"I Know" () is a song by South Korean boy group

Seo Taiji and Boys () was a South Korean music group active from 1992 to 1996. The three members of the boy band, Seo Taiji, Yang Hyun-suk and Lee Juno, experimented with many different genres of popular Western music. Seo Taiji and Boys was highly successful ...

from their self-titled debut studio album, released on March 23, 1992. It was written and produced entirely by group leader and musician

Seo Taiji Jeong Hyeon-cheol (Korean: 정현철; born February 21, 1972), better known as Seo Taiji or Seo Tae-ji (서태지), is a South Korean singer, musician, songwriter and record producer. After dropping out of high school to pursue a music career, ...

. Incorporating a mix of Western influences such as hip-hop, new jack swing, and guitars, the song became a pivotal moment in Korean music history and is widely regarded as the pioneering work for the beginning of the modern K-pop market. It was a major commercial hit domestically, breaking the record for the longest charting song at number-one for 17 consecutive weeks.

Promotion

On April 11, 1992, the trio debuted on MBC's talent show with their song "I Know", and got the lowest rating from the jury;''K-Pop: A New Force in Pop Music'', pp. 63–66 however, the song and album of the same name became so successful that it paved the way for other songs of the same format. The birth of modern K-pop has been since largely attributed to their first televised performance on the talent show from that day. The song's success was attributed to its new jack swing-inspired beats and memorable chorus, as well as innovative lyrics which dealt with the problems of Korean society. Their footsteps were followed by a wave of successful hip hop and R&B artists like

Yoo Seung-jun Steve Sueng Jun Yoo (born December 15, 1976), also known as his

Jinusean Jinusean (Hangul: 지누션; stylized as JINUSEAN) was a South Korean hip hop duo signed to YG Entertainment. The duo, which is made up of Kim Jin-woo (also known as Jinu) and Noh Seung-hwan (also known as Sean), debuted in 1997 and rose to fame ...

Solid Solid is one of the four fundamental states of matter (the others being liquid, gas, and plasma). The molecules in a solid are closely packed together and contain the least amount of kinetic energy. A solid is characterized by structural ...

, Deux,

1TYM 1TYM (Korean: 원타임, pronounced as "One Time") was a four-member South Korean group. They were Teddy Park (also known as Park Hong-jun), Oh Jinhwan, Song Baekyoung, and Danny Im (also known as Im Taebin). History In the late 1990s, YG CE ...

and

Drunken Tiger Drunken Tiger () was a Korean hip hop group that debuted in 1999 and has since released several albums and won numerous awards. They are known as pioneers of Korean hip-hop who helped bring the genre into the mainstream. The group's original lin ...

. Seo and bandmates' outfits for the promotional cycle of "I Know" included vibrant streetwear such as oversized T-shirts and sweatshirts, windbreakers, overalls worn with one strap, overalls worn with one pant leg rolled up, and American sports team jerseys. Accessories included baseball caps worn backwards, bucket hats, and do-rags. Influenced by the videos for

Technotronic Technotronic was a Belgian electronic music project formed in 1987 by Jo Bogaert, who originally gained popularity in Europe as a solo artist with various new beat projects, including Acts of Madmen and Nux Nemo. Together with rapper Manuela ...

's " Pump Up the Jam" (1989) and

Snap! Snap! is a German Eurodance group formed in 1989 by producers Michael Münzing and Luca Anzilotti. The act has been through a number of line-up changes over the years, including American singers, songwriters and rappers Thea Austin, Turbo B ...

's " The Power" (1990), the music video for "Nan Arayo" was directed by Ko Jae-hyung and features varying color saturation and

chroma key Chroma key compositing, or chroma keying, is a visual-effects and post-production technique for compositing (layering) two images or video streams together based on colour hues ( chroma range). The technique has been used in many fields to ...

editing, varying the angles of the dancers' bodies constantly. In an internet survey conducted by

MTV Korea SBS M is a South Korean pay television music channel owned by SBS Medianet, a division of SBS Media Holdings. It features South Korean pop artists, international music, news, and a few reality and variety programs. It was launched in 2001 as ...

in 2004, the video was ranked number 43 in their list of "Best 100 Korean Music Videos".

Reception and accolades

"I Know" ranked number three on the year-end popular songs ranking for 1992, placing behind

Shin Seung-hun Shin Seung-hun (; born 21 March 1966) is a South Korean singer-songwriter who was known in the 1990s as the "Emperor of Ballads." He debuted in 1990 with the hit song, "Reflection of You in Your Smile," and has since released 12 studio albums. B ...

