Have you ever heard the exciting song called “The Tiger is Coming Down”? This is a song by Leenalchi that appeared in the “Feel the Rhythm of Korea” video produced by the Korea Tourism Organization in July last year for overseas promotion. The advertisement received an award at the 2020 Korea Advertising Awards, and it became popular on YouTube, garnering a huge number of views. “The Tiger is Coming Down” is a song from the first album by Leenalchi. It is a modern reinterpretation of the traditional narrative song (called pansori) Sugungga. It is characterized by its harmony of modern pop styles with traditional pansori. The unconventional performance and familiar yet unfamiliar rhythm fill us with excitement. Also, it was included in “The Suneung Ban Video,” featuring addictive lyrics, unique dances, and unique sounds. Before you know it, if you find yourself humming the song “The Tiger is Coming Down,” you are already in love with it. Leenalchi’s song successfully targeted the tastes of young people, begetting memes, various parody videos, idol reaction videos, and 'one tiger a day'. This excitement could spread all over the world.

Thanks to Leenalchi’s song, we have started to pay attention to our traditions. This phenomenon is called “traditional hip.” Traditional hip means adding modern styles to old traditions. In addition to Leenalchi’s song, songs such as Ravi's “Beom” and BTS member Suga's solo song “Daechwita,” can be considered traditional hip, but this phenomenon is not limited to songs. It also appears elsewhere. Have you ever seen a video of the non-face-to-face fashion show “Korea in Fashion” produced by the Korea Foundation for Cultural Heritage? This fashion show promotes hanbok (beautiful traditional Korean clothing), and it has modernized the hanbok worn by Joseon princesses to showcase the unique beauty of hanbok. Also, the National Museum of Korea's “Goryeo Celadon Edition” went viral among netizens, causing a sellout. Based on the colors and patterns of Goryeo celadon, Korean traditional colors and patterns were combined with modern ones such as those found on AirPods and Buzz cases to show Korea's unique beauty while still pursuing a different look. As such, we have expressed our interest in tradition by carrying tumblers engraved with Hunminjeongeum (original name of Korean alphabet) or by using items depicting traditional pansori, hanbok, or Korean culture. Traditional hip is a modern reinterpretation or combination of the old with modern culture, rather than simply interpreting the past as it was. I will now explain the reason for the traditional hip craze from three perspectives.

First, traditional hip is an extension of the “newtro” craze. Retro and newtro can be similar or different depending on how they are enjoyed. Retro is a reproduction of a style that was popular in the past. It is similar to the emotions of reminiscence, recollection, and memories, and an example is the drama Reply Series. Newtro, on the other hand, is a combination of ‘new’ and ‘retro.’ For example, the group SSAK3, popular last summer, created the newtro craze. Yoo Jae-seok, Lee Hyo-ri, and Rain (Jung Ji-hoon) reinterpreted the 90s in a modern style and produced the newtro song “Here Again by the Sea.” As such, retro is a way of evoking nostalgia among middle-aged people by bringing back what was popular in the past. Newtro, on the other hand, refers to the reinterpretation of the past for new generations. The reason the current young generation loves newtro is its ‘freshness.’ For them, newtro is recognized as something different, and strangely it gives them a sense of psychological stability, for instance, young people watching Reply 1988 feel a sense of familiarity and something new even though they have not lived through that time. This trend coincides with hip-hada, which is used to mean strong individuality and is linked to traditional hip.

Second, the popularity of Korean traditional culture around the world has piqued our interest in old customs. K-Pop and K-Dramas have spread around the world, leading to the ‘Korean Wave,’ and BTS is currently considered the leading idol group riding the Korean Wave. BTS is the first and only South Korean music group to top the Billboard Hot 100. Each song released is drawing attention, and BTS continues to make unrivaled moves by collaborating with famous foreign singers. Also, BTS has a huge influence on promoting Korean culture to overseas fans. For example, they performed in front of Gyeongbokgung Palace's Geunjeongjeon on NBC's signature show ‘The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon.’ Geunjeongjeon of Gyeongbokgung Palace is National Treasure No. 22, and it was the site of a ceremony to ascend to the throne during the Joseon dynasty. Their performance in front of Gyeongbokgung Palace, wearing modern hanbok, increased interest in Korean culture among overseas fans. Blackpink also performed on “How You Like That” in modern hanbok. Their music video garnered 83.6 million views in one day after it was released on YouTube, allowing the world to see the beauty of hanbok. As such, K-Pop plays an important role in traditional hip.

This is not confined to music. Maybe everyone reading this article has seen the TV series Kingdom on Netflix. Kingdom, a collaboration between director Kim Sung-hoon, who directed the movie Tunnel, and writer Kim Eun-hee, who wrote the TV drama series Signal, is a Korean-themed zombie drama. Kingdom stars Ju Ji-hoon, Ryu Seung-ryong, Bae Doo-na, Kim Sang-ho, and Heo Joon-ho. Kingdom was praised by overseas fans when it was released. They were enthusiastic about the gat, a traditional Korean hat that most Koreans do not care much about. As everyone knows, the gat was a traditional Korean hat worn by men during the Joseon dynasty. Accordingly, we felt proud of Korean traditional culture and naturally became interested in our traditions thanks to Korean traditional culture being highly praised and loved by overseas fans.

Third, China's excessive "Culture Northeast Project" has created an atmosphere in which we need to protect our traditional culture. The biggest controversies have surrounded kimchi and hanbok. China claims that the origin of the Korean traditional food kimchi is paochai, a Chinese pickled vegetable, and regarding hanbok, a traditional Korean costume, they claim that hanfu, worn during the Ming dynasty, was hanbok. They also claim that the Korean gat and Arirang are also of Chinese origin. Additionally, the Korean children's song Vandal was introduced as a Chinese folk song on a music entertainment show on Beijing satellite TV on October 27, last year. Furthermore, China claims that the ancestors of South Korean footballer Son Heung-min came from the Yantai tribe in Shandong province. China's northeastern project has been steadily carried out since 2002, distorting all of our history, including Goguryeo, Gojoseon, and Balhae. Therefore, we are tired of China's culture deprivation and try to understand Korean traditional culture and protect our identity and history. The reason why the TV drama series Joseon Exorcist was canceled may be due to this reason and our increased interest in traditional culture.

To summarize, the traditional hip craze is about our growing interest in tradition, triggered by the newtro craze. In addition, the newtro craze has strengthened as Korean traditional culture has gained popularity around the world and our pride in Korean culture has swelled. At the same time, China's excessive culture deprivation has annoyed people, resulting in our desire to protect traditional culture, which has naturally led to piquing our interest in old customs. The traditional hip craze is meaningful in that it can help prevent the disappearance of traditional culture. What we should remember here is that to protect our culture from China, we must take steps ourselves and truly respect our traditions.