Is it possible to have the younger generation familiar with hip hop and electronic music listening to pansori, traditional Korean musical storytelling, every day? It seems so. Leenalchi, a fairly familiar and beautifully unfamiliar band according to the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC), has pioneered a hybrid genre called “pansori dance.” Along with “Tiger Is Coming,” one of their hit songs, their music with modifiers such as K-heung (Korean vibe) and fusion gugak (Korean traditional music) is definitely cultivating a new trend among the younger generation.

Band "Leenalchi" / Provided by DMZ Peace Train
Band "Leenalchi" / ​​​​​​​Provided by DMZ Peace Train

The public may be relatively unfamiliar with the band itself in contrast to their songs, as they only recently gained attention. Leenalchi’s rise to fame was through the videos in Korea Tourism Organization (KTO)'s Feel the Rhythm of KOREA campaign, for which they provided the music. Produced to continuously promote the attractiveness of Korean tourism brands and induce people to visit Korea after the cessation of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19), the videos have gained much popularity with more than 30 million views each on YouTube. The success of the videos is attributed by most to the tunes of the alternative pop band Leenalchi, especially their song “Tiger Is Coming.”

Representative of their entire discography, their song “Tiger Is Coming” interprets a part of Sugungga, one of the main five episodes of pansori, with a modern sense. It narrates a story in which a terrapin looking to procure a rabbit’s liver attempts to call out for a rabbit, but mistakenly calls a tiger; this makes the tiger come down the mountains excitedly. Created through the combination of addictive beats and rhythms, melody based on unheard-of genres, and various unusual onomatopoeia, the song has become sensational. Besides, it has transformed pansori so that it can be enjoyed by all generations by breaking its fixed image of obsoleteness and sorrowfulness.

The band was initially created as a one-time project group, but the great harmony among the members allowed their musical collaboration to continue. Just as the band was named after one of the great pansori singers of the late Joseon Period, Leenalchi, there are several pansori singers in the band. All vocalists of Leenalchi have studied Korean traditional music at Seoul National University, and their desire for challenging the limits of traditional music and self-expansion of music variety led them to form an alternative pop band.

On the other hand, Jang Young Kyu, the leader of Leenalchi, has expanded his scope of activities by collaborating with people in various fields since he was young. Therefore, when Leenalchi’s music was born according to his musical goal of making a danceable pop, it yielded a unique color. Their music resists any classification by genres, and rather accommodates various genres as musical ingredients. They pursue an elaborate composition of musical elements that are exciting, intriguing, but not accidental.

Leenalchi, gaining explosive popularity among the younger generation, is taking the lead in modernizing and popularizing gugak. They are currently the most notable music group in that they project Korean traits in their music and publicize them to the world. Leenalchi, which opens up infinite possibilities without limiting the boundaries of music, suggests that non-mainstream genres can also be revived through understanding the sensibility of the generation.

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