If you’re at all familiar with Korean music charts, you’ll have seen that K-pop isn’t the only popular genre in Korea. In fact, it might just not be the most popular genre.
Korean Trot has been steadily rising to fame again. The genre which originated from the word ‘foxtrot’, was created during the Japanese occupation of Korea in the 20th century. The genre was influenced by various music genres from all around the world.
After the liberation, artists like Lee Mi-Ja, who debuted in 1959 or Nam Jin, who debuted in 1965 were at the helm of its popularity.
Lee Mi-Ja was called the Queen of Trot. She has released over 500 albums. Even I.N from Stray Kids covered her popular song ‘Camellia Girl. In 2013 she received the Eungwan Order of Cultural Merit.
Nam Jin debuted with the album ‘Seoul Playboy’. He is seen as one of the most popular singers of the 60s and 70s. In 2017 he received the Order of Cultural Merits.
Themes
Trot is usually about one of two things. Either it is about love or about missing your home. That makes sense considering its origins lie in the occupation period.
“Please hold me one more time, hold me like my chest will explode, my love battery is out of juice, I need you now”
‘Love Battery’ – Hong Jin Young (2009)
“Rain is falling, my tears are falling, And my lost first love is falling too, In the vague memory of you, You were very quiet and you were getting farther, Although we cannot meet, don’t ever forget about me, I really loved you”
‘Southbound Train’ – Kim Soo Hee (1989)
“There is love, there are partings and there are also tears, Each refrain, each peak, as it is repeated and climbed over, Carrying the stories of us”
‘Four beats’ – Song Dae Kwan (1998)
Present
Nowadays, trot singer Lim Young Woong is insanely popular and has topped the charts with his album ‘IM HERO’. He sold over a million copies of the album and surpassed the previous record of EXO’s Baekhyun with his solo EP ‘Bambi’.
Lim Young Woong gained popularity after the hit show ‘Mr. Trot’. This year he is nominated for several awards including the MAMA’s ‘Best Male Artist’ and the Popularity Award for the Golden Disk Awards.
Trot declined in popularity in the 90s with the rise of popular music that had EDM and Dance influences. However, in the past decade more and more interest is coming back to the genre with popular shows like ‘Mr. Trot’, ‘Miss. Trot’ and ‘Here Comes Trot God’.
On the female side we have Hong Jin Young who is making her own waves in the Trot world. She started off her career in the girl group SWAN, before re-debuting as a Trot singer in 2009. Hong Jin Young has won several awards including MNET’s and Melon Music Awards’ Best Trot Award.
Trot as a genre is definitely not going anywhere. I think it’ll be interesting to see how the K-pop fandom will interact with it once it becomes more and more integrated into content with their favorite idols.
This feature ‘Trot introduction for the uninitiated’ was originally written for our 2023 magazine, which you can purchase here.
