Clazziquai (
HangulHangul is the native alphabet of the Korean language, as distinguished from the logographic Sino-Korean hanja system...
: 클래지콰이), also known as
Clazziquai Project, is a
South KoreaSouth Korea, officially the Republic of Korea and often simply referred to as Korea, is a country in East Asia, located on the southern half of the Korean Peninsula. It is neighbored by China to the west, Japan to the east, and North Korea to the north. Its capital is Seoul, the second largest...
n experimental band that combines several genres including
electronic musicElectronic music is music that employs electronic musical instruments and electronic music technology in its production. In general a distinction can be made between sound produced using electromechanical means and that produced using electronic technology. Examples of electromechanical sound...
,
acid jazzAcid jazz is a musical genre that combines elements of jazz, funk and hip-hop, particularly looped beats. It developed in the UK over the 1980s and 1990s and could be seen as tacking the sound of jazz-funk onto electronic dance/pop music: jazz-funk musicians such as Roy Ayers and Donald Byrd are...
and
houseHouse is a style of electronic dance music that originated in Chicago, Illinois, USA. It was initially popularized in mid-1980s discothèques catering to the African-American and Latino American communities, first in Chicago, then in New York City, New Jersey, Detroit and Miami...
. The group's first short unofficial albums were released online in 2001, spreading its music through words of "
netizenA Netizen or cybercitizen is a person actively involved in online communities.- Description :Netizens can use the Internet to engage in activities of extended social groups, such as giving and receiving viewpoints, furnishing information, fostering the Internet as an intellectual and a social...
s," who positively received the group's unique music. They remained underground until the release of their first album
Instant Pig in 2004, selling over 80,000 copies.
Clazziquai (
HangulHangul is the native alphabet of the Korean language, as distinguished from the logographic Sino-Korean hanja system...
: 클래지콰이), also known as
Clazziquai Project, is a
South KoreaSouth Korea, officially the Republic of Korea and often simply referred to as Korea, is a country in East Asia, located on the southern half of the Korean Peninsula. It is neighbored by China to the west, Japan to the east, and North Korea to the north. Its capital is Seoul, the second largest...
n experimental band that combines several genres including
electronic musicElectronic music is music that employs electronic musical instruments and electronic music technology in its production. In general a distinction can be made between sound produced using electromechanical means and that produced using electronic technology. Examples of electromechanical sound...
,
acid jazzAcid jazz is a musical genre that combines elements of jazz, funk and hip-hop, particularly looped beats. It developed in the UK over the 1980s and 1990s and could be seen as tacking the sound of jazz-funk onto electronic dance/pop music: jazz-funk musicians such as Roy Ayers and Donald Byrd are...
and
houseHouse is a style of electronic dance music that originated in Chicago, Illinois, USA. It was initially popularized in mid-1980s discothèques catering to the African-American and Latino American communities, first in Chicago, then in New York City, New Jersey, Detroit and Miami...
. The group's first short unofficial albums were released online in 2001, spreading its music through words of "
netizenA Netizen or cybercitizen is a person actively involved in online communities.- Description :Netizens can use the Internet to engage in activities of extended social groups, such as giving and receiving viewpoints, furnishing information, fostering the Internet as an intellectual and a social...
s," who positively received the group's unique music. They remained underground until the release of their first album
Instant Pig in 2004, selling over 80,000 copies. Since then, their music has been used in various television commercials, shows, and films, and they have been given the chance to perform at various events.
Clazziquai is known for their songs, "Be My Love" and "She Is", which were featured on the
Korean dramaKorean drama refers to televised dramas, similar to Western miniseries, produced in the Korean language for Korean audiences. Many of these dramas have become popular throughout Asia and have contributed to the general phenomenon of the Korean wave or Drama Fever. Most popular Korean dramas have...
My Lovely Samsoon, with the former becoming the show's theme song. The group won an award at the MNET KM Music Video Festival for "Best Soundtrack", and has also been the most nominated group at the Korean Popular Music Awards II(2회), winning "Artist of the Year" and "Best Pop".
