Kyla is a Korean-American.
15 Gugudan 06.28.2016 9 (1) Sally (China)
16
NCT
07.10.2016
18 (9)
Mark (Canada), Yuta (Japan), Johnny (USA), Renjun, Chenle, Winwin, Lucas (China), Kun, Ten (Thailand)
Mark is a Korean-Canadian. Johnny is a Korean-American. Kun is a Chinese-Thai.
17 Black Pink 08.08.2016 4 (2) Lisa (Thailand), Rosé (New Zealand)
Rosé is a Korean-New Zealander.
18 CoCo Avenue 04.09.2017 2 (2) Jenny, Jenna (USA)
19
EXP Edition
04.17.2017
4 (4) Sime (Croatia), Frankie (Portugal), Hunter, Koki (USA)
Koki is an Asian American.
20 Wanna One 08.07.2017 11 (1) Lai Kuan Lin (Taiwan)
Table 4. 20 K-pop groups having non-Korean members3
3 I analyze the original formations of the groups from when they first debuted even though there are many changes in the future. In order to clarify, I remark some notes if the group has some
49
Below two tables reveal that the majority of non-Korean members are of Asian ethnicity despite
the fact that they are from various countries, including the US.
Table 5. Nationality and ethnicity of non-Korean members
In many cases, it is not easy to figure out which members are non-Koreans because of
analogous racial feature. They have similar skin and hair colors. In addition, they eagerly learned
and practiced a lot to become fluent speakers of the Korean language. For these reasons, K-pop
audiences have not figured out non-Korean members without their announcement. However,
from the middle of the 2010s, non-“Asian” musicians from Western countries appear in the K-
pop field. For example, there are K-pop groups having African American musicians or consisting
of all non-Koreans (non-Asians) but singing in the Korean language. Actually, there were several
biracial musicians who were born and grew up in Korea, for example, Insooni, Yoon Mi-rae, Lee
Man-bok, and Lee Michelle. Recent non-Korean musicians, however, are different from them in
that they were born in other countries and spent most of their time in these other countries before
they come to Korea.
changes. I also omit Alex Reid of RaNia because she joined the group four years after their debut.
051015202530354045
%
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
80
90
100
Asian Caucasian African-American
%
50
Since Korea historically consists of a mono-ethnic people — 99% of South Koreans
identify as ethnically Korean (New World Encyclopedia, 2017) — the existence of non-Korean
musicians, specifically non-Asians, is meaningful. Unlike the US having various terms (African
American, Asian American, Native American, Hispanic, and Caucasian) racial categories are not
diverse in Korea. Although Korean society recently pays more attention to diverse races and
multi-cultural families, racial diversity has not been a common issue. When it comes to the
notion of race, people in Korea are prone to think about Northeast Asians from China and Japan,
and Southeast Asians from Vietnam, the Philippines, and Thailand, which means that racial
categories are limited and not diverse in Korea. As Omi and Winant (1994) mention, “Race is a
concept which signifies and symbolizes social conflicts and interest by referring to different
types of human bodies it is an unstable and ‘decentered’ complex of social meanings constantly
being transformed by political struggle” (p. 55). In other words, race is a crucial element of
social configuration, a social signifier, and a symbolic construct that identifies certain social
conditions. As examples of case studies, I explore three K-pop groups, RaNia, CoCo Avenue,
and EXP Edition in order to how different racial musicians in the K-pop field reflect Korean
society today.
In 2015, a female K-pop dance group, RaNia (later became BP RaNia), added an African
American rapper, Alexandria Reid (Benjamin, 2015). Reid, from Kansas, is a biracial person
with a Caucasian father and African-American mother. It is the first case of having an African
American member with Koreans in a K-pop group. Due to her otherness, the Korean
broadcasting station (KBS) was interested in her story and created one episode of the TV
program, My Neighbor, Charles dedicated to her. This program focuses not only on Reid’s
51
musical career in Korea, but also on her difficulties derived from the language barrier and
cultural differences.
Reid was managed by her K-pop agency, DR music, in the same way that many K-pop
musicians are. It means that she experiences the K-pop industry in the same way that many
Korean musicians do. She lives in lodging provided by her agency and she is cared for and
controlled by the agency. One interesting thing in her case is that she already has a career in the
U.S entertainment industry as a musician and model. One of her outstanding moments is
featuring as Chris Brown’s music-video love interest in his Jamie Foxx collaboration “You
Changed Me” (Benjamin, 2015). Even though she has a career in the U.S., she decided to
become a K-pop artist. In terms of her motivation, she asked “How many times in life are you
faced with the opportunity to make history? [My agency in the U.S. told me] ‘you have a
momentum right now keep doing what you are doing here.’ You know, they did not advise me to
leave. But, my heart was to come here” (KBS, 2016). In this way, she started her career in Korea
as the first African American K-pop member.
In the K-pop field, African American musical influences are enormous. For instance, the
majority of K-pop groups have a rapper as a main member. It is never hard to hear the rap part in
K-pop songs, especially dance music after the 1990s. Furthermore, since many rap parts of K-
pop are in English, not in Korean, Reid, as an authentic African American rapper, holds a very
important and advantageous position not only in her group, but also in the K-pop field more
generally. Reid, nevertheless, reveals her struggles as an African American K-pop artist. In My
Neighbor, Charles, she reveals hardships derived from miscommunications and cultural
differences, and her struggles to overcome them. For instance, since Korean society has a strict
hierarchical relationship between sónbae (senior colleague) and hubae (junior colleague) in
52
many social areas such as school and the workplace, a certain courtesy such as the “90-degree
bow” is considered as a gesture of respect that people, usually hubae, have to do. In the K-pop
field, such a 90-degree bow is important and considered as a requirement. If hubae artists fail to
bow to the sónbae artists even though it was unintentional, people in general think that they are
disrespectful. In order to impress, hubae artists in the K-pop field are always trying to not miss
their 90-degrees bow to sónbae. In my personal experience, whenever I visited broadcasting
stations to perform, numerous rookie artists bowed to people whom they considered sónbae.
Reid, even though she is a non-Korean, bowed to the waist whenever she met seniors in the K-
pop field. In terms of such cultural difference, she said, “In America, anyone you see does not
matter who they are. If you’re there, you could see Beyoncé. And it’s just, Hi. You know. Here.
Hi, No! If you see them onetime: bow. If you see them two times: two bows…” (KBS, 2016). In
conjunction with the language barrier, certain cultural differences exist as obstacles she needs to
overcome to be a K-pop star.
One of her hardships derived from a gap between expectations of the K-pop industry and
her African heritage. She needed to wake up at least two hours early before performing the song
“Demonstrate” in order to make her hair easy to comb. She even wears straight hair during “Start
a Fire” in order to satisfy people’s expectations for straight hair. In her interview with Billboard,
she said “With my hair on top of it…I was so worn down and exhausted during ‘Demonstrate’
that this time I just decided [that] I’m going to take some work off of myself and wear my hair
straight. I like my hair better curly. It’s just with this schedule I can’t. It’s too much. I need that
couple hours of sleep” (Herman, 2017).
53
Figure 5. Comparison Reid’s original curly hair with her hair during “Star a Fire”
(left photograph from Billboard and right one from Soompi).
In the same way that “whiteness in American culture is considered as racialized norm—
rendering those who are not white as racially marked others” (Streeter, 2005, p. 185), Reid’s race
is considered as other in Korea. In terms of deracializing process, Streeter (2005) said, “This
kind of deracializing process – hair that becomes straighter and blonder, bodies photographed so
that skin appears lighter, the use of pastel rather than deep-toned cosmetics – seems to be an
unfortunate byproduct of fame for many female celebrities” (p. 196). Based on Reid’s statement
“I like my hair better curly,” it is truly an unfortunate consequence of fame and something she
had to do in order to satisfy people’s anticipation. In other words, she was forced to conform to a
standard of beauty in Korea and K-pop industry’s norm and she tried to be Koreanized, herself
giving up her Africanness.
Racism in Korea is not a common issue — even though it definitely exists — as much as
in the U.S. because of the fact that Korea is not a multiracial country. In the same way, racism
54
has rarely been seen in the K-pop field. When it comes to non-Korean musicians from other
Asian countries, Korean audiences and global K-pop fans disregarded their otherness derived
from races, nationalities, cultural differences, and accents. By embracing non-Asian musicians,
K-pop becomes a place where racism issues occur. As the first African American member of a
K-pop group, Reid has been faced with condemnation in reaction to her skin color. Some people
denounce Reid due to her appearing more white and appropriating Korean culture. For instance,
“after a recent Lunar New Year photo shoot featuring RaNia wearing traditional Korean
clothing, Reid alone faced major criticism for daring to wear the outfit; nobody questioned
whether RaNia’s Chinese member should be wearing Korean clothing” (Herman, 2017). Based
on the K-pop industry’s norm; in many cases the agency or producer has a right of decision, we
can assume that bleaching her skin, changing her hair, and appropriating Korean culture are not
her decisions, but her agency’s determination. In the K-pop industry, there is an asymmetric
power relationship between agencies and their talent. One of the applicants of K-pop star, Sujin,
points out that “I knew something was going on, but I had no influence in the decision-making
process…they always told us to work hard and to do whatever they say…We accepted what they
gave to us” (Fuhr, p. 80). In the same way, Reid might merely follow what her company suggests
regarding her appearance. Nevertheless, she has been condemned because of her different skin
color. Furthermore, some people appraise her with the stricter standard because of her otherness.
In her interview with Billboard, she states that some people consider her as an inappropriate
musician for K-pop regardless of her capacity. Reid states:
If I don’t speak enough Korean, “Alex doesn’t know any Korean she shouldn’t be
there”…When I speak Korean, “Oh, Alex has an accent. She sounds American. No, no
55
she shouldn’t be there.” If I do well with my Korean, it’s like, “Okay she probably just
memorized that phrase. Can she know something better?” (Herman, 2017)
Her experiences in the K-pop field represent that Korean society is not prepared to face a
multiracial environment. Also, what she experienced is an example of racism and racial
exploitation. Her racial features could not be protected by forcing to conform to the standard of
beauty in Korean society and K-pop, whereas her musical distinctiveness was exploited by
capitalists in the K-pop field. As Silva (2007) pointed out “thoroughly capitalist, from the
nineteenth century on, racism would be added to other symbolic mechanisms of class
exploitation as an excessive ideological device the dominant class imposed upon the exploited”
(p. xxvii); racism in the K-pop field acted as a symbolic mechanism of exploitation. Her
willingness to be a history-making singer confronted many obstacles derived from her otherness.
Although she quit RaNia in 2017 (@thealexreid, 2017), regardless of her success or failure, she
already might achieve her goal because of the fact that she is recorded as the first Black member
of a K-pop group (Herman, 2017).
Unlike Reid’s case, CoCo Avenue is recorded as the first K-pop group consisting of “all”
female African American musicians. Two members of CoCo Avenue, Jenna Rose and Jenny
Lyric, released their song “Eottae” (“What about”) in 2017 singing in Korean (General, 2017).
