Emil Hyde

Up until around 1989, it really sucked to be a Korean music fan, as the government maintained strict censorship and even went so far as to ban nearly all live musical performances (because, as you know, rock concerts lead inevitably to rioting, drug use, and all sorts of weird, subversive behavior). Fortunately, the authorities finally loosened up their censorship policies in the nineties, igniting an explosion of pent-up creativity among a new generation of recording artists.

Korean popular music comes in three main flavors: R&B-infused teen pop, hip-hop, and completely insane, freestyle club music (yes, there's Korean rock 'n' roll, but it's generally nothing to write home about). Girl groups such as Baby V.O.X (best described as Korea's answer to both the Spice Girls and En Vogue... check out their fifth album, "Boyish Story," if that interests you) and boy bands like the hilariously named G.O.D do the Xtina/N'Sync thing a million times better than Xtina & N'Sync ever did. Korean hip-hop, meanwhile, has its share of sucka MCs, but also boasts standouts like MC Sniper and the Korean-American duo Drunken Tiger, both of whom could mop the floor with `Lil Flip or 50 Cent in a battle (for a good recent compilation, check out "HipHop In Da Mú:D"). Sure, you won't have a clue what they're saying, but if you just follow the flow, language will cease to be an issue. The production's not half bad, either, mixing in some traditional Korean elements in a way that often resembles RZA's best Eastern-influenced work.

Just be warned that--for God knows what reason--every record released by the Korean major labels has to include one or two unbearably sappy piano ballads, even the gangsta rap albums (though it's funny to hear MC Sniper protest this by screaming tunelessly over a backdrop of easy-listening strings). Don't ask me why they do it--just fast-forward and forget it ever happened.

(2004-06-09)

Also by Emil Hyde

Big Night
It's an unnaturally warm August night, and for whatever reason the block of Western Avenue just south of Division has become the center of gravity for electro music in Chicago
(2003-09-04)

Big nights
As the Logan Square kids light off purple and red fireworks on street corners, the same colors flash from automated spotlights in the party room above the Royal Restaurant. Those inside--boys in pink tank-tops and karate headbands, girls in slashed-up blouses and dagger-point shoes, most under 21--dance, nod, and/or make out to a steady electro thump.
(2003-07-16)

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