1 month ago
16
Longtime readers know that I’m a Sweetune aficionado. I hardly shut up about these producers (even/especially when they’re not currently producing). They’ve given us a wealth of K-pop classics over the years, including many of my all-time favorite songs. But being a Sweetune fanboy has its frustrations. They have little-to-no online presence and often disappear from the industry for long periods of time, making both their past history and future activity feel quite murky.
Sweetune’s core members, Han Jaeho and Kim Seungsoo, have been active in the business since 1995, but it wasn’t until the late 2000’s that their work developed its iconic sound – heavily influenced by international synthpop and Japanese dance music from the 90’s.
Recently, as I was skimming through old first-gen K-pop releases, I discovered a 2002 single from blink-and-you’ll-miss’em girl group Dejavu. The moment I heard Run, my mind immediately went to the Sweetune-produced The Chaser (aka my favorite K-pop song of all time). Its driving energy, ebullient brass synths and rock backbone sounds almost like a dry run for the real thing. The song is absolutely blazing and I’m so psyched that I found it.
Me being me, I needed to know who composed this gem. And lo and behold, my instincts were onto something! The internet reveals Run to be written by composer Lee Chang-hyun, who just happens to have worked as part of the Sweetune team! He’s credited on songs like Infinite’s Man In Love and Inconvenient Truth, Kara’s Damaged Lady and Snuper’s Jekyll, Hyde. He wasn’t part of The Chaser, unfortunately. But the musical DNA is there. It’s there!
Run was described as HRD (Hyper Dance Rock), which is a genre I’m claiming allegiance to right here and now. Let’s bring back HRD, people! I’ll even put it on a t-shirt.
The song is a banger, and yet another example of the fascinating, interconnected history of K-pop (with a little bit of J-pop on the side).
English (US) · 