Baek Byung-yeul is a journalist at The Korea Times focused on cultural content, including films and cultural events in South Korea. You can contact him at baekby@koreatimes.co.kr to share your insights.
Cho Yong-pil talks about new album, challenges
Cho Yong-pil reacts to the audience at the Olympic Hall in southern Seoul Tuesday evening before singing some of the songs from his new album, “Hello.” / Yonhap
By Baek Byung-yeul
By Baek Byung-yeul
Cho Yong-pil, who remains the country’s most influential rock musician at the age of 63, talked about the pressure of reinventing himself as he introduced his new album to journalists and fans Tuesday evening.
"Hello" is Cho’s 19th studio album but his first in more than a decade. Performing songs from the album at Olympic Hall in southern Seoul and taking questions in between, Cho said his challenge was to retain the identity of his music without becoming familiar and predictable.
"I started to make this album two years ago. I had some frustration that my music was being stagnant and I needed to break away from my previous style," said the veteran singer-songwriter before the much anticipated showcase, which was attended by dozens of reporters and some 2,000 fans. The event was streamed live on Naver (www.naver.com), the country’s most popular website.
"I am a veteran so I am trying to be calm and collected. But I can’t help being amazed by the all the love I am getting from my fans and I thank them for waiting for me for so long," Cho said.
Hello seems to be giving the dying compact disc (CD) market a temporary new life. After the album arrived on shelves Tuesday, the first 20,000 copies ordered by retailers were sold out in a matter of hours. That’s an astonishing feat in this day and age of ubiquitous Internet devices and download sites. It wouldn’t be advisable to bet any other artist could manage to sell as many physical copies in the entire year.
The 10 songs on Hello, including the first single, "Bounce," are sweeping the country’s largest download charts, taking every spot from No. 1 to 10. Psy’s "Gentleman," the follow-up to his global hit "Gangnam Style," has become an afterthought.
That said, no interview in the Korean music scene is complete without a mention of Psy.
"I am very proud of Psy as a fellow Korean. Psy is so amazing. I have never believed this thing could happen," Cho said about the international success of the chubby rapper.
“Some people asked me why I was releasing my new album just after he released his new song (“Gentleman”), but I never really timed this on purpose. It’s nice to see that the market has room for both of us.’’
On stage, Cho sang three new songs from his album to a euphoric audience. Rock bands Idiotape and Jaulim and R&B songstress Park Jung-hyun performed renditions of Cho’s songs before the man of the hour appeared on stage.
Cho will perform at the Olympic Gymnastics Arena, Olympic Park, in southern Seoul from May 21 to June 2, to kick off a nationwide tour that will stop off at Daejoen, Uijeongbu, Jinju and Daegu.