's "Invisible Love" and

015B 015B () is a South Korean music duo that debuted in 1990 and went on to become one of the country's most popular acts of the early 1990s. The group name which means literally "A crow flies across the sky" and it consists of brothers Jeong Seok-won ...

's "Old Lovers". Seo Taiji and Boys won several awards with the song, including the Grand Prize ''daesang'' at the 3rd

Seoul Music Awards The Seoul Music Awards (; SMA) is a major South Korean music awards show presented by the newspaper ''Sports Seoul''. The award winners are selected based on a combination of criteria, including music sales, popular votes, and expert judges' op ...

. "I Know" received 26 wins on South Korean music programs in 1992, the second-most out of any K-pop song for nearly three decades, behind only "Invisible Love" with 31 wins set earlier that year. " Dynamite" (2020) by

BTS BTS (), also known as the Bangtan Boys, is a South Korean boy band formed in 2010 and debuting in 2013 under Big Hit Entertainment. The septet—consisting of members Jin, Suga, J-Hope, RM, Jimin, V, and Jungkook—co-writes and co-pr ...

would later set a new record with 32 wins in 2021.

Impact and legacy

"Nan Arayo" is recognized for establishing the popularity of rap in K-pop and hybridizing the

Korean ballad Korean ballad, also known as K-ballad (often simply referred to by South Koreans as ballad; ), is a style of music in South Korea and a genre in which soul and rhythm and blues music is transformed to suit Korean sentiment. It became popular in th ...

style with rap, rock, and techno. One of the first Korean rap songs, its new jack swing-inspired beats, upbeat rap verses and pop-style choruses combined with a focus on new dance moves took Korean audiences by storm. ''

NPR National Public Radio (NPR, stylized in all lowercase) is an American privately and state funded nonprofit media organization headquartered in Washington, D.C., with its NPR West headquarters in Culver City, California. It differs from other ...

'' wrote that "For many South Korean youths, the track was their first exposure to hip-hop and New Jack Swing and a welcome alternative to traditional styles of music". '' Vox'' said that "'I Know' represented the first time modern American-style pop music had been fused with South Korean culture." Regarding its release,

MTV Iggy MTV (Originally an initialism of Music Television) is an American cable channel that launched on August 1, 1981. Based in New York City, it serves as the flagship property of the MTV Entertainment Group, part of Paramount Media Networks, a di ...

wrote that "K-pop music would never be the same" again. In a 2008 survey involving 100 music experts in the South Korean entertainment industry, "I Know" ranked number one in their list of 25 best Korean songs in history. ''Spin'' magazine named "I Know" number four on their 2012 list of the 21 Greatest K-Pop Songs of All Time.

Mnet M-Net (an abbreviation of Electronic Media Network) is a South African pay television channel established by Naspers in 1986. The channel broadcasts both local and international programming, including general entertainment, children's series, ...

chose "I Know" as the number one song on their 2014 countdown ''Legend 100 Songs'', a list of the most influential songs in Korean popular music since the 1960s. In 2020, ''

Rolling Stone ''Rolling Stone'' is an American monthly magazine that focuses on music, politics, and popular culture. It was founded in San Francisco, California, in 1967 by Jann Wenner, and the music critic Ralph J. Gleason. It was first known for its ...

'' named the same song number 43 on its list of the 75 Greatest Boy Band Songs of All Time, saying that they steered the "Korean pop scene that we know today", establishing the scene's affection for boy bands and girl groups as opposed to solo acts. In 2021, online portal

Melon A melon is any of various plants of the family Cucurbitaceae with sweet, edible, and fleshy fruit. The word "melon" can refer to either the plant or specifically to the fruit. Botanically, a melon is a kind of berry, specifically a " pepo". Th ...

and newspaper ''

Seoul Shinmun ''The Seoul Shinmun'' (translating to The Seoul Newspaper) is the oldest daily newspaper in South Korea with more than a century of publication. Its original name was ''Daehan Maeil Sinbo'' (''The Korea Daily News''), which was started on July 1 ...

'' ranked it as the 21st best K-pop song of all time, with music critic Minjae Jeong writing that "After 'I Know', everything changed. ... Today, it is safe to say that our K-pop-oriented music market actually originated from them."

References

{{authority control 1992 songs 1992 singles Hip hop songs Seo Taiji and Boys songs