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() was a South Korean music group active from 1992 to 1996. The three members of the
boy band A boy band is loosely defined as a vocal group consisting of young male singers, usually in their teenage years or in their twenties at the time of formation. Generally, boy bands perform love songs marketed towards girls and young women. Ma ...
, Seo Taiji, Yang Hyun-suk and Lee Juno, experimented with many different genres of popular Western music. Seo Taiji and Boys was highly successful and is credited with changing the South Korean music industry by pioneering the use of rap in Korean popular music and utilizing social critique, despite pressure from ethics and censorship committees. The band won the Grand Prize at the
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 ...
in both 1992 and 1993. In April 1996, ''
Billboard A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large adverti ...
'' reported that the band's first three albums had each sold over 1.6 million copies, with the fourth nearing two million, making all four some of the best-selling albums in South Korea.


History

After the breakup of the heavy metal band
Sinawe Sinawe ( ko, 시나위) is a heavy metal/ rock band from South Korea. Led by guitarist and sole constant member Shin Daechul, they are credited as being the first heavy metal band in South Korea. During its golden age in the late 1980s and mid 19 ...
in 1991, Seo Taiji switched gears and formed the group Seo Taiji and Boys with dancers and backing vocalists Yang Hyun-suk and Lee Juno. Yang said he first met Seo when the musician came to him to learn how to dance. "Blown away" by his music, Yang offered to join the group, and they later recruited Lee who was one of the top dancers in Korea and joined the group as a background dancer, despite being highly regarded in his own right, because the music "moved isheart." Seo Taiji came across
MIDI MIDI (; Musical Instrument Digital Interface) is a technical standard that describes a communications protocol, digital interface, and electrical connectors that connect a wide variety of electronic musical instruments, computers, and ...
technology for the first time in South Korea in the early 1990s and started experimenting with different MIDI sounds to create a new type of music that had not been heard by the public. He initially had no plans to debut as a dance/pop boy group, and Seo Taiji and Boys' mainstream success was a surprise.


1992: "I Know"

The trio debuted on MBC's talent show on April 11, 1992, with their song "Nan Arayo" (난 알아요, " 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 their self-titled debut album became so successful that, according to
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 ...
, "
K-pop K-pop (), short for Korean popular music, is a form of popular music originating in South Korea as part of South Korean culture. It includes styles and genres from around the world, such as pop, hip hop, R&B, experimental, rock, jazz, go ...
" music would never be the same" again. One of the first Korean rap songs, "Nan Arayo" was a hugely successful hit; its
new jack swing New jack swing, new jack, or swingbeat is a fusion genre of the rhythms and production techniques of hip hop and dance-pop, and the urban contemporary sound of R&B. Spearheaded by producers Teddy Riley and Bernard Belle, new jack swing wa ...
-inspired beats, upbeat rap verses and pop-style choruses combined with a focus on new dance moves took Korean audiences by storm. 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" 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", the music video for "Nan Arayo" 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. The group sold over 1.5 million copies of the album within a month of its release, and Seo Taiji and Boys won a
Golden Disc Award The Golden Disc Awards (, formerly spelled the Golden Disk Awards before 2015) is an annual South Korean major music awards ceremony that honors achievements in the local music industry. The awards ceremony was founded with the purpose to promo ...
for "Nan Arayo" in 1992. ''
Spin Spin or spinning most often refers to: * Spinning (textiles), the creation of yarn or thread by twisting fibers together, traditionally by hand spinning * Spin, the rotation of an object around a central axis * Spin (propaganda), an intentionally ...
'' named "Nan Arayo" number 4 on their 2012 list of the 21 Greatest K-Pop Songs of All Time. In 2015, ''
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 it number 36 on its list of the 50 Greatest Boy Band Songs of All Time. "Nan Arayo" is also 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.


