The nominees for the 17th annual Korean Music Awards were announced today at 11am, KST. The nominated albums and songs have been selected from albums and songs released between December 1st 2019 and November 30th 2019 The Korean Music Awards do not take sales into consideration and the winners are determined by a panel of music critics and industry experts, making it a Korean version of the Grammy’s. This year the ceremony will take place Thursday February 27th.

Album of the Year

• C JAMM – 킁 (Keung)
• Lim Kim – Generasian
• The Black Skirts – Thirsty
• Yerin Baek- Our Love is Great
• Jannabi – 전설 (Legend)

Artist of the Year

• Lim Kim
• Kim Oki
• Kim Hyun Chul
• BTS
• Yerin Baek
• Jannabi

Song of the Year

• AKMU – “어떻게 이별까지 사랑하겠어, 널 사랑하는 거지 (How Can I Love The Heartbreak, You’re The One I Love)”
• Lim Kim – “Sal-ki”
• BTS feat. Halsey – “작은 것들을 위한 시 (Boy With Luv)”
• Yerin Baek – “그건 아마 우리의 잘못은 아닐거야 (Maybe It’s Not Our Fault)”
• Jannabi – “주저하는 연인들을 위해 (For Lovers Who Hesitate)”

Rookie of the Year

• Itzy
• Net Gala
• Sogumm
• Lee Joo Young
• Chun Yongsung

Best Rock Album

• The Bowls – If We Live Without Romance
• Goonam – 모래내판타지 (Moraenae Fantasy)
• Black Hole – Evolution
• Oh Chill – Oh, Two Animals
• Jambinai – Onda
• National Pigeon Unity – 999

Best Rock Song

• Jambinai – “온다 (Onda)”
• National Pigeon Unity – “끼리끼리 (Same Same)”
• Sonic Stones – “Chocolate Milk”
• Se So Neon – “집에 (Go Back)”
• Oh Chill – “Oh, Two Animals”

Best Modern Rock Album

• 9 And The Numbers – 서울시 여러분 ()
• The Black Skirts – Thirsty
• Rock N Roll Radio – You’ve Never Had It So Good
• Thornapple – 계몽 (Enlightenment)
• Jannabi – 전설 (Legend)

Best Modern Rock Song

• The Black Skirts – “섬 (Queen of Diamonds)”
• Decadent – “링구 (Lingu)”
• Rock N Roll Radio – “Take Me Home”
• Thornapple – “2월 (February)”
• Jannabi – “주저하는 연인들을 위해 (For Lovers Who Hesitate)”

Best Metal & Hardcore Album

• Eighteen April – Voices
• Various Artists – Black Hole Tribute – Re-encounter The Miracle
• Madman’s Esprit – Glorifying Suicide
• Method – Definition of Method
• Chain Reaction – Features / Creatures

Best Pop Album

• AKMU – 항해 (Sailing)
• Kim Hyun Chul – 돛 (Sale)
• Yerin Baek- Our Love Is Great
• OOHYO – 성난 도시로부터 멀리 (Far From The Maddening City)
• Taeyeon – Purpose
• cacophony – 夢 (Dream)

Best Pop Song

• AKMU – “어떻게 이별까지 사랑하겠어, 널 사랑하는 거지 (How Can I Love The Heartbreak, You’re The One I Love)”
• Itzy – “달라달라 (Dalla Dalla)”
• (G)i-dle – “Lion”
• BTS feat. Halsey – “작은 것들을 위한 시 (Boy With Luv)”
• Yerin Baek – “그건 아마 우리의 잘못은 아닐거야 (Maybe It’s Not Our Fault)”

Best Dance & Electronic Album

• Lim Kim – Generasian
• NET GALA – re:FLEX*ion
• Various Artists – Gookbo 3ho
• jangmyungsun – 이르고 무의미한 고백 (A Premature And Meaningless Confession)

Best Dance & Electronic Song

• Lim Kim – “Sal-ki”
• NET GALA – “Quarrel”
• Peggy Gou – “Starry Night”
• Pierre Blanche – “Combat”
• Two Tone Shape – “Constant”

Best Rap & Hip-Hop Album

• C JAMM – 킁 (Keung)
• E Sens – 이방인 (The Stranger)
• Futuristic Swaver – BFOTY
• XXX – Second Language
• CHOILB – 오리엔테이션 (Orientation)

Best Rap & Hip-Hop Song

• E Sens – “그XX아들같이 (Son of a)”
• Mushvenom – “왜 이리 시끄러운 것이냐” (Prod. SLO)
• BewhY – “가라사대 (Gottasadae)”
• Bill Stax – “Idungivaㅗ”
• YUMDDA – “돈 Call Me” (Prod. BRLLNT)

Best R&B & Soul Album

• Colde – Love Part 1
• dress, sogumm – Not My Fault
• sogumm – Sobrightttttttt
• Samuel Seo – The Misfit
• Sumin – OO DA DA

Best R&B & Soul

• Colde – “와르르 ♥ (WA R R)”
• Jclef – “Mama, See”
• Brown Eyed Seoul – “그대의 밤, 나의 아침 (Night and Day)”
• sunwoojunga – “Classic”
• Sumin – “Stardust”

Best Folk Album

• Emon – 네가 없어질 세계 (The World Without You)
• Yeoyu and Seolbin – 노래는 저 멀리 (All Our Lives)
• Lazyblood – 서럽다 꿈같다 우습다 (Sad Dreamy Funny)
• Lee Joo Young – 이주영 (Lee Joo Young)
• Chun Yongsung – 김일성이 죽던 해 (Year of Kim Il-Sung’s Death)

Best Folk Song

• Kwon Tree – “새로운 날 (New Day)”
• Lazyblood – “윤식이 나간다 (Go Yoonsik Go)”
• Lee Joo Young – “오후에 (Heart)”
• Jeongmilla – “무명無名”
• Chun Yongsung – “대설주의보 (Heavy Snow Watch)”

Best Jazz Album

• Trio Works – Gunsan Gaka
• Kim Oki – 스피릿선발대 (Spirit Advance Unit)
• Youn Sun Nah – Immersion
• JB Liberation Amalgamation – JB Liberation Amalgamation
• Youngjoo Song & Sunny Kim – Tribute

Best Crossover Album

• NST & The Soul Sauce meets Kim Yulhee – Version
• Black String – Karma
• Jung-min Seo – Home
• SB Circle – Topology
• Ji Park – DMZ

Best Jazz & Crossover Performance

• Pureum Jin – The Real Blue
• Trio Works – Gunsan Gaka
• JB Liberation Amalgamation – JB Liberation Amalgamation
• Black String – Karma
• Lee Myoung Gun Trio – 좋은게 좋은거지 (Something Good Is Good)
• Minki Cho – Invisible

 
All nominated songs currently available on Spotify can be found in Indieful ROK’s KMA2020 Song Nominees playlist. All nominated albums currently available on Spotify can be found in Indieful ROK’s KMA2020 Album Nominees playlist

The nominees for the 16th annual Korean Music Awards were announced today at 11am, KST. The nominated albums and songs have been selected from albums and songs released between December 1st 2017 and November 30th 20178 The Korean Music Awards do not take sales into consideration and the winners are determined by a panel of music critics and industry experts, making it a Korean version of the Grammy’s. This year the ceremony will take place on Tuesday February 26th.

Album of the Year

• Mid-Air Thief – 무너지기 (Crumbling)
• Life And Time – Age
• BTS – Love Yourself 結: Answer
• Say Sue Me – Where We Were Together
• Jang Pil-Soon – soony eight: 소길花
• Huckleberry Finn – 오로라피플 (Aurora People)

Song of the Year

• Mommy Son – “소년점프 (Sonny Jump)” (feat. Bae Gi Seong)
• BTS – “Fake Love”
• BTS – “Idol”
• Say Sue Me – “Old Town”
• Kiha & The Faces – “그건 니 생각이고 (That’s Just What You Think)”
• Hyukoh – “Love Ya!”

