▲ This photo, provided by Beasts and Natives Alike Label, shows music producer 250. (PHOTO NOT FOR SALE) (Yonhap) 

 

 

SEOUL, Mar. 11 (Yonhap) -- The background of the renowned music producer 250’s first LP “PPONG,” which hit the South Korean electronic music industry hard last year, was surprisingly normal than many would have expected it to be.

In a recent interview held at the Yonhap News building in Seoul, the hit producer and DJ by the name of 250, who has worked with K-pop stars such as BTS, BoA, NewJeans, and more, looked back in hindsight and said, “The epiphany I recently had was ‘If I love it, others would like it too.’”

The producer took home Artist of the Year, Album of the Year, Best Electronic Song, and Best Electronic Album at the recently wrapped-up 20th Korean Music Awards (KMA) on Mar. 5.

Released last March, “PPONG” is the producer’s very first full-length album, which he himself never expected to garner much attention and popularity.

“It was not easy for a producer, not a performer, to drop an album,” he said. “What I was most concerned about was what kind of an album I, as a producer, will be able to produce if I do not rely on an artist’s performance.”

Due to such concerns, the producer said that it took about seven years for him to finally showcase his album to the public. Then, what would have led him to take inspiration from the Korean pop music genre of ppong-jak, which is normally popular amongst middle-aged and senior citizens in the country as a form of entertainment?

250 replied, “As it was my first LP, I thought it should talk about the beginning of my music career and how I started as a musician,” adding, “Ppong-jak was the genre that I did not have to try to listen to, but it was just imprinted on my mind without me noticing. Since I kicked off my career with this genre, I wanted to produce my album based on it while looking back to the very first piece I ever listened to.”

After deciding to bring the genre’s high-energy two-beat rhythm and folk scales back, the music producer had to look into and dissect the genre with more details. He then headed to the markets in Dongmyo and went out to find answers to his old questions about the music genre. He even met and asked for advice from Dr. Lee, an iconic trot singer.

The producer gave a brief summary of his seven-year production period, saying, “Listening to the music of my choice is quite different from listening to the music that I just happen to listen to,” adding that what mattered was the music that he just came to him and made “the moment.”

While searching for the true Korean ppong-jak, it was critical for the producer to distinguish the genre from the Japanese music genre Enka which is considered to resemble traditional Japanese music stylistically.

The producer pointed out the difference, saying, “Enka may be interpreted as a kind of classic music genre that has more rules to follow. On the other hand, I think Korean ppong-jak is a genre that can take any form or face, without any rules.”

Even before dropping “PPONG,” the Seoul-based producer proved his versatility by producing BoA’s iconic ballad track “Christmas Paradise,” K-pop chart supremo NCT 127’s “Chain,” and rapper E-sense’s “Flight.”

When asked about the difference between composing songs for himself and for others, the producer replied, “I try to be as honest as I can, even to the point where I capture the moment where I dislike the music that I produced. When I make other K-pop songs, I tend to produce those that I wish to listen to.”

Even though he makes music based on his own personal standards and songs that he wishes to listen to for himself, his K-pop music has been garnering popularity both domestically and internationally.

He also made himself known once by producing the mega-hit debut songs of the red-hot rookie girl group NewJeans, including “Hype Boy,” “Attention,” and “Ditto,” which have gone viral and topped the music charts for weeks.

“NewJeans will be attracting more attention and popularity,” the producer said. “What makes them attractive is the natural charm they emanate without making them be so.”

He then added, “I am not the only one who contributed to NewJeans’ breakout debut. There were wonderful people at each stage of production.”

250 hinted that his new album is already on production. In addition, the producer is expecting to go on a live tour in Japan in June.

“It took so long to come up with my first album “PPONG,” so I will take less time to drop my second album.”

(This article is translated from Korean to English by Ha eun Lee)

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