World Music Final Paper: Growth Of The Korean Hip Hop (Essay Sample)

GROWTH OF THE KOREAN HIP HOP
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Growth of the Korean Hip Hop
Music provides the society with a form of entertainment and a platform they are able to let themselves loose from the hustles and bustles of their everyday lives. Across the various musical genres musicians have been able to capture the desires and wishes of almost all the people in the society. Musicians have been able to use music to express various issues happening in the society and also to highlight the current trends happening around the world. Musical fandom has become a major aspect of the industry with very passionate fans who relate to each and every song from their favorite musicians. Fandom has further resulted in the growth and evolution of the different genres in countries and continents that were before very conservative. South Korea is a perfect example of a country that has over the years embraced the “widely considered” hip hop genre in their music scene. Korean hip hop otherwise known as K-Pop has proven a sensation especially for the millennials who consider it very trendy and fashionable and hence use it to express themselves. The research paper therefore will examine the Korean hip hop in a descriptive, cultural and historical context with focus on issues such globalization, nationalism, cultural appropriation, cosmopolitanism, musical protest, cultural authenticity and politics of identity.
History of the Korean music industry and the growth of the Korean hip hop
The Koreans are one of the most conservative communities in the world who have always kept to their traditional and cultural ways of life which included their traditional songs. Hare and Baker in recognition of the Korean folk songs note in their article “Korea’s folk music tradition, with its generous use of bright rhythms and melodies, offers a more energetic and capricious contrast to the nation’s collection of classical music works”. However, in the late eighties which also marked the end of the authoritarian military rule in Korea, there was an evolution of the music scene with the adoption of the western hip hop genre. The 1988 Seoul Olympics is also attributed to have been at the forefront in the spread of music styles including rap, rhythm and blues among the people of Korea. The period also had youthful individuals who in addition to the political freedom they were experiencing, felt the need to spend and show their economic status. Hare and Baker share on the same in their article “During this period of rapid globalization, Korean youth were led toward the enjoyment, adaptation and imitation of emerging global trends in their own popular culture”.[Hare, Sarah, and Andrea Baker. "Keepin’ It Real: Authenticity, Commercialization, And The Media In Korean Hip Hop." SAGE Open 7.2 (2017)pp 2: 215824401771029.] [Hare, Sarah, and Andrea Baker]
It was however during the turn of the millennium and majorly from the evolution of the internet that Korean hip hop mainly gained popularity. Korean millennials with easy and faster access to the hip hop industry in other countries across the world imitated and incorporated the trends into the Korean hip hop scene. In addition to rapping, the Korean hip hop artists then incorporated rhyming into the songs; a feat that was previously considered very difficult because of the structural composition of the Korean language. The move appealed to even more fans with notable hip groups such as “Drunken Tiger” starting to realize the commercial benefits from their hip hop songs. Other hip artists including Verbal Jint, and Epik High also gained mainstream popularity with recording labels Seo Taji Boys and YG entertainment being at the center in the growth of the Korean hip hop. Television shows and reality series including the notable “Show me the money” TV show also developed. Gyu-Tag mentions “The show which features both underground and mainstream rappers is credited with increasing the popularity of hip hop in Korea”. The highlight of the Korean hip hop industry however was when the first hip hop awards were held in 2017 and which recognized the efforts and strides that have been taken by the various players in the industry through the years.[Lee, Gyu-Tag. "Between Globality And Locality：Emerging Korean Hip-Hop." The Journal of Korean Studies null.36 (2011): 59-84: 62]
Globalization on the growth of the Korean hip hop
The hip hop musical genre originated from the United States in the 1970’s and is mostly associated with the black African Americans and Latinos. Some people have even described it as black music. However, and as a result of the internet and individual freedom, the world has been opened up into a global village where people share and copy various behaviors and attributes they consider trendy and fashionable including musical genres such as hip hop. Gyu-Tag shares on the same and notes “Korea has been isolated for a long time, but with access to the internet, it got bombarded with all sorts of cultures such as hip hop, the coolest culture in the world”. Over the years, the Korean hip hop artists have tried to incorporate more of the Korean culture and beliefs into their music but there still exists a lot of comparison with the American hip hop. For instance, initially the Korean hip scene had only embraced rapping in their songs but since then they have incorporated the other key elements of the hip hop culture in DJing, graffiti art and breakdancing “. These developments were fastened with the evolution of the internet which bridged the means through which information could be shared and accessed between people in different continents. Korean hip hop critiques have used that avenue to argue against its increasing adoption among the youth with the claim that it’s eroding the traditional Korean cultures and beliefs through the celebration of the western lifestyles. Freedom and the rapid globalization in the Korean society and the youth have been reflected and are evident in various western principles including dressing styles and usage of the American slang. The Korean hips hop artists and in comparison to their American counterparts have since begun their own clothing lines that incorporate the hip hop ideals. The “Ganguro” trend in Korea is characterized by women tanning their bodies and adorning cornrows in efforts to mimic their American music idols.[Lee, Gyu-Tag, pp 70] [IBIT PP 73]
Cultural Authenticity and Cultural Appropriation of the Korean hip hop
There have been significant efforts to naturalize the hip hop scene in Korea and various campaigns to have it uniquely Korean and in the process appeal to a greater market across the world. Despite the widely evident influence of the American hip scene on the Korean hip hop industry, various Korean artists have tried to make their hip hop songs culturally authentic. They have incorporated some of the traditional beats and sounds in their music with others using the traditional Korean instruments. Han shares the same sentiments in his article and notes “The first move toward localization is a rejection of aspects of rap from the United States and a turn towards local themes”. These efforts have since grown on the non-Korean community and especially in the United States with notably the number of Korean artists performing in the US increasing by the day. There have also been several musical collaborations between the Korean and American hip hop artists and in 2017, American hip hop mogul “Jay-Z’s” record label signed Korean artist Jay Park into the label.[Han, Gil-Soo. "K-Pop Nationalism: Celebrities And Acting Blackface In The Korean Media." Continuum 29.1 (2014): 2-16: 4] [Han, Gil-Soo, pp 8]
Musical protest perspective of the hip hop genre
It is believed that hip hop in the US came as a means that provided the black African Americans and immigrants in general a platform to express the oppression they were going through. Hare and Baker share “Hip hop emerged from the New York City Bronx at a time of policy driven neglect for many urban youths. In this context of deprivation and systematic oppression, hip hop emerged as a coping mechanism to resist and critique repressive society”. Hip hop therefore voiced the concerns of the oppressed and hopeless. However, with the increased popularity it soon became commercialized and its then that it was exported as a cultural commodity to countries including ...