#007 The Birth of K-Pop: OG Producers, Music Industry, Artists, and Talent with Jae Chong

Jae Chong grew up the son of first generation Korean immigrant parents in California listening to Ozzy Osbourne and Van Halen. An early experience with Jeff Buckley pushed him further towards music and he was soon playing guitar, drums, bass, and piano. He sent an album recorded on a 4-track in his bedroom over to Korea in the early 1990s and started down a path that would see him play a revolutionary role in the modern Korean music scene. Jae wrote and produced all the music for his group Solid and their 1995 second album, with hits such as 이밤의 끝을 잡고, was pivotal in introducing R&B to Korea and sold millions. He describes the experience as being “too Asian for America and too American for Asia”, being the first Korean-Americans seen on domestic television, as well as the difficulty in getting any dance music on the screen in the early 90s. Jae spent time working and learning from masters 김형석 and 신승훈, understanding the 응착 in Korean music and a work ethic to write and produce at the top level. Jae talks of his respect for 서태지 and other OGs in the Korean music scene that introduced previously unheard music to the country and how the media played his group Solid (솔리드) and 서태지 off of each other. Korean entertainment companies looked to Jae for the equipment he used and the sounds he was making, hoping to emulate his success. One of my favourite songs in his discography, Boa’s 1999 Let U Go, Jae doesn’t even remember writing! He speaks of his affection for the Solid fanbase and the support they showed during their 2018 comeback album and hopes that K-pop will continue going from strength to strength and develop more depth to its sounds.