Artist of the Year

• Kim Sawol
• BTS
• Say Sue Me
• Sunji Lee
• Jang Pil-Soon

Rookie of the Year

• Haon
• Jclef
• Mothervibes
• Motte
• Airy
• Wussami

Best Rock Album

• Life And Time – Age
• Superstring – Architecture
• Asian Chairshot – Ignite
• H a lot – H a lot
• Plugged Classic – Sabai

Best Rock Song

• Life and Time – “잠수교 (Jamsugyo)”
• Asian Chairshot – “빙글뱅글 (Round and Round)”
• H a lot – “If You Ask Me”
• H a lot – “Prom”
• Hangsuk & Boogiemonster – “난 뚱뚱해 (I’m Fat)”

Best Modern Rock Album

• ADOY – Love
• Decadent – 데카당 (Decadent)
• Say Sue Me – Where We Were Together
• Jaurim – 자우림 (Jaurim)
• Huckleberry Finn – 오로라피플 (Aurora People)

Best Modern Rock Song

• Night Off – “리뷰 (Review)”
• Say Sue Me – “Old Town”
• Kiha & The Faces – “그건 니 생각이고 (That’s Just What You Think)”
• Huckleberry Finn – “누구인가 (Who Is It)”
• Hyukoh – “Love Ya!”

Best Metal & Hardcore Album

• Dark Mirror Ov Tragedy – The Lord Ov Shadows
• Day Of Mourning – This Too Will Pass
• Noeazy – Triangle
• Memnoch – Command Hallucination

Best Pop Album

• BoA – Woman
• BTS – Love Yourself 結: Answer
• Uhm Jung Hwa – The Cloud Dream of the Nine
• Lee Moon Sae – Between Us
• Lee Jin-Ah – 진아식당 Full Course (Jinah Restaurant Full Course)
• Jang Pil-Soon – soony eight : 소길花

Best Pop Song

• ADOY – “Wonder”
• Red Velvet – “Bad Boy”
• BTS – “Fake Love”
• BTS – “Idol”
• Heize – “Jenga” feat. Gaeko

Best Dance & Electronic Album

• Two Tone Shape – Shapes
• Mid-Air Thief – 무너지기 (Crumbling)
• Lofibaby – N
• Byul.org – 주인 없는 금 (Nobody’s Gold)
• Yeseo – Damn Rules
• Kirara – Sarah

Best Dance & Electronic Song

• Pure 100% – “Apollo” (feat. Cenji & Juu)
• Two Tone Shape – “Color Penetration”
• Aseul – “Seoul Girl”
• Yeseo – “Honey, Don’t Kill My Vibe”
• Kirara – “걱정 (Worries)”

Best Rap & Hip-Hop Album

• Justhis & Paolalto – 4 the Youth
• XXX – Language
• Bassagong – 탕아 (Tang-A)
• Illinit – Cosmos
• JaeDal – Period

Best Rap & Hip-Hop Song

• HAON – “붕붕 (Boong-Boong)” (feat. Sik-K, GroovyRoom)
• Justhis & Paloalto – “Switch”
• XXX – “간주곡 (Ganju Gok)”
• Mommy Son – “소년점프 (Sonny Jump)” (feat. Bae Gi Seong)
• Hwaji – “나 빼 (Nappe)”

Best R&B & Soul Album

• Horim – Metro City
• Jclef – Flaw, Flaw
• Naul – Sounds Doctrine
• Sumin – Your Home
• Hippy was Gipsy – 언어 (Language)

Best R&B & Soul

• Jclef – “지구 멸망 한 시간 전”
• Sumin – “너네 집 (Your Home)” (feat. Xin Seha)
• George – “하려고해고백 (gohaegoback)”
• Hoody – “Sunshine” (feat. Crush)
• Hippy was Gipsy – “침대 (Bed)”

Best Folk Album

• Kang Asol – 사랑의 시절 (The Day of Love)
• Kim Dong San – 서울 수원 이야기 (Seoul Suwon Story)
• Kim Sawol – 로맨스 (Romance)
• Kim Haewon – 바다와 나의 변화 (Sea And Myself)
• Yuha – 젊은이
• Hwang Puha – 자화상 (Self-portrait)

Best Folk Song

• Kang Asol – “섬 (Island)”
• Kim Sawol – “누군가에게 (Someone)”
• Yuha – “인부1”
• Jang Pil-Soon – “저녁 바다”
• Hwang Puha – “자화상 (Self-portrait)”

Best Jazz Album

• Nam Yoosun – Strange, But Beautiful You
• Youngjoo Song – Late Fall
• Bongwool Lee – My Singing Fingers
• Sunji Lee – Song of April
• Sumin Jung – Neo-liberalism

Best Crossover Album

• Near East Quartet – Near East Quartet
• Kimsora – 비가 올 징조 (A Sign of Rain)
• Ju Won Park – The Last Rumba
• Park Jiha – Philos
• Hyunphil Shin X Heean Ko – Dear Chopin

Best Jazz & Crossover Performance

• Near East Quartet – Near East Quartet
• Ko Heean Trio – Dancing Without Moving
• Soojin Suh – Strange Liberation
• Youngjoo Song – Late Fall
• Jungsu Choi Tiny Orkester – Tschüss Jazz Era

All nominated songs currently available on Spotify can be found in Indieful ROK’s KMA2019 Song Nominees playlist. All nominated albums currently available on Spotify can be found in Indieful ROK’s KMA2019 Album Nominees playlist

Two months ago, K-pop Killers, a documentary exploring South Korea’s underground metal scene, screened in Seoul at the G-15 Sonnendeck night club. Directed by Ian Henderson, he and cameraman Michael O’Dwyer worked on the film since November 2016. After recently getting a chance to see the result, I had to get in contact with both of them to let them share their thoughts on this passion project.

What inspired you to start working on this documentary?

Ian: I’ve been thinking of it for 10 years, being into docs and metal, and living in Korea. I realized I was watching a fundamental shift in real time and wanted to get on it before it was too late.

Mike: I’ve actually been a bit of a blogger/writer/photographer for years and I’ve written articles about the Korean metal scene in the past like this one. When I discovered that there was a vibrant underground music scene in Korea that rivals or exceeds Japan’s I was astonished that there was almost no English coverage on it.  For years actually I thought about making a coherent documentary about it.

 
Why did you go with the title K-pop Killers?

Ian: Everyone hated the original working title of K-Metal, we tried to go with the band Fecundation‘s slogan Death Metal and Soju but they wanted to keep it just for them, K-Pop Killers just came to me in a moment of inspiration.

Mike: The title was literally one of the hardest things to agree on.  We really wanted a name that summed up the subject, was recognizably Korean and had an edgy metal sound. The subjects of the documentary are musicians that are trying to make music in the crushing shadow of K-Pop. K-Pop permeates Korean society in a way that’s hard to describe to outsiders. When a K-Pop idol group has a hit their images are in commercials, newspaper ads, gameshows, sing songs at sports events, etc all at the same time. So these underground musicians are the total opposite of that. They toil and actually get active resistance by people for their long hair, tattoos, etc. Ian, my partner on the project, and I would just brainstorm names until we narrowed it down to K-Pop Killers.

Fecundation at GBN Live House, 2016. Courtesy of Michael O’Dwyer

What were some of the biggest difficulties you had when making the film?

Ian: At first, technical shit, like audio levels, camera exposure, scheduling. Since then I personally have had uphill battles with audio levels, learning about festivals, etc. It’s been a steep learning curve in every way.

Mike: Scheduling. I was living outside of Seoul in a small town that was a 3 hour bus ride to Seoul. Every weekend we would coordinate plans to maximize our time together and knock out shoots, interviews, etc. And likewise trying to align our schedules with our subjects.

 
Were there any bands or artists you wanted to interview but couldn’t get in contact with?

Ian: Kim Do-soo of Oathean, but luckily I was able to use an old interview of him a friend had done years ago.

Mike: Yes! Well before I moved to Korea I was into the the Korean thrash metal band, Crash. They play really infrequently these days but I saw them a number of times. I tried really hard to get in contact with them and unfortunately there was no response on their end. I think they could sense the “fanboy” vibe I must have been giving off. There are other artists that I contacted but for different reasons they felt uncomfortable speaking on camera, some of that I really think was the fear of being “outed” as a metalhead or a metal musician. That if appeared on video talking about their music they would get harassed by netizens/trolls.

 
Is there any particular moment in the film that you’re especially proud of how it turned out?

