The release of the currently airing hit drama Trot Lovers has fans asking, "What exactly is Korean trot music?" The simple answer is that trot may very well be the first K-pop that ever existed. Here's a little background on the history of trot music and why it's still relevant today.
Trot, whose name derives from the ballroom dance foxtrot because of its simple two-beat rhythm, contains seven five-syllabic stanzas and the performers sing in a unique vocal style called Gagok. Korean trot music is actually a modified type of Japanese music, enka, that was imported from Japan around 1910 when Korea was a Japanese colony. Once enka entered the country, Koreans made it their own, using it to express their dreams and sorrows. Despite the fact that the genre has been influenced by outside cultures, including Japanese and Western influences, traditional trot music represents the hearts of Koreans, and this is why the genre has endured.
Even though the generation who lived at the peak of Trot's popularity is aging and the genre experienced a steep decline in the 1990's, trot music refuses to die and its influence keeps popping up in modern K-pop and K-dramas.
Trot has experienced several recent revivals by K-pop artists such as Big Bang's Daesung and the young trot singer Jang Yoon Jeong.
You'll notice that as time progressed, the trot genre began to incorporate some of the distinctly Korean dance moves and expressions that have influenced modern K-pop's aesthetic. Many trot singers even have backup dancers that resemble modern K-pop more than traditional trot music.
It's impossible not to admit that trot music is really catchy and kind of addicting! It's no wonder that it continuously pops back up in modern Korean media.
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Article:
'Why Korean Trot music is the original K-pop'
by CoCo Kdrama on Mon, Jul 21, 2014
Site:
https://www.dramafever.com/news/why-korean-trot-music-is-the-original-k-pop--/ ..
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