Korean HipHop The Past (1990s~2010s)

Research Blog Post 2 (K HIPHOP)

Korean HipHop The Past (1990s~2010s) FIrst and Second generations of K Hip-Hop.

In Korean Hiphop, the history of hiphop artists can be divided into four generations, first generationers being those who were active in the 1990s to early 2000s

2nd generations early 2000s to late 2000s

3rd late 2000s to 2012~2013

And the fourth generations being the new  up and coming artists who appeared in the scene recently(like lil yachty and lil uzi vert in the us, these are pretty young artrists who follow the trap scene more heavily than traditional boombap rap)  also refered to as “rookies” which include, Nafla, CJamm, BeWhy,

Anyhow, the first generation rappers started off following the east coast hip hop like Wutang Clan, Jayz, Nas… Heavy instrumental and boom-bap was the standard form of rap at this time. the community was very small often run by American hip hop enthusiasts/hobbyists.

as shown in the pictures below, Korea was still socially strict and social rules/expectations were heavily enforced upon all students. Therefore, many first-gen rappers were seen as the sociall maladjusted and labeled.

Since it was still all underground and had no place in the mainstream media, no one made a living as a hip hop artists. There was no ‘rags to riches’ in Korean hip-hop unlike the mainland hip-hop. Where rappers got their flex on by wearing two $100K watches and ghost riding a Rolls Royce talking about coming from nothing but now money ain’t a thang.

 So one might wonder why anyone would risk their future and gamble on something that is a certain loss? These first generation-ers did hip hop for the purest reason, it was for the joy and love for hip-hop, nothing more nothing less.

This point is further supported by the lyricism they portrayed, These guys weren’t talking about “Bitches and Hoes” or “smoking weed eryday”.Instead they were talking about the future of Korean hip hop and wished for its prosperity. Just hoping, one day, it will finally take off and the public will acknowledge hip-hop, otherwise, they were mostly philosophical lyrics often thought provoking and challenging/criticizing society.  

As the first generation-ers paved the way and introduced hip-hop in Korea, there was new wave artists who grew up listening to the first generation artists and the second generation starts and these guys bring out hip-hop to the public and finally you could hear rap in the media, and the biggest name that is still here to stay is Dynamic Duo, You can’t talk Korean hiphop without talking about dynamic duo. They made the public aware of hiphop. Dynamic Dud, as you can guess from the name, is a hiphop duo of Gaeko(개코) and Choiza(최자) who are childhood friends. They won over the public with a tight flow and good sampling.  Gaeko is still considered one of the best rappers in Korea with over 20 years experience and still keeping up-to-date style.

Here are some of the most influential hiphop albums from this period.

조PD(Jo PD) - [In Stardom] (1999.01)

조PD’s debut made a big impact,  JoPD, from the US, released his album online. His  lyrics were uncensored and very straightforward. It gave him a lot of media attention and his debut album In Stardom was a big success even though it was unprecedented for musicians to include curse words in their music while criticizing society.

주석(JooSuc) - [Only The Strong Survive] (2000.11)

JooSuc was initially working and collaborating with artists and foreign producers all over the world from Japan, Hong Kong, US and so on. As a result he produced more authentic hiphop sounds that is close to american hip-hop and this really appealed to the fans. Although, Only The Strong Survive was not a commercial success, this was a seed for the later geneartions.

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지누션(Jinu-Sean) - [The Reign] (2001.02)

Although, it’s relatively common for korean artists to get a feature from big name american artists e.g. Keith Ape’s collab with Waka Flocka and A$ap. It was unheard of for korean hiphop artists to work with foreign artists, Jinu-Sean, a duo made of Jinu and Sean, broke this and got features from Cypress Hill. Mobb Deep,and M-Flo. The Reign was a big commercial success and Jinu-Sean became one of the most commercially successful rap groups of their time.

가리온(Garion) - [Garion] (2004.01)

Garion is THE forefather of korean Hip-Hop, although they started their rap career in the early 90s, their first official self-titled debut album Garion was undoubtedly one of,if  not THE, most foundational korean rap albums. Garion kept never compromised for commercial success and did their real hiphop from the beginning until the end. Therefore, their albums were not mainstream, but it was as real as it got in Korean hiphop.

다이나믹 듀오(Dynamic Duo) - [Double Dynamite] (2005.10)

As aforementioned hiphop duo Dynamic Duo is the most successful rap duo that has lasted almost two decades and still going strong. To be honest, all of their albums are very solid, Double Dynamite was released one year after their debut album ‘Taxi Driver’ and. This album really made a statement that they are here to stay and not one hit wonders. Fancy flow, melodic sampling, and good producing.

Hip-Hop, America to Korea

Hip-hop  culture has become a mainstream fashion, music, and a way of life in many parts of the united states. Many songs on the radio are either some genre of hip hop or has a hip hop artist feature. Such culture that is so distinctly american, actually resides outside of the united states whether you have heard about them or not. It’s interesting to see how hip hop was introduced to other parts of the world and how they took made it their own by integrating their own culture into it.

According to Hip hop music  or rap music is a music genre form in the United States in the 1970s that consists of stylized rhythmic music that commonly accompanies rapping, a rhythmic and rhyming speech that is chanted. Although when people discuss hip-hop, most talk think of the music or rap, hip-hop actually initially developed as a culture and rap is just a subculture. Hip-hop culture in America started booming in the mid-late eighties and really blew up in the 90’s which had some of the most influential OG rappers such as Snoop Dogg, 2Pac, Notorious B.I.G and the list goes on.

Around this era Hip-hop crossed the pacific and found its way to a South Korea where the society is built on the idea of conformity fueled by deeply rooted Confucian beliefs. Therefore, initially Hip-hop in Korea in the 90’s were looked down up by many, similar to how it was portrayed in the US initially. First generation hip-hop artists were following the american hip hop: Baggy clothes, strange hairstyles, and wanting freedom from a very judgmental society. These artists were seen as thugs, delinquents, outcasts.  

Fueled by hunger for freedom and fighting against conformity, Hip-hop culture boomed in Korea, albeit it was entirely an underground culture until the 2010’s, Korea took it and made something of their own. Two of the most significant sub cultures of Hip-hop in Korea are break dancing, more commonly known as B-boying in Korea, and rap music. Korean B-boys have conquered the world titles many times and many of them were and are considered the best in the world, namely Hong10 and physicx (Physicx highlights).

Rap music in Korea started a little differently as in the United States where gang affiliated hip hop was the mainstream hip hop. In Korea, it was more of an outlet for them from a very strict society that doesn’t like differences from the norm. Most rap music was underground and they focused on the melody with soft instrumental whereas in the united states, a lot of rap music was aggressive and involved violent lyrics.

In my next post, I will discuss how Korean hip hop, especially Korean rap, music has grown from the 90s until today. Spoiler alert, some have followed straight up american trendy style, currently trap and mumble, riches to rags and big chains.

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