1993: "Hayeoga"

Their 1993 second album took a different turn. Although remaining a mostly dance album, a few songs such as "Hayeoga" (하여가, 何如歌, "Anyhow Song") combined elements of heavy metal and traditional Korean folk music through the use of the
taepyeongso The ''taepyeongso'' (lit. "big peace wind instrument"; also called ''hojok'', ''hojeok'' 호적 號笛/ 胡 笛, ''nallari'', or ''saenap'', 嗩 吶) is a Korean double reed wind instrument in the shawm or oboe family, probably descended from th ...
, a double-reed wind instrument, and melodic structure. While there was controversy that the guitar solo in the middle of the song plagiarized Testament's "First Strike is Deadly", the guitarist for the solo, Lee Tae-Seop, mentioned in an interview that the solo's arpeggios reinterpreted Scandinavian folk songs, which had no copyright. "Hayeoga" earned them their second Golden Disc Award. Moreover, while promoting the album, the group was banned from appearing on the national television channel KBS-TV because they wore earrings, ripped jeans and had
dreadlocks Dreadlocks, also known as locs or dreads, are rope-like strands of hair formed by locking or braiding hair. Origins Some of the earliest depictions of dreadlocks date back as far as 1600–1500 BCE in the Minoan Civilization, one of Europe ...
, which ethics committees associated with
reggae Reggae () is a music genre that originated in Jamaica in the late 1960s. The term also denotes the modern popular music of Jamaica and its diaspora. A 1968 single by Toots and the Maytals, " Do the Reggay" was the first popular song to use ...
, resistance movements, and rejection of social norms (although their brightly dyed long hair in 1995 did not attract a similar ban). This was the first of the numerous controversies regarding Seo Taiji and Boys. The band's second album became the first 'double million sellers' album in Korean history.


1994: "Classroom Idea"

The
third album ''Third Album'' is the third studio album released by the Jackson 5 on Motown Records, and the group's second LP released in 1970, on September 18. ''Third Album'' featured the group's fourth consecutive No. 1 single on the US pop charts, " I' ...
shifted to a more heavy metal and rock style. Danceable tunes were nearly non-existent except "Dreaming of Bal-Hae" (발해를 꿈꾸며), an
alternative rock Alternative rock, or alt-rock, is a category of rock music that emerged from the independent music underground of the 1970s and became widely popular in the 1990s. "Alternative" refers to the genre's distinction from mainstream or commercial ...
song indicating a hope of reuniting North and South Korea, which earned the group its third Golden Disc Award. Instead, songs such as the controversial "Classroom Idea" (교실 이데아) with
death growl A death growl, or simply growl, is an extended vocal technique usually employed in extreme styles of music, particularly in death metal and other extreme subgenres of heavy metal music. Death growl vocals are sometimes criticized for the ...
vocals, influenced by bands such as the
Beastie Boys Beastie Boys were an American rap rock group from New York City, formed in 1978. The group was composed of Michael "Mike D" Diamond (vocals, drums), Adam "MCA" Yauch (vocals, bass), and Adam "Ad-Rock" Horovitz (vocals, guitar, programming) ...
and
Rage Against the Machine Rage Against the Machine (often abbreviated as RATM or shortened to simply Rage) is an American rock band from Los Angeles, California. Formed in 1991, the group consists of vocalist Zack de la Rocha, bassist and backing vocalist Tim Commer ...
, by Ahn Heung-Chan of
Crash Crash or CRASH may refer to: Common meanings * Collision, an impact between two or more objects * Crash (computing), a condition where a program ceases to respond * Cardiac arrest, a medical condition in which the heart stops beating * Couch ...
took center stage. The song was extremely critical of the Korean education system and the pressure placed on youth to succeed academically, such as doing well on university entrance exams. The song was banned from being played on TV and radio (but passed by ethics committees) for the censuring of the education system in its lyrics:
Every morning you lead us into a tiny classroom by 7:30, forcing the same things into the 7 million heads of children around the country. These dark, closed classrooms are swallowing us up. My life is too precious to be wasted here.
Additionally, the band was accused of
backmasking Backmasking is a recording technique in which a message is recorded backward onto a track that is meant to be played forward. It is a deliberate process, whereas a message found through phonetic reversal may be unintentional. Artists have s ...
Satanic messages in the song. Although the mainstream news media later proved these accusations to be groundless, the moral panic proved difficult to eliminate entirely.