Ian: The sequence where Binna (ex-Ishtar, Psychanical Dreamers) is talking about her new pansori song and wanting to put something Korean into it, that whole sequence. And the whole ending segment, plus why they like metal.

Mike: Just the way documentaries work there’s a lot of footage that you liked but doesn’t fit in but I’m really happy overall that the stories of these struggling artists got told. If I had to narrow it down to one moment it would be the “metal noraebang/karoake” scene. A big difference between the Korean metal scene and others that I’ve encountered is that the bands and fans usually hang out and drink together after shows and that singing room full of metal heads screaming along to Metallica‘s “Enter Sandman” just encapsulated the really fun, communal vibe of the Korean scene. And that scene just encapsulates the sense of community this indie scene has. Every other room in that karaoke/noraebang (Korean word for Karaoke) bar had people singing K-Pop songs and then there’s that one room where Metallica and Dio was blasting! It was a safe space for everyone in there to really cut loose where they usually had to go along with popular things they may not enjoy. Half the room was band members and the other half were audience members and there’s no hierarchy or irony. Just pure joy from people having a good time together. It was actually a fairly common event to witness but a hard to authentically capture as you can imagine.

 
Which countries can we expect the film getting screened in?

Ian: Who knows but I’ve entered it into 30 festivals on every continent except Antarctica, so we’ll see. Updates coming.

Mike: That depends on a lot of things. The film is in its film festival screening stage of the independent film life cycle. These film festivals that deal with independent films have a great number of rules on screening and releases so at this point there are no plans for a “wide release” and hopefully there will be an “Internet release” before the end of 2018.

 
Now that K-pop Killers has finally premiered, what’s the reception been like so far?

Ian: K-Pop Killers has NOT premiered. Hence I’ve been extremely guarded about who has access to it. Festivals are prudish about this type of thing. Technically we had a “cast and crew screening” and I’ve encouraged Michael to use the same language if he shows the film anywhere. Basically the only way anyone other than festivals should be able to see it is if one of us is there in person with it. But the reception has been overwhelmingly positive. Sometimes even people really, really, love it.

Mike: With any kind of story about an “under dog”, like an underground, rebellious music scene in a very conservative country there is some kind of controversy. And the documentary tries to summarize a huge, vibrant artistic scene so not everyone is going to be shown. But nothing is perfect and I’m hoping by shining a light on the overall scene that everyone will be able to get some attention. Overall, every musician that’s seen the movie was personally touched by it.

 
After the screening, a Q&A session was held. Which questions stood out to you the most?

Ian: Everyone kept buying me congratulatory tequila shots, which in retrospect seemed an underhanded gift hahahaha. I got wasted, Hee-ju of Imperial Domination was wasted and trying to translate, and the whole thing devolved into a shitshow. But people said it was entertaining. I do remember someone asking where the abandoned amusement park was and Jon Dunbar screaming for me not to say cause he likes to keep all that kind of stuff secret hahaha.

Mike: I had a really interesting question, it was “What’s the most difficult thing these musicians face as underground musicians?” And a common thing I would hear from musicians was that they often received direct criticism on their appearance from strangers. Having long hair and beards for men gets you openly stared at or rude comments. Not always, but it happens, and these Korean metalheads would learn to ignore it. Women wearing rock ‘n roll/goth/metal fashion often get nasty comments or serious unwanted attention from creeps. To decide to express yourself and stand out in Korean culture is a huge act of will. In Europe, Canada, USA, etc if you have long hair and wear a metal t-shirt no one really bats an eye. They just think “That guy or girl likes metal music.” In Korea it’s much more “What is that guy doing? Who does he think he is? How dare he look like that!” That’s really what I think as a casual viewer (not someone who is into metal/underground music) would take away from the documentary. That rebellion in Korea is more difficult and a huge struggle for these artists.

Film screening in Seoul. Image source: daehanmindecline.com

You’ve mentioned that the film will be available for streaming – which services will this be for? Additionally, will the film be released on DVD or Blu-ray?

Ian: It’ll be officially posted on my Norse Rage Youtube channel, since it was done under the Norse Rage production company. MAYBE Vimeo. But after the festival run I want to put it out there for free and get as much exposure as possible. And no plans for hard copies. It’s already a money losing enterprise and that would just exacerbate it. No delusions of grandeur here. I just want a good festival run, network with some people, and put it out there.

Mike: I’m really sorry I don’t have clear answers for this at the moment. All that will be decided in the future. Indie films always have a great deal of uncertainty around them that is very frustrating. For the filmmakers and audience alike. Once it’s made the rounds in festivals it will eventually be available on DVD/streaming through an online retailer like Amazon or similar service.

 
If you had to pick your favorite Korean metal band, which would it be and why?

Ian: Method. They’re super tight, I love the style (melodic death/thrash?) and of all the bands they need to break out bigtime. In fact, the rumor mill says one of their old members quit because the band is unwilling to take the next leap and tour Europe/the States.

Mike: Oooooooh….that’s Sophie’s choice there. I can’t choose a favorite as there are so many that I just love. These days I listen to a lot of harder black metal, grindcore, and death metal so I typically have Fecundation, Seed, Imperial Domination, Method, Kryphos, Huquemsaw, Wasp Sting Danger, and Traitor in my rotation at any given time. On the melodic side I really dug Ishtar a lot. Ishtar was a band that is almost unique in Korea for their operatic/melodic metal. There’s a lot more and I’ll have to stop for now.

 
Aside from metal, what other types of Korean artists do you enjoy?

Ian: None really. I’m kind of interested in old mournful pansori and the gayageum.

Mike: I think the Korean indie scene in general is really vibrant and worth exploring. I really like an alt-pop band called Love X Stereo. They’ve even played in Texas at SXSW. There’s also this amazing Korean version of rockabilly, ska, and punk that is really fun and interesting. I really like a rockabilly band called StreetGuns, Guckastan Rudiestika, and classic punk band No Brain.

 
Earlier this year, Emma Kelly of Metro posted an article about how people who get interested in K-pop will then in turn get into Korea’s indie scene. Do you think that would include Korean metal?

Ian: Doubt it. I know a very small number of people who like both, but as illustrated in the film, they’re fundamentally juxtaposed and at odds I think.

Mike: Yes…that is my hope. That’s really my impetus for the whole documentary, my photo projects (Bleeding Kimchi), the podcast, the articles I’ve written. Everything. That there is a huge amount of international attention right now that is focused on K-Pop. And if just a fraction of that huge fan base gets interested in Korea’s indie scene that would be amazing. I think K-Pop is a very interesting genre but it’s always going to be very formulaic, processed, and built to be consumed. But if you have interest in that and you also want music that is authentic and was made with artistic intent and expression then why not dive into the Korean indie scene. Just by living in Korea I can sing a bunch of 2NE1 (an older idol band) songs off the top of my head and they’re pretty catchy. But I never listen to them when I’m thinking or want to feel a mood. And, I’m probably biased, but there is a ton of really interesting music happening in Korea that I think is just shameful that it’s not getting more attention. I see Texas bands play sloppy performances and I think about how many tight, on point Korean metal bands would just blow the roofs off the Texas shows I’ve been to.

 
Since the film finished, there have been many new Korean bands forming, like those part of the black metal circle Kvlt of Black Maria. Would you consider making a follow-up to K-pop Killers focusing on bands like this?

Ian: Ha! I had no idea about them. I don’t think so. You never know, there might be a follow-up in the future, but this was not only my love letter to Korean metal, but me kind of stepping out of actively going to shows all the time, etc. I’m 37 and metal is becoming just a part of my life instead of one of the major focuses. So yeah. And I’ll be leaving Korea at the beginning of next year.

Mike: Yes! I’ve been developing ideas on how to properly do that and for now I’m starting a podcast that will focus on Korean indie/underground bands. It’s here. The first episode was also to hype up a show on my photography so the band that was interviewed was Texan but after that every episode will feature interviews in English with Korean bands along with a selection of Korean indie/underground music. Not just metal, but punk, alt-pop, etc. Hoping to release an episode every 2 weeks. I’m hoping to produce more music videos in the future so hopefully I’ll produce music videos of Korean bands as well. But for right now the Bleeding Kimchi podcast will be the vehicle to tell stories that K-Pop Killers wasn’t able to due to timing.

