Traditional Korean Culture Meets Modern Music

Traditional Korean Culture Meets Modern Music

About This Stream:

In this stream, we will explore a fusion of modern music with Korean traditional singing, instruments, or sounds. Daechwita and Idol are some of the best examples of this fusion. This genre is sometimes referred to as Fusion Gugak, or Joseon Pop, and has exploded in the last several years.

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Playlist:

Pansori: South Korea’s Authentic Musical Storytelling

A brief introduction to traditional Korean Pansori singing.

sEODo Band - Ganggangsullae, gong-gong-sue-lay

sEODo Band, pronounced saw-doh, won a competition show for traditional fusion music despite not having any of the traditional instrumentation. They have been pioneering the "Joseon Pop" genre with their sound and are only now gaining in popularity, having been on many tv shows. Ganggangsullae is an ancient Korean dance used to bring in the harvest and is often performed on Chuseok which is similar to USA Thanksgiving.

Feel the Rhythm of KOREA: INCHEON

Originally filmed as a quirky tourist promotional video, it features several famous celebrities/actors/idols from the variety show, 1 Night 2 Days, dancing at different places in South Korea. The video also features music by Leenalchi and dancing by the Ambiguous Dance Company, who have been featured in music videos for artists such as ColdPlay.

Lee Hongki & Min Eun Kyung - A Flower That Didn’t Bloom

This song was performed as part of the traditional music crossover competition, Joseon Pan Star. Lee Hong Ki, the lead singer of FTisland, was a judge for the competition but performed a duet with one of the Pansori singer contestants.

Musical Instruments of Korea

You have often expressed interest in the names of traditional instruments so here is a short primer on their names and sound.

Jambinai - Onda acoustic version

Jambinai was requested for LRW previously. In this acoustic version of one of their songs, they have added a piano. Onda means ‘come’ in Korean. This track has the lyric, ‘At the end of your darkness, pain will turn into the shining stars and come to you.’ The instrument at the beginning is a saenghwang, which is a mouth organ.

KINGDOM -  Ascension - subs available, ends at 3:50

Kingdom is a 6-member boy group that blends history and kpop music. Each member represents a different king and Kingdom, this MV is set in Dann’s Kingdom of ancient Korea. The song blends modern electronic sounds with ancient instruments and a pansori way of emphasizing syllables. The lyrics are written in an old style of Korean and reference a famous folk song.

The8 and Eunyong Sim - Contemporary Art

This short solo mv features The8 of Seventeen and one of the members of Jambinai mixing traditional music, dance, and martial arts with nature to create art.

City - Eight, original by IU, produced by Suga

Performed as part of the Pungryu Captain musical competition, another music competition focused on traditional music fused with modern music.

Hoshi  - Tiger

Seventeen’s main dancer, Hoshi, worked together with Tiger JK, from the k-hip hop group, Drunken Tiger, to make this song. The goal was to raise awareness for tiger conservation on International Tiger Day. Hoshi’s stage name is an abbreviation of the Korean phrase for “tiger’s gaze” and he is well known for his fascination with all things Tiger. The lyrics liken his strength and ambition to a tiger.

De O - Fly to the Sky

De O is a seven-member ensemble rooted in Korean traditional and western styles, in music as well as in instrumentation. You will find traditional Korean instruments, like the daegeum and the haegeum, paired with the Piano, cello, and the marimba. The group’s name is taken from a phrase meaning “Eat the Instrument” used to initiate the playing of ritual music, which honors the past kings of Korea of the Joseon Dynasty from 1392-1910.

The song they play, Fly to the Sky, is a popular composition by Han Tae Soo, and was popularized by the group Noriter, which is also a fusion ensemble that marries Western and traditional Korean sensibilities.

MuRR - Fake Love

Covered this year on Immortal Songs 2 honoring Korean Music History. MuRR is a Korean female trio group that combines western pop with traditional instruments. All the members of this group play at least 2 or more instruments in most of their performances. There are seven instruments in total to represent each member of BTS.

Kim Yeon Ja - Amor Fati and featuring her backup dancers

Trot is a different music genre that uses repetitive rhythms, and vocal inflections, and is often associated with older generations. FYI, Super Tuna is a trot song! Kpop fandoms everywhere were blessed with this song at the end of the 2018 KBS Song Festival which launched a thousand gifs.

Thank you for spending time with us!

sEODo has our hearts team - Annie, Kit, Niki