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Mnet 프로그램 목록 페이지[NMIXX] K-POP is now traversing between creation and recreation, forging its own path | PLUS MAGAZINE ORIGINAL
| Written by Park soojin (Editor for the music webzine IZM)
The girl group NMIXX released their first EP [expérgo] on March 20th. Their group name, NMIXX, is a combination of the first letter ’N’ from ‘now, new, next’ and ‘MIX’ which means ‘mixing’. As their name suggests, NMIXX is the best combination to take responsibility for the new era. Their music, called MIXX POP, is once again declarative. They have produced unique and original songs by blending two or more different genres to create a distinct and creative texture.
Their bold attempt first emerged in the title track ‘O.O’ from their debut single [AD MARE] in 2022. The title track, which embodies the widened eyes and exclamation of ‘Oh!’ in amazement, contained a message for people to ‘be prepared to be amazed by something new’. Next, in their follow-up single [ENTWURF], they smoothly expressed the concept of ‘facing the mystery antagonist in a dice game’ by combining jazzy sounds, saxophone, trumpet, and trap beats in the title track ‘DICE’.
Their new song takes one step further and heads towards the public. Previous songs of NMIXX had somewhat reduced accessibility to the public due to combining vastly different genres into a single song, but on their latest EP [expérgo], they have lowered the barrier of their music. While maintaining the existing MIXX POP style, they have brought more enjoyable music by increasing the organic connection between genres.
Their pre-release song ‘Young, Dumb, Stupid,’ which samples the French classic children’s song ‘Frère Jacques,’ and the title track ‘Love Me Like This’ emphasize the enjoyable experience of listening by clearly distinguishing each segment within the song, rather than mixing disparate genres together. A change in methods is the evidence of growth. In today’s world where the influence of K-POP is growing day by day, we are curious about what the peak of NMIXX’s MIXX POP will be like.
NMIXX had added different genres to create their music, there is also ‘sampling’, which brings in existing songs into a piece to make a new work. Sampling refers to taking sources from previosuly released music and incorporating them into a new track. Recently, sampling was also used in the first song ‘Face-off’ of BTS member Jimin’s album [FACE]. The easy-to-play piano piece ‘Cat’s Dance’ by an anonymous composer, often sought after by those who are new to the instrument, flows in the introduction of that song.
The use of sampling has no limitation. In the case of classical music, Ivy’s ‘Sonata of Temptation,’ which received a lot of love in 2007, was recreated from Beethoven’s ‘Für Elise’. SeeYa’s signature song, ‘Love’s Greeting’, which met a second heyday thanks to JTBC’s popular program <2You Project — SugarMan3>, was recreated from Edward Elgar’s piece of the same name, while ‘Summer Rain,’ a song by GFRIEND, a group that left fans with a sense of regret after a sudden disbandment, was recreated from Robert Schumann’s ‘Dichterliebe’.
Since copyright protection for classical music lasts up to 70 years after the death of the original composer, almost all classical music is free from copyright, while sampling in popular music always requires payment of royalties. There is a risk burden when a song is not successful, but nevertheless, a great sampling can make the value of a song shine even more. ‘Champion’, a hit song by Psy who became a world star with ‘Gangnam Style’ charted at #2 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart, sampled the main melody from ‘Axel F’ by a German musician Harold Faltermeyer.
Also, Um Jung-hwa’s song ‘D.I.S.C.O,’ which reignited her singing career, sampled the disco track ‘Heartache №9’ by the British trio Delegation and became a big hit. The legendary soul music icon James Brown’s masterpiece ‘It’s A Man’s Man’s Man’s World’ has been sampled in numerous songs, including Fergie, Ice Cube, and Rick Ross, as well as Agust D’s (also known as SUGA from BTS) eponymous song, breathing new life into a whopping 76 songs.
The use of sampling in K-POP is not a recent trend that started just a day or two ago. It started in the 1990s, which is commonly referred to as the first generation of K-POP, or even earlier, before K-POP had the meaning it has today. Sampling has been a popular metho in K-POP for a long time. Although it’s difficult to list them all, in the late 1980s and early 1990s, the hit song ‘A Wish list’ by Byun Jin Sub, which shook Korea, sampled George Gershwin’s ‘Rhapsody in Blue,’ a piece by a famous composer in American popular music. It’s widely known that Shin Seung Hoon’s ‘Invisible Love’ borrowed ‘Ich Liebe Dich’ by Beethoven.
