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| Jerry.K |
Hip-hop musician Jerry.K, 33, wrote a song recently calling for the resignation of President Park Geun-hye, who is embroiled in a corruption scandal involving her confidant Choi Soon-sil.
On Nov. 5, he sang "Ha-Ya-Hey," along with a crowd of 100,000 people who gathered at Gwanghwamun Square for a protest. The title refers to a slogan chanted at the rally asking the President to step down.
In the song, Jerry.K mocks President Park as Choi's puppet and criticizes Choi and conglomerates for exploiting their connections. He also describes the President as incompetent and attacks her for contributing to the decline of quality of life.
"It was the first performance in public," the singer recalled during an interview with The Korea Times at a coffee shop in Seoul on Wednesday. "At first I didn't imagine myself getting nervous because I had had enough stage experience. But I was nervous. I've never played before 100,000 people."
The performance was well received. The crowd, ranging from a five-year-old boy to a 70-year-old woman, sang along with the chorus. People seated on the paved road moved their candles and placards to the music.
Jerry.K became an instant hit on local search engines just hours after the performance. People took pictures of him and uploaded recordings of the performance to Facebook and Instagram. His YouTube page quickly drew viewers and "thank you" messages. "When I went to protest last week, some people recognized my face and said hi. I hoped people would sing along with this song together. And I am happy that this really happened at the protest."
Jerry.K talks about social issues in his songs, but said "Ha-Ya-Hey" came out of the blue.
"I was lying in bed at home and suddenly the lyrics came," he said. He wrote the lyrics, picked a melody from legendary American songwriter James Brown, recorded the song and posted it on YouTube, all of which took less than 12 hours.
In another song, he sympathized with call-center employees who suffer long working hours and harassment from customers. In one song, he talked about the value of democracy and importance of heated debate.
Jerry.K said he is going to the fourth protest this weekend. "One million have gathered, and nothing has happened. What in the world is this?" he said.
The video for "Ha-Ya-Hey" can be found on YouTube.
On Nov. 5, he sang "Ha-Ya-Hey," along with a crowd of 100,000 people who gathered at Gwanghwamun Square for a protest. The title refers to a slogan chanted at the rally asking the President to step down.
In the song, Jerry.K mocks President Park as Choi's puppet and criticizes Choi and conglomerates for exploiting their connections. He also describes the President as incompetent and attacks her for contributing to the decline of quality of life.
"It was the first performance in public," the singer recalled during an interview with The Korea Times at a coffee shop in Seoul on Wednesday. "At first I didn't imagine myself getting nervous because I had had enough stage experience. But I was nervous. I've never played before 100,000 people."
The performance was well received. The crowd, ranging from a five-year-old boy to a 70-year-old woman, sang along with the chorus. People seated on the paved road moved their candles and placards to the music.
Jerry.K became an instant hit on local search engines just hours after the performance. People took pictures of him and uploaded recordings of the performance to Facebook and Instagram. His YouTube page quickly drew viewers and "thank you" messages. "When I went to protest last week, some people recognized my face and said hi. I hoped people would sing along with this song together. And I am happy that this really happened at the protest."
Jerry.K talks about social issues in his songs, but said "Ha-Ya-Hey" came out of the blue.
"I was lying in bed at home and suddenly the lyrics came," he said. He wrote the lyrics, picked a melody from legendary American songwriter James Brown, recorded the song and posted it on YouTube, all of which took less than 12 hours.
In another song, he sympathized with call-center employees who suffer long working hours and harassment from customers. In one song, he talked about the value of democracy and importance of heated debate.
Jerry.K said he is going to the fourth protest this weekend. "One million have gathered, and nothing has happened. What in the world is this?" he said.
The video for "Ha-Ya-Hey" can be found on YouTube.
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