Seo Taiji and Boys

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Seo Taiji and Boys
Origin Seoul, South Korea
Genres
Years active 1992 (1992)–1996
Labels
  • Bando Eumban
  • Yedang Company
Past members Seo Taiji
Yang Hyun-suk
Lee Juno
Korean name
Hangul 서태지와 아이들
Revised Romanization Seo Taijiwa aideul
McCune–Reischauer Sŏ T‘aeji-wa aidŭl

Seo Taiji and Boys (Hangul: 서태지와 아이들) was a South Korean boy band active from 1992 to 1996. Its three members Seo Taiji, Yang Hyun-suk and Lee Juno experimented with many different genres of popular Western music.[1] Seo Taiji and Boys were highly successful and are credited with changing the South Korean music industry.[2]

History

After the breakup of the heavy metal band Sinawe in 1991, Seo Taiji switched gears and formed the dance 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. Similarly, Lee joined the group as a background dancer, despite being highly regarded in his own right, because the music "moved [his] heart."[3] Seo Taiji came across midi technology for the first time in South Korea in the early 1990s and started experimenting with different midi sound 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: "Nan Arayo"

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.[4] However, the song and their self-titled debut album became so successful that, according to MTV Iggy, "K-pop music would never be the same" again.[5] "Nan Arayo" was a hugely successful hit;[6] its new jack swing-inspired beats, upbeat rap lyrics and catchy choruses took Korean audiences by storm.[5] It charted on the No. 1 spot for a record-breaking 17 weeks. This record has since been broken by Big Bang's "Lies" which topped the chart for 18 weeks.

1993: "Hayeoga"

The second album took a different turn. While the album remained mostly a dance album, a few songs such as "Hayeoga" had elements of heavier rock music added to them.

1994: "Balhaereul Ggumggumyeo"

The third album switched gears to being much more heavy metal and rock driven. The danceable tunes are nearly non-existent except "Barhaereul Ggumggumyeo" (발해를 꿈꾸며, Dreaming of Balhae), an alternative rock song which indicates a hope of reunification of Korea. Instead, songs such as the extremely controversial "Gyosil Idea" (교실 이데아, Class Idea) with an impressive death grunt backvocal by Ahn Heung-chan of Crash took center stage. Gyosil Idea was extremely critical of the Korean education system and its brainwashing of the youth of Korea. This was the first of the numerous controversies regarding Seo Taiji and Boys. They were accused of backwards masking Satanist messages in their songs. Although the mainstream news media later proved these accusations to be based on extremely tenuous evidence, the moral panic proved difficult to eliminate entirely.

1995: "Come Back Home"

Not backing down, Seo Taiji and Boys' fourth album exploded with more controversial songs. "Come Back Home" was a foray into gangster rap. "Pilseung" (필승, "Must Triumph") was also a great hit with alternative rock sound and shouting voice. "Shidaeyugam" (시대유감, "Regret of the Times") was nearly banned by the Korean Performance Ethics Committee for having lyrics that were considered inappropriate for youth consumption. The backlash from the fans was immense, and the system of 'pre-censorship' (사전심의제) was abolished in July 1996, partially as a result of this.

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 himself while recording their fourth album, much to the surprise of Yang and himself.[7] Their 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 making YG Entertainment one of the three biggest record companies in the country.[3] 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.[3] In 2007, all four of Seo Taiji and Boys' albums were included in Kyunghyang Shinmun's Top 100 Pop Albums, with their first ranking the highest at number 24.[8][9][10][11]

Members

  • Seo Taiji (서태지) – lead vocals, main songwriter, bandleader
  • Yang Hyun-suk (양현석) – backing vocals, choreography
  • Lee Juno (이주노) – backing vocals, choreography

Discography

Studio albums
  • Seo Taiji & Boys (1992)
  • Seotaiji and Boys II (1993)
  • Seotaiji and Boys III (1994)
  • Seotaiji and Boys IV (1995)
Live albums
  • Taiji Boys Live & Techno Mix (1992)
  • '93 Last Festival (1994)
  • '95 Farewall to Sky (1995)
Singles and other releases
  • Goodbye Best Album (1996)
  • Sidae-Yoogam (1996)

References

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  2. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  4. ↑ K-Pop: A New Force in Pop Music, pp. 63–66
  5. ↑ 5.0 5.1 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  6. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  7. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  8. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  9. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  10. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  11. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
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