Although they do not speak the Korean language, they practiced singing in Korean a lot in order
to be a K-pop group. The two members of CoCo Avenue are inspired by many K-pop groups and
musicians such as Super Junior, SHINee, and Wonder Girls. CoCo Avenue, however, has
different features from them. For example, unlike those groups who are manufactured by their
company, CoCo Avenue is not a manufactured group. As a mass-produced art forms, K-pop is
highly related to a star system in the same way the beginnings of contemporary stardom are
56
associated with the advent of mass production (Buckley, p. 366). In conjunction with its
efficiency, the trainee system deeply rooted in the K-pop industry is considered a certain way to
create a star. In order to become a K-pop artist today, it is imperative to participate in auditions
held by K-pop agencies and get through the trainee system. CoCo Avenue, however, is a self-
formed female duo and the two members did not participate in the trainee system.
After Lyric posted her aspiration of being a K-pop star on her Facebook, CoCo Avenue
quickly formed with other people who have an analogous interest (Sokol, 2016). At first, it was a
6-member group and finally became an African American female duo. Since they were obsessed
with K-pop idol stars, they wanted to become a K-pop idol group at first. However, after they
noticed some stereotypes of their African American culture in the K-pop field, they changed
their minds to contribute to the positive image of black people in the Korean music industry. As
an illustration, Lyric said “At this point, our goal is to be the positive image of black people in
the Korean music industry. We have developed a sound and image that fits who we are and we
don’t plan to try and mould ourselves into K-pop idols” (Dahir, 2017).
When it comes to the outward aspects of an artist, the two members of CoCo Avenue
have different opinions from other K-pop artists. Many K-pop artists and applicants today
withstand a rigorous diet and willingly undergo plastic surgery in order to appeal to audiences.
For instance, one of the members of female K-pop group Ladies’ Code, Sojung, says that she
only eats one orange, 15 cherry tomatoes, and one piece of sweet pumpkin in a day (Doo, 2016).
Rose and Lyric, however, decline such efforts at artificial beauty. Rose states, “We aren’t trying
to fit a Korean standard of beauty. We don’t want to lose weight. We don’t want pale skin, or
perfect faces. We want to be 100% who we are, and do what we love, and encourage a few
people along the way” (Dahir, 2017). This aspect is a distinct feature of them because K-pop
57
agencies force their trainees and artists to lose weight and they willingly follow what their
company suggests. Two members of CoCo Avenue, as African Americans, focus more on
expressing their own culture in the K-pop field instead of being idol pop stars.
What language is utilized in lyrics is a significant element to discuss music and the
musician’s identity. This is because language is an inevitable element regarding people’s daily
life and communication. Furthermore, according to Holt (2007), popular musics “have a more
direct relation with everyday life and emerge from a wide array of contemporary lifestyles and
social formations” (p. 6). It indicates that lyrics in popular music are significant elements to look
at not only music, but also people’s life (or musician’s). Since CoCo Avenue’s recent song
“Eottae” is an R&B style song, which is a popular music genre in K-pop, and sung in the Korean
language, it is too hard to figure out prominent differences from other K-pop songs sung by
Korean musicians. Although there are English lyrics and rap parts in this song, it cannot make an
extrusive difference because a lot of K-pop songs also have those parts. For this reason, it seems
indisputable that “Eottae” is a K-pop song. However, this does not entirely make CoCo Avenue
K-pop artists because of their race. Two members of CoCo Avenue imply that they cannot
perfectly get into the K-pop field because of the fact that they are different from typical K-pop
musicians in racial aspects (Sokol, 2016). Rose said, “I think the reason why blackface and
appropriation are such a big problem in Korea is because the African-American voice in the
Korean entertainment industry is so small” (Dahir, 2017). Nevertheless, their existence proves
that K-pop can be a music genre in which diverse races are interwoven. In terms of possibility to
be taken seriously as a K-pop artist, they are optimistic and point out the K-pop industry’s
responsibility. According to them:
58
Yes, we sing in Korean, but we’re not going to start dancing around in Hanboks,
bleaching our skin and claiming anything Korean as our own, absolutely not. We are
simply being ourselves, bringing our culture to K-pop. At the same time, there’s
responsibility to be held on the K-pop industry’s side. How long will they draw
influences from our culture, many times incorrectly, while continuing to perpetuate
stereotypes on what black Americans are and not allow us to have a voice in this? (Sokol,
2016)
They chose K-pop in order to express themselves and encourage other people who are interested
in being a K-pop musicians. As white performers in the blues genre led new aesthetic of blues
(Herrick, p. 20), CoCo Avenue’s attempt might be able to lead a new aesthetic of K-pop in the
transcultural scene.
A male K-pop group, EXP Edition (Experiment Edition), also consists of “all” non-
Korean members from different parts of the world. EXP Edition started as the thesis project of a
graduate student, Kim Bora, at Columbia University in New York City. While she was working
on her Master’s degrees in Fine Arts, she planned to make a K-pop boy group with all non-
Koreans. In an interview with O’Connor (2017), she says that:
I wanted to see what would happen if I made American boys into K-pop performers, by
teaching them how to sing in Korean and act like Korean boys, and complicate this
flow/appropriation even more, since I’m in New York, where so many talents are just one
online recruitment ad away. (Independent, 2017)
To be specific, in terms of her interest in and reason for making a K-pop group with all non-
Koreans, she says that, “I was thinking about cultural flow, or the relationship of dominant
59
culture and peripheral culture, and how that is interwoven with one’s identity or one’s national
identity” (Yam, 2017).
She held an audition in the U.S. in 2014 and ultimately chose the four men out of 2,000
applicants (Kim, 2017). At the first time, EXP Edition started with six non-Korean members;
now there are four members, Frankie from Portugal, Sime from Croatia, and both Hunter and
Koki from the U.S. These four members were fashion models and musical actors in New York
before they became members of EXP Edition. They released their first debut song “Luv/Wrong”,
in New York in 2015. Two years later, they officially debuted in Korea by releasing “Feel Like
This” (KBS World TV, 2017). At the beginning of 2018, EXP Edition released their second
single track, “Stress”, in Korea.
After its debut, EXP Edition also encountered many criticisms from the audiences of K-
pop because of their otherness. Many people denounce the fact that EXP Edition promotes
themselves as a K-pop group by pointing out the absence of a Korean member and their
insufficient Korean pronunciation; all songs of EXP Edition are sung in Korean and English
lyrics so far and they use more Korean lyrics as time goes on. Based on what I experienced in the
K-pop field, EXP Edition is experiencing the same things as many other K-pop groups. To be
specific, EXP Edition is a boy group manufactured by their producer. Four members live
together in lodging provided by their agency. Even though some people pointed out that EXP
Edition did not undergo a rigorous training program before they debuted, the four members of
EXP Edition are taking several dance and Korean language classes from trainers in Korea. In
addition, whenever they meet sónbae in broadcasting stations in Korea, they do a 90-degrees
bow in order to express their decorum as a hubae, which is what many K-pop rookies do.
60
Despite the fact that many things they do are the same as the actions of other K-pop
groups, 90% of respondents said that EXP Edition is not a K-pop group (Min, Joins, 2017).
People’s responses are mainly hostile and biting even though there are several supportive
comments. For instance, “hey just want to update you guys the exp is still trash”
(@expeditionanti, 2017), “Their pronunciation sounds like a toothless old man in my hometown,
Daegu,” “I’d rather listen to Google translate,” and “MY EARS ARE BLEEDING” (KBS World
TV, 2017). EXP Edition members even encounter racist comments. According to comments for
their song “Feel Like This” on YouTube (EXP EDITION TV, 2017), for instance, people said
that “This is the definition of bullshit” (Iva S, 2017), “white people ruining shit once again”
(水木敏郎, 2018), “Get out” (LeBelle, 2018). As such, many global audiences of K-pop are
hostile regarding EXP Edition’s credibility as a K-pop group. Apart from EXP Edition’s
nationality and race, some people also “criticized the performance quality by asking why the
band did not incorporate any choreography, which is an iconic element to K-pop” (Yam, 2017).
One thing, however, is clear in that EXP Edition somewhat has success in a way of thinking that
they get people’s attention whether positive or negative. Their existence as a K-pop group might
be problematic to some people because EXP Edition does not satisfy certain aspects of defining
K-pop people made. Nevertheless, it is undeniable that EXP Edition, in the same way that Reid
brings racial issues to the K-pop field, also brings racial issues not only into such a mono-ethnic
society, but also into the discourse of K-pop today.
The meaning of non-Korean musicians in the K-pop field is not confined to the discourse
of K-pop, but Korean society today. By encountering K-pop groups consisting of all non-
Koreans, global K-pop fans and Korean people are able to have a chance to think about a
diversity in K-pop and Korean society. Appadurai (2013) points out that “global cultural flows
61
have a curious inner contradiction, since they create some of the obstacles to their own freedom
of movement and strangely self-regulate the ease with which they cross cultural boundaries”
(p.65). In conjunction with diverse languages and races, K-pop today is an example of the global
cultural flows having many impediments and inner contractions regarding things understood to
be non-Korean, which is trickier to define than at first may seem obvious.
62
CHAPTER THREE: JAMBINAI AND 2ND MOON
In order to precisely examine K-pop today, it is also significant to look at diverse musical
genres in conjunction with diverse races and languages. For a long time, the majority of Korean
popular songs were dance-oriented music. Targeting faithful teenage fans, K-pop agencies have
eagerly produced numerous dance idol groups since the middle of the 1990s. Korean youth fans,
normally female, are the main consumer group of dance-oriented idol music from the H.O.T era
to the present. Because of the fact that many K-pop groups have been standardized since
H.O.T.’s debut, it is taken for granted that each group would have rappers, vocalists, and sub-
vocalists, which means that almost all songs of idol music have rap parts in their songs. In the
same vein, African American popular music genres such as hip-hop and R&B are subsequently
the second most popular in Korea. Hip-hop also has its own faithful fan base. Specifically, TV
music programs focusing only on hip-hop music, Show Me the Money, Gogyo Rapper (“High
School Rapper”), and Unpretty Rapstar, are not only considered successful TV programs, but
also influential to the popular music field in Korea. Contestants’ songs from these programs will
often be released after they have been broadcasted on TV. These songs normally rank high on
domestic music charts.
However, it does not mean that there is merely dance and hip-hop oriented music genre in
K-pop. Although diverse music genres have not been focused on as much as dance idol groups’
music, they have received people’s attention. For example, whenever Kim Dong-ryul, a male
ballad singer-songwriter, releases his new album, his songs rank high on the popular music chart.
BuskerBusker is another example of a non-dance and non-hip-hop oriented successful music
group. When BuskerBusker debuted in 2013, people from the old generation to the young
generation in Korea loved them. To the old generation, their music and vocal sound reminded
63
them of folk popular music sounds similar to the impact of Bob Dylan in the 1970s and 80s. To
the young generation, BuskerBusker was something different from common idol music, but not
exotic due to the TV audition program, Superstar K—BuskerBusker attended this program in
2011 and won the second place. As such, there is a desire for musical diversity. Diverse music
genres are also loved by Korean music consumers, which means that idol dance music cannot
sate all people’s various musical preferences. In addition, indie bands recently, such as
MeloMance and Jang Duk Cheol, have often ranked higher than manufactured groups, such as
TWICE and BTS, on local music charts.
