BACK TO K-POP’S FIRST GENERATION: Shinhwa – Perfect Man

K-Pop’s first generation is often referenced as the foundation for the industry we enjoy now, but there aren’t enough good English-language sources that give its music the focus it deserves. I’m hoping to change that with a continuing flashback series, spotlighting personal highlights from the era – both iconic and obscure.

The era in question is often considered to run from the debut of Seo Taiji & Boys in 1992 to the emergence of TVXQ in late 2003. The music featured in this series will largely fit within that time frame, give or take a few years on either side.

It was a time of bonkers song structures, wild fashion, slamming techno beats, bad reggae impressions, flagrant use (theft?) of American hip-hop samples, hearty power ballads, foul language, the growliest rapper tones you can imagine and an anything-goes scrappiness that’s impossible to pigeonhole. To borrow the name of a popular second-gen act, these years were the “big bang” of an emerging musical powerhouse, still finding its footing and throwing everything at the wall.

When referencing K-pop’s first generation, the names you tend to hear most often are Seo Taiji & Boys and H.O.T. I love both of these acts dearly, but when looking at the full scope of the era Shinhwa must also be included as one of K-pop’s most important pillars. Their early singles run is absolutely unbeatable, representing the very best music being released at the time. After a very H.O.T-esque debut era, they went on to perform highly polished pop music in the vein of global acts like Backstreet Boys and Nsync. In fact, their discography often feels like what might have been had the teen pop millennium boom been allowed to continue and develop for several more years.

I’m sure I’ll be featuring many Shinhwa tracks in this feature, but I must start with the big one. With each year that passes, I become more convinced that 2002’s Perfect Man is one of the greatest K-pop songs ever composed. It’s been referenced and covered countless times. You’ve probably heard it even if you’re not aware of who originally sang the song.

Perfect Man is the ideal encapsulation of this specific blend of angular pop, dance and R&B. The melodies are airtight throughout, performed with a vigor and grit that brings a palpable energy to what could have otherwise been an overly glossy pop confection. The production is immaculate, from the stabbing percussion to the Transformers-esque synths to the seesawing strings, and the arrangement leaves plenty of room for drama. The extended bridge is a thing of wonder, fully drawing upon Shinhwa’s classic blend and harmony. The group released other songs of this nature prior to 2002, but Perfect Man stands as both the greatest realization of their sound and the jumping off point for many SM Entertainment artists that would follow in their wake.

Grade: A+