A music video directed by Michael

 
Do you have any projects planned for the future?

Ian: Indeed. I just received a whole bunch of new equipment in the mail and am in pre-production on my next project. I’m not revealing what it is yet but it’s a documentary set in Korea and I’ll have the shooting in the can in the next 6 months and probably edit it from somewhere else. Basically Norse Rage Films has officially stepped up its game after dabbling for years and I’m planning on putting out docs for the rest of my life.

Mike: At the moment I’m in school trying to get my USA teacher certification so I’m a little busy but I am starting the Bleeding Kimchi podcast, as I mentioned earlier. It’s here. As well as my concert photography, music video production, etc. I’ve moved to Texas as of now and don’t have plans to make a documentary here, I am trying to get a horror movie that’s been in my head for years, onto paper. But that’s all in the planning stages. As for now I highly encourage anyone that is interested in K-Pop Killers and Korean metal/indie music to check out the Bleeding Kimchi podcast. Thanks.

Thanks for letting me interview you! Please introduce yourself to our readers.

My pleasure, thank you for the opportunity! My name is ARTLOVER and I’m a female rapper from South Korea. I’m quite new to the scene and my debut single “Want U back” has just been released!

Seeing as the Korean indie scene has a complicated relationship to the term, what were your thoughts behind labeling your music as K-pop?

I think K-pop is a great way of bringing Korea out to the world so I don’t really have a problem with that label. Also, if people label my music K-pop that’s fine because it sounds wildly different from anything else in that genre at the moment so from that perspective it’s easy for me to stand out from the crowd.

 
There aren’t many K-pop artists hailing from the UK besides Shannon Williams and Seo Herin, so how do you feel representing your country in this industry?

I feel great about it, I’m very proud of my Korean roots and I use traditional elements in my music creation all the time. Being in London also helps me because it’s a multicultural city and I can include many different inspirations for all over the world.

 
As a rapper, who are your main influences?

Eminem and G-Dragon, I like listening to and watching their performances.

 
In your interview with Eat This Music, you said you would sing cover songs when coming home from work. Which songs would you typically cover?

• Madonna – “Borderline”
• Sia – “Elastic heart”
• Sam Smith – “I’m not the only one”
• Amy Winehouse – “Valerie”
• Adele – “When we were young”

You also mentioned a music video would be released for your debut song Want U Back. What has the filming process been like?

We shot it in the Swedish countryside and used retro clothes and elements. I did creative direction etc and we managed to finish it up in a few days. It was a challenge at first to act in front of the camera but after a couple of hours I was like a fish in the water.

 
For the song itself, you went for a retro feeling. What other styles of music you would like to try?

I would like to try strong punk style, like people from Camden Town in London but with a classic 80’s twist.

 
What can you tell us about your upcoming EP?

It will follow in the same vein as this first single but with some slight variations musically, influences from Rock, Jazz, Hip-Hop and Soul. I’ve written most of it with Swedish writer/producer Max Billion who wrote “Rocksteady” by Mike Perry and “Boots” by DIMA. I’ve also involved Tae-Seop Lee (Twice and Day6) from JYP.

 
Are there any artists or producers in particular you would like to work with?

If he was still alive Micheal Jackson would be the ultimate collab. I like the style of producer Park Jin-Young or Benny Blanco.

 
Where do you see yourself touring in the near future?

I would be amazing to tour anywhere but I think I will start with the UK, followed by Korea and at some point the US.

Today, February 28th, the winners of the 15th Korean Music Awards were announced.

Album of the Year: Kang Taegu – bleu
Song of the Year: Hyukoh – “Tomboy”
Artist of the Year: BTS
Rookie of the Year: Se So Neon
Best Rock Album: Lowdown 30 – B
Best Rock Song: Se So Neon – “파도 (The Wave)”
Best Modern Rock Album: Hyukoh – 23
Best Modern Rock Song: Hyukoh – “Tomboy”
Best Metal & Hardcore Album: Abyss – Recrowned
Best Pop Album: IU – Palette
Best Pop Song: Red Velvet – “빨간 맛 (Red Flavor)”
Best Dance & Electronic Album: Idiotape – Dystopian
Best Dance & Electronic Song: CIFIKA – “My Ego”
Best Rap & Hip Hop Album: Viann X Khundi Panda – 재건축 (Reconstruction)
Best Rap & Hip Hop Song: Woo Won Jae feat. LOCO & GRAY – “시차 (We Are)”
Best R&B & Soul Album: Hippy was Gipsy – 나무 (Tree)
Best R&B & Soul Song: Rico – “Paradise”
Best Folk Album: Kang Taegu – bleu
Best Folk Song: Kang Taegu – “그랑블루 (bleu)”
Best Jazz Album: Lee Jiyeun Contemporary Jazz Orchestra – Feather, Dream Drop
Best Crossover Album: Han Seung Seok & Jung Jaeil – 끝내 바다에 (and there, the sea at last)
Best Jazz & Crossover Performance: Hogyu Hwang Quartet – Straight, No Chaser

The full list of nominees was announced beginning of February.

The 15th Korean Music Awards are closing in and time has come for me to follow Cessa and Jung in offering my predictions for who the winners will be. This is always a fun exercise to me, especially so this year when I’ve been extra clueless about what goes on outside of my usual rock and folk bubbles.

Album of the Year

Like Jung I would’ve guessed that Sister’s Barbershop would show up in this category, but I’m not at all surprised to find The Black Skirts, Hyukoh, and Kim Mokin here as all seemed reasonably popular throughout the various year-end lists I’ve come across for 2017.

Personal Pick: I had kind of hoped to see PAKK‘s Salpuri nominated here, which seemed sort of possible after Music Y named it the top album of 2017.
Since that’s not the case, I don’t hesitate to pick Kang Taegu‘s bleu as it also made my shortlist for album of the year.

Prediction: This category seems to favor releases also found in the Modern Rock section, which means it’s likelier to be either The Black Skirts or Hyukoh. Considering the nomination for Artist of the Year, I’ll go ahead and guess that Hyukoh will win here.

Song of the Year

I don’t usually feel as lost with this category as I did this year and from the nominated tracks would only have been able to recognize Hyukoh’s Tomboy if I’d heard them anywhere. This might be an indication that I should try to expose myself to a wider range of music this year.

Personal Pick: Even after listening through all of the nominated songs, however, I still prefer to listen to Hyukoh.

Prediction: Since this category is most commonly won by a pop song, and both BTS‘ and Red Velvet‘s nominated songs would’ve likely been nominated in the Dance & Electronic category a previous year this leaves IU to take it all home.

Artist of the Year

I was surprised to see only four nominees for this category this year. Were there really not other also notable displays of artistic prowess in 2017? At least I think Doe Jaemyoung would have been a strong contender, but he was snubbed also of a genre category nomination for Under the Sign of Saturn.

Personal Pick: As much as I recognize the quality of Kim Mokin‘s work, my understanding of Korean still falls short and I come up in favor of Hyukoh.

Prediction: Considering how well they did internationally in 2017, and that Psy won the year after he achieved global recognition, this should be an easy win for BTS.

Rookie of the Year

I’m glad to see as many as six artists nominated for this, but apart from Se So Neon and Shin Hae Gyeong I wouldn’t have been able to guess for either of the other nominees to show up here–especially as I had managed to miss both Rad Museum and Woo Won Jae previously.

Personal Pick: At first listen I didn’t care much for Rad Museum, but after preparing the (yet to be posted) introduction to all Rookie of the Year nominees I gave Scene another listen. Informed by The Kraze’s review it suddenly stood out as a really remarkable debut effort. However, I fell for Shin Hae Gyeong’s My Reversible Reaction as soon as I heard it and am in awe of his musicality so I’d anyway pick him first.

Prediction: When I visited Korea in October last year I could hear Se So Neon played from stores around the streets of Hongdae. That in itself I find remarkable enough to motivate a win here. From what I’ve gathered Woo Won Jae is also a strong candidate, but I’d guess he’s too hip-hop to be able to win here.

Best Rock Album

While this is usually one of my favorite categories I couldn’t really relate to most of the picks this year. Neither finding Lowdown 30 nor Raw By Peppers was much of a surprise although I’m still kind of struggling to fully appreciate their music myself. The biggest surprise for me among all nominees in any category this year was definitely to find Magna Fall here as I thought it was the first time an expat band had gotten nominated, but turns out the members of the band have changed a bit since I last paid attention.