This chapter explores a different non-dance-oriented style of K-pop music focusing on
two groups, Jambinai and 2nd Moon. Unlike many K-pop groups and indie bands mentioned
above, these two groups combine traditional Korean elements with Western popular music
features. Jambinai and 2nd Moon are perfect examples of “how popular music using traditional
elements is currently located outside the mainstream of Korean pop music” (Kwon, p. 166).
Based on my personal experiences as well as musical analysis, I investigate them in this chapter
— my personal experiences mean, in this case, not only what I saw and observed in the K-pop
industry, but also what I felt when I performed with 2nd Moon in 2014 as a guest musician.
Furthermore, I, as a researcher, conducted interviews with them via email to clarify their
thoughts and opinions. As an outsider and partial insider, I delve into what distinguishes them
from other common K-pop groups including manufactured groups and indie groups.
Jambinai is a rock-oriented popular music group using traditional Korean musical
elements. The majority of their songs incline toward a post-rock sound. 2nd Moon mainly plays
Irish traditional music and is now working on a gugak (traditional Korean music) project with
64
pansori4 singers. Some people might think that my subjects are not K-pop groups because both
groups are different from other typical dance-oriented idol groups in many ways. However, I
argue that their perspective is too narrow to define K-pop because the term “K-pop” does not
represent only one genre (dance-oriented music). In the same vein, K-pop does not represent a
certain form and appearance, such as a form of a group having attractive youthful musicians.
There are a lot of exceptions when people define K-pop today. For instance, “some Japanese K-
pop fans are adamant that K-pop does not include Psy, because they consider him neither cool
nor handsome” (Lie, 2015, p. 96). Today, however, Psy is considered a typical K-pop musician
by many audiences and critics (S. Jung, p. 52).
Although many people agree that K-pop is Korean popular music, there is no settled
definition of K-pop yet. In his book, Lie (2015) states that “K-pop, as we have seen, is a
commercial product, an output of the South Korean culture industry that seeks to satisfy
consumers” (p. 140). In addition, he (2012) argues that the K in K-pop is a “nearly empty
signifier” and “merely a brand” (p. 361). An ethnomusicologist, Michael Fuhr, focuses more on
the globalization phenomenon. He (2017) says that:
K-pop is the soundtrack (and K-pop idols are the faces) of Korea’s globalization process
in the new millennium. Its most popular representatives are boy and girl groups and
dance pop acts that show many similarities with their counterpart in mainstream Western
pop music in terms of aural and visual representation, performance, habitus, and
mediation. (p. 8)
4 “From a cultural perspective, Pansori is the quintessential Korean traditional performing art. It is a musical drama consisting of two performers – a singer or soloist (sorikkun or gwangdae) and a drummer (gosu) […] The singer represents all the characters in the themed story through variations in tone and pitch. The drummer enhances the excitement of the performance with rhythmic sounds and words” (Kang, p. 2-3).
65
In the same vein, a media scholar, Kim Chang-nam, focuses on a specific time period as well as
specific regions. Kim (2012) describes about the term “K-pop”
It began to be used in Japan in the early 2000s when Korean popular music first came to
attention across East Asia, including in that country […] This means that K-pop is both a
product of transnational practices and a global term referring comprehensively to not
simply the popular music produced by the Korean music industry and consumed
overseas, but to related cultural phenomenon as well. (p. 8-9)
The term “K-pop” can be problematic in that it is not widely used in Korea when Koreans refer
to popular music. Koreans have a specific term referring to popular music, daejung gayo
(대중가요, popular music) or gayo (가요, a simplified term for popular music) — Koreans are
prone to use the term “K-pop” when they refer to Korean popular music for the global music
market. Considerations of certain aspects, such as nationality, language, and pervasive musical
genre, might help define K-pop. However, K-pop is still a problematic term because of the fact
that many K-pop groups, as we have discussed earlier, even have non-Korean musicians and sing
in non-Korean languages. Such phenomena also raise questions about K-pop’s authenticity. By
pointing out the lack of authenticity, autonomy, and originality, Lie (2015) argues that there is no
authenticity in the discourse of K-pop. He states:
K-pop is inauthentic in that it is neither Korean nor South Korean. Not only is it different
from traditional Korean music, it also diverges from the long tradition of Korean popular
music. But most K-pop fans don't care about that kind of inauthenticity. Rather, the kind
of inauthenticity that might concern a K-pop fan is the kind associated with phoniness,
that foible identified and excoriated in J.D. Salinger’s 1951 novel The Catcher in the Rye
but more completely articulated by Lionel Trilling and Charles Taylor. (p. 140-141)
66
As such, the term “K-pop” and its extent are controversial and essentially debated. Nevertheless,
the reason why I argue that these two groups, Jambinai and 2nd Moon, are K-pop is that they
meet two basic aspects of the term K-pop; “Korean” and “Popular.” When it comes to defining
of popular music, in his book Popular Musics of the Non-Western World, Peter Manuel (1988)
mentions that “[t]he most important distinguishing feature of popular music is its close
relationship with the mass media. Popular music […] is disseminated primarily through them,
and is embedded in a music industry based on marketing of recordings on a mass commodity
basis” (p. 4). Jambinai and 2nd Moon are both musical groups not only consisting of all Korean
musicians, but also aiming to appeal to common audiences through mass media. For example,
both groups participated in several TV drama original soundtracks (OST) in conjunction with
other popular musicians in Korea — Jambinai participated in Rebel: Thief Who Stole the People
OST in 2017 and 2nd Moon participated in many TV dramas’ OST including The Legend of the
Blue Sea in 2017, Love in the Moonlight in 2016, Princess Hours in 2006, Bad Family in 2006,
and Ireland in 2004.
In Korea, soap opera is one of the most influential popular culture genres. Only very
famous actors and actresses can star in soap operas as protagonists. In conjunction with K-pop,
Korean soap opera occupies the biggest part of Hallyu. For example, typical Korean dramas,
Winter Sonata (2002) and Dae Jang Geum (2003), led the development of hallyu in the
beginning of the 2000s. When it comes to influences of TV dramas, Jin (2016) mentions that
“Due to the rapidly growing popularity of these [TV drama] programs, the total value of Korean
television program exports increased by as much as 27.4 times between 1995 and 2007, up from
$5.5 million in 1995 to $151 million in 2007 […] Many actors and actresses, including Yong
Joon Bae, Ji-Woo Choi, Young Ae Lee, Jae Wook Ahn, Byung-hun Lee, Min-ho Lee, Ji-hyung
67
Jen, and Soo-hun Kim, have become Asian stars” (p. 48). Therefore, for musicians, participating
in soap operas’ OST is conducive to promoting their songs to other countries. TV dramas whose
OST Jambinai and 2nd Moon participated in were also exported to other countries. Specifically,
Princess Hours, which 2nd Moon participated in, was exported to 23 countries including
mainland China, Taiwan, Thailand, Vietnam, Indonesia, and Japan (Seo, 2006).
Based on their popularity in Europe, Jambinai has performed in global music markets
from 2014 to the present. “From May to July, the band toured 14 countries in Europe, appearing
in a handful of renowned music festivals including the Glastonbury Festival in England, it has
also performed at South by Southwest in the United States and WOMEX Cardiff in Wales” (Lee,
The Korea Herald, 2014). In his column, a professor at George Mason University in Korea, Lee
Gyu-tag, states that exoticism is the main reason why global fans from non-Asian areas consume
Korean popular music and Jambinai is a successful example of K-pop as an “alternative music
(world music)” in non-Asian areas that can satisfy audiences’ appetite for exoticism (Pressian,
2018). I wonder how Jambinai members themselves think about being labeled as K-pop by other
people. Three members say that:
We don’t care about how other people refer to us. We might be one of the K-pop bands
because we are all Korean musicians. And some people in Europe consider us as a
different style of K-pop. Some fans started to listen to K-pop idol groups’ music and
become our fans. But we are not sure that Jambinai is alternative of K-pop idol groups
because we are not popular as much as they are. We just want to be called “Jambinai
music” rather than other terms. (B. Kim, I. Lee, E. Shim, personal email communication
translated by the author, January 25, 2018)
68
Although Jambinai members are not sure that they can adequately represent K-pop, they do not
disagree that other people refer to them as K-pop.
2nd Moon also showed up on several TV programs, such as Top Band 3 and Immortal
Song 2: Singing the Legend. Moreover, in one of his interviews, a leader of 2nd Moon, Kim
Hyun-bo, insinuates that 2nd Moon could be a K-pop group. He says that:
The reason why K-pop idol groups are popular in the world is that non-Korean audiences
are fascinated by the way that Korean audiences relish their popular music by singing and
dancing it. In the same vein, no one is interested in our music if we do not relish it. There
is a lot of fun in gugak. Our gugak project aims to reveal that hidden fun to the global
audience. (Park, Yonhapnews, 2018) [Author’s translation.]
Based on these points, I consider them a K-pop group despite the different style, and I examine
the musical diversity of K-pop focusing on four songs; “They Keep Silence” and “Time of
Extinction” by Jambinai, and “Sarang-ga” (“Love Song”) and “Eosa Chooldoo” (“Here Comes
the Royal Inspector”), by 2nd Moon.
Jambinai As Another K-pop
Unlike common K-pop groups, Jambinai is a self-formed K-pop band. Three members,
Lee Il-woo, Kim Bo-mi, and Shim Eun-yong, started the group in 2009; Jambinai officially
added bassist Byung-goo and drummer Choi Jae-hyuk in 2017. Lee, Kim, and Shim were
classmates at the Korea National University of Arts and they play traditional Korean
instruments: Kim Bo-mi plays the haegeum fiddle, Shim Eun-yong plays the geomungo zither,
and Lee Il-woo plays not only piri and taepyeongso (types of Korean wind instruments) but also
electric guitar. According to Lee, they are interested in the possibility of traditional Korean
music as a public genre: “All of us are trained in gugak instruments and performed individually
69
for some years. We had this growing thirst for music through which we can communicate with
the people of our generation. We wanted to prove that with our instruments we can do
contemporary music” (Lee, 2014). To be specific, Kim says that:
We amalgamate Western musical instruments in order to overcome musical and popular
limitations of gugak. I was fascinated by gugak by myself and I assumed that other
people could be fascinated in the same way. But many people were bored of gugak. It
was shocking to me. I realized that gugak is not a popular music genre when I was in
middle school […] After I entered college, I was sad because I met same the people like
family, relatives, and friends again and again in concert halls. I was wondering why
people are bored of gugak. I think the reason is a musical limitation of gugak. Whereas
people today in Korea live in Westernized society in many aspects, gugak stagnated in
the style of the end of Joseon Dynasty (1392-1897). I thought that someone has to play
ongoing music instead of stagnation whereas it is also important to maintain traditions.
