OMONA ORIGINAL: The K in K-pop - songs that use Korean tradition, history & culture [pt 1]
It’s almost Lunar New Year’s Day aka seol-nal in Korea! Seol is one of the country’s biggest holidays and one of the few occasions where most Korean families still practice old traditions such as eating specific traditional food, and customs such as cha-re [altar rites memorializing ancestors] or sebae [younger generations of the family bow to their elders to pay respect and wish them good fortune and get spending money in return \0/] Some people even still wear hanbok (mostly kids and newlyweds though).
In this day and age, it’s not unusual for the more esoteric elements of any country’s native culture to be reserved for special occasions and I definitely remember when the only times I saw hanboks on Korean TV was in seol and chuseok holiday specials or dry, dense sageuks that nobody but my uncles seemed to watch. But at some point sageuks became more fashionable, hanboks re-emerged as hipster trends, and really starting just a few years ago (about the same time that certain departments of the government realized just what a potent soft power they could harness in K-pop, but I digress) more and more surface elements of traditional Korean culture have been emerging in mainstream K-pop. The increasingly widening and globalizing audience for Korean pop culture has helped in part to lead to a surging revitalization and reclamation in mainstream media of the culture that is considered endemically ours, literally ‘우리의 것.’
In fact, there have been so many songs in just the last few years that this post had to be split into two parts - part 1 with various “honorable mentions” and OP’s ranking of the 10 best traditionally-inspired songs/concepts will be posted in part 2.
NOTE: For the sake of judging on equal terms, such as music / lyrics / choreography / aesthetics / MV, I only ranked official releases with properly staged and filmed videos. Noteworthy songs/performances that didn’t meet these ranking criteria or otherwise crack the best-of are listed below.
[Plus all the typical disclaimers - these are all OP’s subjective personal opinions, keep it civil, etc etc]
[-:- concepts with hanbok-style outfits but no culturally Korean musical aspect -:-]
Click to viewBlackpink - How You Like That (2020)
While very heavily modified, the outfits are unmistakably hanbok influenced in their designs and motifs, with the clever addition of a traditionally Thai-inspired pattern for Lisa’s skirt. Apparently Blackpink’s immense popularity momentarily boosted hanboks in international search engines when this music video was released.
Monsta X - Follow (2019)
Though the song itself sounds more influenced by Turkish musical traditions, the stage outfits most associated with it are a classy blend of Western and hanbok designs and fabrics.
Stray Kids - Back Door (2020)
Stray Kids especially seem to like combining flashy hanbok-style pieces with conventional boy group fashion like leather pants and designer T-shirts.
[-:- one-off performance versions of songs that aren’t originally traditionally influenced -:-]
Stray Kids - 神 메뉴 / God's Menu @ 2020 SBS Gayo
Stray Kids combined traditional aesthetics with the cooking theme of God’s Menu in a clever homage to Nanta, a food-themed musical show that’s one of Korea’s most famous and longest-running original stage productions.
Mamamoo - Maria + AYA @ 2020 KBS Gayo
Hwasa and Mamamoo perform Maria and AYA dressed in a welcome variation from most female hanbok-inspired outfits. Most of the members are wearing long pants! Put more girls in hanbok pants!!
Monsta X (w/ Cravity) - Intro + Fantasia @ 2020 MBC Gayo
Along with their hoobaes Cravity, Monsta X revisited traditional aesthetics in this gayo version of Fantasia, accompanied by Tago - a performance troupe that uses modified jangu and daego drums - and outfitted in hanbok suits by fusion designer Kim Rieul.
Oh My Girl - 살짝 설렜어 / Nonstop @ 35th Golden Disc Awards
To my knowledge, Oh My Girl has never done a dedicated traditional concept, but they’ve gone traditional especially often for special performances etc, such as this stage of Nonstop. [these outfits are so cute <3 i would wear Jiho's or Mimi's in a heartbeat]
Oh My Girl - 비밀정원 / Secret Garden @ 2021 KBS Gayo
A traditionalized performance of Secret Garden filmed at Gosukjung, a favorite place of King Jinpyeong and a landmark famous for its natural scenery.
Brave Girls - 치맛바람 / Chi Mat Ba Ram @ 2021 MBC Gayo
Brave Girls perform a traditionalized version of Chi Mat Ba Ram (itself an idiomatic Korean phrase) with some standard entry-level fan dance choreography and props. [ok istg I learned a routine like this in grade school w/ those exact same fans, that fuchsia+neon green+fluffy feathers is giving me flashbacks lol]
Dreamcatcher - BOCA (2020) (Hanbok and "K-Zombie" versions)
Dreamcatcher live up to their reputation as K-pop’s genre girls with both a gothic hanbok version and a fantastically macabre Netflix Kingdom-inspired zombie version of BOCA.
