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| ▲This photo, provided by YG Entertainment, shows BLACKPINKT. (PHOTO NOT FOR SALE) (Yonhap) |
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| ▲This photo shows Red Velvet. (Yonhap) |
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| ▲This photo, provided by Higher music, shows Big Naughty. (PHOTO NOT FOR SALE) (Yonhap) |
SEOUL, Sept. 21 (Yonhap) --This year, K-pop hits that sampled popular classical masterpieces, are drawing attention, capturing both familiarity and elegance.
According to sources on Wednesday, girl group BLACKPINK's second album title song "Shut Down" utilized sampling from Paganini's Violin Concerto No. 2, "La Campanella", called "Devil's Violinist"
BLACKPINK added elegant hip-hop beat to the melody of violin, and husky or appealing voices of each members pile up to create new flavor.
"Shut Down" was streamed more than 6.60 million times on Spotify, World's biggest music streaming service, and topped Daily Top Song Global chart. Previously, the song was streamed 1.03 million times on the first day of its release,
The album "BORN PINK" which includes this song is almost certain to rank high positions on Billboard 200.
Lisa said all members knew it would be the lead single when they first heard it.
"We just looked at each other, unable to say a word, when we first listened to the song's introduction. With our eyes, we were saying 'This is the main song.'"
Jennie said, "'Shut Down' took us to the next level of charisma, which we have been showing," adding, "The harmony between Classics and trendy hip hop beat is refreshing and very addictive."
Girl group Red velvet also released pop-dance song "Feel My Rhythm," sampled from Air on the G String by Bach last March, shooting for musical change.
The song, which was mixed with elegant string melodies and intense trap beats, was well-evaluated for maximizing the team's charm ahead of spring at the time. "Feel My Rhythm" became popular, topped music chart despite a setback in activities due to the members testing positive for COVID-19.
Member Seulgi, during an online press conference in last March, said, "It's a good song to show Red Velvet's classic, energetic and challenging colors," adding, "It's a warm and elegant song."
Wendy also said, "By sampling Bach's 'Aria on Line G,' audiences can get familiar and new feeling."
Since the 1990s, SM Entertainment has reinterpreted various classical masterpieces such as H.O.T.'s "Hope" (Behoven Symphony No. 9 "Ode to Joy") and Shinhwa's "T.O.P." (Tchaikovsky's "Swan Lake").
Big Naughty, who grew up to be a musician from a boy rapper from Mnet's hip-hop contest program "Show Me the Money 8," did not sample a specific melody for the title song "Romance Symphony" but included classic vibe to the overall song. The names of classical masters such as Bach, Chopin, Brahms, Beethoven, Schubert, and Mendelssohn appear in the lyrics as well.
Big Naughty, during an interview with Yonhap News in Jun, said, "I usually listen to Jung Trio's music, but this time I looked for romantic musicians," adding, "The music that adds romantic colors to the existing classical format was seemed similar to me."
The artist continued, "Many instruments used in classical music such as string instruments are used in the song," adding, "Just as symphony has more than three movements, the song changes melody like symphony when the part changes from me, Changmo, and Jay Park."
Music experts point out that classical melodies, which boast hundreds of years of history, are like "double-edged swords" when sampling.
Jung Min-jae, a pop music critic, said, "If you use classic music, the advantage is you can connect with the public faster than new songs," but adding, "If the song lacks the originality and charm itself, it can be over-captured by classical melodies. This is why there are more samples from popular music than classical music."
Regarding BLACKPINK's Shut down, he said, "The song repeats the melody of 'La Campanella' throughout the song, which is so intense that BLACKPINK seems to get behind," adding, "In particular, because the is a hip-hop genre centered on beats and rap but not melodies, there was strong sense of dissonance."
(This article is translated from Korean to English by Jiwon Woo.)
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