It's my first time in Seoul What is the music scene here?

K-pop.

Idol.

Oh, K-pop?

Yeah.

Do you listen to music?

R&B.

Rhythm and soul.

[speaking Korean] Ballad and EDM.

EDM.

[speaking Korean] Oh.

Oh.

What does it mean?

-Musician.

I play rock and roll.

Rock and roll?

Wow!

[speaking Korean] “Stephanie Hunt?” Yeah.

Whoa!

Famous!

No.

Actor!

You guys are my hype men.

Yeah!

Okay, There's a car.

♪ ♪ His poetry was born here.

♪ ♪ Yeah.

♪ ♪ [singing] Oppa Gangnam Style [Gangnam Style] ♪ ♪ When most people think of Seoul, the first thing that comes to mind is K-pop.

Back in 2012, PSY blew up the international stage with Gangnam Style.

Fast forward to today, and K-pop is everywhere.

♪ ♪ It's not just music.

I can glow?

This is like the K-pop machine.

It's a whole industry.

Musicians.

Producers.

Performers.

And it's shaping how people dress, act and vibe to the ever evolving, ridiculously cute trends in this city.

As much as I love K-pop's energy, I can't help but wonder what about the artists here who don't follow the formula?

There's got to be someone going against the grain in this huge creative city.

♪ ♪ [singing] ♪ White jeans with leather boots...♪ [singing] Sunglasses and flannel shirts... That's where Love X Stereo comes in.

They're making the music they want to make.

And hanging out in their studio feels so familiar.

Like the kind of creative space I'm used to.

Whoa.

So many synths.

Yeah.

How do you normally do your music?

Do you use instruments?

-Yeah.

Mostly real ones?

-Mostly real ones.

Real ones are the best.

♪ ♪ Korea.

It's like 90% K-pop, slash ballad.

Like, sliver of- not sliver, but like 10% of hip hop.

And the rest is like, like 1%.

If you say indie music, there's a very particular type of music that people like.

So it's like a very candy pop, kind of like acoustic vibe kind of thing.

So minus that and we're the rest.

It's like zero zero something percent.

As a electronic rock band we're a very rare.

Rare breed, I think.

[music] Gotta take it slow this time.

Oh, no, no You don't know where you are, ‘cause you're in my city.

-We actually wrote a song about Seoul City, in 2012 Interestingly that's like the highest viewed of our YouTube videos.

It's like a video that I shot with iPhone 3 or something.

And we were just, you know, just cruising on on a taxi ride.

It's- it has all the feelings that I have about Seoul, but I wouldn't say that's the sound of Seoul, though.

[speaking Korean] -You know, if you think about London or or L.A. or something, you can instantly think of a kind of a sound of an instant kind of sound type of sound.

But if you think about Seoul, he just can't think of anything else than K-pop at the moment.

But it seems really important for you to be holding down this angle of music here.

Our end goal is to meet our audience internationally, not in Korea.

So it's kind of we're in a very weird position because our music is all written in English.

Like nobody really kind of understand.

Like very, very few people.

Understand.

But like I think our fans are more out there.

But I honestly think the sound of Seoul is like like not just K-pop, a hodgepodge of everything.

[acoustic Korean music] [Korean karaoke music] Walking around Seoul, it's clear how much K-pop influences this city.

It makes me wonder, does fame here outshine the value of individual expression?

I feel this pull to connect with artists who march to the beat of their own drum.

♪ ♪ [singing] The nicest thing that's come my way is you.

-Of course, exploring Seoul wouldn't be nearly as fun without my husband Alejandro, by my side.

This city is wildly different from anywhere we've been.

And having him here makes it all the more special.

♪ ♪ [singing] ♪ I wonder which one of us is to blame.

♪ ♪ ♪ The mix of old and new is breathtaking.

I'm surrounded by blocks of incredible street food.

It's a little overwhelming in the best way possible.

-We get our “Lady and the Tramp” moment, Alejandro.

Don't mess it up!

Well, it wasn't long enough.

-I see.

I don't think I can do it.

Wow, these are really good.

I don't know what to do with myself.

It's like a dream come true.

I don't even know what's happening.

[traditional Korean music] Your band name is ADG7.

“Ak Quan..?” -“Ak Dan...” “Ak Dan Gwang Gee” -“Chil” “Chee?” “Chi?” -“Chil” “Chee” [laughing] [music] While K-pop reigns supreme, at present, Seoul's musical roots run deep.

Traditional Korean folk songs, or Minyo, are rich with stories of resilience and perseverance.

ADG seven is a band keeping the folk tradition alive.

They blend chants with fresh melodies.