[-:- K-pop songs that feature Korean culture in unique or unusual ways -:-]
BTS - 팔도강산 / Paldogangsan (2013)
If you consume enough Korean media, you’ll eventually come across 사투리 / satoori - regionally specific spoken dialects. While common in their respective areas, satoori is often considered unsophisticated and even inappropriate in some contexts so for a long time it was uncommon in more formal media and it’s still very rare in youth-oriented music. Back when they were little old Bangtan Sonyeondan, BTS bucked this conventional wisdom by loading one of their earliest b-sides with some t h i c k satoori in a verse-by-verse battle of playful one-upmanship between cultural and political rivals Gyeongsangdo and Jeollado, finishing with a reconciliatory final verse in standard Seoul speech. The result is a song that’s almost entirely unique in K-pop and deeply, endemically, unapologetically Korean. It really shouldn't work; it’s patently absurd in how it combines idol-hip-hop posturing and deep country-fried lyrics, some of which are pretty incomprehensible even to other Koreans. But nonetheless the song is very winning and I think what holds it together is the balance it strikes between a self-aware sense of humor and a self-sure embodiment of the material, turning what could have been a cringy gimmick into a knowingly corny but still genuinely proud statement of born-and-bred cultural identity, whether it’s considered cool or not.
BTS - Ma City (2016)
[Bonus: this video includes a decent translation of the lyrics]
Bangtan’s rapline RM, Suga and J-Hope each take a verse to deliver a love letter to their hometowns of Ilsan, Daegu and Gwangju respectively, blending their personal histories with the history and culture of the towns that raised them. Meanwhile, the vocal bridge is a tribute to the city of Busan, hometown to Jimin and Jungkook. The sound and production value have become somewhat slicker since Paldogangsan, but an echo of that same hoky charm still comes through from the slice-of-life authenticity and sincerity of the lyrics, such as Suga’s line about blue blood referring to the Samsung Lions, of which every Daegu native is a dyed-in-the-wool, diehard fan. Notably, J-Hope’s verse references the 5.18 uprising, a highly controversial but politically seminal moment in history for Gwangju natives.
Lizzy - 쉬운 여자 아니에요 / Not an Easy Girl (2013)
[shout-out to broadcities for the tip]
Former After School/Orange Caramel member Lizzy took a shot at going solo with a single heavily influenced by trot, another genre of music that’s very specifically Korean if a lot less trendy than K-pop. The song itself is generic and bland pop-trot (for better or worse most trot singers are very technically accomplished and Lizzy just doesn’t have the pipes). Most trot songs are also a bit…quaint in the love stories they tell and this one isn't an exception, with the lyrics insisting that she’s not an ‘easy’ woman whose virtue can be easily taken advantage of. Like I said, quaint. But the music video takes this conceit in a fun direction, with Lizzy digitally edited into scenes from the 1961 film Seong Chunhyang, one of the many film versions of the Chunhyang-jeon, one of Korea’s oldest and best known pansori traditions/stories about a young woman who falls in love with a young nobleman above her station and refuses the advances of a powerful and corrupt government official.
Rocky & Jinjin - 숨 좀 쉬자 / Just Breath (2022)
Astro sub-unit Rocky & Jinjin released their latest single as a plain-spoken rallying cry to Korean MZs exhausted by social distancing rules, video-chatting, government-issued Covid-19 updates, unexpected quarantines, QR code check-ins and all the social and economic opportunities the pandemic has cost them. But even without the Covid-specific details, much of the lyrics and especially the video are full of details that are eminently relatable and recognizable for young Koreans. Rolling around shoebox one-room apartments in your sweats and house slippers, stacks of notes and post-its for whatever spec exam you’re studying for, loud and blurry late nights at pojang machas, way too many online purchases you don’t need and wayyy too much soju altogether, yeah that’s Korean life in your twenties.
[-:- Top 10 candidates that didn’t make the cut -:-]
Super M - 호랑이 / Tiger Inside (2020)
The theme of personifying tigers was a meaningful choice, as tigers play a huge role in traditional Korean mythology, folklore, and art, often as symbols of power, strength, and majesty (Siberian tigers were once common in the northern Korean mountains but dwindled over the years and were officially hunted to extinction during Japanese colonialism). The aesthetics and lyrics indicate the song was conceptualized with Super M’s position as self-appointed K-pop ambassadors in mind and the members look good in their fusion hanbok outfits but that’s about as far as the pretty half-hearted cultural aspects extend. Otherwise the looks, sounds, and words are nothing very memorable or groundbreaking by 2020 standards and when you’re calling yourself the (.....) Avengers of K-pop, you set a pretty high bar for yourself.
