David Tizzard is a professor at Seoul Women’s University, holds a PhD in Korean Studies, and hosts the Korea Deconstructed podcast. He has lived and worked in Seoul for more than two decades. Reach him at datizzard@swu.ac.kr.
How NewJeans stole London's underground
Captured from NewJeans' Instagram account
By David A. Tizzard
I must confess, I probably couldn’t name all the members of NewJeans. And if the members were scattered amongst a sea of contemporary female K-pop idols, I probably wouldn’t be able to pick them out of a lineup.
But that doesn’t really matter for me. I’ve long explored K-pop for the music. I observe the trends. Study the songwriters and producers. Delve into how everything actually gets made. I like putting respect on Kenzie and teaching my students that the K in K-pop might just as well stand for her name rather than Korea. I love uncovering Teddy Park and G-Dragon’s role in shaping the most influential generation on K-pop. How rather than being an underdog, Bang Si-hyuk actually earned his spurs as "Hitman Bang" working with JYP on the Wonder Girls and helping them become the first K-pop group on Billboard.
When I listen to K-pop to understand what’s happening, I will often search for playlists and mixes rather than the catalogue of one artist. House is generally my go-to and, for that reason, recent K-pop has been pretty good to me as many of the current acts are leaning heavily into it and building on what others did before. The best house playlists in K-pop will generally feature KiiKii’s “404,” Riize’s “Impossible,” Hearts2Hearts’ “Rude,” f(x)’s “Four Walls” and Shinee’s “View.” I also have no problem when people put XG or Katseye songs in there either because you can’t see people’s skin color when you’re listening to music. The point is I listen for genres rather than fandoms or ethnicity.
From Camden to Seoul
NewJeans didn’t do house. They delved more into drum and bass. And of course, when I say NewJeans, I don’t mean the young women themselves were writing and creating these beats. They’re just a vehicle for the producers. The packaging on the bottle. Of course they do it extremely well. They had their stylists turn them away from girlboss vibes or super sexy and glamorous and push into '90s saggy fashion, complete with backpacks, low slung jeans, crop tops, and everything else that filled the university campuses of my youth. Cortis are now exploring similar territory. Although their music doesn’t necessarily sound like it (it sounds like the same song repeated 4-5 times if recent concert reviews are anything to go by), a lot of their promotional images looks like something straight out of a Britpop magazine like Kerrang or NME. Not too dissimilar to what RM was doing in his track “Groin.” I’m not sure if you can culturally appropriate chavs or British street culture, but K-pop is certainly not shy of doing it at times. And, I must confess, when it gets it right, it really works. I guess it’s not too far away from how Deli Spice basically recreated Oasis but with Korean lyrics at times.
What made NewJeans sound so fresh (so clean, new hair, new tee etc) was the people who created their sound. It’s one thing looking good in the videos but you also have to have songs that slap: and basically every NewJeans song did. They felt new. They energized. They had the feeling of youth. They didn’t replicate west coast hip-hop like everyone else, but instead drew inspiration from the clubs and raves of my youth. The BPMs were high and the vocals ethereal. Close your eyes and you could almost be back in Camden or Brighton, feeling the effects of the disco biscuits while reaching for another Marlboro light as the phone-free club reached peak euphoria. Chewing gum and bottled water everywhere. NewJeans sounded current by digging into a past that everyone else in the industry had often ignored: the sounds of London, garage, jungle, and drum and bass.
Sonic architects
Erika De Casier co-wrote four of the six tracks on the second NewJeans EP. When the girl’s management approached De Casier they asked her if she’d listened to K-pop and the fact that she hadn’t was what made everything work so well. “Super Shy” sounds exactly like a De Casier track: recalling all that LTJ Bukem influence, liquid drum’n’bass, introspective vocals, and club energy. Basically what PinkPantheress is doing so well. Imagine a collab between her and NewJeans?
250 ( Lee Ho-hyung) is another legend behind the NewJeans train of excellence. The main writer and producer behind “Hype Boy,” “Attention,” “Ditto,” “How Sweet” and “ETA.” He’s on record saying that the musicians who most inspire him as an artist are Ryuichi Sakamoto, Shin Hae-chul and Prince which is a mad collection of influences I’m here for. His own debut award-winning album is PPONG, an eclectic remix of old trot songs and sounds, taking its name from the colloquial Korean name for the genre: ppong-jak. It’s probably unlike anything you will have heard before and you’ll most likely not like it. Even 250 is unsure about it, but has said that those Korean sounds are so deep inside him he had to quite simply get them out.
FRNK (Park Jin-su) was another key ingredient for the NewJeans sound. Responsible for “OMG,” “New Jeans,” “Cool with You,” “Cookie” and “Right Now”. If that’s not enough to get you interested, he’s also produced "Love Me Again" and "Slow Dancing" from BTS V's 2023 solo album Layover as well as Derre by Bibi. Basically, a legend and you should be listening to more of him. Strange in a way to think there are so many who like NewJeans and Jungkook and Bibi but don’t know FRNK. Maybe that’s the point?
What you slowly understand when you peel back the wonderfully photoshopped, toned, crackshipped, fetishized veneer of the K-pop aesthetics, is that a group of insanely talented individuals make the music you like. Often for multiple artists and groups, across multiple generations. While the fans argue with each other about the success, merits and scandals of their favorites and biases, the producers keep making music and the entertainment companies find new packages to put it in and sell.
For NewJeans, a lot of the old visual production team was apparently involved in these new promotional videos. Nayeon Kim, Choi Yumi and Dana Kim were all old Ador staff. K-pop never really has problems with visuals. The biggest question is whether this group can still sound as fresh in 2026 as they did a few years ago. And who will be making their music for them. As long as it’s not Chris Martin, Ed Sheeran and Tame Impala, we should be good.