Their music feels so connected to the past and yet completely alive in the present.

[singing in Korean] I love it.

Wow.

Surround sound trance.

And the name is about the liberation here in Korea.

And your music is so vivacious and has so much energy.

Can you talk a little bit about the energy behind your music and the liberation that you like to display in your music?

So it's kind of helping to realize the traditional music can transform and evolve and move into the future, and that you guys can find a part in the future in that way.

[traditional Korean music] Yeah!

Yeah.

You're preserving something and keeping it alive by playing it and and expressing yourselves, in a new way.

So it's really important.

[Korean love song] -I'm starting to realize that first impressions of Seoul only scratch the surface.

Yes, K-pop is vibrant and energetic, but there's also a very quiet and subdued energy here.

[Korean love song] A rhythm that mirrors the hard working, day to day grind of the city.

♪ ♪ Maybe that's why DJ culture is so big here.

The clubs give people a way to let loose, to escape the monotony.

For a while.

I meet up with DJ Better to learn more about Seoul's underground dance music scene.

-The whole block used to be like factories, like motor factories, car factories, shoe factories, everything.

Oh, wow.

The industrial area.

And they have to make the space get new again.

Yeah, yeah.

-I think that happens a lot So trying to make a lot of hipster places as possible.

There's a motorcycle cafe over there.

♪ ♪ The sound of Seoul as a city.

How would you describe it?

Loud.

Everyone's loud.

Do you ever play K-pop in your sets?

Sorry.

No... You can ask another DJ.

Sorry.

Not me.

What do you see the job of a DJ being?

Yeah.

DJ is watching everyone.

Like what kind of people are on the floor?

Like, oh, so today I'm going to go this way or that way?

Just trying out every tracks.

How do you read a room like that?

You could tell, to be honest.

You could tell if that person is here to dance or that person is coming for me to request the song, you could tell from the eyes.

So where do you think Seoul's music scene is going?

Or how have you seen it change?

Korea is a divided country and our population is not that bigger compared to China and Japan.

So our market is usually, very competitive because of the K wave.

I think more people will get to know us.

I feel like there's also with the competitiveness, it's like there's a sense of perfectionism.

-Yes.

In the culture, like knowing that all the the stars or idols are coming on TV, like the flawless and perfection.

DJs also have to be like that.

If a K-pop singer or idol, she went to get her makeup and hair done and the DJ doesn't, it looks bad.

So I try to be more like -Put together put together for the other DJs too.

It's a high beauty standard here.

-Yes.

It's a little intimidating.

As a female DJ.

I try to like email them, I can you put the words down?

Can you just consider me as a DJ, not a “female DJ?” I don't like that they usually understand that.

So.

♪ Turns out there's this whole community of DJs and artists playing what they want to hear, streaming it all through Soul Community Radio.

It's a friendly, tightknit mix of locals and expats, led by the guy who runs the station.

-When I first started listening to the dance music, it was very it was this kind of taboo thing.

It was, you know, a place where people would go to clubs, take drugs, do naughty things, and, whereas now I think, dance music itself is pop music.

Yeah.

Now house music and going to clubs is pretty normal.

I was say ten years ago, but I'd say Korea, there still is a little bit of that stigma attached to DJs, clubbing and that kind of culture because yes, electronic music came here, came later.

Yeah.

Now it's a fresher, like feels rebellious in the way that it did when it was coming up in other places.

So like, I think one thing to remember is for a while after the Korean War, the only music that was coming into Korea because of trade tariffs and how the world was, was from America.

Right.

So hip hop in Korea could be traced back to some of the stuff that was happening in the army bases of Itaewon.

Korean-Americans, like Drunken Tiger, JK, doing music here.

And then Amoeba Culture, labels like that.

Dynamicduo.

♪ ♪ For electronics, music.

It's like that is a later import which came especially for techno UK based music that came from a lot of people, students going to study at places like Central Saint Martins College in London, meeting people, fraternizing.

Seoul's nightlife is thriving.

Dance clubs aren't just popular, they're a way of life.

-So how would you say the difference between this underground culture of music and K-pop culture, and how the radio stations affect that?

People would think pop music, an underground culture, traditionally did not mix, used to be antithesis of each other.

But then in Korea, a remix by an electronic producer of a K-pop tune can now catapult that produce into vast success.

Of good example is NewJeans and, the producer 250.

-How would you describe the sound of Seoul?

The sound of Seoul is the sound of people letting loose and sort of shaking off those whatever they're doing during the week where they're stuck in an office or they're studying for these really tough exams.

The sounds, I would say the representatives that sort of mish mash and disregard for for what's come before it for me is like a bombastic sound.