Personal Pick: Se So Neon’s Summer Plumage is the only out of these that I’d listened to in full more than once before the nominees were announced.

Prediction: This could go either way, really, but Lowdown 30 does seem to be popular with the KMA committee.

Best Rock Song

I had somehow completely failed to hear about Grancale until the nominees were announced. At first I thought it was just the regular “Treadmill” from the EP with the same name that had been nominated, but turns out it’s actually the version with Dringe Augh that has received the honor. Very awesome!

Personal Pick: This is tough. There are other songs from Se So Neon that I much prefer to “파도 (The Wave)”, yet it has a strange pull. I’m so weak for Asian Chairshot in general and “산 새 그리고 나 (Mountain, bird and me)” is no exception. ABTB’s “무임승차 (Free Rider)” spent the longest on my rotation playlist out of these all. And though I failed to recognize it at first listen Bitgwasoeum‘s “무당 (Mudang)” is a standout track, too. I’m just not gonna pick either.

Prediction: Out of the bunch I can only recall seeing ABTB on any Korean year-end lists. Plus they already won Best Rock Album last year.

Best Modern Rock Album

2017 was an incredibly good year for modern rock in Korea, and this field of nominees is testament to just that. I’d guess that’s one reason why we find Se So Neon in the rock category rather than here. I may well be mistaken, but I think the inclusion of In the endless zanhyang we are is the first time we see something self-released recognized by the KMAs? The band really did well in attracting attention from Korean music critics, as several year-end lists made clear.

Personal Pick: Either one of these would be a worthy winner as far as I’m concerned, but Hyukoh‘s 23 did manage to place more songs not just on my rotation playlist, but also on my best of 2017 playlist.

Prediction: Although I thought that Hyukoh might win Album of the Year, it’s not necessarily so that the winner of that category will win its genre category. The Black Skirts is also a very strong contender considering the Album of the Year nomination, yet I think this will come down to 3rd Line Butterfly vs. Sister’s Barbershop. So will it be Sung Kiwan‘s last album with 3rd Line Butterfly or Sister’s Barbershop’s last album? My guess is with Sister’s Barbershop as People Who Stay Alone seemed slightly more popular at the end of 2017.

Best Modern Rock Song

Another strong group, but where is Silica Gel this year? I half-expected to see at least “Neo Soul” nominated for something.

Personal Pick: Lots of good songs, but my recent favorites from ADOY, Doe Jaemyeoung, Sister’s Barbershop, and Hyukoh are all different from the ones nominated here. Shin Hae Gyeong’s “Everything To Me” was however the first song on his EP that earned individual repeated play with me, so I’ll have to pick it.

Prediction: Hyukoh’s “Tomboy” has so much going for it.

Best Metal & Hardcore Album

Personal Pick: I have yet to listen to Into Ashes, but I’m so biased towards PAKK I doubt it would’ve made much of a difference to me. I also really liked Abyss‘ Recrowned, and considering the name of the category it might be a better fit, but here we are so PAKK it is.

Prediction: PAKK! I was so glad to see Salpuri included on so many lists covering the best albums of 2017.

Best Pop Album

I find this category to be too idol heavy this year and because of that feel like I’m missing out on quality works from Korea’s more senior artists. Based on the reactions, however, it appears to be the right albums among idol releases that ended up nominated.

Personal Pick: There was something about Taeyeon‘s My Voice that was really appealing to me. It’s like something the teenaged me would’ve been all into without sounding all that dated even now. I appreciate the variety between songs, too.

Prediction: IU. It just seems to be the objectively better album, not least because of all of the many very talented artists that contributed compositions and arrangements.

Best Pop Song

To me it seems clear that most of the nominated songs should’ve been placed in the Dance & Electronic category instead. Is it just my imagination or wasn’t that the case before? My latest interview with KMA president Kim Chang Nam made me second-guess myself, but I went over the committee members for both the Pop and Electronic categories comparing 2017 to 2018 and found that a couple of committee members that judged both Pop and Electronic in 2017 are only judging Pop this year while one committee member switched from Electronic to Pop. On the other hand a couple of committee members that judged only Pop in 2017 are now judging both Pop and Electronic so that doesn’t say much anyway…

Personal Pick: I hadn’t really listened to either of these songs before seeing the nominations, but when I did “Gashina” really stood out. So much excellence.

Prediction: I’m gonna go ahead and guess for a second win for IU’s “Through The Night” here too. While “DNA” and “Red Flavor” were also both nominated for Song of the Year it seems its primarily IU’s lyrics (and delivery thereof) that has the judges excited, which seems to count for more than just the composition or arrangement of a track.

Best Dance & Electronic Album

I had completely missed that Mojave is still active and am very happy to see his music recognized like this. Unfortunately I have yet to hear more than short samples from the album, but I’m hoping to find a copy next time I go CD shopping.

Personal Pick: I don’t really have any strong feelings either way here, but I found Idiotape‘s Dystopian easier to listen to than the rest.

Prediction: Sowall‘s Favorite appeared to be particularly well received.

Best Dance & Electronic Song

While I thought the idols crowded the Pop category, I’m kind of missing them here. Current electronic music really makes me feel old as I can’t really hear whatever it is that makes everybody else so excited about what’s going on in this corner of Korean music nowadays.

Personal Pick: Definitely Idiotape’s “Dystopian”. It’s got such a good drive and everything else that characterizes a great Idiotape track.

Prediction: I feel like this should go to CIFIKA, but considering the nomination for Rookie of the Year I’ll anyway guess that YESEO will be the winner.

Best Rap & Hip-Hop Album

I was so lost seeing these nominees…

Personal Pick: What Cessa wrote about Vian X Khundi Panda really increased my appreciation for Reconstruction.

Prediction: My only reference here are the winners of the Korean Hiphop Awards, that last year shared 2/3 winners with the KMAs, so Legit Goons it is.

Best Rap & Hip-Hop Song

I’m as lost here as I was with the albums. I don’t know how many times I’ve said that I need to keep closer track of what goes on in Korean hip-hop, but perhaps by now I should just admit defeat.

Personal Pick: Jazzyfact has a laid-back track that I kind of really enjoy listening to.

Prediction: Trusting the Korean Hiphop Awards as well as the nominations for Rookie of the Year and Song of the Year, it would appear Woo Won Jae doesn’t really have much competition.

Best R&B & Soul Album

I’d only gotten around to listening to Hippy was Gipsy‘s Tree prior to the nominees being announced, but at least I felt somewhat more familiar with the names here than I did for the hip-hop category.

Personal Pick: Rico‘s White Light Panorama even compelled me to recommend it to a friend. After listening more I also really liked Rad Museum’s Scene, but it felt much less R&B to me.

Prediction: Ought to be Hippy was Gipsy, again based on the Korean Hiphop Awards win. It also features Kim Oki, which is usually a plus in the KMAs.

Best R&B & Soul Song

These were all new songs to me and I find it hard to feel invested in the category as a whole. I’m not sure exactly what it is about it that makes me lose attention so quickly, but even with repeated listens I can barely tell one song from the other.

Personal Pick: I find the band name objectionable, but that aside Hippy was Gipsy’s “점 (Dot)” isn’t all that bad.

Prediction: offonoff won the same category at the Korean Hiphop Awards. Plus it features Dean, which is another strong point.

Best Folk Album

I’m so glad this category was introduced and continues to thrive. Lots of deserving music that may otherwise have gone unnoticed by most.

Personal Pick: Kang Taegu. No question.

Prediction: Considering that A Day in the Life of Mr. X earned Kim Mokin more nominations than bleu did for Kang Taegu, that’s where my bet is.

Best Folk Song

I had sort of expected seeing Kwon Tree‘s “튀김우동” nominated here, but though it wasn’t released on digital single until December 2016 he had been performing it live well before that. With Kang Taegu’s “bleu” in the race I don’t really care for the competition anyway.

Personal Pick: I love, love, love Kang Taegu’s “bleu”. In terms of repeated play it’s probably my strongest contender for best song of 2017.