(B. Kim, personal email communication, January 25, 2018)
I asked them if they have any stereotypes of Western popular music genres derived from
their gugak specialties. All members say that “we do not have any biases or stereotypes in terms
of Western popular music.” According to them, two members of Jambinai, Lee and Kim, even
started music with piano and choir rather than gugak when they were young. Furthermore, when
it comes to biases, Lee points out “many Koreans today are more familiar with Western popular
music rather than gugak. They rather have biases and stereotypes of gugak” (I. Lee, personal
email communication, January 25, 2018). In one interview, three members of Jambinai mention
that they have been influenced by diverse music genres including not only Korean popular music
of the 1990s, for example, Seo Taiji, H.O.T and later on g.o.d., but also Western rock music.
70
Lee, specifically, reveals that he has been influenced by Western bands Metallica and Nine Inch
Nails. He states that “I felt a strong desire to play the guitar when I was in the third year of
middle school after watching a video of Metallica’s concert. I was so impressed. It was amazing
to see them perform in front of a huge crowd. I practiced the piri in the daytime and played the
guitar at night” (Arirang TV, 2017).
Musical Features of Jambinai. In musical perspective, Jambinai has distinguished
features in many ways. For example, Jambinai has officially released 20 songs since its debut in
2010 — apart from Rebel: Thief Who Stole the People OST in 2017, they released three albums,
Jambinai in 2010, Difference in 2015, and A Hermitage in 2016. The majority of the songs they
released have odd meters, such as 3/4, 5/4, 7/8, and 9/8. Some songs such as “They Keep
Silence” and “Time of Extinction” I analyzed have a metric modulation. Moreover, there are
songs such as “Empty Pupil, Pt. 1”, which is expressed in no time signature. Among their songs
they released so far, 2018, only six songs are in fixed 4/4 meter. When it comes to erratic rhythm
meters, Kim states “gugak has more diverse rhythmic features than Western music. Many
Western musicians are curious when we appropriate small parts of rhythmic features of the
traditional Korean music” (B. Kim, personal email communication, January 25, 2018). Two
songs of Jambinai, “They Keep Silence” and “Time of Extinction,” are in odd meters and metric
modulation. For example, “They Keep Silence” released in 2017 starts with geomungo’s riff in
3/4.
Figure 6. The geomungo riff of “They Keep Silence” (transcription by the author).
71
After finishing the second verse part, this song changes the time signature from 3/4 to 4/4 and
5/4. This feature originates from a combination of Korean and Western music rhythms;
traditional Korean music mainly utilizes 3/4 meter, whereas Western popular music mainly uses
4/4 meter. By using odd-meters, Jambinai expresses their musical distinctiveness.
Figure 7. Metric modulation part of “They Keep Silence” (transcription by the author).
Another song, “Time of Extinction”, released in 2015, also starts geomungo’s riff in 3/4.
Electric guitar and haegeum are added after the geomungo intro part. When the electric guitar
and haegeum are added, drums and electric bass guitar are also added together. While the first
part of this song repeats, Shim constantly plays the riff. At first, the geomungo riff sounds like a
4/4 pattern because of the notes’ grouping. However, in fact, this riff is in 3/4.
Figure 8. The geomungo riff and drum pattern of “Time of Extinction”
(transcription by the author).
After finishing the first part, this song changes the time signature from 3/4 to 4/4.
72
Figure 9. 4/4 time signature part of “Time of Extinction” (transcription by the author).
When it comes to rhythm formation of “They Keep Silence” and “Time of Extinction,” Jambinai
is different from other dance-oriented K-pop artists. They often use odd meters and metric
modulation. Such erratic rhythm formations are uncommon in the K-pop idol groups because
they barely make a comfortable environment to dance.
In the chord progressions, Jambinai is also apparently different from other K-pop songs.
They often utilize one chord progression rather than multiple chord progressionx. For example, a
verse part of “They Keep Silence” is played over a Bm chord.
Figure 10. A vocal melody and chord progression in a verse of “They Keep Silence”
(transcription by the author).
After the verse part, Jambinai plays a Bm chord in other parts of the song.
Both songs are composed by Lee Il-woo. According to Lee, he wrote “They Keep
Silence” to express people’s resentment in the aftermath of the Sewol Ferry disaster, which is the
73
worst maritime accident in Korean history, killing 304 people senselessly in 2014. Lee clarifies
that “many artists sing about how sad they are and make songs to comfort the victims and
people. But, no one releases a song about how mad they are. I felt like that I, as an artist and
citizen, needed to talk about it, so I decided to write it” (I. Lee, personal email communication,
January 25, 2018). Lee says that he was inspired by the open string sound of geomungo. That is a
main reason he wrote “Time of Extinction.” In addition, Kim states that “Time of Extinction” is
the first song in which Jambinai members aggressively utilize rhythm part (B. Kim, I. Lee,
personal email communication, January 25, 2018).
When it comes to performance, we can recognize different features of Jambinai. Even
though two members of Jambinai, Kim and Shim, mainly play Korean traditional instruments,
their performance styles are totally different from “Korean traditional musicians.” While
traditional geomungo and haegeum players play the instruments gently and placidly, Jambinai
members play the instrument by headbanging, which can be shown in heavy metal performances.
Below figures present their distinctions.
Figure 11. Comparison of traditional geomungo player with Shim Eun-yong of Jambinai
(left photograph from National Gugak Center and right one from Jambinai’s performance at
Trans Musicales of Rennes in 2014).
74
Figure 12. Comparison of traditional haegeum player with Kim Bo-mi of Jambinai
(left photograph from Kim and right one from Jambinai’s performance at SXSW in 2016).
Specifically, when Shim plays the geomungo, she often approaches it in a different way,
such as she plays the geomungo as a percussive instrument, not a string family instrument.
Geomungo has sixteen gue(s) which function as a prop, similar to the fret(s) of the guitar. In
general, geomungo players do not use these parts when they make sounds. Shim, however, often
uses these parts by smacking when Jambinai makes different sounds. Furthermore, Shim and
Kim use various sound effectors, which are normally utilized by electric guitarists, when they
play their traditional instruments. Through this, they aim to create a new sound.
Unlike the majority of K-pop artists who aim to follow Western popular music sounds,
Jambinai tries to make a new sound by combining Western and Korean sounds in their music.
Their exertion is an example of postcolonialism in that they resist stagnated traditional Korean
music and the reckless acceptance of Western culture. In cultural postcolonialism, people resist
blindly following and accepting Western culture. According to Bhabha (2001):
The postcolonial perspective departs from the traditions of the sociology of
underdevelopment or “dependency” theory. As a mode of analysis, it attempts to revise
those nationalist or “nativist” pedagogies that set up the relation of Third World and First
75
World in a binary structure of opposition. The postcolonial perspective resists the attempt
at holistic form of social explanation. (p. 191)
Utilizing traditional Korean and Western popular musical aspects, Jambinai breaks up the
cultural border between Korean (Eastern) and Western. These distinct features firmed Jambinai’s
musical identity. Jambinai also says that it is the main reason they can appeal to global
audiences. Lee Il-woo states that “I think the reason why Jambinai is so popular because we mix
heavy metal and gugak so well together. The fact that we firmly established our identity and
distinguished ourselves from other groups also opened doors to perform abroad” (Arirang TV,
2017). People who saw their performance or video admired their novel sound.
According to YouTube (JAMBINAI 잠비나이 Official, 2016, Apr 14) comments, many
people focus on unexpected sounds and instruments. For example, “i’ve not heard anything like
this in my life. This is absolutely superb” (Vonzaku, 2016), “Could anyone tell me what’s the
name of that one-stringed instrument?” (MsCacaguete, 2016), “You’re awesome. I hope see you
in Poland” (dohaeng82, 2017), “I saw you guys on TV news in France, just hearing the sound of
your music for 10 seconds made me believe you were the kind of band I love to listen to; you
have just proven me right! What you do is amazing, I hope you will gain more recognition!”
(Marianne Dos Reis, 2017), “What an amazing underrated band! now that is what you call art
please continue to make masterpieces Love from Cairo<3 [sic]” (Jessy Mor, 2017), and “That
was awesome, and it was just as good live when I saw you at The Great Escape, Brighton. Come
to the UK again please !!!!!” (nick w, 2017).
Some people even argue that Jambinai is better than other K-pop groups and should
represent K-pop. As an illustration, “I was in their concert yesterday in Algeria and it was just…
PERFECT I thought that it was much better than the pop that everyone like better than exo bts
76
and all others it’s just Powerfull Thanks for this perfection<3 #Fan [sic]” (ouaddour rania, 2017),
“Great music. Jamabanai [sic] is the only serious ‘magnifique’ thing I know from South Korea”
(elbichopolaco, 2017), and “This is much better than PSY” (Dwi Aji, 2017). Jambinai’s music is
not an Oriental music or Western popular music to them; the band makes their own sound.
Traditional Korean music and Western musical features coexist in their song and performances.
Newness exists in various ways in Jambinai’s music. This aspect is the strongest attraction of
Jambinai’s music. As a different style of K-pop, Jambinai expands the range of K-pop in the
world.
2nd Moon
2nd Moon is also a self-formed band. At first, this band consisted of eight musicians:
Kim Hyun-bo (various instruments, including guitar, mandolin, Irish whistle, bodhràn), Park Jin-
woo (bass), Choi Jin-kyung (piano, keyboard, and accordion), Baek Sun-yeol (drums and
percussion), Jo Yun-jeong (violin), Park Hye-ri (vocals, Irish whistle, and accordion), Lynda
Cullen (vocals), and Valtinho Anastàcio (percussion). After three members, Park Hye-ri, Cullen,
and Anastàcio, quit the band in 2012, 2nd Moon has consisted of six musicians including a new
member, Lee Young-hoon (guitar). This band commenced with a suggestion by Kim Hyun-bo.
When he was working for a music company for adverts along with Park Jin-woo and Choi, he
suggested that they make a band in 2003. Other members, Baek and Jo, were introduced by
acquaintances. A guitarist, Lee Young-hoon, was basically a high school friend of Choi and took
part in 2nd Moon’s first album as a session guitarist. Choi asked him to join the band and Lee
officially became a member of 2nd Moon.
After their songs were featured in the TV drama Ireland, as I mentioned above, in 2004,
2nd Moon obtained important exposure and opportunities to introduce their music to the public.
77
Kim says, “Once back in 2003, we had just 5 people in the audience. However, once our music
was featured on the TV series Ireland people started queuing to enter our gigs and we couldn’t
even fit them all into the performing venues” (Arirang TV, 2016). Taking advantage of this
momentum, 2nd Moon released their first album, 2nd Moon in 2005. Since then, 2nd Moon has
released a total of three regular albums; 2nd Moon in 2005, How have you been? in 2015, and
Pansori: Chunhyang-ga in 2016.
As an indie band in the K-pop field, 2nd Moon is different from other manufactured K-
pop groups in the way of creating an album. When I participated in the recording of the fifth
album of a renowned female singer, Lee Hyo-ri, a number of people were involved. Apart from
other parts such as video, photography, album design, hair/makeup, and fashion, there were still
a lot of people in the music part for creating her new album. Not only as a drummer, but also as a
part of the music staff, I was able to look closely at a typical album production process of K-pop.