They have contributed to works by
Japanis an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, People's Republic of China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...
ese artists Fantastic Plastic Machine and
M-Flois a Japanese hip hop group consisting of producer and DJ Taku Takahashi and emcee Verbal. Former member Lisa left the group in 2002 to pursue a solo career.As of 2008, the group have released five studio albums, all of which have been top-ten hits in Japan....
.
Formation of Clazziquai (2001)
DJ Clazzi, described as "a magician at synthesizing different sounds in music into creating one unique new genre". graduated from
Capilano CollegeCapilano University is an undergraduate-focused, public, coeducational, teaching-intensive university located in North Vancouver, British Columbia. The university has two regional campuses located in the British Columbian cities of Squamish and Sechelt...
, and continued his study at
CDISThe CCF Display and Information System is a computer-based system that provides airport and flight information to air traffic controllers formerly based at the London Terminal Control Centre in England. It was designed by Praxis in 1992....
. After his graduation, he worked as a
web designWeb design is the skill of creating presentations of content that is delivered to an end-user through the World Wide Web, by way of a Web browser or other Web-enabled software like Internet television clients, microblogging clients and RSS readers.Web design is a kind of graphic design intended...
er, uploading his music online during his leisure time. Eventually,
NetizenA Netizen or cybercitizen is a person actively involved in online communities.- Description :Netizens can use the Internet to engage in activities of extended social groups, such as giving and receiving viewpoints, furnishing information, fostering the Internet as an intellectual and a social...
s discovered his music and were drawn to its experimental nature, which is the reason why Clazziquai was initially labelled a "
projectA project in business and science is a collaborative enterprise, frequently involving research or design, that is carefully planned to achieve a particular aim.- Overview :...
group"
Korean-CanadianKorean Canadians are Canadians of Korean descent. According to South Korea's Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade, there were about 216,628 Koreans or people of Korean descent in Canada as of 2007, making them the 5th-largest group of overseas Koreans...
siblings
AlexAlex Chu , known simply as Alex , is a Korean-Canadian singer. He is the male vocalist of the acid jazz and electronica band Clazziquai.-Biography:...
and Christina Chu were initially acquaintances with DJ Clazzi and participated vocally on the first three short and experimental albums released online, named "
[gray]", "
[red]", and "
[retro]" . Due to the positive attention received from Netizens, Clazziquai released their first official album, "
Instant Pig".
Alex's sister Christina later quit due to her work in
CanadaCanada is a country occupying most of northern North America, extending from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
, and an artist named Horan stepped in to fill her spot. Despite this, she still occasionally contributes vocals to several songs. However, she has not been regarded as an official member, and only as an uncredited guest artist .
Instant Pig (2004)
"
Instant Pig" gained critical acclaim leading to over 5 songs from the album to be used in 6 television commercials.
"Novabossa" was used as part of the soundtrack for the 2004 Korean film "
How to Keep My Love" (내 남자의 로맨스) . Over 30 songs were mixed in the production process .
The remixed English version of the song, in its side Japanese remix album
ZBAM was released in 2005, & was later used as a song in a television commercial featuring famous soccer star
David BeckhamDavid Robert Joseph Beckham,
OBE is an English footballer who currently plays in midfield for American Major League Soccer club Los Angeles Galaxy and the England national team....
. In three weeks, "Sweety" charted #10 in Tokyo J-Wave 'Tokio Hot 100', and #7 in Zip FM Radio chart. Fantastic Plastic Machine praised Clazziquai as a new group to lead the "Hallyu".
Color Your Soul (2005)
In summer of 2005, Clazziquai's "
Be My Love" and "
She Is", were featured in the Korean hit soap opera,
My Lovely Samsoon.These two major theme songs also raised the series' ratings up 50%. Clazziquai had hoped then that people's imagination towards their music would not 'decrease as a result of their unexpected popularity'.
In 2005, Clazziquai released their second album claiming it had a "raw, funkier feel presenting a combination of electronic music and [an] emphasized acoustic genre".
