FLASHCards: Che
“FLASHcards” is a series of quick, introductory artist profiles. Email me for information on being featured.
This is a sponsored blog post. Photos by Han Yong Lee.
If you had to give Che Song a label, he’d accept hip hop singer, producer, and rapper – but don’t try to box him in.
His mission of individuation quickly becomes clear during our conversation. A recurring point is his desire to dodge being labelled, and to introduce a new musical style. The mononymous artist apologizes for his English, explaining that after spending his teenage years in Australia, he worked hard to improve his Korean and in turn forgot some English. Like many members of the Asian diaspora, CHE grapples with his identity and sense of belonging. This confusion is reflected by his artistic preferences: “I think that’s one of the reasons why I like [art] that has a new style, that doesn’t belong anywhere – [it’s the] same as my identity.”
As we chat on the phone shortly after Christmas, the soft-spoken singer laughs with me about my time zone confusion. Born in Seoul, he moved to Melbourne with his family at age 13 and has since also lived in Berlin and Oslo. At 19, he dropped out of studying fashion design at the Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology to pursue a music career in Korea, citing a longtime love of music as his motivation. “With art in general, I felt like I wanted to do it on my own, not to learn from some theory,” he says of ditching school. “I just wanted to be independent … that’s why I moved back to Korea - for the music.”
In 2016 CHE signed to the production label Premaslo, which focuses on its signed artists but also produces for Korean pop groups at major entertainment companies like SM, YG, and JYP. He tells me about the common practice in the industry of big labels buying guide songs from production labels at a low price like $3000, which their in-house producers will then alter and take credit for (the original producers sell the rights to their songs and don’t earn additional royalties). He made a lot of connections with producers and rappers through his work on the Premaslo team, and one year later he began working as an independent producer.
The singer’s melancholy debut “Lights Out” reclaims his artistry in a simultaneously sad and hopeful way. The music video is a cinematic piece directed by the Gunsoo Park and meummye for their Kaywon University of Art and Design graduation project. He met the pair at a mutual friend’s wedding, where they bonded over grappling with the same industry issues. The lyrics meditate on his struggle with depression upon arriving in Korea, where he did not initially have any close companions. He reflects on meeting a lot of ambitious “business-minded” people who approached him insincerely, taking advantage of his emotional state: “I got used by a lot of musicians here,” he shares. “I didn’t know what to do after; I felt like I got betrayed on credit because I worked really hard for it.”
Now 22, CHE has learned about dealing with industry snakes the hard way. “I used to hear what they say yeah/They dont matter anyway yeah,” he sings on his new track. His initial desperation to succeed quickly had contributed to his disillusionment and social paranoia, but he has since learned to adapt to the Korean hip hop scene. “I had to face it when I jumped here into the music industry,” he declares. The singer notes that the issue of artists not being credited for their hard work is pervasive in every country, not just in Korea.
The Seoul scene is a “really small [place where] pretty much everyone knows each other”, according to CHE. He credits the mainstream rise of K-hip hop to the popularity of Show Me the Money, a Korean rap competition TV show. While K-pop still reigns supreme, CHE pinpoints artists like DPR Live, Jay Park, Okasian, and Sik-K for forging a new K-hip hop style that features smooth vocals as well as strategic autotune. CHE claims his personal style isn’t “Korean style … it doesn’t belong anywhere”. His journey of self-discovery has been heavily inspired by Kid Cudi and M.I.A in particular; their unique perspective on songwriting and visuals helped him break out of being a heavily trend follower in music and fashion. “They’re cool in their own way … they make their own style,” he explains. The former was especially important to his healing while adjusting to life in Korea.
“Not just style, even the story that I’m writing … I want people to feel it, because when I had very bad depression Kid Cudi actually saved my life with his lyrics and melody, so I want the audience to feel that, like how I felt from Kid Cudi. I feel like that’s what music does for people.”
CHE used to practice more rapping in addition to singing, but he’s wary of appropriation and portraying an inauthentic image. On Korean rappers, he muses: “I’m not trying to diss them, but like … some of them sound … like their life was very very tough, like American hip hop people, but when I know them in person it was really different … their lifestyle doesn’t suit their music.” He clarifies that he doesn’t think rap music does not have to align with a difficult upbringing, but he it’s important to portray an accurate worldview through music.
This sense of authenticity isn’t limited to his work alone; he wishes that Korean and Japanese fanbase culture would also be more focused on artistry. He ponders about the practice of fans focusing more on the person than the music, leading to intense, long-term idolatry of celebrities. This is a common sentiment among his artist circles, who hope that music fans will shift their focal points to what they used to be before the rise of K-pop. “Even though that kind of fanbase culture is really strong, I believe that it can be changed because there’s a lot of musicians coming up who don’t think like that,” he says with a chuckle. “I’m not saying it’s negative or anything … it’s just the way it is, it’s natural. I just hope that for the music … I want more focus on art in general than just visuals or fanbase things.” Although he does feel pressure to maintain a certain visual aesthetic, he tries to stay grounded by collaborating with like-minded artists and concentrating on the music.
“Lights Out” marks the beginning of CHE’s solo discography, and it will be included in his upcoming debut EP, which he aims to release by March at latest. Its credits will include collaborations with his close friend sogumm of Balming Tiger (who recently worked with AOMG artist DJ Wegun) as well as PNKSAND, an artist who he linked with in Berlin. It will include Korean and English music to appeal to an international audience, as well as more visuals by the same director duo. This new chapter of his career will bring about new struggles, but this time he’s stronger and ready to face them; ready to “shine it bright now”.