Lee Hyo-ri and her producer, Kim Ji-woong, asked a lot of composers and bands for unpublished
songs. They gathered songs not only from famous composers, but also indie rock bands. In
addition, they received a number of songs from other countries via global music conglomerates
such as SONY Music, Universal Music, and Warner Music. From what I heard, around 500
songs were gathered — On her fifth album, Monochrome, 2013, there are 16 songs including a
song she composed. After they chose the songs to be included, they asked arrangers, lyricists,
and session players in order to complete recording. In the final step, they worked with a mixing
engineer and a mastering engineer to complete album production. Although such a procedure and
details would change depending on the style of the artist, I experienced a similar process in other
K-pop projects that I participated in.
78
However, 2nd Moon covers every process of album production themselves when they
produce their album. According to Jo, “we handled everything on our own from the beginning
till the end with no guest musicians or technicians” (Arirang TV, 2016). As I mentioned, I also
participated in 2nd Moon’s performance as a guest musician in 2014. I visited their practice
room in Seoul’s Mapo district. Although it is not big enough, there were various musical
instruments and musical instrument digital interface (MIDI) equipment there. At that time, they
were working on their second regular album How have you been? I asked them where they
recorded and mixed their songs; I did not ask where they gathered songs because I knew that
they compose their songs on their own. They said that “we do everything in this place.” I was
surprised because I thought that they would go somewhere to record and mix their music. That
small place was a practice room, recording studio, and mixing / mastering studio.
The Gugak Project. The gugak project of 2nd Moon commenced in 2014 after they
performed with a fusion gugak band, Coreyah, at the Yeo-woo-rak festival. According to Kim,
“We performed original pansori pieces with our own twist to create a new kind of music. So we
talked about it in September and held that performance in October. Over the month, we produced
5 or 6 songs, which became the basis for the album Pansori: Chunhyang-ga, with 14 songs”
(Arirang TV, 2016).
I performed with 2nd Moon while they were in the midst of the gugak project. My hubae
(junior colleague), Jo Yun-jeong of 2nd Moon, asked me if I could play the drums for one of
their performances. She said that 2nd Moon’s drummer could not play the drums at that time
because of a family affair. I was willing to accept her request and played the drums for their
performance. At the first meeting for practice, I did not expect that I could meet a pansori singer
for 2nd Moon’s performance. I was just informed that I should get ready to play several pieces
79
by 2nd Moon. I realized that I did not need to know about the pansori singer because 2nd Moon
was trying to amalgamate their music with a pansori piece.
After I and the 2nd Moon members started to play one of their pieces, “Uhrum Yonmot”
(“Ice Pond”), a pansori singer, Lee Bong-geun, subsequently sang a typical traditional Korean
folk song, “Eebyul-ga” (Farewell Song) based on our Western-style accompaniment. It was a
totally different experience from what I had before performed along with other fusion gugak
musicians and teams such as Kang Eun-il haegeum Plus. If the fusion gugak team, Kang Eun-il
haegeum Plus, focuses on expressing Western melody and harmony using traditional Korean
instruments, 2nd Moon’s gugak project focuses more on how they can support pansori to express
its contents well (H. Kim, personal email communication, March 1, 2018).
Figure 13. A performance with 2nd Moon at Jeongdong theater in Korea in 2014
(from left to right; the author, Kim Hyun-bo, Lee Young-hoon, Lee Bong-geun, Park Jin-woo,
Choi Jin-Kyung, and Jo Yun-jeong, photo from YouTube capture).
80
As a researcher, I conducted an interview with 2nd Moon members to clarify the purpose
of the gugak project and whether they experienced any hardships resulting from differences
between traditional Korean music and Western music. When it comes to the purpose of the
project, Kim says, “It is meaningful to habituate gugak in our daily life. In addition, it is a Blue
Ocean, which means we can make our unique sound in this project” (H. Kim, personal email
communication, March 1, 2018).
Many K-pop artists with whom I have worked tried to find something new, including
unique sounds, visual concepts, even promotion tactics. For example, Lee Hyo-ri appropriated
retro visual concepts such as the fashion styles of Supremes, Audrey Hepburn, and Farrah
Fawcett in the 1960s and 70s into her music video “Miss Korea” in 2013. This song is musically
based on jazzy acoustic sounds. Since many K-pop fans remember Lee Hyori rocking fierce hip-
hop and dance sounds in her former songs, her attempts in “Miss Korea” are considered as
something new for many K-pop fans. Another K-pop artist, Lee Min-woo, who is a member of
the boy group Shinhwa, also always tries to find uniqueness whenever he creates his album. I
recall when I worked for his concert in 2009, that one day he suddenly visited the session
musicians’ waiting room to discuss his new album concept and sound with other musicians. He
brought several music videos, concert videos, and songs of Western musicians, Ne-Yo, Justin
Timberlake, and Beyoncé. I and other musicians talked about music videos and songs he
brought. Specifically, he asked session musicians regarding some parts of Ne-Yo’s songs as a
motive for his new song. Also, he and the session musicians, including me, talked about some
part of Beyoncé’s concert, such as blindfolded drum solo, as items for his concert. In this way,
many K-pop artists I worked with try to find uniqueness from other popular music in the world.
81
2nd Moon, on the other hand, finds it in the traditional Korean music genre to appeal to the
public.
I speculate that 2nd Moon might have hardships in this project because of the fact that
there is an evident difference between traditional Korean music and Western music. To be
specific, traditional Korean music has a different scale system from Western music — Two
essential and basic modes in Korean Traditional Music are called gyemyeonjo (sad style) and ujo
(majestic), both use a five-pitch scale without semitones, or an anhemitonic5 pentatonic scale
(Suh, 2013). I asked 2nd Moon how to overcome such hardships. Kim said that:
We try to play the instruments to support that traditional Korean content can be conveyed
well as itself. Whenever we make sound with pansori pieces, we often encounter certain
parts in which 2nd Moon and a pansori singer need to adjust. In order to overcome such
parts, we utilize a harmony as much as we can open, for example, using the dominant 7th
chord in Blues music that can embraces many notes. Also, the pansori singer sometimes
has to sing in an unfamiliar key. (J. Choi, personal email communication, March 1, 2018)
In the same vein, the majority of songs I performed with them in the gugak project were in 3/4,
6/8, and 12/8 meters because it was a conducive way to dwindle differences between gugak and
Western popular music; many pieces of gugak have an odd time formation as I mentioned above.
In the Pansori: Chunhyang-ga album, all songs are in odd time except three songs out of
fourteen.
For the theme of the first album of the gugak project, 2nd Moon chose Chunhyang-ga, a
very famous folk story in Korea — it is a kind of romantic love story between a girl and boy who
5 “A scale with no semitones, i.e. one of the four pentatonic scales or a whole-tone scale” (Latham, p. 46).
82
have a social class gap. The girl, named Chunhyang, endures adversity and faithfully waits for
her lover, named Mongryong, to return. Since Chunhyang-ga is the most famous pansori piece, it
is reproduced in various popular culture, including musicals, films, TV dramas, and animated
films in Korea. According to Jo, audiences are more enthusiastic at the performances of the
gugak project than other 2nd Moon performances. “Many people sing along when we play
famous parts of Chunhyang-ga, ‘Sarang-ga’” (Y. Jo, personal email communication, March 1,
2018).
“Sarang-ga” (Love Song) expresses Mongryong and Chunhyang’s love in cute, sweet,
and lively ways. In 2nd Moon’s version of “Sarang-ga” (Love Song), 2nd Moon appropriates 3/4
jazz waltz style accompaniment by utilizing a guitar, accordion, mandolin, violin, double bass,
and drums. The lyrics of “Sarang-ga” are the same as a traditional version, whereas the
accompaniment style is totally different. I played this song in a similar way to playing other jazz
waltz pieces in medium tempo such as Bill Evans’ “Alice in Wonderland” by utilizing a brush
stick. This song commences with a guitar comping. While a guitarist is playing chord comping, a
sorikkun (pansori singer) starts a narration in order to explain the relationship between two main
characters, Chunhyang and Mongryong.
Figure 14. The guitar comping in the introduction of “Sarang-ga” (transcription by the author).
After finishing a brief intro part, the first verse part gets started and other instruments
subsequently are added from the second half of the verse part. Although it is not an
83
improvisation, there is an instrumental solo part amid this song. In the last part of this song, a
melody 2nd Moon created is played alongside sorikkun’s singing.
Figure 15. A combination of Chunhyang-ga melody (upper) and 2nd Moon’s melody (bottom) in
the last part of “Sarang-ga” (transcription by the author).
When it comes to this part, 2nd Moon members say that many audiences sing along with this
melody. Park states, “That’s the performance we had all dreamed of since we released the song.
84
We wanted to release some songs that the public can easily sing along to like any K-pop song”
(Arirang TV, 2016). This song, on the one hand, proves that traditional Korean music can be
amalgamated into a Western popular music form. On the other hand, it proves that popular music
in Korea can appropriate traditional Korean content well.
Another example of this possibility is the thirteenth track of Pansori: Chunghyang-ga,
“Eosa Chooldoo” (“Here Comes the Royal Inspector”). This song is the apex of the story of
Chunhyang-ga regardless of traditional or new version because it depicts the dramatic
appearance of the main male character, Mongryong, to save his lover; Chunhyang, who is being
tortured by a villain. “Eosa Chooldoo” commences with Irish percussion, bodhràn in 12/8 meter.
Unlike “Sarang-ga,” the lyrics of this song are not perfectly the same as a traditional version;
some parts are omitted. This song is expressed by Western musical instruments, for example,
bodhràn, guitar, piano, violin, double bass, and drums in conjunction with traditional Korean
singing. With the accompaniment of bodhràn and guitar in 12/8 meter, the sorikkun sings in a
style of rapping.
85
Figure 16. A melody in a verse of “Eosa Chooldoo” (transcription by the author).
I argue that this song is the best example showing 2nd Moon’s purpose of the gugak
project because it evidently transmits what traditional Korean musical content says in
conjunction with 2nd Moon’s musical features. According to Kim, “pansori is not a genre that
can transmit well its contents because of its musical features. We try to complement its
disadvantage from a Western musical perspective in order to transmit well its content to the
public” (H. Kim, personal email communication, March 1, 2018). In the same vein, Kang (2016)
pointed out in her thesis that “In the traditional Pansori setting, the singer usually articulates the
themed story with dramatic facial and body expressions, and melodic or rhythmic improvisations
aimed to make the performance livelier. A typical Pansori performance often times takes three to
eight hours” (p. 3). From my experiences, it was not easy to understand what the sorikkun sings
in the traditional version of “Eosa Chooldoo” due to unfixed time signatures and keys as well as
pervasive dialectal expressions. On the other hand, the content of “Eosa Chooldoo” is
86
transmitted well to the audience in 2nd Moon’s version in conjunction with fixed time signature
and key; 12/8 meter and C major. I am sure that these elements of 2nd Moon’s version help
people to understand its content in conjunction with their familiarity of Western style popular
music and a famous folk story of Korea. After 2nd Moon performed “Eosa Chooldoo” on an
entertainment TV show, I Can See Your Voice, a number of audiences commented on YouTube
(Mnet Official, 2016). For example, “In the beginning i was like ‘oh he is a good pansori singer’
then later I was like ‘yoo you can be a rapper’ then later iwas ‘ooh magbe a rock singer too’
[sic]” (esi obeng, 2017), “I don't familiar with this genre. But, for so many reason..this is
beautiful! I don’t know how to describe it. wow [sic]” (uwii ai, 2017), “my ears fell weird but
great [sic]” (Seto Mulyadi, 2017), “Pansori rap is so good” (Convenient Listener, 2017), and
“this is my first time listening to this genre of music, so interesting to me, he must have made a
lot of effort to master it” (Jojo Chan, 2017).
