Gentlemen rappers: Masculinity and traditional style in Korean popular music performance

Abstract

Across its history, K-pop has put traditional Korean elements to a diversity of uses, including in music, dance and visual style. This article investigates the use of traditional elements in the sub-genre of Korean hip hop and rap performance. In this strongly masculine sub-genre, the cultural meanings invoked in the incorporation and remediation of traditional Korean elements take on a more particular generic significance, one that highlights the hegemonic masculinity enjoyed by the referenced figure of the ‘gentleman scholar’ ( seonbi). With this narrower scope of investigation, I argue that the use of traditional cultural elements in Korean popular music can simultaneously function as an element of attraction for global audiences, as has previously been argued, while still maintaining local, genre-specific meanings. In particular, I argue that the gentlemanliness of the ‘gentleman scholar’ comes from and expresses a position of power and privilege.