1995: "Regret of the Times"

Not backing down, Seo Taiji and Boys' fourth album exploded with more controversial songs. " Come Back Home" was a foray into
gangsta rap Gangsta rap or gangster rap, initially called reality rap, emerged in the mid- to late 1980s as a controversial hip-hop subgenre whose lyrics assert the culture and values typical of American street gangs and street hustlers. Many gangsta rappe ...
, featuring a high-pitched nasal voice influenced by
B-Real Louis Mario Freese (born June 2, 1970), known by his stage name B-Real, is an American rapper. Since 1991, he has been one of two lead rappers in the hip hop group Cypress Hill, along with Sen Dog. He has also been a part of the rap metal band ...
of
Cypress Hill Cypress Hill is an American hip hop group from South Gate, California. They have sold over 20 million albums worldwide and have multi-platinum and platinum albums. They are considered to be among the main progenitors of West Coast and 1990 ...
in "
Insane in the Brain "Insane in the Brain" is a 1993 song by American hip hop group Cypress Hill, released as the first single from their second album, '' Black Sunday'' (1993). In addition to hitting number one on the US rap chart, the song also was a mainstream hi ...
" and by
House of Pain House of Pain was an American hip-hop trio that released three albums in the 1990s. The group consisted of DJ Lethal, Danny Boy, and Everlast. The group's name is a reference to the H. G. Wells novel '' The Island of Dr. Moreau'', a refer ...
. "Pilseung" (필승, 必勝, "Certain Victory") was also a hit with
alternative rock Alternative rock, or alt-rock, is a category of rock music that emerged from the independent music underground of the 1970s and became widely popular in the 1990s. "Alternative" refers to the genre's distinction from mainstream or commercial ...
sound and shouting voice reminiscent of House of Pain's " Jump Around". However, "Regret of the Times" (시대유감, 時代遺憾) was banned by the Public Performance Ethics Committee for having lyrics that criticized the government. The version of the song included on the album is instrumental only, as a refusal by Seo to rewrite or remove the original three lines that the Ethics Committee demanded be changed (in bold):
Educated elders are walking down the street holding pretty dolls. It seems that the day everyone has been secretly hoping for is coming today. Lips stained black. .. .. Tonight!
The backlash from the fans was immense, and the system of "pre-censorship" (사전심의제) was abolished in June 1996, partially as a result of this reaction. An EP titled ''Regret of the Times'' including the original version of the song was released a month after the system was abolished.


1996: Retirement

Seo Taiji and Boys retired from South Korea's popular music scene in January 1996 during its heyday. Lee later stated that Seo made the decision to disband while recording their fourth album, much to the surprise of Yang and himself. The band's announcement of retirement was a huge disappointment for millions of fans in Korea. The compilation album ''Goodbye Best Album'' was released later that year. Seo Taiji headed over to the United States soon after, while Lee Juno and Yang Hyun-suk established record labels right after their retirement. Yang Hyun-suk was successful in founding
YG Entertainment YG Entertainment Inc. () is a South Korean multinational entertainment agency established in 1996 by Yang Hyun-suk. The company operates as a record label, talent agency, music production company, event management and concert production comp ...
, one of the three biggest record companies in the country. Seo Taiji returned to music two years later with a very successful solo career; he is now referred to as "the President of culture" in South Korea. In 2007, all four of Seo Taiji and Boys' albums were included in ''
Kyunghyang Shinmun The ''Kyunghyang Shinmun'' or ''Kyonghyang Sinmun'' is a major daily newspaper published in South Korea. It is based in Seoul. The name literally means '' Urbi et Orbi Daily News''.
''s Top 100 Pop Albums, with their first ranking the highest at number 24. In 2014, when asked about a possible Seo Taiji and Boys reunion, Seo revealed that the three members had talked about it often. However, he said:
The biggest obstacle is that in the past, we put on really beautiful performances, which fans remember, but if we get back together now, I worry we might disappoint, so I am not confident. I lack more and more confidence as I get older. I don't think I'd be able to dance as fiercely as I had in the past.


