In the early to mid-1990s, groups such as Hyun Jin Young and Wawa, Seo Taiji and Boys, and DEUX helped introduce hip hop to Korean audiences by incorporating rap into mainstream dance music and performance. This style will later be labelled “rap dance,” a precedent to K-pop, where rap is frequently formulated into segments of dance songs.1 During this period, television—particularly channels like AFKN and later MTV—served as a gateway to American hip hop for Korean youth. An important coinciding moment is the 1992 LA Riots, which would have an impact on how Koreans viewed Black American communities and how hip hop was perceived in South Korea during its formative years. These sociocultural and historical conditions set the backdrop for the rise of Hanguk hip hop [Korean hip hop] from the mid- to late-1990s, when Korean fans of American hip hop—through the help of technology, most notably personal computer...
University of California Press