Kai - Peaches (2021)
The aesthetics and theme of the song are inspired by the classic myth of 무릉도원 / mureung dowon. The legend tells of a utopian valley full of perfect peach trees, hidden in the mountains, wherein everything and everyone is so beautiful and captivating that centuries slip by before you notice - both a bliss and a danger to those who stumble upon it. Visually, the song calls on that inspiration in a dreamy mix of modernism and classicism with a touch of playful kitsch in the deliberate artifice of the sets. SM’s art department does not disappoint, coming through with creatively designed backdrops and outfits reminiscent of mythical Korean wizards and journeying heroes. Kai also plays the part of being lost in indulgent, sensual bliss well but ultimately the cultural elements of the song are pretty slight. The overall connection to a mureung dowon theme places it a step above hanbok cosplay but other than that it’s not really musically or lyrically distinct from most other current-day K-pop songs.
Oh My Girl - 나의 지구 / Destiny [originally by Lovelyz] (2020)
I debated a lot about this one because sadly I wasn't able to find any girl groups that have done a proper traditional concept for a title but as much as I wanted a girl group in the top 10, it’s a one-time performance of an existing song so I decided it didn’t quite fit. Still, the sweeping, string-heavy melody and the dramatic, slightly old-fashioned tone of the lyrics adapt very well to a more traditional, fusion-sageuk concept. The gravity and dignity that certain traditional instruments are often associated with works well in revising the tone of the song to be more poignant and melancholic to go with the lovelorn grief of the lyrics (imo it actually works better than the original instrumentals). The performance makes great use of choreography and props inspired by 살풀이 / salpuri [a dance/custom flourishing long, loose pieces of cloth or sleeves to both prevent and express misfortune and grief], a common element in traditionally-inspired K-pop performances.
BTS - IDOL (2018)
Yes, IDOL is probably to this day the most well-known K-pop song to use obvious homage to Korean culture. Yes, it broke new ground in bringing Korean traditions to the worldwide audience of K-pop. Yes, it’s a crystallization of BTS’ standing as the international pop culture representatives of Korea and their most overt attempt to meld their global superstar status with their branding as SK national team: idol division. The synesthetic acid trip of a music video includes many clear-cut Korean cultural elements as well as more subtle homages to traditional motifs and tropes. The song was among the first in modern K-pop to use old Korean vocalizations such as jihwaja and ulssoo, exclamations of joy and celebration used in oral traditions such as pansori. Yes, but. Although it was one of the first to really set off the traditional trend, ironically its effect was such that just about everything done here is eventually done better or more creatively by other groups and concepts. Yes, IDOL was ahead of the curve. But when it comes to how well or interestingly Korean traditions are put to use in K-pop songs, this one retroactively falls a bit behind.
But honestly I’d be remiss if I didn’t make special mention of the instantly iconic performance of IDOL at the 2018 MMAs.
The opening dance performance is gorgeously conceived with each segment representing a key element of Korean folk dances and performances - 북 / buk [standing drums], 부채 / buchae [fans, especially ornate decorative ones], salpuri, and 탈 / tal [caricature masks that signify different characters and emotions]. The music builds one layer at a time, first the percussive drums and 꾕가리 / kwenggari [handheld gongs with that brassy clanging sound], then the plaintive, keening winds, then a charging cascade of strings. Then comes a full 사물 놀이 / samul nori troupe, performers who were a common feature of Joseon-era folk festivities and celebrations and have been preserved as a traditional art form. Lion dancers and sangmo dancers [the guys with the twirling ribbon hats] with jangu drums and kwenggari spill out in a swirling prologue of movement and sound. Over just the next few years, a lot of the cultural tropes featured in this performance would become all but cliche in traditional-themed concepts but it’s not an overstatement to say their real re-introduction to K-pop started here and this remains one of the most effective mainstream testaments to how rousing and striking Korean traditional culture can be when it’s just being itself. And finally IDOL begins, reimagined with strings and winds like the geomungo, bipa, haegeum, daegeum, and danso, and charged with the lightning-in-a-bottle synergistic energy of history, art, and a historic artist’s moment in time all aligned - a homecoming victory lap for the unlikely homegrown heroes who conquered the world. Everything BTS did at this point was considered a triumph and in this performance, they invited everyone whose culture and history they shared to celebrate with them.
Sources: 스브스케이팝 1 2 ㅣ M2 ㅣ SBS Entertainment ㅣ KBS Kpop 1 2 ㅣ MBCkpop 1 2 3 ㅣ Golden Disc Awards ㅣ Piki Pictures ㅣ Dreamcatcher official ㅣ dorosoro ㅣ 1theK ㅣ fantagio ㅣ SuperM ㅣ SMTOWN ㅣ M-net KPOP ㅣ HYBE LABELS ㅣ Melon
Share your favorite performances and any I may have missed! Part 2 will be finished up and posted soon - OP will be back sometime after she’s done flipping jeon, washing dishes, and sleeping off the food coma ✌🏻