Influence and legacy

By incorporating these musical elements with Korea's
ballad A ballad is a form of verse, often a narrative set to music. Ballads derive from the medieval French ''chanson balladée'' or '' ballade'', which were originally "dance songs". Ballads were particularly characteristic of the popular poetry and ...
music, Seo Taiji and Boys provided the basis for the hybridization of Korea's music with that of the West, resulting in the foundation of modern
K-pop K-pop (), short for Korean popular music, is a form of popular music originating in South Korea as part of South Korean culture. It includes styles and genres from around the world, such as pop, hip hop, R&B, experimental, rock, jazz, go ...
. This hybridization of music and foregrounding of dance movements was one of the fundamental reasons for the popularity of Korean popular music, especially among teenage and early 20s listeners, as it also promoted Korean popular music's ability to penetrate foreign markets in what has become known as the Korean Wave. Doobo Shim, a researcher of Asian culture, credits Seo Taiji and Boys with creating the "distinctively Korean pop style" which became commonplace. Moreover, the band was voted as the most crucial Korean cultural product in a survey conducted by the Samsung Economic Research Institute in 1997. Seo Taiji and Boys acted as an instrument of change within Korea, challenging censorship laws as well as the television networks hegemony over the music market. In 1995 the Korean Broadcasting Ethics Committee demanded that Seo Taiji and Boys change the lyrics for "Shidae Yugam". This incited protests and resulted in the abolishment of music pre-censorship in Korea. Seo Taiji also did not have to rely on television networks due to the fact that he owned his own studio. This autonomy allowed Seo to bring subcultures in Korea, such as heavy metal, to the forefront of popular culture and challenge pervasive social norms. The band's independent success diminished the power of the television networks to dictate which artists appeared on shows, and gave rise to the influence of record labels and talent agencies. Such companies led to the formation of bands such as
H.O.T. H.O.T. (; pronounced "H. O. T.", acronym for Highfive Of Teenagers) was a South Korean boy band that was created by SM Entertainment in 1996. They are considered to be the first K-pop ''idol group'' and their successful formula became the model ...
,
Sechs Kies Sechs Kies (pronounced as ; ko, 젝스키스) is a first generation South Korean boy band. Making their debut on April 15, 1997, they are one of the first K-pop idol groups, credited with pioneering the idol scene and fandom culture. The grou ...
,
Uptown Uptown may refer to: Neighborhoods or regions in several cities United States * Uptown, entertainment district east of Downtown and Midtown Albuquerque, New Mexico * Uptown Charlotte, North Carolina * Uptown, area surrounding the University of Ci ...
, and Shinhwa. Additionally, Seo Taiji and Boys' fashion contrasted sharply with the convention at the time. The band members' style ranged from wearing tailored jackets and neat dress shirts to street fashion. They incorporated traditional Korean folk costumes and Scottish
kilt A kilt ( gd, fèileadh ; Irish: ''féileadh'') is a garment resembling a wrap-around knee-length skirt, made of twill woven worsted wool with heavy pleats at the sides and back and traditionally a tartan pattern. Originating in the Scottish ...
s, showcasing a variety of cultures. Seo Taiji and Boys pioneered the "snowboard look", which included dark sunglasses, ski hats, and large parkas. Furthermore, the band members' wearing of dreadlocks in 1993 caused a reactionary ban of the band on national television. Another aspect of Korean pop that Seo Taiji and Boys influenced was dance. The band was the first to turn dance into a dominant feature in performance by including
breakdancing Breakdancing, also called breaking or b-boying/b-girling, is an athletic style of street dance originating from the African American and Puerto Rican communities in the United States. While diverse in the amount of variation available in t ...
routines. Dancer Nam Hyun-joon cites Seo Taiji and Boys as a primary influence, and appeared in one of band member Lee Juno's music videos. Celebrating the Seo Taiji and Boys' 25th anniversary project "TIME: TRAVELER", the band BTS remade " Come Back Home" in 2017, reflecting a similar sentiment to the societal change that Seo argued for in his songs. While maintaining the
gangsta rap Gangsta rap or gangster rap, initially called reality rap, emerged in the mid- to late 1980s as a controversial hip-hop subgenre whose lyrics assert the culture and values typical of American street gangs and street hustlers. Many gangsta rappe ...
style,
J-Hope Jung Ho-seok (; born February 18, 1994), better known by his stage name J-Hope (stylized as j-hope), is a South Korean rapper, singer-songwriter, dancer, and record producer. He made his debut as a member of South Korean boy band BTS in 201 ...
raps: "I feel suffocated in my life. What is blocking my life is my fear towards tomorrow," while RM adds, "Because we are still young, there's a decent future. Now wipe those old tears and come back home." While Seo's social critique of Korean culture was predated by songs of
Kim Min-ki Kim Min-ki (; born March 31, 1951) is a South Korean singer, composer, and playwright. He is best known for his 1970 song, "Morning Dew," and for his 1994 Korean adaptation of the German musical, ''Linie 1''. Early life and education Kim wa ...
, who focused on political violence during the
Fourth Republic of Korea The fourth Republic of Korea () was the government of South Korea from November 1972 to March 1981. The Fourth republic was founded on the approval of the Yushin Constitution in the 1972 constitutional referendum, codifying the '' de facto'' ...
under the leader
Park Chung-hee Park Chung-hee (, ; 14 November 1917 – 26 October 1979) was a South Korean politician and army general who served as the dictator of South Korea from 1961 until his assassination in 1979; ruling as an unelected military strongman from 1961 ...
, Seo's songs included more direct lyrics and maintained his musical identity by refusing to acquiesce to the pre-censorship policies of the time. In fact, his artistry was unhampered by marketing and advertising campaigns, which may have contributed to the band's success.