Prediction: Kim Mokin, Siwa, and Hwang Puha‘s “집에 가자” should be a solid guess. I also feel like Hwang Puha should be compensated somehow for not getting his album nominated last year.

Best Jazz Album

Jazz is typically the category I struggle with the most when it comes to the KMAs, but I anyway try to make an earnest attempt to listen through whatever has been nominated. For once I had actually listened to two of the nominated albums already before as I’ve known Youn Sun Nah to impress me many times before and Seo Young Do Electric Ensemble tends to keep things interesting.

Personal Pick: This year something interesting happened. I think one of the reasons why I find it difficult to appreciate jazz is that it requires so much active listening and contemplation to be enjoyable that I rarely find the time for it. When I came to Sunny Kim‘s The Dream of the Earth, however, I found it immediately likable and intriguing–both admirable qualities in any type of music.

Prediction: The easy pick would be Youn Sun Nah for all of her history with the KMAs, but I’m gonna go with Seo Young Do Electric Ensemble‘s The Hazy World anyway. The tracks featuring Baik Hyunjhin are particularly compelling and should help sway also the KMA committee members.

Best Crossover Album

I was so excited to see 11 nominated this year! I thought her Transparent Music had sadly gone largely unnoticed, but was happily proven wrong.

Personal Pick: 11! When I interviewed her in 2011 she said that she writes her songs on a piano and integrate the sound recordings, that at the time characterized her music, in production. As a long-time admirer, this piano oriented release feels like a more intimate way to hear her music.

Prediction: I do tend to love whatever Jung Jaeil is up to, but his second project with Han Seung Seok didn’t strike me to be nearly as compelling as bari Abandoned. I doubt the KMA committee shares that view and the album did seem rather popular with Korean critics.

Best Jazz & Crossover Performance

I’m utterly clueless when it come to the performance category this year. I could only listen to a couple of the albums myself, so I can’t really offer any personal pick.

Prediction: After winning Best Jazz Album last year, perhaps now is the time for Choi Sung Ho Singularity to take home the performance award.

February is my favorite time for blogging as I can’t help but get excited over the Korean Music Awards. To me, one of the strengths of the KMAs is how it recognizes a majority of the many kinds of music that Korea has to offer while continuously adapting to changes. I greatly appreciate how it highlights some of my favorite music–exposing it to a wider audience–while also serving to inform me about the best music from genres I otherwise rarely take time for. Further, having a dedicated committee deciding on the winners seems all the more important with every year.

This year, the more I’ve been listening to and reading up on the various nominees for the 15th Korean Music Awards, the more questions have popped up. Fortunately KMA president Kim Chang Nam was willing to once again satisfy my curiosity.

This year it seems as though all the idol music that would previously be spread over the Pop and Dance & Electronic categories has been concentrated to the Pop category. What was the reason behind this change?

There has always been dispute on dance and electronica genre. Whether Idol music and underground electronic music should compete on one category is questioned. In particular, as great deal of good productions are being made in the electronic scene recently, claims have been raised that there should be two separate categories. But still, we came to the conclusion that we should wait and see. The reason why Idol music is excluded is because critics decided that there weren’t any extraordinary ones last year, in contrast to those from electronic scene. No particular intentions.

 
With the launch of the Korean Hip Hop Awards last year and an overlap in nominees, what have the discussions been around the future for the Rap & Hip Hop and R&B & Soul categories?

Although we have a few committee members in common, Korean Hiphop Awards is in no way related to Korean Music Awards. It does not affect KMA. We will maintain Rap & Hip-hop, R&B & Soul categories.

 
The introduction of the Heaviness category was welcome, with fans abroad expressing envy that Korea now has metal and hardcore music recognized as part of a well-respected, general music award. With a few years behind it, has there been any re-evaluation of the original decision to only focus on albums and instead also acknowledge individual tracks? Have there been any similar considerations for the Jazz and Crossover categories after the Jazz & Crossover singles category was removed?

For Metal & Hardcore, committee members agreed that general color and achievement of an album are important, whereas single track isn’t. The same goes for Jazz and Crossover.

 
With the new political climate, do you have any hope for government support for future Korean Music Awards?

As new government established, We hope that governmental support for KMA be resumed, though it is not for me to decide.

Many thanks to professor Kim for taking the time to answer the questions! Realizing that Hiphopplaya‘s awards had taken a new, more professional form with the Korean Hiphop Awards I was worried that would force a change for KMA, but given how many of the more idol oriented awards can co-exist that seems silly in retrospect.

The winners of the 15th Korean Music Awards will be announced during the awards ceremony on February 28th. The ceremony will be held at the Guro Arts Valley Theater with Yoon Dukwon of Broccoli, you too? as the host. Former KMA winners 9 and the Numbers, ABTB, and jeebanoff will be performing during the event, as will Jo Dong Hee, the sister of last year’s Album of the Year winner, and since departed, Jo Dong Jin.

The winners of the 15th Korean Music Awards will be announced at a ceremony next week. In preparation, I’ve been looking into the nominees for the main categories starting with Album and Song of the Year respectively. Today it’s time to learn more about the nominees for Artist of the Year.

Kim Mokin

Kim Mokin made his debut in 2002 with instrumental music produced under the alias Family Piano Project. From 2004 he was best known as the guitarist of Cabinet Singalongs, releasing a single in 2005 and a full-length album a year later.

Kim Mokin released the first solo album under his own name, 음악가 자신의 노래 (Songs of Musician’s-Self), in 2011. He has grown into a singer-songwriter that jumps between genres with little effort all the while maintaining his key acoustic sound. Kim Mokin is commonly found supporting other singer-songwriters around Seoul and managed to gather an impressive amount of support in return for his third full-length album, 콜라보 씨의 일일 (A Day in the Life of Mr. X), released in November.

Kim Mokin’s 3rd full-length album 콜라보 씨의 일일 (A Day in the Life of Mr. X) is nominated for both Album of the Year and Best Folk Album. Album lead track “걷다 보니 (Walking)” is nominated for Best Folk Song where it is competing against “집에 가자” that he recorded together with Siwa and Hwang Puha. Kim Mokin’s previous nomination in the Korean Music Awards came before the introduction of the Best Folk category.

• 2014: Best Pop Album – 한 다발의 시선

BTS

Hip-hop oriented boy band BTS formed under Big Hit Entertainment and debuted as seven members with single album 2 Cool 4 Skool in June 2013. The group had an international orientation already from the beginning, with events in Japan, Thailand, and China within months of the debut and live performances not only in Asia but also in Europe as well as North and South America the following year.

With continued international activities and releases in both Korea and Japan, BTS’ fan base has grown considerably since, earning the band the award for Top Social Artist at the Billboard Music Awards 2017. Mini album Love Yourself 承 ‘Her’ peaked at #7 on Billboard 200 with the subsequent single “Mic Drop Remix”, produced by Steve Aoki and featuring Desiigner, moving to become certified gold by RIAA with Love Yourself 承 ‘Her’ lead track “DNA” following suit a week later.

BTS’ 5th mini album Love Yourself 承 ‘Her’ is nominated for Best Pop Album whereas album lead track “DNA” is nominated for both Song of the Year and Best Pop Song.

IU

IU made her debut at age 15 as a solo singer from Loen Entertainment, in 2008 with the release of mini album Lost And Found. She has since continued to release numerous singles and EPs as well as four full-length albums, the latest, Palette, in April 2017.

In addition to participating on various soundtracks, IU herself has become an actress appearing in multiple dramas. During 2017 she was also a regular cast member on popular entertainment show Hyori’s Bed and Breakfast (효리네 민박). With a wide range of activities as well as frequent endorsements IU is currently one of Korea’s highest-earning celebrities.

IU’s 4th full-length album Palette is nominated for both Album of the Year and Best Pop Album whereas album track “밤편지 (Through The Night)” is nominated for both Song of the Year and Best Pop Song. IU has previously won the Korean Music Awards Netizens’ Choice for Female Artist in 2012 and 2016 and won both Song of the Year and Best Pop Song in 2012.

• 2012: Song of the Year – “좋은 날 (Good Day)”
• 2012: Best Pop Album – Last Fantasy
• 2012: Best Pop Song – “좋은 날 (Good Day)”
• 2016: Best Pop Album – CHAT-SHIRE
• 2016: Best Pop Song – “스물셋 (Twenty-three)”

Hyukoh

After recording Hyukoh‘s 2014 debut EP 20 as a solo project with session musicians, OHHYUK set out to recruit band members. The indie rock outfit released its second EP 22 in May 2015, after already having gained attention from OHHYUK’s collaboration with hip-hop producer Primary during the spring.

