K-Pop Beyond The Charts is a weekly review column highlighting Korea's modern day musical innovators who have yet to find mainstream success.
There is nothing within South Korea or without that sounds quite like R&B artist-producer zzapa.
With his trademark deeply empathetic vocalizing over a wash of rap, electronic music and indie rock, zzapa's latest offering "Gotta Get Along Well," released on Thursday, has all of the consistency and creativity that has made the singer a difficult artist to match.
While many of today's aspiring pop stars reach to capture that late night "chill-out vibe" that Frank Ocean, Drake and even Jay Park have ridden to major mainstream success, this sonic terrain seems to flow from zzapa naturally. It is not difficult to imagine hims walking within Seoul's cinematic bar scene on the lookout for epic end-of-evening adventures.
In barely two years as a recording artist, zzapa has carved out a clear sound for himself. Whether it's "Blackout" zzapa's collaboration with rapper Yazzer released back in September, or "Till The Night Is Over," released six months earlier, his music always has a strong center, unfolding at its own pace with enough unexpected twists to keep you honed in.
In "Gotta Get Along Well," one of those nice surprises is the appearance of a crunchy guitar solo in the songs closing seconds reminiscent of '80s rock pioneers like My Bloody Valentine or The Jesus and Mary Chain.
Considering the level of talent zzapa has as both a singer-songwriter, it is surprising he hasn't made a bigger splash commercially. Maybe his music is simply too singular or ahead of its time.
Listen to the new single "Gotta Get Along Well" from South Korean R&B vocalist zzapa RIGHT HERE
