Evolution of Hip-Hop music in Korea

Korean hip-hop can be said to have started in the early 90s with Seotaiji and Boys. This is really an important group that changed the face of Korean music. All of K-Pop can probably be traced back down to these guys. They first became influential in the early 90s and continued to have a significant impact on the Korean music scene as they introduced a stream of new genres into Korea.

Here, I'll just cover the decade from the early 90s to 2000-01 when Psy makes his debut. To be honest, I ceased to pay much attention after the 2000s. 


Although rap was around in the early 90s, I think hip-hop really took off with this song:

1992


they even rendered it in English:




 Kim Gun Mo also enters the scene in 1992
(though he would progress in a different direction musically):
 



In 1993, we see Deux:




In 1994, enter DJ Doc:




In 1995, Seotaiji and Boys bring in a form of gangster rap (mimicking Cypress Hill):




In 1997, after Seotaiji and Boys broke up, Yang Hyun Suk (YG) began setting up his own label. He subsequently introduced Jinusean:



We also see in 1997 the debut of Yoo Seung Jun:



Uptown also enters the scene this year:



*97 became the year when we begin to see Koreans raised in other countries - namely the U.S. - coming into Korea and making a splash on the music. This trend continues on throughout the rest of the 90s and into the 2000s.

Outside of this immigration, we also have Kim Jin Pyo (JP) who makes his solo debut in 97:



In 1998,
1TYM (the second group to go on board with YG):




JP releases his 2nd album in 98 and we get a glimpse of Drunken Tiger:




In 1999, Drunken Tiger splashes the scene. Tiger JK from this group along with Tasha from Uptown would go on to really be big figures for Korean hip-hop.




Honey Family also comes into the picture in 1999



In 2000-01, the infamous Psy makes his debut:






*there might be a few (Noize, Goofy, R.e.f, Turbo, H.O.T, G.O.D, and a few momentary groups like People Crew) I missed but I think I hit the pivotal figures who would go on to shape K-pop and Korean hip-hop. They do play with the border between boy-band k-pop group and hip-hop.