Pretty much overnight, it seems that a movie I had never even heard of became the most-watched movie ever on Netflix. People everywhere are now singing the songs from K-Pop Demon Hunters. It originally seemed more popular outside Korea (the first dozen or so people I heard about it from were not Korean, nor were they living here). But now it's all over the promotional marketing locally too.

I absolutely love living here, and am immersed in many aspects of the culture, but have never been a big K-pop fan. In fact, I don't actually like most pop music anywhere in the world ;)

If you, like me, have different musical tastes from the mainstream, then this post is for you! It's a collection of some of my favorite Korean music that you've probably never heard of.

There is no particular order to this post, so don't take this as some sort of ranking. It's just a list of music and artists I like which can broaden your horizons.

Candy and Lollipop

Okay, let's kick off with some light... hip-hop? I don't really even know how to categorize this pair of songs, separated by almost a decade but having a lot of similarities in both style and name. Before the current American-influenced styles of rap and hip-hop started to dominate, there was this more fun and weird side.

First up is boy band H.O.T. with Candy. This was 1996, so it's probably the oldest on my list. It's just light and fun. And very 90s... lighter side of hip hop.

Over the next decade, hip-hop and rap grew even more popular. This next song, Lollipop, has one of the more bizarre music videos, and is a collaboration with more people than you'll be able to keep track of. Here's the MV.

소찬휘 - Tears

This song was released in the year 2000. This style of dance+rock fusion was actually quite popular in Korea at the time, but you don't hear very many producers putting out stuff like this today. This song is well-known and loved by many in their late 30s or older, and is one of the most popular 노래방 (singing room = Karaoke) songs from that era, even today. The song is full of passion and energy, and is very technically challenging. Here's a recent live performance.

윤종신 - 좋니

The gist of the song is a post-breakup story. It's more of a power ballad, which is NOT my usual style of music. But this song is just SO good, it has to be on my list. When it was released in 2017, it did extremely well, and got loads of radio play, despite not fitting the typical pop mold of the time. Here's a live performance that also has some English subtitles.

Frontier Leaders - New Stage

Okay, this song probably does qualify as K-pop... There is some good stuff in there ;)

This is also the newest release on the list. It grabbed my attention immediately because the musical structure, choice of scales, and rhythms aren't typical in current K-pop.

Here's the music video. It's definitely an idol group, but the MV is artistically solid and generally quite creative (it alludes to both streamer culture and Korean-style photo booths)!

Moon Kyoo

I have a hard time recommending a specific track, because this guy is a pretty wide ranging artist, and much of what he does is live. He does everything from deep house on one of my favorite labels to ambient sets like this with a Eurorack modular.

Lazenca, Save Us

This song is getting REALLY out of the mold now... We're in metal territory.

The original was released back in 1997 by the group N.E.X.T, but a newer in 2016 on a Korean TV show "The King of Mask Singer" made the song much more popular. (The concept of the show is that some famous singer puts on a mask, sings a song, and then celebrity judges have to guess who's behind the mask at the end).

On one of these episodes, 하현우 does an absolutely stellar cover, which I liked even better than the original. His vocal style is really on point for the song, and the high notes are absolutely killer!

You can watch a video of the performance on YouTube. It's truly something with a full orchestra, drums, guitar... the whole bit.

cherryfilter - 오리 날다

Last but definitely not least, this song is fun, upbeat, and a bit punk-y in style. It was released back in 2003 and bears a lot of resemblance to J-Rock at the time.

The song is about a duck who dreams he can fly. His mom scolds him and says ducks can't fly, but that doesn't stop him from dreaming.

It's such a beautiful song! And I love the metaphor about chasing your dreams. Something that I really hope can continue to inspire the younger generation.

And the vocal style of the lead singer is pretty unique. She's happy and has piercing high notes, but also has that rock edge at several points. And in live performances she does this cute little hand motion throughout, mimicking wing flapping motion, which I thought was a cool and endearing!

I had this song stuck in my head for weeks after I discovered it.