Hyukoh became known to the general public in Korea through appearing on the 2015 summer special of popular variety show Infinite Challenge (무한도전). In July 2015 Hyukoh became the first band signed to the YG Entertainment sub-label HIGHGRND and moved to release first full-length album 23 in April 2017. Meanwhile, OHHYUK has continued to raise the profile of the band through soundtracks and collaborations with other popular artists such as IU.

Hyukoh’s 1st full-length album 23 is nominated for both Album of the Year and Best Modern Rock Album. Similarly, album lead track “Tomboy” is nominated for both Song of the Year and Best Modern Rock Song. Hyukoh was previously nominated for Artist of the Year in 2016, at which time the band won both Rookie of the Year and Best Modern Rock Song in 2016.

• 2016: Artist of the Year
• 2016: Rookie of the Year
• 2016: Song of the Year – “와리가리 (Comes And Goes)”
• 2016: Best Modern Rock Album – 22
• 2016: Best Modern Rock Song – “와리가리 (Comes And Goes)”

I already went over how much I like Night Riding when listing my 2017 top finds. I’ve wanted to reach out for an interview since the release of his second single in August, but somehow the timing was never right. With his fist full-length album 꿈의도시 (Dream City) released on February 14th, a month earlier than I’d expected, I figured it was time to give it a shot. Night Riding was quick to respond with clear answers for all questions.

 
Who is Night Riding?

I am a singer-songwriter from Korea. My music is based on alternative rock. I have just released full length album Dream City after 2 single albums.

 
How is making music as Night Riding different from what you used to do with Steamboys?

Steam Boys was a classic rock set – guitar, bass, and drum. In Night Riding i used synth and samples to make a richer sound. But what I want to tell in my music is pretty much the same as with Steam Boys.

 
What do you hope that listeners will take away from Dream City?

Like its title, a dream. But don’t let a dream ruin life.

 
With the album released, what are you planning next?

There is an album release show coming 10th of March.

The album release show will take place at Kuchu Camp with folk singer Kang Taegu making an appearance as guest artist. If that’s not soon enough, you may also see Night Riding play an acoustic set at rogue camp on February 24th as part of the currently ongoing Nucleus exhibition.

If you understand Korean, head over to Genie for a longer interview to learn more about Night Riding. 꿈의도시 (Dream City) is available now from both Korean and international digital distributors with the CD release expected for the end of the month. It does not disappoint.

Watching the Grammys fumble with genre representation year in and year out makes me appreciate the KMAs a little more. (I’m not even mad about this year, but I’m still salty about 1989 over To Pimp a Butterfly two years ago.) Sure, the KMA also has critics and works in a different environment, but representation has been fairer and it’s provided a stage for conversation-starters like Lang Lee’s trophy auction last year. Will we see something like that again? At any rate, glad to be back for another round of predictions.

Album of the Year

This is maybe the most unexpected Album of the Year field in my years guest-picking. I didn’t think Palette’s reception had been sterling enough to appear, and thought Team Baby and 23, while charming, would get outshone by other works in the same genre. While not a total shocker, I would have guessed Sister’s Barbershop to show up here.

Personal Pick: Hard selection right off the bat. From this group, it’s Team Baby for me with its sparkling lyrics and evocative sound.

Prediction: There’s not a clear frontrunner at all, so I’ll just go with a hunch – Kim Mokin continuing the folk dominance in this category.

Song of the Year

Very idol-heavy! A pretty good field if you ask me – though I felt like BTS had their strength in album-wide efforts rather than any one song.

Personal Pick: “Red Flavor” was my actual pick for Song of the Year, “Tomboy” was the actual runner-up, and “Through the Night” was in the top ten.

Prediction: The last three Songs of the Year have all involved an idol artist (if you count Bolbbalgan4, which I would), so clearly the committee has no qualms about following through with these nominees. I frankly wouldn’t be shocked with any of them except for “We Are”, but I’ll go with my own pick and say “Red Flavor”.

Artist of the Year

The intersection of the above two categories, plus Kim Mokin and BTS.

Personal Pick: Out of these I think it’s Hyukoh: they lived up to the immense expectations placed on them after their breakthrough debut years.

Prediction: Does being named to two major categories give you a leg up here? Then it’s down to IU and Hyukoh. On the other hand, BTS made all the news for international success, and I think the committee may want to recognize that, so I’ll say BTS.

Rookie of the Year

Very pleased with this field, although I’d have expected them to recognize In the Endless Zanhyang We Are. Maybe they don’t consider that band to be rookies?

Personal Pick: Yeseo was my actual pick. Unbelievably prolific (two EPs in half a year!) and talented, and one of my most-listened-to artists on the year.

Prediction: This usually ends up being a band. But I wonder if Shin Hae-gyeong, with his hefty-sized debut effort and intrepid mix of sounds, won’t win the committee’s hearts this year.

Best Rock Album

Summer Plumage, Cosmos, and Irregular are all a little unexpected – but then, I guess I also don’t have great suggestions for replacements given that they split the rock categories. I do think Boys in the Kitchen’s Out of the Kitchen and Day6’s Sunrise were deserving.

Personal Pick: Lowdown 30’s B. I almost take them for granted nowadays, but cheeky songs like “Necronomicon” remind me why I love them.

Prediction: B seems like the safe choice.

Best Rock Song

I think the committee really likes Asian Chairshot, and their single didn’t pass unnoticed this year. Grancale is a surprise inclusion – I thought the album was interesting, but somehow hadn’t seen that much discussion on it elsewhere.

Personal Pick: ABTB’s “Free Rider” had all the raw power I wanted out of them.

Prediction: Think they will go for ABTB again this year.

Best Modern Rock Album

I think they basically covered all the bases! I liked Yi Sung-yol’s Yosedreamyose but it’s one of those albums that are really subject to taste.

Personal Pick: They’re all great, but Sister’s Barbershop hit the emotional notes and pushed technical comfort zones in their beautiful parting album.

Prediction: This is where we start playing the inference game from the Album of the Year nominations. Out of the two that made it, perhaps 23 for its wider reach (though The Black Skirts is no slouch).

Best Modern Rock Song

I think “Laika” was the best song from Adoy’s EP, but everything else is sublime. Interesting that they picked a non-promoted single from People Who Stay Alone. I didn’t pick “Everything To Me” for Hellokpop’s list because I already did in 2016 (it was a single, from when he was The Mirror), but it’s definitely deserving. I thought Parasol and Silica Gel’s “Space Angel” would have been a no-brainer, but guess not.

Personal Pick: The anthemic “Tomboy”, since it was my second favorite song of the year, but after that I like Doe Jaemyoung’s spoken-word storminess.

Prediction: “Tomboy”.

Best Metal & Hardcore Album

I’ve listened to Recrowned and Salpuri, but not the other two. The word on Into Ashes seems to be good. Frankly thought Magna Fall’s Mad Metropolis would appear here instead of the other category, but I suppose as long as it pops up somewhere. If they did a songs category for this genre, would Vassline’s “Ferocious Reality” have made it?

Personal Pick: The two I heard are both great, but maybe a slight edge to Salpuri – I found it to be a little more consistent, and the dedication to concise, punchy titles gets extra points.

Prediction: Guessing Salpuri here.

Best Pop Album

The elusive all-idol field! Lee Jin-ah is an inspired pick, invoking her jazz major so effortlessly into an ambitious EP. The other picks are all fair, though I am surprised at the snub of Park Ji-yoon’s parkjiyoon9. For some reason Lucia (going by Shim Gyu-sun again in Korea) hasn’t had luck at these KMAs, so Fantasy Pieces Op.1 being excluded is par for the course.

Personal Pick: Taemin’s Move was my runner-up electronic album. (We don’t see eye to eye on this whole pop versus electronic thing, the KMAs and I.) Of the albums that I don’t think should be in another category, My Voice was a really solid effort and gave me one of my most repeated tracks of the year in “Time Lapse”.

