The MV I am analyzing is “photograph” by offonoff. In this essay, I argue that this MV demonstrates the American root of Korean hip-hop, and the song provides young and hardworking Koreans with an unique and exotic sense of serenity in the hustle of city life.

 

In this 21th Century with various recording technologies and transnational MV channels, “music is easily globalizable”, written by Hee-Eun Lee (Lee 2006: 135). Although what defines Korean music is vague and ambiguous, hip-hop is definitely not a type of traditional Korean music. It originated from the US and later was spread out all over the world as a global phenomenon, perhaps this is why it is so hard for Easterners like Koreans and Chinese to establish their own style of hip-hop. However, just like Hee-Eun Lee said, the Koreanness in Korean music usually goes through the process of hybridization, and Western music also needs localization in Korea (Lee 2006: 137). In offonoff’s “photograph”, the only sign of Korean localization is probably the language, not to mention that the chorus part is even sung in English. This could be interpreted as a deliberate way to reduce the linguistic barriers and attract foreign audiences (Baek 2014: 731). But on the other hand, it more or less reflects the essential role that English plays in Korean hip-hop songs as well (Jin and Ryoo 2012: 119). Some people may see English language as a symbol of authenticity when it comes to hip-hop, which is normal since the idea of “hip-hop is Western music” is so deeply rooted in people’s minds (Jin and Ryoo 2012: 120).  

 

In the MV, various scenes and landscapes in the US are used as main views to convey the message that offonoff wants to express. The audiences certainly could feel this natural connection between the song and its MV, because the MV complements the music well with all those tranquil lawns, schools, ocean, and so on. People in the MV are all smiling, resting, and moving in a slow and relaxing way, the day time and night time shots give the audience a sense of contrast, but the similarity both lies in the serenity and alienation in the US from an outsider’s point of view. Putting the lyrics also into consideration, offonoff seems like expressing an ordinary person’s simple happiness of serenity in urban life. This kind of happiness cannot be shared with anyone else, you can only feel it when you are tranquility alone, immersing yourself into this scene as a part of the world. In a highly urbanized and relatively populous South Korea, it is not that easy to get this kind of tranquil feeling anymore compared to the sparsely-populated North America. People living in urban areas of East Asia generally have a lot of stress and pressures for their job, family and personal life, I guess offonoff hopes to use this song and MV to give Korean people a break, a sense of relaxation and tranquil happiness of living in the moment. It might be the key message that offonoff intends to convey to the hardworking people in East Asia.

 

In conclusion, the style of this song “photograph” and the atmosphere of its MV give the audiences the feeling of authenticity in hip-hop due to various American elements shown in the MV and the English chorus. As for the messages and meanings behind the song, offonoff makes good use of his experience in North America and teaches Koreans about his findings in an environment like the US with his philosophy.                       

 

Bibliography

 

Baek, Young Min. "Relationship Between Cultural Distance and Cross-Cultural Music Video Consumption on YouTube." Social Science Computer Review33, no. 6 (2014): 730-48. doi:10.1177/0894439314562184.

 

Jin, Dal Yong, and Woongjae Ryoo. "Critical Interpretation of Hybrid K-Pop: The Global-Local Paradigm of English Mixing in Lyrics." Popular Music and Society37, no. 2 (2012): 113-31. doi:10.1080/03007766.2012.731721.

 

Lee, Hee-Eun. "Seeking the "others" within Us." Discourses of Korean-ness in Korean Popular Music, 2006, 129-46.