Jambinai and 2nd Moon prove that there are diverse music styles in the Korean popular
music field embracing aspects of traditional Korean music. Both groups recently had a great
chance to expose their music to the world — they performed at the closing ceremony of the
Pyeongchang 2018 Winter Olympics. Specifically, in response to Jambinai’s performance,
global fans commented on their enthusiasm on YouTube (bellaunioninc, 2018)6. For instance,
“So loved this, when I watched it, last night. Need much more of this in my life” (Joe Adams,
6 There are more comments in this YouTube (SBS 뉴스, 2018) clip, even though it is unavailable in the US. According to this clip, for example, people say that “This performance at Olympic …dem, amaizing, +1 fan from Russia .. keep going like this! [sic]” (Argentinaspy, 2018). “I absolutely love this band! Ever since the closing ceremonies, I can’t get this song out of my head. Please tour United States” (Elaine Sippel, 2018), and “Saw them perform this at the Olympics closing ceremonies last night. It blew my socks off. Incredibly powerful! Loved it!” (AirFiero, 2018).
87
2018). “Increadible Performance, Jambinai & the other musicians! Undoubtedly, the best part of
the closing ceremony!” (Regular Joe, 2018), “I still can’t get over this performance! It’s fucking
spectacular!” (m, 2018), and “Fantastic sound. Love the mix of teaditional [sic] music and
alternative rock. Very moody” (THXn11, 2018). Because of their distinct musical features
embracing traditional Korean music, Jambinai and 2nd Moon are often interpreted as belonging
in a different music genre rather than K-pop. However, people have to realize that K-pop today is
expanding its musical diversity; both groups contribute to its transition. Jambinai and 2nd Moon
can be included as K-pop groups sooner or later with people’s agreement.
88
CONCLUSION
In the previous chapters, I have illustrated how K-pop includes diverse races, languages,
and musical features. K-pop has been developed as an influential popular music genre around the
world. Needless to say, of course, Psy and BTS are well known K-pop artists who had and have
huge success in the world and affect(ed) global audiences. Other K-pop groups also appeal to
global audiences in many parts of the world. Since typical K-pop songs are a dance-oriented
music sung by Korean musicians in the Korean language, people, especially laypeople, might
think that dance-oriented music represents the entire genre of K-pop. Furthermore, because of
the term “K-pop,” they might think that “Korean” ethnicity and the “Korean language” are
significant elements to define K-pop. Such a perspective is likely not only to confine K-pop to a
certain category, but also to interrupt its further development. My intention in this study was to
emphasize that K-pop is not merely a dance-oriented popular music genre sung by Korean
musicians in the Korean language: it is popular music embracing diverse people, languages, and
musical genres.
This study began with a wish. When I worked in the K-pop field, I was able to meet a lot
of talented musicians in various music genres. Sometimes they were not from Korea, but from
other countries. It was fascinating to me that people from other countries came to Korea
dreaming to be K-pop stars; some of them actually achieved their dreams. Korean and non-
Korean musicians were singing, dancing, and playing music together under the name of K-pop. I
was also fascinated by the fact that many Korean aspirants and trainees were trying to master at
least one foreign language before they debuted in order to sing fluently in a non-Korean
language. It was not uncommon to see such phenomena when I worked in the K-pop field from
the mid-2000s to the mid-2010s. Since coming to the U.S., I am a little frustrated whenever I
89
meet people who think that K-pop is just a dance music genre performed by attractive young
Korean musicians. By wishing this study could contribute to expanding people’s perceptions
towards diversity of K-pop, I commenced this study.
In order to bolster my argument, I delved into the developmental history of K-pop from
the beginning of the 1990s, analyzed distinct features of K-pop groups having racial, linguistic,
and musical diversity, and conducted interviews with audiences as well as musicians. In Chapter
One, I explored K-pop focusing on three crucial aspects; a monumental shift derived from the
appearance of Seo Taiji, the distinct features of the K-pop industry, and the governmental
support. First of all, the appearance of Seo Taiji provided a general foundation on which Korean
popular music can develop by absorbing various cultural elements. It is indisputable that Seo is
one of the most influential people in terms of the development of K-pop. Apart from his other
achievements, Seo contributed to rap-oriented K-pop music today in that he was the first person
who introduced the rap music genre to the K-pop field in 1992. In addition, in the way that youth
audiences became main popular music consumers after his appearance, Seo’s appearance is a
significant element in terms of the K-pop fan base. From the mid-1990s to the present, the K-pop
industry and majority of K-pop idol groups mainly rely on youth audiences.
A distinct feature of K-pop, the trainee system, explains how and why K-pop musicians
are manufactured. Apart from its efficiency, this system contributes to the diversity of K-pop in
the way that it provides suitable time to non-Korean aspirants to assimilate Korean culture and
the Korean language. When it comes to the discourse of K-pop today, it is necessary to look at
the involvement of the Korean government. By supporting and intervening in the K-pop
industry, the Korean government affects the development of K-pop. For instance, as I discussed,
the Korean government furnishes not only governmental subsidies to produce a music album, but
90
also opportunities for musicians to attend global music festivals, such as SXSW, in the US. In
the same vein, the government institute, KOCCA, held an annual music convention, called
MU:CON, in order to promote K-pop to the world. In order to prevent unexpected social
problems, the government enacted a certain law which caused the phenomenon of 7th year jinx in
the K-pop field. Furthermore, by imposing mandatory annual classes on every K-pop agency, the
Korean government intervenes in the K-pop industry. It is important element to look at the
Korean government’s support and intervention because it can explain how nationalism exists in
global cultural flows such as K-pop.
In Chapter Two, I specifically focused on non-Korean languages in K-pop songs and
non-Korean musicians (non-Asian musicians) in order to argue that K-pop is an example of what
Appadurai pointed out in his five dimensions of scape. In terms of diversity of races and
languages, there are two kinds of K-pop groups; one is K-pop groups having Korean musicians
singing in non-Korean languages, another is K-pop groups having non-Korean musicians singing
in the Korean language. I delved into the reason why many K-pop artists sing in non-Korean
languages, focusing on musical industry features of K-pop along with Korean society. Due to
limited opportunities, K-pop agencies started to promote their artists to global music market,
mainly in China, Japan, and the US. As a promotion scheme, they have released non-Korean
versions of songs. Regardless of its success, this tactic is taken for granted and has become a
reason K-pop trainees take foreign language classes during the training span. As Fuhr mentioned,
non-Korean lyrics exist as a gateway to global audiences.
When it comes to racial diversity, I analyzed the meanings of non-“Asian” musicians in
the K-pop field by focusing on three case studies, Reid of RaNia, CoCo Avenue, and EXP
Edition. Through these cases, I described what kind of hardships they faced and how Korean
91
society coped with such an uncommon social issue as racial diversity in Korea. Specifically, this
chapter focused on why EXP Edition cannot be considered a K-pop group despite the fact that
they have the same aspects of many K-pop groups. One thing they did not have was a Korean
member (or Korean ethnicity), which was why K-pop audiences denied EXP Edition was a K-
pop group. I considered it as an example of “impediments and inner contradiction,” in the words
of Appadurai (2013, p. 65). As a global cultural flow, K-pop also has impediments and inner
contradictions as to non-Koreaness.
As much as diversity of race and language in K-pop is important, musical diversity is a
significant element to look at in K-pop today. In Chapter Three, I analyzed two non-dance-
oriented K-pop bands, Jambinai and 2nd Moon. Before I analyzed them, I clarified why I
consider them as K-pop groups focusing on K-pop’s inauthenticity. Also, in conjunction with
Manuel’s definition of popular music, I described several activities that they aimed at popularity
in order to make my claim — they are K-pop bands. I not only focused on textual analysis of
their music, but also I relied on an ethnographic approach to examine their different features
from other normal K-pop groups. Their distinctive musical features, such as utilizing traditional
Korean instruments and playing music in odd time signatures, are crucial elements in terms of
the discourse of musical diversity in K-pop. Besides musical features specifically, I emphasized
global fans’ assessments of the two bands. To international audiences, Jambinai and 2nd Moon
are K-pop bands, regardless of their distinctive sounds. Rather, these distinctive sounds make
audiences fans of K-pop. Again, to international audiences, K-pop is not the term referring to a
certain music genre, but a cultural phenomenon.
Based on what I examined, I argue that K-pop is not confined to a certain region,
ethnicity, or language. In the globalization era, it exists as a global cultural flow amalgamating
92
diverse races, languages, and musical genres. This diversity not only stimulates the globalization
of K-pop, but also causes many questions in terms of the identity and definition of K-pop. Even
though I conducted interviews in this thesis with non-Koreans by showing K-pop’s diversity to
figure out this equivocal issue, I do not think it is enough to conclude the exact meaning of “K”
in K-pop. I might need to conduct in-depth interviews with Koreans as well as non-Koreans. I
might also need to scrutinize the ideology of Korean nationhood. I hope this thesis contributes to
people’s understanding of K-pop today and can be a start for further investigations into the exact
meaning of the “K” in K-pop.
93
REFERENCES Alona. (2013, Sep 16). J.Y. Park Admits Wonder Girls’ American Promotion was a Failure.
Kmusic, Retrieved from http://officiallykmusic.com/j-y-park-admits-wonder-girls-american-promotion-failure/.
Appadurai, Arjun. (1996). Modernity at Large: cultural dimensions of globalization.
Minneapolis, Minn.: University of Minnesota Press. Appadurai, Arju. (2013). The future as cultural fact: Essays on the global condition. London:
Verso – New Left Books. ARIRANG TV. (2016, Aug 12). ONSTAGE K (Ep. 71) 2nd Moon (두번째달)_Full Episode.
YouTube, Retrieved from https://youtu.be/ghQjksmwHC8. ARIRANG TV. (2017, Dec 24). [Arirang Special] Jambinai(잠비나이), World Music Creators
[MUSICAL SENSATINS] _ Full Episode. YouTube, Retrieved from https://youtu.be/1SonqhtDlTg.