In addition, S.E.S.’s ‘Dreams Come True,’ which has also been covered by recent junior girl groups aespa, GIRLS’ GENERATION, and Red Velvet, has also sampled the catchy beat of Finland duo Nylon Beat’s ‘Like A Fool’. In the 1990s, genres such as hip-hop and new jack swing in black music were spreading their wings. At that time, it was common to import foreign music directly as inspiration or reference, rather than through sampling. The echoes of this can be found in albums by Seo Taiji and Boys, Deux, Drunken Tiger, and others. In an era when copyright was unclear, the ‘copyright issue’ benefited from the times by quickly reading the trends and music to broaden the horizon of Korean music.
The technique of sampling is repeated now as it was before. However, the difference between then and now is clear. Unlike in the 1990s when much of the music was brought over without creating much cultural innovation, today’s sampling is more of a fusion and convergence rather than mere imitation. While bringing over elements, appropriately placed on focus is placed on the characteristics of the song and the artist’s concept.
The active utilization of sampling, however, began in recent years as K-POP’s influence has been skyrocketing. As K-POP songs started to be produced through collaboration among multiple songwriters, with each part written separately and then merged, sampling was rare. This was because the groundwork had to be done from the song design stage, and the consent of many had to be obtained. As sampling became a solution, it began to attract attention as a way to achieve universality in K-POP songs. During the year 2022, BLACKPINK, who acted as global ambassadors for various brands and had many international fans, sampled Nicolo Paganini’s ‘La Campanella’ in their song ‘Shut Down,’ while another girl group, Red Velvet, sampled J.S. Bach’s ‘Air on the G String’ in their song ‘Feel My Rhythm’. This is not just a coincidence.
Furthermore, recent K-POP samplings tend to focus more on ‘K-Culture’. From a tendency to sample classical and pop songs, it has now expanded its scope to more uniquely Korean cultural and musical elements. The advert song ‘Zero’ for a large beverage brand featuring the girl group NewJeans incorporated the popular Korean children’s song ‘Coca-Cola tastes good / if it’s good, drink it again’ as a part of its lyrics. On the day of its release, the advert song achieved an exceptional feat by entering the top 10 of major music streaming sites.
BLACKPINK’s JISOO, who was the last member to release a solo album, also incorporated a part of a verse from a Korean children’s song called ‘Flower Searching Game’ in her title track “Flower”. The part she used was ‘Why did you come to our house / To find flowers’. In 2010, 2NE1’s ‘Follow Me’ which sampled a children’s song, also gained popularity. However, now that the movie
In this way, K-POP is gradually expanding its reach. A famous foreign magazine limited K-POP to idol music and summarized its characteristics as follows: songs by groups consisting of 5–6 or more members, who were trainees under the guidance of their labels, with sharp dance and point choreography as their main focus. This description is not entirely wrong. In addition, K-POP may include easy-to-sing-along, specific world-building settings, active SNS communication, and self-produced content. Sampling cannot be left out either. When K-POP goes beyond K and enters the wider world of ‘Pop(ular),’ sampling will quickly narrow the gap between nations.
With K-POP’s expandability more sensitive than ever, sampling is evolving delicately. IVE’s ‘After LIKE,’ which summons ‘I Will Survive’, a disco song representing the 1990s, excellently adopted the genre-specific meaning of disco and the message of the original song, emphasizing the ‘attitude of loving oneself’. (G)I-DLE twisted the narrative of a character to use it as their group image and made a stunning impact on the music scene. The song ‘Nxde,’ which samples the free-spirited protagonist Carmen’s ‘Habanera’ from the opera
NMIXX’s MIXX POP also creates a fusion of genres next to sampling. This is how K-POP sails today. The music industry in Korea, which began with imitation, is now traversing between creation and recreation, leading the world and forging its own path. No one can predict what will be placed at the end of the path that K-POP is heading towards.
※ Manuscripts from outside writers may not reflect the editorial direction of this magazine.