Transcript of an Interview with Mr. Kim Hyung-suk, Composer-producer of the Godfather of K-pop and BTS, at the Sheldonian Theatre, Hosted by Faculty of Music, Oxford University. Part 1

Posted by Joseph Hwang Joseph Hwang 7/22/2024

Transcript of an Interview with Mr. Kim Hyung-suk, Composer-producer of the Godfather of K-pop and BTS, at the Sheldonian Theatre, Hosted by Faculty of Music, Oxford University. Part 1

Joseph Hwang

* On July 4, 2024, Mr. Kim Hyung-suk, the godfather of K-pop and one of Korea’s leading composers and producers, gave a lecture and interview at an event hosted by the Faculty of Music at Oxford University. Here, I will post a series of interviews based on the Korean summary of Mr. Kim’s interview, with some of my commentary.

** I am incredibly grateful to Ms. Jieun Kiaer, a professor at the Faculty of Asian and Middle Eastern Studies, for arranging and hosting this lecture and interview.

Question #1. It’s incredible how music from South Korea, a country on the fringes of Asia, has become so popular globally. How was K-pop born? (A brief history of K-pop)

Answer #1.

- 1960s and 70s:

Korean popular music began to grow under the influence of Western pop music and Korea’s traditional music. Especially after the Korean War, American pop, blues, jazz, and other music naturally became a blending of Korean popular music as American troops were stationed in South Korea.

As a result, it could be said that this was the beginning of the Korean music scene when people became interested in various music genres, not just Korean music.

- 1980s~90s:

In the 1980s, musicians and composers began to reflect their personalities in music based on the new culture, and in the 1990s, many new music groups were formed.

In particular, Seo Taiji and Boys emerged in 1992, setting a new trend in popular music and paving the way for the growth of K-pop. In addition, Korean dramas became a hit throughout Asia, including Japan, creating the so-called Korean Wave, and Korean culture became known.

- 2000s:

The development of the Internet, social media, and platform devices is the most significant factor in K-pop’s rise to global recognition in the early 2000s.

Artists such as BoA, TVXQ, BIGBANG, and Girls’ Generation emerged during this time. The artists became hugely popular not just in Korea but also in foreign countries, making K-pop a stepping stone to globalization.

- Post 2010s:

Global idol artists such as BTS, BLACKPINK, TWICE, and others have become popular on the stage abroad for their diverse musical styles, performances, and overall social and cultural diversity, making K-pop a global phenomenon.

Especially since the 2010s, artists have built strong fan bases through music and performances, concerts, and social media, actively interacting with their fans through these communities. Through these different periods and changes, K-pop has developed a unique style and become popular worldwide.

* Joseph’s comment:

The 1990s are a remarkable part of South Korea's K-pop history. Seo Taiji and Boys is a monumental group that emerged during this time and is an integral part of monumental K-pop.

The 1990s was a time of million-selling albums in the Korean pop music market, known as the Golden Age. Up to this time, K-pop groups were mostly rock bands, but Seo Taiji and Boys was a unique team in that the team debuted as a dance group, combining hip-hop rap with other genres such as rock music, and all the members danced. When Seo Taiji and Boys debuted, the group met with harsh criticism from pop music critics. It was an unfamiliar genre and format and seemed to break the grammar of conventional Korean pop music, but the public embraced it as something fresh and made them instant idols. Seo Taiji actively used computerized midi music, which was very different from the activities of existing artists, making the group representatives of a new generation. Its debut and activities completely changed the formula K-pop was produced and consumed, blowing up a socio-cultural syndrome. However, the group disbanded after a shorter period of activity than fans expected, leaving Seo Taiji to continue his independent music career as a music producer and Yang Hyun-Seok to found YG, one of the significant K-pop companies today.

In the history of K-pop, the foundation of dancing group-oriented artists was nothing less than starting with Seo Taiji and Boys.

* References and quotations:

https://www.music.ox.ac.uk/event/k-pop-from-the-godfather-of-k-pop-and-bts

https://www.koreatimes.co.kr/www/art/2024/07/398_378556.html

* Series Posts

Part 1.

https://www.musicbusiness.co.kr/2024/07/transcript-of-interview-with-mr-kim.html

Part 2.

https://www.musicbusiness.co.kr/2024/07/transcript-of-interview-with-mr-kim_0392194405.html

Part 3.

https://www.musicbusiness.co.kr/2024/07/transcript-of-interview-with-mr-kim_01853689220.html

Part 4.