Bae, Soo-min. (2013, Jan 31). Billboard launches K-pop column with INFINITE. The Korea
Herald, Retrieved from http://www.koreaherald.com/view.php?ud=20130131000759. Bae, Soon-tak. (2007, Dec 06). [대중음악 100대 명반] 30위 서태지와 아이들 ‘서태지와
아이들 II’ ([Top 100 of popular music albums] 30th Seo Taiji and Boys ‘Seo Taiji and Boys II’). Kyunghyang Shinmun, Retrieved from http://news.khan.co.kr/kh_news/khan_art_view.html?artid=200712060950441&code=900307.
Bellaunioninc. (2018, Feb 26). Jambinai – Time of Extinction (Olympic Closing Ceremony
2018). YouTube, Retrieved from https://youtu.be/I1UDOPWylmA. Benjamin, Jeff. (2015, Nov 05). K-pop Girl Group Rania Adds African-American Member.
Billboard, Retrieved from https://www.billboard.com/articles/columns/k-town/6753071/rania-new-african-american-member-alexandra-demonstrate.
Bhabha, Homi K. (2001). The Postcolonial and The Postmodern: The question of Agency. In
During, S. (ed.). The cultural studies reader (2nd ed., pp. 189-208). London: Routledge. Buckley, D. and Shepherd, J. (2003). Stardom. In Shepherd, J., Horn, D., Oliver, P., Wicke, P.
(eds.), Continuum encyclopedia of popular music of the world: Vol. 1 (pp. 366-369). New York: Continuum.
Butler, Judith. (1990). Gender Trouble: Feminism and the Subversion of identity. New York:
Routledge.
94
Choe, S.H. and Russell, M. (2012, March 04). Bringing K-Pop to the West. New York Times,
Retrieved from https://www.nytimes.com/2012/03/05/business/global/using-social-media-to-bring-korean-pop-music-to-the-west.html.
Choi, JungBong. (2015). Hallyu versus Hallyu-hwa: Cultural Phenomenon versus Institutional
Campaign. In Lee, S. and Nornes, M. (eds.), Hallyu 2.0: The Korean Wave in the Age of Social Media (pp. 31-52). Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press.
Chung, Lawrence. (2016, Mar 21). Taiwan’s teen pop star Chou Tzu-yu returns for high school
test after flag-waving controversy. South China Morning Post, Retrieved from http://www.scmp.com/news/china/policies-politics/article/1928105/taiwans-teen-pop-star-chou-tzu-yu-returns-high-school.
Dahir, Ikran. (2017, April 30). Meet The Two Black Women Who Want To Break Into The
Korean Music Scene. Buzzfeed, Retrieved from https://www.buzzfeed.com/ikrd/cocoavenue?utm_term=.trLPWO77D3#.hw2dXbMM20.
Denyer, S. and Jing, Xu. (2016, Jan 16). Watch: Teenage pop star’s humiliating apology to
China for waving Taiwan flag. The Washington Post, Retrieved from https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/worldviews/wp/2016/01/16/watch-teenage-pop-stars-humiliating-apology-to-china-for-waving-taiwan-flag/?noredirect=on&utm_term=.28bb4ab81092.
Doo, Rumy. (2016, Sep 27). Dangerously skinny K-pop girl groups. Koreaherald, Retrieved
from http://www.koreaherald.com/view.php?ud=20160926000372&ACE_SEARCH=1. Enews 24. (2013, Jul 01). [인터뷰] ‘방시혁의 아이들’ 방탄소년단, 7인 7색 이들이
궁금하다 ([Interview] 7 different attractions of Producer Bang’s boys, BTS). enews 24, Retrieved from http://enews24.tving.com/news/article.asp?nsID=195392.
EXP EDITION TV. (2017, Apr 16). EXP EDITION 이엑스피 에디션 ‘FEEL LIKE THIS’ MV.
YouTube, Retrieved from https://youtu.be/R8_fuXncjDo. Fuhr, Michael. (2017). Globalization and Popular Music in South Korea: Routledge, New York
and London. General, Ryan. (2017, April 24). Meet The ‘Frist Black K-Pop Gorup’ Who Just Released a
Streamy New Single. Nextshark, Retrieved from https://nextshark.com/coco-avenue-black-kpop-group-new-single-eottae/.
Ha, Ji-Won. (2014, Jul 11). GOT7 receives monthly sexual ed class. The Korea Herald,
Retrieved from http://www.koreaherald.com/view.php?ud=20140711000971&ACE_SEARCH=1.
95
Herman, Tamar. (2014, Oct 21). K-pop idols and the formidable American debut. Kultscene, Retrieved from http://kultscene.com/k-pop-idols-and-the-formidable-american-debut/.
Herman, Tamar. (2017, Feb 01). First African-American K-pop Singer Alex Reid on Trump and
Racism: ‘Nothing Good to Say.’ Billboard, Retrieved from https://www.billboard.com/articles/columns/k-town/7676974/alex-reid-rania-african-american-k-pop-singer-trump-racism-interview.
Herrick, Susan Oehler. (2017). Performing Blues and Navigating Race in Transcultural Context.
In Maultsby, Portia K. and Mellonee V. Burnim. (eds.), Issues in African American Music: Power, Gender, Race, Representation (pp. 3-29). New York and London: Routledge.
Holt, Fabian. (2007). Genre in Popular Music. Chicago: University of Chicago Press. Hong, Grace Danbi. (2012, July 21). ‘Superstar K4’ sets new record of 2million applicants.
Korea.net, Retrieved from http://www.korea.net/NewsFocus/Daily-News/view?flag=2&articleId=498&lgroupId=A120200.
Hong, Y. Euny. (2016, June 17). K-Pop Music and the Hallyu Hullabaloo. The Wall Street
Journal, Retrieved from www.wsj.com/articles/k-pop-music-and-the-hallyu-hullaballoo-1466117278.
Howard, Keith. (2006). Korean pop music: Riding the wave. Folkestone, Kent: Global Oriental. IFPI. (2017). Global Music Report 2017. London: International Federation of the Phonographic
Industry (IFPI). IFPI. (2017). Music Consumer Insight Report 2017. London: International Federation of the
Phonographic Industry (IFPI). Retrieved from http://ifpi.org/downloads/Music-Consumer-Insight-Report-2017.pdf.
Jambinai 잠비나이 Official. (2016, Apr 14). JAMBINAI 잠비나이 – THEY KEEP SIENCE
그들은 말이 없다. YouTube, Retrieved from https://youtu.be/PB1k7CDVWVk. Jambinai 잠비나이 Official. (2016, Dec 5). JAMBINAI 잠비나이 –TIME OF EXTINCTION
소멸의 시간. YouTube, Retrived from https://youtu.be/wje_Uij4aBA. Jang, Ik-sang. (2005, Dec 09). 캘리포니아서 ‘대장금 투어’ 인기몰이 (Popularity of ‘Dae
Jang Geum tour’ in California). Yonhapnews, Retrieved from http://news.naver.com/main/read.nhn?mode=LSD&mid=sec&sid1=104&oid=001&aid=0001169765.
96
Jin, Dal-yong. (2016). New Korean Wave: Transnational Cultural Power in the Age of Social Media. Chicago: University of Illinois Press.
Jung, Eun-young. (2017). Seo Taiji Syndrome: Rise of Korean Youth and Cultural
Transformation through Global Pop Music Styles in the Early 1990s. In H. Shin and S. Lee (eds.), Made in Korea: Studies in popular music (pp. 143.-154). New York, NY; Abingdon, Oxon: Routledge.
Jung, Sun. (2017). Emerging Social distribution: The case of K-pop Circulation in the Global
Pop Market. In H. Shin and S. Lee (eds.), Made in Korea: Studies in popular music (pp. 47-58). New York, NY; Abingdon, Oxon: Routledge.
Kang, Bomi. (2016). Pansori (Master’s thesis). University of Nevada, Las Vegas. KBS. (2016, Jan 12). My Neighbor, Charles “Episode 49.” KBS, Seoul. KBS. (2017, Aug 31). [크랩] 서태지가 문화대통령으로 불렸던 이유는? (What is the reason
that Seo Taiji is called as the president of culture?”). KBS, Retrieved from http://news.kbs.co.kr/news/view.do?ncd=3542609&ref=A.
KBS World TV. (2014, Nov 21). Yu Huiyeol’s Sketchbook | 유희열의 스케치북: Seo Taiji,
Epitone Project, The Barberettes. YouTube, Retrieved from https://youtu.be/tb3lfn29Yw4.
KBS World TV. (2017, Jun 29). My Neighbor, Charles | 이웃집 찰스 – Ep. 118
[ENG/2017.06.29]. YouTube, Retrieved from https://youtu.be/OBgmeVfdh78. Kim, Chang Nam. (2012). K-pop: roots and blossoming of Korean popular music. Elizabeth, NJ:
Hollym International Corp. Kim, Jae-heun. (2017, Nov 23). BTS added to Guinness for being most mentioned boy band on
Twitter. The Korea Times, Retrieved from http://www.koreatimes.co.kr/www/art/2017/11/682_239741.html.
Kim, Ji-soo. (2017, Aug 08). EXP Edition, K-pop band born in New York. The Korea Times,
Retrieved from http://www.koreatimes.co.kr/www/art/2017/08/398_234183.html. Kim, Ye-rang. (2016, Oct 24). 트와이스 9人9色 매력은? “막내지만 실세”…사나 “큐티 섹시”
(What are the attractions of TWICE’s nine member?). Hei, Retrieved from http://hei.hankyung.com/news/app/newsview.php?aid=201610240007H.
KOCCA. (2016). 한국콘텐츠진흥원 <2016음악산업백서> [Korea Creative Content Agency <2016 Music Industry White Paper>]. Naju: Korea Creative Content Agency.
97
KOCCA. (2018, March 28). 2018 대중음악 앨범제작 프로모션 지원사업공고 (Announcement of 2018 Popular music album production and promotion aid). KOCCA, Retrieved from http://www.kocca.kr/cop/pims/view.do?intcNo=118G234002&menuNo=200828.
Kwon, Hyunseok. (2017). Korean Pop Music and Korean identities: A Political-Cultural History
of Korean Pop Music and Its Use of Traditional Korean Musical Elements. In H. Shin and S. Lee (eds.), Made in Korea: Studies in popular music (pp. 157-167). New York, NY; Abingdon, Oxon: Routledge.
Latham, Alison. (Ed.). (2002). The Oxford companion to music. Oxford: Oxford University
Press. Lee, Gyu-tag. (2018, Jan 15). 중국, 일본에 편중된 K-pop이 가진 위험성 (Risks of K-pop
biased toward China and Japan). Pressian, Retrieved from http://www.pressian.com/news/article.html?no=182686.
Lee, Jamie Shinhee. (2004). Linguistic hybridization in K-Pop: discourse of self-assertion and
resistance. World Englishes, 23, 3, (pp. 429-450). Lee, Jong-Wha. (2016). The Republic of Korea’s Economic Growth and Catch-Up: Implications
for the People’s Republic of China. Tokyo, Japan: Asian Development Bank Institute. Lee, Sangjoon. (2015). Introduction. A Decade of Hallyu Scholarship: Toward a New Direction
in Hallyu 2.0 In Lee, S. and Nornes, M. (eds.), Hallyu 2.0: The Korean Wave in the Age of Social Media. (pp. 1-27). Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press.
