BACK TO K-POP’S FIRST GENERATION: SNAP – Love II Love

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.

Check out other “Back to K-pop’s First Generation” reviews here.

For this feature, I’m trying to bounce around between well-known and obscure groups. So while I’ll eventually get to titans of the era like H.O.T and Sechs Kies, it can be even more fun to spotlight some of their many progeny. The late 90’s was a huge boom for idol groups. For every successful H.O.T, there were dozens of unsuccessful knockoffs. And often times, these groups had at least one excellent song to their name.

You won’t hear about SNAP much these days. In fact, finding information about them online is near-impossible and their music isn’t on streaming. However, their 1999 debut album SNAP Vol.1 (narrator: there would be no “Vol.2”) is one of the better projects of that era. Title track Love II Love is especially addictive, built around a singalong chant and bursting with energy. The beat is a sample-filled joy, drawing equally upon dance and hip-hop with a rock undertone that makes the whole thing feel larger than life.

As a whole, Love II Love is about as 90’s as it gets, down to its comically over-the-top rap. However, there’s so much personality stuffed into it is execution. Each segment plays as a grab bag of hooks and everything comes together in the end for an explosive finale. I find it all incredibly endearing.

(Also, their outfits in the attached performance video are something else. It looks like they’re ready to be popped in the microwave.)

Grade: B+