Prediction: I’m still not completely recovered from the shock of Weiv picking Perfect Velvet as their album of the year… will KMA pick it here? I know Palette has the higher prize nomination, but I’ll go out on a limb and guess Red Velvet.

Best Pop Song

“Cherry Bomb” was fun but wow, that’s out of left field. And I suppose the razor-sharp “Gashina” makes sense in hindsight. Since this combines general pop music and idol music of any genre (I dislike it but it’s happening), there are about a dozen other songs I might have liked to see over those or BTS’s “DNA”: Loona/JinSoul’s “Singing in the Rain”, Nu’est W’s “Where You At”, Ha Dong-qn’s “The Maze of Reality”, etc.

Personal Pick: As I mentioned earlier, “Red Flavor” was my song of the year and “Through the Night” was actually my best pop song. Other than those, I guess “Gashina” would be next.

Prediction: Red Velvet gets the song of the year in my version of the future, so let’s say the committee decides to split it and IU takes home the other prize.

Best Dance & Electronic Album

I haven’t listened to the Mojave album. Think Kirara’s remix album making it over Rainbow99 or Cifika is a little curious. (I did attempt and fail to call Cifika’s inclusion in last year’s post.) I loved the others.

Personal Pick: Yeseo’s Million Things. Rich, satisfying sounds and inventive compositions all the way through. It’s my actual pick for best electronic album and I had been cross that seemingly none of the major outlets were recognizing it; thanks, KMA!

Prediction: In a perfect world it’s Yeseo, but I don’t know that I get that vibe right now. Kirara won just last year and I don’t think this one is quite at that level. So… Idiotape?

Best Dance & Electronic Song

Haven’t heard “Say Yeah” or “Heart of Steel” until now. I liked “Ooh-Ah-Ooh” better from Cifika and about three other songs better from Yeseo, but these seem reasonable picks to me. Do wish Imlay’s “Shurai” or “Rule the Fire” had been included, as well as Pudditorium’s “AVEC”.

Personal Pick: Okay, so “Heart of Steel” is actually insane. How did I miss this? Clean and active bass, rousing melody, satisfying drops. If something like “My Youth” got nominated from Yeseo that would do it, but from this field I think the Raiden track is my favorite.

Prediction: I feel like the committee tends to not pick fully instrumental tracks, so I think that removes “Dystopian” and “Say Yeah”. (Although if they ever bucked that trend, I suppose Idiotape would be a team to do it for.) I’ll guess the clinical, moody achievement of “My Ego” wins it.

Best Rap & Hip-Hop Album

There’s always something every year that I pretty strongly disagree with, and it’s hip-hop this year. The fact that TakeOne’s Green Ideology, Dok2’s Reborn, and Code Kunst’s Muggles’ Mansion were all excluded is really surprising to me. (And Owen Ovadoz’s Problematic might have been the next best album after those, though the controversial rapper is maybe too toxic right now.) I do think that Reconstruction was underrated, and appreciate that all the candidates are indie artists (yeah, I think Fana still counts there) – perhaps a deliberate choice.

Personal Pick: It comes down to Moonshine versus Sour; the noir-soaked atmosphere of the latter gave me more mileage.

Prediction: I liked it, but maybe a little less than the praise I’ve seen for it: Fana’s Fanaconda is probably winning this year.

Best Rap & Hip-hop Song

In addition to the aforementioned artists, it would have been nice to see TFO recognized for their super weird but super cool “Cone”, or Don Malik or Sleeq for their moody and lyrically sharp efforts.

Personal Pick: Jazzyfact’s “All Day” is a smooth canvas for Beenzino to paint with his best groovy flow.

Prediction: “We Are” has been getting a ton of accolades for reasons that I don’t entirely get: it’s fine, but just doesn’t seem so special to the point where it should be sweeping the awards like that. But I do think the talented Woo Won-jae will get another win here.

Best R&B & Soul Album

This field is so indie, it’s fantastic. I only listened to Rad Museum after putting together my series for Hellokpop, and it gave me a pang to not have known of it earlier. Think Boy II Men was the better album from Minje, but I get that Now was the full-length release. Soma’s Somablu is a notable omission, and if I could have one mainstream album in the field I would pick Taeyang’s White Night.

Personal Pick: White Light Panorama felt like a natural maturation of Rico’s brand of sensuality. “Don’t Talk To Me” had maybe the most lowkey addictive hook of the year.

Prediction: Gee, this one is really difficult. Rico and Minje are known quantities to the KMAs, but Hippy was Gipsy maybe had the most complete album. Let’s go with the latter, assuming the committee spreads the love.

Best R&B & Soul Song

More indie domination. None of my favorites made it, unfortunately – Sumin’s “Sparkling”, Saay’s “Circle”, jams from G.Soul, Maddy, Ovcoco – but I don’t feel as strongly about these picks as the hip-hop field. I had missed out on Horim’s “Temp-Ton”.

Personal Pick: I might have been swayed had a different Rico song come up, but as is I’ll go with the slow and hazy “Temp-Ton”.

Prediction: “NA B YA” picked up some popularity to go with a tastefully crafted track, and seems like a reasonable pick here.

Best Folk Album

Really strong field. The Kim Mokin album came out just days before the November 30 deadline and I missed out on it until January, and I didn’t get to fully listen to bleu. The other four albums are each gems. Hong Haelim’s The Painting Bird being excluded is really unfortunate.

Personal Pick: Dhani Song’s Songs for an Afterlife was my actual pick for best folk album, and Gonne Choi’s Nomad Syndrome was the runner-up. Indelible poetry and beauty in one, unbridled passion in the other.

Prediction: Let’s call it a sweep for Kim Mokin.

Best Folk Song

Dhani Song had about five different songs that could have made it, so it’s a little disappointing to see none. Hard to argue with any individual pick, though. It’s about as perfect a field as I’ve seen in this year’s KMA.

Personal Pick: “Let’s Go Home”, with its austere presentation and emotional backstory, was my actual pick for best folk song. “Highlander” was neck and neck with Song’s “A Buddhist Toast” for runner-up.

Prediction: Briefly considered Jeongmilla, but Kang Taegu might get his consolation prize here with the lushly written “bleu”.

Best Jazz Album

I’ve listened to all of these except for the Lee Jiyeun Orchestra album, and can attest to their excellence. But come on, no love for any of Kim Oki’s three albums in 2017? He’s no stranger to the KMAs, which makes this more baffling. Kangri Kim and Yoonhwa Choi are two other names that would have been nice to see, but other than Kim Oki I think this is the same field I might have picked.

Personal Pick: She Moves On was my actual pick for best jazz album and had basically everything I wanted: expertly curated and exquisitely performed, a breathless listen. The Dream of the Earth was very ambitious and would be a close second.

Prediction: Youn Sun Nah has the clear name recognition and a history of winning: she has won this category a ridiculous four times in its 14-year history. But I actually think She Moves On might be too heavy on covers to get her a fifth award. Certainly won’t be shocked if it won, but I’m going to pick the warm humanity of Seo Young Do Electric Ensemble’s The Hazy World.

Best Crossover Album

Ouch – out of all these And There, the Sea at Last is the only thing I’ve listened to, so I’m gonna have a hard time picking this field. (Will have to go back to check them out!) Obligatory wishes for inclusion are IJM’s Kali Dance and NST & the Soul Sauce’s Back When Tigers Smoked.

Personal Pick: Obviously the Han Seung-seok and Jung Jaeil album; it was my runner-up for overall album of the year, and by extension the best crossover album, and contained my favorite crossover song of the year. The combination of pansori vocals, timeworn language, and orchestra scale make for a transcendent experience unlike any other.

Prediction: Despite my lack of preparation, let me guess the Han & Jung duo. They did win this category three years ago, and I would argue that the newer album actually outdoes Bari, Abandoned.

Best Jazz & Crossover Performance

Out of the list I’ve listened to Joonsam, Myungsup Shin Group, and Choi Sung Ho Singularity. I thought MKS and JéHee Quintet had particularly attention-grabbing performances on the year, and almost anything from Kim Oki would also qualify.

Personal Pick: Choi Sung Ho Singularity, for their thoroughly unpredictable and always exciting brand of play.

Prediction: For this category I don’t have external information to draw inference on, so I’ll stick with the Singularity pick.