Lee, Sun-young. (2014, Oct 21). [Herald Interview] Jambinai: Hybrid of tradition and avant-
garde. The Korea Herald, Retrieved from http://www.koreaherald.com/view.php?ud=20141021001024.
Lie, John. (2012). What is the K in K-pop? South Korean Popular music, the Culture industry,
and National Identity.” Korea Observer 43/3 (pp. 339-363). Lie, John. (2015). K-pop: Popular music, cultural amnesia, and economic innovation in South
Korea. Berkeley: University of California Press. Liebler, Raizel. (2013, Aug 19). Electric Shock: Amber from f(x): Gender and Sexuality in
Kpop. thelearnedfangirl, Retrieved from http://thelearnedfangirl.com/2013/08/electric-shock-amber-from-fx/.
Lim, J. (2017, Aug 19). DR Music Announces Departure of Alexandra From BP Rania. Soompi,
Retrieved from https://www.soompi.com/2017/08/19/dr-music-announces-departure-alexandra-bp-rania/.
98
Liu, Marian. (2017, Sep 21). K-pop group’s record breaking album conquers three continents. CNN, Retrieved from http://www.cnn.com/2017/09/20/asia/bts-kpop-rap-monster-interview/index.html.
MACG STAFF. (2017, Jun 20). [BREAKING] Coco Avenue Announces Disbandment. MACG.
Retrieved from https://macgmagazine.com/2017/06/20/breaking-coco-avenue-announces-disbandment/.
Maliangkay (2014). The Popularity of Individualism: The Seo Taiji Phenomenon in the 1990s. In
Kim, K. H., & Choe, Y. (eds.), The Korean Popular Culture Reader (pp. 296-313). Durham, North Carolina: Duke University Press.
Marshall, Colin. (2017, Sep 29). A Record-Breaking Week Has Us Wondering: How Far Can K-
Pop Go? NPR, Retrieved from https://www.npr.org/sections/therecord/2017/09/29/554496829/a-record-breaking-week-begs-the-question-how-far-can-k-pop-go.
Manuel, Peter. (1988). Popular Musics of the Non-Western World. New York: Oxford University
Press. MBCfestival. (2012, Dec 05). Star Documentary – Taijiboys, 스타 다큐 – 서태지와 아이들,
Saturday Night Music Show 199. YouTube, Retrieved from https://youtu.be/uLgvs42pj4s. Melon Chart Finder. (2017). Melon TOP 100. Melon, Retrieved from
http://www.melon.com/chart/search/index.htm. Min, Kyung-won. (2017, May 14). 한국인 없이 한국어 노래 부르는 그룹 등장…지금 K팝은
실험중 (Appearance of K-pop groups consisting of all non-Koreans singing in Korean…K-pop is now in the experiment). JungAng Daily, Retrieved from http://news.joins.com/article/21569605.
Mnet Official. (2016, Aug 4). [ICanSeeYourVoice3] Deeply moved by Kukak, Ingan
Munhwajae’s pupil ‘Kim Jun Su’ 20160804 EP.06. YouTube, Retrieved from https://youtu.be/MMbyfaJYpDM.
Morelli, Sarah. (2001). Who is a Dancing Hero? In Tony Mitchell. (ed.), Global Noise: Rap and
Hip-hop outside the USA (pp. 248-258). Middletown, Conn: Wesleyan University Press. Na, Jeong-ju. (2009, May 04). Steering Committee Launched to Globalize Korean Food. The
Korea Times, Retrieved from http://www.koreatimes.co.kr/www/news/people/2015/10/178_44334.html.
New World Encyclopedia. (2017). South Korea. New World Encyclopedia. Retrieved from
http://www.newworldencyclopedia.org/entry/South_Korea.
99
O’Connor, Roisin. (2017, April 18). EXP Edition: American ‘K-pop’ group raise eyebrows in Korea. Independent. Retrieved from http://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/music/news/exp-edition-feel-like-this-video-kpop-group-american-south-korea-bora-kim-art-project-a7688286.html.
Ohanesian, Liz. (2009, March 18). Korean Pop Star BoA Attempts to Break Stateside. LA
WEEKLY, Retrieved from http://www.laweekly.com/music/the-best-la-metal-shows-to-see-in-february-9118224.
Oh, Esther. (2011, May 26). K-Pop taking over the world? Don’t make me laugh. CNN Travel.
Retrieved from http://travel.cnn.com/seoul/life/tell-me-about-it/k-pop-taking-over-world-dont-make-me-laugh--476482/.
Omi, M., & Winant, H. (1994). Racial formation in the United States. New York: Routledge. Oricon News. (2018). Weekly Single Chart. Oricon. Retrieved from www.Oricon.co.jp Park, Su-yun. (2018, Feb 26). 퓨전 국악으로 평창 폐회식 달군 잠비나이, 두번째 달.
Yonhapnews, Retrieved from http://m.entertain.naver.com/read?oid=001&aid=0009924132.
Russell, Mark J. (2008). Pop goes Korea.: Behind the Revolution in Movies, Music, and Internet
Culture. Berkeley CA: Stone Bridge Press. SBS 뉴스. (2018, Feb 25). 특별무대 ‘조화의 빛’..폐회식 주요장면 (하이라이트) / SBS /
2018 평창올림픽 (Special performance ‘Light of Harmony’..Closing ceremony (highlight) / SBS / 2018 Pyeongchang Olympic). YouTube, Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ulFuHnmbsdE&index=1&list=PLTVY9mf5Ey3S-4NbMld3ixmlwE3oja5_Y.
Seo, Hyun-joo. (2006, Oct 24). 드라마 ‘궁’ 지상파로 일 전역에 방송 (Drama Princess Hours
will air in across Japan). Yonhapnews, Retrieved from http://entertain.naver.com/read?oid=001&aid=0001446826.
Shim, Doobo. (January 01, 2006). Hybridity and the rise of Korean popular culture in Asia.
Media Culture & Society 28, 1, (pp. 25-44). Shin, Il-sub. (2014, March 06). 콘진원, 미국 SXSW 2014에서 ‘케이팝 나이트 아웃’ 개최
(KOCCA hosts ‘K-pop Night Out’ in SXSW 2014). Munhwanews. Retrieved from http://www.munhwanews.com/news/articleView.html?idxno=117.
Silva, D. F. (2007). Toward a global idea of race. Minneapolis. MN: University of Minnesota
Press.
100
Simi, John. (2016, Nov 05). Black Pink’s Lisa reveals her struggles to learn Korean, and Thailand’s love for K-pop. International Business Times, Retrieved from www.ibtimes.sg/black-pinks-lisa-reveals-her-struggles-learn-korean-thailands-love-k-pop-4465.
Sokol, Tony. (2016, Feb 26). CoCo Avenue Looks to Break Down Barriers As The 1st African-
American K-pop Group [EXCLUSIVE]. Kpopstarz. Retrieved from http://www.kpopstarz.com/articles/269522/20160226/coco-avenue-kpop.htm.
Son, Min-Jung. (2014). Young Musical Love of the 1930s. In Kim, K.H & Choe, Y., (eds.), The
Korean Popular Culture Reader (pp.255-274). Durham: Duke University Press. Streeter, Caroline A. (2005). Faking the Funk? Mariah Carey, Alicia Keyes, and the (Hybrid)
Black Celebrity. In Harry J. Elam, and Kennell A. Jackson (eds.), Black Cultural Traffic: Crossroads in Global Performance and Popular Culture (pp. 185-207). University of Michigan Press, Ann Arbor.
Stevens, Carolyn S. (2008). Japanese Popular Music: Culture, Authenticity and Power.
Hoboken: Taylor and Francis. Storey, J. (2009). Cultural theory and popular culture: An introduction. Harlow: Pearson
Longman. Suh, Dorothea. (2013, Aug 22). An introduction to Gugak—Korean traditional Music. Korea.net.
Retrieved from http://www.korea.net/NewsFocus/Culture/view?articleId=111648. VIP4DAESUNG. (2016, Dec 14). G-Dragon: “Renewing my contract with YG was the hardest
decision in my life.” Bigbangupdates. Retrieved from http://bigbangupdates.com/2016/12/g-dragon-renewing-contract-yg-hardest-decision-life.html.
Williamson, Lucy. (2011, June 15). The dark side of South Korean pop music. BBC. Retrieved
from http://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-pacific-13760064. Willoughby, Heather A. (2006). Image is Everything: The Marketing of Feminity in South
Korean Popular Music. In Keith Howard (ed.), Korean pop music: Riding the Wave. (pp. 99-108). Folkestone, Kent: Global Oriental.
Witkin, R. W. (2003). Adorno on popular culture. London: Routledge. Worldometers. (2018). Population: Eastern Asia. Worldometers. Retrieved from.
http://www.worldometers.info/population/asia/eastern-asia/. Yam, Kimberly. (2017, April 19). This K-pop Band With No Korean Members Is Making People
Angry. Huffpost. Retrieved from https://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/american-k-pop-band-exp-edition_us_58f4d4b2e4b0da2ff861ef7e.
101
@expeditionanti. (2017, Oct 12). “hey just want to update you guys the exp is still trash.”
Twitter, Retrieved from https://twitter.com/expeditionanti/status/918495417406578688. @thealexreid. (2017, Aug 22). “my message to y’all.” Instagram, Retrieved from
https://www.instagram.com/p/BYHm3UaBLZe/?taken-by=thealexreid. Figure 11. 국립국악원[National Gugak Center]. (2015, Dec 14). 국립국악원 목요풍류: 헌윤정 거문고
독주회 ‘아악부 현금보 평조회상’ [2015.12.03.] 03. 하현도드리(하현환입). YouTube, Retrieved from www.youtube.com/watch?v=_iCtOq07czs.
Massé, Titouan. (2014, Dec 07). Jambinai (Trans Musicales de Rennes 2014). flickr, Retrieved
from https://flic.kr/p/q3r5m1. Figure 12. Kim, S.B. (2013, Dec 13). [문화인터뷰] ‘차세대 국악유망주’ 해금연주자 유민주, “국악은
자연의 소리다.” [Culture Interview] ‘Gugak rookie’ Haegeum player Yoo Min-joo, “Gugak is sound of nature.” speconomy, Retrieved from www.speconomy.com/news/articleView.html?idxno=26728.
Camiele. (2016, May 21). Gugak Superheroes: A SXSW Interview with Jambinai. yam-mag,
Retrieved from https://goo.gl/BVTJbr. Figure 13. 빨강머리랑. (2014, Oct 23). [정동극장:전통창작발견프로젝트-100만원의 씨앗] 24일
이봉근+두번째달. YouTube, Retrieved from https://youtu.be/5NwiA8xBFoo.
Interviews • Kim Bo-mi, Lee Il-woo, Shim Eun-yong, members of Jambinai, January 25th, 2018.
• Baek Sun-yeol, Choi Jin-Kyung, Jo Yun-jeong, Kim Hyun-bo, Park Jin-woo, Lee Young-
hoon, members of 2nd Moon, March 1st, 2018.
