Trot––A New Rising K-Pop Sensation

Over the past decade, K-Pop has grown to become a global sensation, sweeping charts right and left in countless international music markets. Marking the start of the K-Pop craze with solo artist PSY’s viral track “Gangnam Style,” Korean music has joined in on the worldwide music scene. 

The global K-Pop audience embraces the vast musical genres pursued by Korean artists, from trendy and groovy hip-hop tracks to light and modern indie music. The emerging presence of trot, however, is now creating an immeasurable domestic boom throughout the country. Although its wave of popularity hasn’t seemed to reach the international fans quite yet, don’t underestimate the TOP7; the crew is on the move, making their names known as they take the titles as key influencers in the Korean music and entertainment industry.

Intro to Trot

Trot may be somewhat unfamiliar to many K-Pop fans regardless of their vast knowledge in the Korean music scene. Influenced by genres of American, European, Korean, and Japanese music, trot has been around ever since the early 20th century. Developing throughout time to create its stylistic characteristics of unique vocal inflections and repetitive beats, the genre made its presence felt wide throughout the country. Withholding its status as the nation’s beloved and most popular music, trot dominated the Korean music industry until the 1990s—the starting point of K-Pop’s evolution.

EDM, hip-hop, and different styles of music pursued by idol groups as well as solo artists took the public spotlight away from the trot genre. Still, many singers have been working to revive trot in its popularity, and their efforts haven’t gone to waste. Park Hyunbin, Hong Jinyoung, and Jang Yoonjeong are few of the many well-known modern trot singers recognized for their unique singing methods and catchy hits since the 2000s. But now with the grand success of TV Chosun’s trot audition program Mister Trot, the surge of trot has reached its peak on a much bigger scale.

From Mister Trot to Love Call Center

Sequel to Miss Trot, Mister Trot definitely brought back the public popularity of trot after the first season’s trot wave somewhat died down with active comebacks and promotions of other artists.

Mister Trot, a survival audition show, followed the same format as its previous season. The appearance of many talented trot applicants with different backgrounds and life stories seemed to help stimulate the unprecedented popularity of trot after Miss Trot. Recognition for the unique style of the music instantly became a common conception once again, bringing trot back to its place as one of the nation’s popular genres.

Following in the steps of Miss Trot’s winner Song Gain, the seven final contestants of Mister Trot (Lim Youngwoong, Youngtak, Lee Chanwon, Kim Hojoong, Jeong Dongwon, Jang Minho, Kim Huijae—listed in their respective ranks) as well as other noticeable contestants have been achieving incredible success with the finale of the show. Ideally, the trot singers would be attending countless events alongside their public appearances on shows and commercials; unfortunately, with the unexpected circumstances that COVID-19 has put into effect, the singers’ active offline promotions have been cut short.

However, TV Chosun’s Love Call Center has brought incredible opportunities for not only the artists themselves but also to many fans. Designed to randomly contact the lucky applicants who dialed into the program, the show brings contactless artist interactions into play (and maybe even some gifts!). 

Love Call Center introduces a new concept every week to spice up the show as well as to receive a wide range of song requests based on the themes. From a vacation-themed episode to an iconic movie throwback, the trot singers made sure to get into their respective roles, never failing to bring joy to the viewers.

As a show that ranks first in viewer ratings almost every week, this special once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to hear your favorite trot singer live via phone call is extremely competitive (some fans who were chosen said that they dialed over 1,000 or even 2,000 times!). Among many region-labeled charts tallied with the number of calls that the production team received on the recording day, a number from a certain region is chosen at random. Then, the emcees dial the applicant. If the applicant picks up, the fan reveals the artist they want to hear a song from, and the fan’s song request is completed by the chosen trot singer using a karaoke machine. The artist and fan’s eligibility to receive a gift is based on the machine’s score. Gifts range from refrigerators to tablets and even washing machines, but they often vary every week.

Emcee Kim Seongju and entertainer Boom are also playing an important role in Love Call Center. As veteran celebrities in the entertainment industry, the two hosts smoothly guide the singers throughout the show with their witty remarks and sincere reactions deriving from their love for trot and affection for the cast. Their amazing chemistry with TOP7 further enhances and uplifts the mood, allowing for each and every member to endlessly show off their charms throughout the two hour show.

This wave of trot has definitely gained a wide audience across various ages. As a continuously evolving and developing music genre like no other, the style of singing has succeeded in creating a common range of understanding among many generations. 

This deeply-rooted music style that brings back memories to the elderly generation sparks a sense of nostalgia and provides consolation that is definitely needed in this indefinite time of remote human interaction. And trot, once neglected by the teens and younger generations, is now acknowledged as new rising music and provides a way to communicate with their parents and grandparents. 

Liking and supporting the same artist formulates a sense of empathy and affection, which also seems to be the very force that came together to build the idea of a fandom. The sense of pride as a fan of one or multiple artist(s) is definitely something that stimulates a change and brings joy to one’s life. In fact, many younger and older trot fans have revealed that Mister Trot strengthened and created tight-knitted family relationships as mothers, fathers, sons, and daughters have gone about to cheer for their trot pick during and after the survival. It’s quite new to see trot singer fan bases becoming more and more active on social media and join other fandoms to show support for their respective artists!

The domestic power of Miss Trot, Mister Trot, and Love Call Center stands as an undefeatable point in that trot music is a platform of communication among everyone regardless of age and gender. It doesn’t seem like trot has found its place yet on the international music spectrum, but surely the constant exposure of K-Pop and celebrities from the Korean entertainment field in foreign countries brought by the immense growth of digital platforms such as Instagram, YouTube, TikTok, and more have boosted the general public’s knowledge of music whether they know it or not. 

With the swift changes and adaptations in music trends, it’s unpredictable to be certain about whether trot will have its time to shine; K-Pop’s unceasing popularity seems to spark hope that the domestically loved genre will possibly make its presence felt strong and clear in other parts of the world.