It's like a kind of a sound of something growing and having an impact.

And, yeah, a little bit of, I would say a little bit of tongue in cheek and cutesiness to it as well.

♪ ♪ [keyboard music] [singing] It's impossible to be perfect for you, but it's.

All I want to do.

You know, the impossible beauty standards here.

You get some hair on your face.

Oh, no.

It makes you look Not perfect.

Not perfect.

[singing] With the hair on my face.

[singing] “...Heaven” No.

No!

It's not “Stairway to Heaven!” Everybody writes “Stairway to Heaven” once.

No!

Well, it's naturally beautiful.

[upbeat music] Now here's something wild.

There are hundreds of K-pop schools in Seoul, all designed to train performers for their shot at idol life.

These schools are hardcore dance vocals, stage presence.

It's K-pop 24 seven.

I visit one filled with kids from Japan who've left their families and homes to chase their dream.

[speaking Korean} Do you speak English?

-a little.

So what is this about?

Movie.

Movie?

Okay... -At the K-pop Academy we visit, the students study the Korean language, and take Korean cooking classes on top of their music and dance training.

[dance music] The language barrier is real.

I don't speak Japanese.

They don't speak much Korean yet.

But we find a way to connect through dance.

So in school, you don't study any math or science or anything else but just dancing in K-pop, right?

Yes.

Okay.

Do you have a favorite dance move?

Wave.

The wave?

Okay, okay.

[dance music] Oh, wow.

Okay, once more slow.

-That's the magic of K-pop.

You don't need to understand the words to feel the joy in those ridiculously catchy beats.

♪ ♪ [K-pop music] But what's it really like behind the scenes?

Fun!

Everything's cute here.

-to get the scoop, I sit down with a K-pop songwriter and producer who was once an idol himself.

[K-pop music] K-pop exploded.

Maybe 2012 or 13.

And at the time, I was a debuted as a singer, as a member of idol called to “Say Yes.” Oh, really?.

-Yeah.

So you can do the dance moves?

Yeah, sure.

[K-pop music] [singing] Say yes.

[singing] My baby... -So how many songs would you say that you write a month or a week?

I have over 3000, over 3000 demos in my computer, and I usually make new tracks almost every day.

So these are, these are my all of the songs.

So I see like this group called this group is called SF9 in FS entertainment.

And it's a kind of like photo book like this.

Oh, wow.

So when you meet these artists, do you have a lot of compassion for them?

How hard they're working every day?

I can really feel them because sometimes it's really tiring, like on a diet or wearing skinny jeans kind of that.

And also they need to change their color like yellow or even white.

Sometimes.

Is it, -something that you have to follow trends to see what style you want to make, what kind of tracks you want to make next?

Or do you just let yourself be inspired?

Yeah, a trend is kind of life just sort of circle.

So, you know, these days the classic things like old school like how what was the name like in Beyonce's previous group?

Destiny's Child!

Right.

I love Destiny's Child.

That genre is coming back.

For me, like in my personal opinion, K-pop is not K-pop anymore because of so many competition worldwide.

So there are so many western of the Western genre.

Is in the K-pop industry nowadays.

So and as you know, like in the state, there are so many kinds of genre, right?

Like K-pop or R&B or rock or kind of that.

So we don't need to follow the genre, just making it just focused on making good songs, good music.

How do you see K-pop affecting Seoul in the long run?

It getting harder because of worldwide competition.

I'm not a successful writer yet, but I have a bunch of like released songs in this industry.

And also I'm always challenging these as well.

So yeah.

You're doing a good job.

That's why you're here to tell you you're doing a good job.

Thank you.

Yeah.

What is that?

Thank you.

Yeah.

A respectable culture like this.

Yeah.

[karaoke music] [singing] That's life.

That's what all the people say.

Shinging, shimmering splendid A whole new world!

A new fantastic point of view.

But when I'm way up here, it's crystal clear ‘cause now I'm in a whole new world Now I'm in a whole new world!

Unbelieveable sights, da doo doo doo doo Indescribable feeling!

-Singing pop songs from back home is oddly comforting.

It's imperfect.

It's fun.

And it reminds me of the universal power of music to make you feel at home, no matter where you are.

Ninety-nine?

-Seoul is a city of contrasts.

A place where tradition and modernity collide, where bright lights and bop beats coexist with quiet reflection and creative rebellion.

It's an incredibly overwhelming and inspiring place, a trip that I'm sure to not soon forget.

[singing] It's impossible to be perfect for you, but it's all I want to do.

Hide my flaws.... -Some of the students showed me their dance moves, and I learned that they're a lot more disciplined than me.

[laughing]