Underground Korean R&B Artists Take Over South Korea
Written by Alexa M
Korean R&B artists are taking over and it’s time for you to find out why!
When someone asks you about the music scene in South Korea, what instantly comes to your mind?
Without hesitation and much thought involved, anyone would say Gangnam Style, BTS, or just K-pop.
Fortunately, we’re about to open up a whole new world for you with underground Korean R&B music that has been taking over South Korea in the last few years.
R&B (Rhythm and blues) is a genre of music that was created in African American communities in the 1940s. It was first introduced into Korean culture in the 1990s with the debut of Seo Taiji & the Boys, often considered as the founders of K-pop. They combined elements of Korean music with hip hop and R&B from the United States into their songs. Without even knowing it, they revolutionized the country’s music scene by breaking away from the Japanese folk music influence that dominated the charts for decades.
In “Seoul Music: The Rise of Korean R&B,” a short documentary by Red Bull TV, American singer and songwriter Gallant meets up with South Korean superstar Lee Hi, rapper/producer Tablo, DJ Soulscape and JINBO the SuperFreak. As a performer in the genre of contemporary R&B, Gallant wanted to learn more about the recently emerging KR&B scene.
Korean R&B mainly consists of underground artists who write and produce their own music. Compared to K-pop artists, underground artists also promote themselves in other countries, collaborating with other artists from all over the world. This genre has caught the attention of many Western artists, such as Gallant, Honne, Anderson .Paak, Syd, and Zak Abel. Some of the more known names in this genre include Zion.T, Dean, Penomeco, Suran, Samuel Seo, and Rad Museum.
You can discover many soulful artists in this genre and fall in love with their songs, without even understanding the lyrics! Just listen and let the music take over you.
Now that you’ve learned a bit more about Korean R&B, you can check out some of these amazing songs by underground Korean R&B artists:
As you can tell, underground Korean R&B can be extremely diverse based on the artist you choose to listen to! It’s a fun genre where artists experiment with their music and sometimes add funky elements that can make your day brighter.
We hope that our song suggestions will make staying at home more enjoyable wherever you are! Keep calm, stay safe, and listen to music. ;)
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