Jang, Who Single-handedly Brought Trot Back

Jang Yoon-Jeong [장윤정]

Years of Activity:  2004-present

Discography:
Oh My [어머나] (2004)
Jjanjjara [짠짜라] (2005)
Later, later [이따, 이따요] (2006)
Jang Yoon-Jeong Twist [장윤정 트위스트] (2008)
Ole [올래] (2010)

Representative Song:  Oh My [어머나] from Oh My

어머나

Oh My

어머나 어머나 이러지 마세요

Oh my, oh my, don't be like this

여자의 마음은 갈대랍니다

A lady's heart is like a reed

안돼요 왜이래요 묻지말아요

No, why do you do this. Don't ask questions

더 이상 내게 원하시면 안돼요

You should not want any more from me

오늘 처음 만난 당신이지만 내 사랑인걸요

I only met you for the first time today, but you are my love

헤어지면 남이되어 모른척하겠지만

Though when we part, we will become strangers and pretend not to know

좋아해요 사랑해요

I like you, I love you

거짓말처럼 당신을 사랑해요

I love you like a lie

소설속에 영화속에 멋진 주인공은 아니지만

Though you may not be a handsome character from a novel or a movie

괜찮아요 말해봐요

It's ok, just tell me

당신 위해서라면 다 줄게요

For you, I will give you my all

어머나 어머나 이러지 마세요

Oh my, oh my, don't be like this

여자의 마음은 바람입니다

A lady's heart is like the wind

안돼요 왜이래요 잡지말아요

No, why do you do this. Don't hold me

더 이상 내게 바라시면 안돼요

You should not desire any more from me

오늘 처음 만난 당신이지만 내 사랑인걸요

I only met you for the first time today, but you are my love

헤어지면 남이되어 모른척하겠지만

Though when we part, we will become strangers and pretend not to know

좋아해요 사랑해요

I like you, I love you

거짓말처럼 당신을 사랑해요

I love you like a lie

소설속에 영화속에 멋진 주인공은 아니지만

Though you may not be a handsome character from a novel or a movie

괜찮아요 말해봐요

It's ok, just tell me

당신 위해서라면 다 줄게요

For you, I will give you my all

소설속에 영화속에 멋진 주인공은 아니지만

Though you may not be a handsome character from a novel or a movie

괜찮아요 말해봐요

It's ok, just tell me

당신 위해서라면 다 줄게요

For you, I will give you my all

Why is this creative person important?

Trot may be a genre that has a clumsy place in Korea. The screaming women (= fans of boy/girl groups) don't care regarding trot because it sounds old school. The too-serious K-pop aficionados (= fans of rock, hip hop and indie) dismiss trot as innovative and Japan-origined.

They each have some extent. Because the Korean noted within the transient history of K-pop, the trot was the primary -- and for a protracted time in sensible terms, the sole -- type of popular music genre in Korea. It's an imitation of a preferred music in Japan, beyond question a product of Japan's organization of Korea. The music itself is completely slavish, using constant distinctive one-two beat created by a percussion box throughout the decades of its existence. The lyrics were catchy for one listen, then quickly stale and vacuous.

From its efflorescence within the Sixties and 70s, trot suffered a protracted decline till it reached a nadir at around late 1990s-early 2000s. There have been a couple of brave souls -- typically older male artists in their 50s -- who unbroken chugging on, however they did nothing to reverse the perception that trot was a musical equivalent of a staple dish.

Jang single-handedly reversed that trend. To be sure, it's in all probability helped that within the 2000s, the trend in Korean popular culture toward retro -- the tendency to see into the past as additional innocent and romantic -- was full swing. Her music isn't something special, because the acquainted one-two beat is gift throughout. However, there ought to be absolute confidence that it took Jang's full talent and gumption for this moribund trend to return back. It had been impossible for a reasonably girl in her 20s would hitch her musical fortune to a dying genre. That Jang was ready to bring back the trend by the sheer force of her spunk and charm is sort of an action.

It is still not entirely clear whether or not trot can utterly shed its stigma of being an innovative music of the worst recent days. However, in spite of its inventive deserves, trot survived for this long in Korea a minimum of partially as a result of it resonated with Koreans themselves -- it'd been a shame if one thing that was such a large a part of Korea's popular culture utterly disappeared into oblivion. Thanks to Jang, trot is currently seen as a legitimate career path for young Korean pop artists, and consequently received an injection of recent talent that may carry the genre into the longer term.

Interesting trivia:

  Jang was a winner of an outstanding amateur singing contest in 1999 (MBC 강변가요제) with popular music, however toiled in obscurity for 5 years till her debut album in 2004. In an interview, Jang conjointly professed that she originally needed to be a rock musician.