In one week, Clazziquai's second album charted #3 in the Kyobo Hot track list, as well as #5 in the Hanter Album chart list.
Love Child of the Century (2007)
In 2007, "Lover Boy" was released for Clazziquai's third album, followed by "
Last Tango". As Alex's fame grew after becoming a main cast member for the popular Korean
realityReality, in everyday usage, means "the state of things as they actually exist." Literally, the term denotes what is real; in its widest sense, this includes everything that is, whether or not it is observable or comprehensible. Reality in this sense includes being and sometimes is considered to...
TV show
We Got MarriedWe Got Married is a popular reality South Korean variety show, one segment of the Sunday Sunday Night program. Aired in 2008, the show pairs up famous Korean celebrities to show what life would be like if they really married. Each week, couples are assigned missions to complete...
, so did the track "
Romeo N Juliet", which was prominently featured in the series. A Remix album,
Robotica, was released later in the year.
After the album's release, the members of Clazziquai grew busy with their own work, which started false rumors that Clazziquai could be disbanding. Alex released his first solo album
My Vintage Romance while Horan joined an acoustic music project group titled "
IbadiThe Ibāḍī movement or Ibāḍiyya is a form of Islam distinct from the Shi'a and Sunni denominations. It is the dominant form of Islam in Oman. There are also Ibadis in Algeria, Tunisia, East Africa as well as Libya....
" (이바디) as their main vocalist, and released their debut album "
Story of Us".
Mucho Punk (2009)
In early 2009, Clazziquai released "
Wizard of Oz" as part of a
commercialCommercial may refer to:*Advertising, commercial messages**Radio advertisement, via the medium of radio**Television advertisement, via the medium of television*Commerce, the voluntary exchange of goods, services, or both...
for
LGLG may refer to:* LG Group, a South Korean electronics and petrochemicals conglomerate** LG Electronics, an affiliate of the South Korean LG Group which produces electronic products* Lateral giant interneuron, an interneuron in crayfish...
, claiming it would be part of the album later in the year. Their fourth album,
Mucho Punk was released alongside a single release of "
Love Again", which features Asian-American fashion model
Jarah MarianoJarah-Evelyn Makalapua Mariano is an American fashion model of Hawaiian, Korean and Chinese descent best known for her appearances in the 2008 and 2009 Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Editions.- Biography :...
.
In concordance to
Mucho Punk, Clazziquai released Japanese album, "
Mucho MUSICA" and plan to release a remix album, "
Mucho Mix", later in the year
Members
- Kim Sung Hoon (김성훈), better known by his stage name DJ Clazzi (DJ 클래지). Is in charge of composing, mixing and producing the group's songs.
- Choi Soo Jin (최수진), better known by her stage name Horan (호란). Is a singer for the group, and is the only female.
- Chu Hun Gon (추헌곤), better known by his stage name Alex Chu
Alex Chu , known simply as Alex , is a Korean-Canadian singer. He is the male vocalist of the acid jazz and electronica band Clazziquai.-Biography:...
(알렉스). Born in CanadaCanada is a country occupying most of northern North America, extending from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
, is a singer for the group.
Studio albums
Korean
- Instant Pig (2004)
- Color your Soul (2005)
- Love Child of the Century (2007)
- Mucho Punk (2009)
Japanese
- Instant Pig (2005)
- Color your Soul (2006)
- Robotica (2007)
- Beat in Love (2008)
- Mucho MUSICA (2009)
Awards
| Years |
Awards |
| 2005 |
- MNET KM Music Video Festival: "Best Soundtrack"
- Korean Popular Music Awards II(2회): “Artist of the Year”
- Korean Popular Music Awards II(2회): “Best Pop”.
|
| 2007 |
2007 M.NET/KM Music Festival: Best Mixed Group Award (Lover Boy)
2007 M.NET/KM Music Festival: House/Electronic - Clazziquai (Lover Boy) |
Clazziquai in popular culture
- The game DJMAX Portable Clazziquai Edition has songs from Clazziquai (hence the title).