Members

* Seo Taiji (서태지) – lead vocals, bass, guitar, keyboards, main songwriter, leader * Yang Hyun-suk (양현석) – backing vocals, rapper, choreography * Lee Juno (이주노) – backing vocals, choreography


Discography


Studio albums


Singles


Other releases

;Live and remix albums *''Taiji Boys Live & Techno Mix'' (1992) *93 Last Festival'' (1994) *95 Taijiboys Concert: Farewell to the Sky'' (1995) ;Compilations *''Seo Taiji and Boys'' (1994, Japan-exclusive) *''Goodbye Best Album'' (1996) ;DVD *''Seotaiji 20: We Are Here: '93 Last Festival / '95 Taijiboys Concert: Farewell to the Sky'' (2012)


Awards


See also

*
Korean pop K-pop (), short for Korean popular music, is a form of popular music originating in South Korea as part of South Korean culture. It includes styles and genres from around the world, such as pop, hip hop, R&B, experimental, rock, jazz, gos ...
*
Korean hip hop Korean hip hop, also known as K-hip hop or K-rap, is a subgenre of Korean popular music. It is widely considered to have originated in the late 1980s and early 1990s, and has since become increasingly popular, both in Korea and abroad. While ...


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Seo Taiji and Boys Musical groups established in 1991 Musical groups disestablished in 1996 K-pop music groups Rap rock groups South Korean hip hop groups South Korean dance music groups 1991 establishments in South Korea Grand Prize Seoul Music Award recipients