Korean indie, referring to independent music in South Korea, developed in the 1990s in Hongdae, an area of North-western Seoul. It is widely regarded as the counterpart to K-Pop. At the same time, K-Pop is characterized by a commercialized image targeting a specific audience; Korean indie emphasizes the authentic messages of musicians.
South Korea's first modern wave of indie music began after the end of the military regime in 1987, coinciding with the rise of South Korea's popular culture during the early to mid-1990s. While experienced rock musicians tried to revive their musical careers, the younger generation developed a new punk and rock community in the Hongdae area of Seoul. While mainstream music is excellent, the underground indie artists also deserve due praise. Here are some of the best Indie artists you might like.
1. OFFONOFF
Off On Off is a South Korean duo under YG Entertainment's sub-label HIGHGRND in Seoul, South Korea. The pair consists of 0Channel and Colde, and they're both parts of Club Eskimo, which consists of DEAN, Crush, Millic, Punchnello, Jusen, Chek Parren, 2xxx, and Camper. The group started on Soundcloud before signing with YG Entertainment.
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2. Standing Egg
Standing Egg is an indie acoustic pop band that debuted under Von Entertainment. Standing Egg debuted with a self-titled album in 2010 that consisted of three songs. Doing no promotion, the album reached the public through the group's Twitter, as they used the account to share their music and jokingly asked one of their followers to create a music video for one of their songs, La La La. The follower agreed to the request and created a music video that quickly became popular and ranked on several music charts. Standing Egg is currently one of the most well-known Korean indie musicians, and notable for their ability to rank in music charts with few to no promotions.
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3.The Black Skirts
Jo Hyu Il, known better as The Black Skirts, is an indie rock musician based in Seoul. In 2010, Jo gained notoriety in the Korean indie rock scene upon releasing 201, his first album as The Black Skirts Produced by Kia Eshghi. The album was recorded in his basement. Later that year, he won Best Modern Rock Album at the Korean Music Awards. A special edition of 201 was released on March 18, 2010. In 2016, Jo signed with HIGHGRND but soon left the label to work under his own company Doggy Rich.
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4. DVWN
DVWN (stylized as DA￦N) is a talented indie singer/songwriter/producer that not only makes his music but also writes for K-Pop artists such as Eric Nam. He debuted through Soundcloud, and his album is freely available on Youtube as well. Eric Nam's 'Love Yourself' for It's okay to be Sensitive Drama OST is also co-composed by DVWN. He was also recently announced as being signed to Zico's KOZ Entertainment and worked closely with the CEO himself.
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5. DEAN
No list about Korean indie artists is complete without mentioning Dean. Although he doesn't associate himself with the K-Pop genre, he has become a huge name in the South Korean mainstream industry nonetheless. For Dean, all he cares about is making music that reaches people. His smooth honey voice, lo-fi melodies, and meaningful lyrics have made him a household name in South Korea. In a collaborative track between him, ZICO, Penomeco, and Crush (the hip hop crew Fanxy Child created by ZICO), titled "FANXY CHILD," Dean makes his stance clear:
"Different RNB, RNB / I don't care mainstream or indie scene / We're too big to fit into any system / Year of the monkey crew, FANXY."
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