Chosunilbo Interview with Taiji Jan. 18, 2001
Interviewer: Kwon Hyuk-Jong
Translator: Dream of Balhae

[Trans. Note: We can see some prejudicial views on Taiji and his style of activity in the interviewer¡¯s questions and tone of description. It will be interesting to read Taiji¡¯s clear and pointed responses against those sarcastic prejudices.]


¡°I lost masses but gained manias¡±

Some media forces regard me as ¡°dollars¡±¡¦Our society obstructs the emergence of true heroes

Taiji was in casual wear with a woolen cap and thick-framed glasses on. His bare face with no make-up looked much younger in his age of 30. As always, taking photos wasn¡¯t allowed. ¡°Even my face is a sort of commodity, isn¡¯t it? I want you to put a photo I chose on this interview article.¡± Since his come-back, Taiji has lived avoiding any exposure to the public except his concerts.

A few days ago, he even went to buy a guitar with his face covered under mufflers after sending someone to evacuate the shop. It shows his professional awareness of his starship. This is the first exclusive interview with Taiji made by a central newspaper.

--You are folding up your half-year activities since your come-back last August. Are you satisfied with the outcome?

¡°Most of all, I¡¯m glad to find the solidarity of my fans and their affection toward me unchanged. 1.3 million of the album sold despite its ¡°hardcore¡± genre unfamiliar to the Korean public and the long gap in my music career. I gained confidence that music for ¡®manias¡¯ can survive even in Korea. What I lost is masses. When I appeared very often on TV programs in older days, I was popular even to the older generation of TV spectators. Now they took off, yet I don¡¯t mind.¡±

--All the country made a fuss over your come-back, but recently it seems that you are a little beside the spotlight of media.

¡°Perhaps, they gave up on me as an unfriendly guy (laughing). Isn¡¯t it more absurd for a singer to stir the whole country up and down? There were many proposals for interviews and TV programs, but I didn¡¯t accept them.¡±

--You have maintained your policy of making all your activities secret and mystified to maximize their promotional effects. It aroused the debate over your too much strategic commercialism regardless of any musical evaluation.

¡°All I¡¯ve done since come-back is to release my 6th album, do tour concerts, and model for just one commercial. If I wanted to make money, I would have taken up some of those proposals. But I didn¡¯t. What is commercialistic? Rather, some TV stations and newspapers regard me as ¡®dollars.¡¯ 80~90% of the news articles about me are total lies. What singer in the world does interviews before releasing his album and opens the stage to the public eyes before concerts? If I¡¯m mystic, all the singers in the world play ¡°ghostism.¡±

--With all your repulsion toward the media, you are said to use the media better than anyone else by making your come-back show aired on TV, ¡°an unmusical medium,¡± and spilling news over intermittently.

¡°I just used ¡®TV boxes¡¯ present every home to let my music known. TV or the Internet, it doesn¡¯t matter which way, only if it is a means of popular communications. I¡¯m uneasy with the newspaper. It¡¯s for the sake of my aim. There is no other way. I use what I can, when I need to. That¡¯s our reality. We can¡¯t help.¡±

--Isn¡¯t it that you feel tempted into the status of ¡°a popular entertainer¡± despite your image as ¡°uncompromising musician¡±?

¡°Since my debut, I have done what music I like to, got popular, and gained wealth and honor. Yet, I don¡¯t think that extra-musical things influenced my music. I¡¯ve always done what music I like to most. Everything else just followed it. Some say that even unpopular music becomes popular when touched on by me. That¡¯s my musical talent and ability.¡±

--There is some ¡°anti-Seo Taiji¡± group alongside with your fans.

¡°I¡¯ve experienced unimaginably extreme personal attacks and slanders. I accept those kinds of critiques poignant but admissible. I¡¯m not an idiot. But, in fact, there was a force that attempted to ¡°kill Seo Taiji.¡± I can¡¯t tell you what it was. Our society obstructs the emergence of true heroes. Many people have an illusion that they could feel big when they step over a promising person.¡±

--Your career covers from rap-dance at your debut as Taiji Boys through hip-hop to hardcore. What are you pursuing in your music?

¡°For now, I want to keep up with such advanced music styles as in America. American music is far ahead of us. I believe that I had better try new music styles to contribute to the diversity and progress of Korean music scenes. I enjoy it, too. People have too many demands for me. I just want to do what I like to and feel satisfied with.

--When would you come back if you go back to America in mid February?

¡°I don¡¯t know. I¡¯ll work on music with enough time to make some satisfying music. I hope I could meet with my fans again as soon as possible. Or, I could come back just to have some rest and fun. Of course, with no public announcement, though.¡±