The Rise of Kpop

If Gangnam Style was your first introduction to K-pop, then you need to know that there is a lot more to Korean music than PSY doing this iconic dance move:

Kpop is one of the fastest growing music genres in the world. Today, the K-pop industry is worth billions of dollars, with bands winning fans from all around the world. However, no one really talks about how this whole phenomenon started or where it actually came from.

Back in 1992, Seo Taiji And Boys, a trio consisting of the leader, Seo Taiji and the dancers Lee Juno and Yang Hyunsuk were the first ever group of teens to spark a cultural revolution in the Korean industry.

To understand why Seo Taiji And Boys had such a massive influence on the Korean music industry as we know it today, you need to know the aftermath of the Korean War. This War was between North Korea and South Korea. It started in 1950 and lasted a total of 3 years.

After the Korean war in 1953, South Korea was in rubbles. As one of the poorest countries in the world, Koreans had emphasized the importance of a collective mindset. Deciding on growing economically, Korea’s GDP rose by 2000%. However, another political conflict, a dictatorship, threatened financial stability in 1980. Through several democratic movements, Korea finally obtained democracy in 1987.

With the political and economical conflicts all solved, the new generation of Koreans sought for individualism and uniqueness. They didn’t have to worry about obtaining democracy or sacrificing themselves for the countries economic growth. That means that for this youth, the local community or neighbourhood did not mean much as they didn’t connect with them in any way.

This generation was in a search for something different and unique and the music industry failed to recognize this completely different consumer base.

The early 90s music was just a continuation of the 80s ballads and trots. This was something that the new generation could not relate to and was just not “cool” because it was too attached to the earlier generations.

They were in a desperate search for something that represented their ideals, uniqueness and individualism. Something that wasn’t what the adults listen to or reminded them for what they stood for; which was establishment and collectivism. Then came Seo Taiji And Boys.

Seo Taiji And Boys first appeared on big TV appearance on April 11th, 1992. Their music was so unique at that time. This music was what the new generation was exactly craving for. It was just so different and revolutionary. Heavily influenced by popular American music at that time, it was a mix of hip-hop, rock, and heavy metal.

This song also opened a door for Korean rapping. Rap itself was an extremely new genre at that time and was relatively unknown in Korea. Back then, most Korean artists or critics claimed that the structure of the Korean language was simply not suited for rapping. Seo Taiji And Boys proved them wrong.

The difference in sound was not the only reason why many were following this trio. The leader, Seo Taiji, was the embodiment of something rebellious, anti-establishment and individualistic. He had dropped out of high school to pursue his dream. He managed to start and catapult this cultural revolution all by himself.

Seo Taiji was not afraid to tackle social issues in his songs either. The lyrics of their songs were very reflective of unique mindsets. Before, it wasn’t considered a celebrity’s place to speak up about social issues. However, the newly found awareness for individuality allowed Seo Taiji to voice his opinion in his songs and people took them seriously. Of course not everyone was on his side but nevertheless, it’s hard to admit how much his songs influenced the East Asian society. The most famous story is how his song “Come Back Home” actually made runaway teenagers come back home.

Seo Taiji And Boys disbanded after just 4 years. However, in that short time, they changed the ways of Korean music. His music distributed the idea of individualism and originality to the mass public and marked a departure from the heavily collectivist mindset that the Koreans used to have. Korean music went from being uniform and harmonious to colourful and wild expressions of self-identity and uniqueness.

This trio is the reason why we can have some of the socially aware K-pop songs we have today. This makes Seo Taiji And Boys the most influential K-pop artist in history.

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