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| ▲ This file photo shows Seo Tai-ji. (Yonhap) |
SEOUL, Mar. 7 (Yonhap) – “Culture president” Seo Tai-ji will mark the 30th debut anniversary this month.
Seo Tai-ji, a former bassist of band Sinawe, formed the group Seo Taiji and Boys with Yang Hyun-suk(founder of YG Entertainment) and Lee Juno and debuted with its first album on Mar. 23, 1992.
The title song "I Know," which is written, composed, and arranged by Seo, is considered a smash hit song in history that transformed the music scene, which centered on ballad and trot, into dance music.
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| ▲ This file photo shows the first album of Seo Taiji and Boys. (Yonhap) |
The song, where unique choreography of “Tornado dance” come together with rap and electronic music that were unfamiliar at that time, received favorable reviews from teenagers.
Soon after, “You, In the Fantasy,” an unconventional song that was entirely made up of rap, also made a smash hit, sweeping the major year-end awards ceremonies in the first year of the group’s debut.
Since then, Seo Taiji and Boys drew sensational attention with every song they released for nearly 4 years, including Hayeoga”(1993), which combines heavy metal and Music of Korea, "To You"(1993), which was covered by Sung Si-kyung as a soundtrack for the drama “Reply 1994,” "Dreaming of Bal-Hae"(1994), which was featured in textbooks and played at the farewell ceremony of Inter-Korean Summit, and “Classroom Idea”(1994), a rock song that criticizes cramming education, “Come Back Home”(1995), which rails against societal pressures on young people with gangster rap, and “Must Triumph”(1995), a song that the group performed as a 3-member alternative rock band.
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| ▲ This file photo shows Seo Taiji and Boys. (Yonhap) |
The singer, who left for America after announcing his sudden retirement in January, 1996, dropped the alternative rock music with his first solo album “Take Five” in 1998, and set records of selling over a million copies with non-mainstream hardcore rock songs, including “Ultramania” and “Internet War,” which were released after his comeback in Korea in 2000.
After the comeback, the Korean music industry has shifted to dance music, which paved the way for K-pop today.
The singer’s history of writing, composing, and arranging all of his albums directly influenced the emergence of "self-produced idols." The "comeback pattern" of releasing an album and halting performances to prepare for the next album also originated from Seo Taiji and Boys.
It is also Seo's contribution to the abolition of Korean censorship law as the satirical lyrics of “Regret of the Times” from the group’s fourth album got rejected by the Korean Art and Culture Ethics Committee in 1995 and the group removed the lyrics and featured the song in the album as the mark of protest.
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| ▲ This photo, provided by Seo Taiji Company, shows Seo Tai-ji and BTS at Seo's 25th debut anniversary concert in 2017. (PHOTO NOT FOR SALE) (Yonhap) |
Moreover, the singer broke the record with his advertising fees of 1.5 billion won in 2000, and his marriage and divorce were revealed late in 2011, hitting the entertainment industry.
Seo also told BTS, which performed the stage together at the 25th debut anniversary concert in 2017, "Now, it is your generation.”
The pop music critic Kim Do-hun said, “Seo Tai-ji is the beginning of all K-pop idol groups, and his debut should be recognized as a significant moment of paving the way for K-pop today.
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