The Music of Oh Joon Sung- Bobby Kim

When I first heard about this concert, the name that I got me excited straight away was Bobby Kim. I didn’t know about the composer and Shinee was well, another boy band. As for Mario&, I just found out something interesting but I’ll talk about it in another post.

But Bobby Kim..ah..Bobby Kim.

I first heard his voice in one of my favourite drama, ‘Fashion 70’s’. He sang the song (약한 남자 or Weak Man). This song was associated with Chun Jung Myung’s character, Jang Bin. And if you had read my post, you would know that I fell in love with the cool and rebellious Jang Bin (whilst everyone was swooning over Joo Ji Mo). Catch the self-made mv here and you will see what I mean.

Since then, I have looked out for his voice. He is one of the few rare singers with a very unique voice.

Bobby Kim (Kim Don Gyun) and his family migrated to US when he was just 2 years but returned to Korea when he was 18. The main reason for the return was his love of music. I guess he wanted to make it in his home country.

I just found out that he is known as the ‘Rap gandfather’ and ‘Hip Hop Daddy’ in Korea. So before groups like Big Bang, Shinee etc all came along..he has already been there and done that. But in Korean’s competitive entertainment industry, he remained relatively unknown until his big break in 2004 with the song, ‘A Whale’s Dream’ in 2004. Images of coconut trees, hammock, magarita, sunset and Bob Marley come to mind when you hear this song. This song has even been covered by Park Hyo Shin and Davichi. But I think only Bobby Kim brings that certain lazy, hazy reggae feel to the song.

Bobby Kim has been involved in many bands before. One of them was Buga Kingz, a hip hop band. Listen to them perform here. Hmm… I’m not sure about the safari costume though but I guess it’s better than the Red Indian one. hehe! And what do you know, the song was covered by Hong Kong’s defunct boy band, Sun Z. What do you think of their version?

Bobby Kim has sang in the ost for many dramas and films. But somehow, given his voice and the genre of his music, most of these dramas are mostly the bittersweet type.. like
‘Tazza’—-Reason
‘War of Money’—-일년을 하루같이
‘The Devil’—-뒷걸음. (Ju Ji Hoon was excellent in this drama).
‘Friend, Our Legend’—-Only You (this is on my to-watch list)

Since 2004, he has released 3 solo albums. The song I was playing earlier on my blog- ‘Let Me Say Goodbye’ was from his 2004 album, Vol 1.5- Beats within my Soul. Music, good music..makes a connection immediately no matter what language and this is one of those song. Watch the mv here and read the lyrics as he sings I actually got teary after watching this. Fron the same album, also came the song, ‘It’s alright, it’s all good’, which he has performed with the Brown Eyed Girls on tv about 2 years ago. Gosh, the girls looked so different. ^^

In his 2007 album, Follow My Soul, came the duet song, ‘Do You Love Me. I recommend listening to this song with the lights dimmed, with a glass of wine and your loved one next to you. But also watch out for his track 4 – 넋두리 (which I’m playing on my blog now). This was performed together with his father (his father is a well known trumpeter).

In his latest album released in 2009, Bobby Kim Special Album- Love Chapter 1, comes the love ballad, Love…This is. It seems this was the first time for him to attempt a ballad. I say he should do more. hehe!

Bobby Kim is also in the Movement group. I’m not entirely sure what it is but I think it aims to bring hip hop closer to the masses. Members of The Movement support fellow members via concerts and songs. Hey, you know what? There is a facebook for The Movement. You can check out the members who belong to this group (for the younger fans, got Epik High in it).

And the relationship to his appearance in composer Oh Joon Sung’s upcoming concert? He sang the song, ‘If not Death, then Life’ for the drama, ‘Dream’. ‘Dream’ stars Joo Ji Mo, Son Dam Bi and the charismatic young actor, Kim Bum. Shinee, the other guess artiste at this concert sang the theme song.

To know a little more about this guy, check out Arirang’s Show Biz Extra- Star Focus, which was broadcast on the 3rd March 2009 (I think). Very interesting. He explained why he released his latest special album and also mentioned about a new album soon (yippee!!).

You can also check out the soompi thread here. Unfortunately, it is only a miserable 2 pages. Sigh…

Here’s an amusing little story about his Korean.. Click here… and it seems he has listed alcohol as one of his hobby…Maybe the organiser should buy him a Singapore Sling when he’s in Singapore. ^^

This has been one long post and I just realised that I’ve spent the whole weekend reseaching about him. I guess I’m really looking forward to his appearance at the concert, even though he will only be singing a couple of songs.

Ok…if anyone wants to bring him to Singapore for a proper showcase, I’ll be the first in queue to buy ticket.

This is the song he mentioned that was the most memorable track for him in the Arirang’s interview. It’s for the drama, ‘White Tower’, titled ‘Pine Tree’. The saxaphone at the start of the song is fantastic!

Tickets for the concert is on sale now. You can get yours from Sistic. Go and buy now!

I will be updating more when I have confirmed news from the organsier about ths activites, so look out for them.

Related posts:
The Music of Oh Joon Sung- Shinee
The Music of Oh Joon Sung
The Music of Oh Joon Sung- Contest