[On Stage] Kungjjak Kungjjak~ Movements Naturally Respond... 70 Minutes Immersed in 'Ppong'

250 defines himself as a ‘person who makes dance music.’ He says that truly good music inevitably makes listeners move their bodies, and that’s why he likes music that anyone can dance to. When rapper E Sens, Kim Simya, the group NewJeans, and the album Bbong all converged into one person’s work, the public found it hard to believe. His path has been unpredictable, yet meticulously built up to form a single map. In the middle of this journey, on the night of the 15th, 250 faced the audience through his first solo concert Still Don’t Know? at the Sejong Center S Theater in Jongno-gu, Seoul. With music alone.

A scene from the performance of DJ and producer 250's "Still Don't Know?" at 'Sync Next 23' held on the 15th at the S Theater of Sejong Center for the Performing Arts in Jongno-gu, Seoul.
[Photo by Sejong Center for the Performing Arts]

원본보기 아이콘

The venue, filled with about 300 standing spectators, resembled a club. Some held beers, and a diverse crowd ranging from people in their 20s to middle-aged and foreigners surrendered their bodies to 250’s Bbong under the colorful lights. On stage, 250 was rather faint, while the music and lighting became more vivid. The familiar four-beat rhythm of electronic music sounds?‘kung-jjak kung-jjak kung-jjak-jjak kung-jjak’?created a dreamy atmosphere, and tracks from his album such as ‘And Then There Were None,’ ‘Ichang,’ and ‘Red Glass’ were performed one after another.

Before the concert, in an interview with Asia Economy, he explained the reason for choosing Bbong as the theme of his first album: “I wanted the order of my musical experiences to match the order of the album, hoping that it would naturally sync with the process of life. That’s why I focused on bbongjjak music, which was the very first music of my life.”

250 embodied the experience of bbongjjak?a genre deeply imprinted in everyone’s memory but not easily brought up?into his music, creating a sophisticated yet rustic, joyful yet somehow sad contradictory melody.

On the 15th, during the 'Still Don't Know?' performance by DJ and producer 250 at 'Sync Next 23' held at the S Theater in Sejong Center for the Performing Arts, Jongno-gu, Seoul, saxophonist Lee Jeong-sik was performing.
[Photo by Sejong Center for the Performing Arts]

원본보기 아이콘

At the concert, singer Na Woon-do, Oh Seung-won, and saxophonist Lee Jung-sik, who participated in the Bbong album, appeared on stage to deliver rich sounds live. The melancholic saxophone master Lee Jung-sik’s melody reached its peak in ‘Royal Blue,’ and combined with 250’s synthesizer lines, emotions swirled like a sorrowful dance on a tempo that was neither slow nor fast.

“Waking from a deep sleep, I realized it was all a dream.” Na Woon-do’s lyrics in ‘It Was All a Dream’ captivated the audience with words that seemed to condense the dreamy atmosphere of the concert. 250, who produced and released a video titled In Search of Bbong documenting the album-making process, said, “I more or less rearranged the accompaniment of the song recorded with Mr. Na Woon-do as I pleased and played the result, but he rather said, ‘It seems like you’re trying something in an area others don’t, and I like it,’ which made me happy.” Through the platform called 250, the public was able to newly encounter the singer Na Woon-do on stage.

Then, 250 played the theme song of the animated series Baby Dinosaur Dooly on the keyboard, and a remarkable scene unfolded as the audience sang along in unison. It was a moment when an innate memory was naturally called forth without anyone leading. The song’s original singer, Oh Seung-won, soon took the stage and completed the concert’s narrative by singing ‘It Was All a Dream’ and ‘Finale’ with Na Woon-do.

A scene from DJ and producer 250's performance of "Still Don't Know?" at 'Sync Next 23,' held on the 15th at the S Theater of Sejong Center for the Performing Arts in Jongno-gu, Seoul.
[Photo by Sejong Center for the Performing Arts]

원본보기 아이콘

Previously, 250 spent three years searching to recruit Oh Seung-won for the album work. He explained, “Whenever I heard the Baby Dinosaur Dooly theme song in my childhood, I felt a sense of sadness. Since the main emotion of Bbong is nostalgia, I thought the pinnacle of that emotion for someone born in the 1980s like me would be Baby Dinosaur Dooly. So I really wanted to end the album with his voice.”

The final track, ‘Let’s Dance (original by Jang Eun-sook),’ intertwined Na Woon-do’s wistful voice and guitarist Han Sang-chul’s passionate playing, evoking a profound sadness. Throughout the concert that lasted over 70 minutes, he communicated deeply with the audience solely through music, without a single word or special greeting. The audience responded with movement to his jokes and humor that expressed emotions both sad and somewhat funny.

As he wished, “I hope it’s a concert where people can just dance without the pressure of trying to look cool or pretending to be stylish, just letting go and dancing,” the audience naturally became immersed in the unique excitement of 250’s Bbong.

© The Asia Business Daily(www.asiae.co.kr). All rights reserved.