(Redirected from
Seo Taiji and Boys)
Seo Tai-ji (also spelled Seo Tae-ji) is a wildly popular South Korean singer and musician. Born February 21st, 1972. Blood type O. As a cultural comparison, Tai-ji's levels of popularity in Korea is analog to the popularity of Michael Jackson in the mid-1980s.
Biography
The Early Years
At the age of 14, Tai-ji participated in several amateur rock bands. In 1990, at the age of 17, he was recruited into the underground metal group Sinawi (pronounced shee-nah-wee). Taiji chose to drop out of school, a system that he felt did nothing but corrupt the minds of youth, and become a professional musician.
Seo Tai-ji and Boys Explode
After the break up of Sinawe in 1991, Tai-ji switched gears and formed dance group Seo Tai-ji and Boys (서태지와 아이들) with dancers Lee Jun-o and Yang Hyeon-seok . The introduction of the first Seo Tai-ji and Boys album announced a complete shift in the focus of popular Korean music that is still felt today. Their first single Nan Arayo (난 알아요, "I Know") was a hugely successful hit, being one of the first songs in K-Pop to meld contemporary dance sounds with urban-influenced rap lyrics.
The sound of Seo Tai-ji and Boys' albums was constantly evolving. The first album was very dancey, while the second album began to introduce more hard rock and heavy metal influences, but still remaining mostly a dance album. The first single off of their second album, Hayeoga (하여가) combined heavy metal sounds with traditional sounds of the taepyeongso.
The third album switched gears to being much more heavy metal and rock driven. The danceable tunes are nearly non-existent. Instead, songs such as the extremely controversial Gyosil Idea (교실 이데아, Classroom Idea) took center stage. Gyosil Idea was extremely critical of the Korean education system and its brainwashing of the youth of Korea. Accusations began to fly about Seo Tai-ji and Boys. They were accused of backwards masking Stalinist messages in their songs.
Not backing down, Seo Tai-ji and Boys' fourth album exploded with more controversial songs. Come Back Home was a forray into Korean gangster rap. Shidaeyugam (시대유감, "Regret of the Times") was nearly banned by the Korean Broadcasting Ethics Committee as having lyrics that were considered harmful to the young listeners.
Seo Tai-ji Goes Solo
Seo Tai-ji and Boys broke up in 1997 after four wildly successful studio and two hugely popular live albums. Tai-ji disappeared from the music scene for the next two years moving to New York City, living a low profile and working on his come-back.
In 1998, Tai-ji returned to the music scene with his first solo album, Seo Tai-ji. His self-produced album continued with his long established sound of mixing contemporary American rock and pop music with Korean vocals. His comeback album, while not a huge success, put him back onto the path of greatness.
In 2000, Tai-ji exploded with his hugely popular sixth album, Ultraman. With his new band, he blasts out an album with hardcore, crashing metal tracks. Ultraman, Internet War, and Tank were all huge successes. With the release of his new album, Tai-ji embarked on his first Korean tour since 1996 playing to sold out crowds.
Ultraman was re-released in 2002 with remastered tracks and featured live Tai-ji tracks from the 2002 ETPFEST.
In early 2004, after almost four years, Tai-ji's first all new album 7 was released.
See also
Last updated: 08-17-2005 17:46:59
