South Korean Grandmas Rap about Farm Life

By Gregory Stachel
16 February 2024

A group of South Korean rappers in their eighties has become popular in their hometown and beyond. The group raps about farm life and bringing energy to a quiet rural area threatened by shrinking population.

The group is called Suni and the Seven princesses. They have become famous in their local area since starting out at a community center last August in Chilgok County. The area is southeast of the capital, Seoul.

"It feels like I'm getting younger...Even if I'm old, I'm excited," said 81-year-old Park Jeom-sun of a recent performance at a school. She is the leader of the group and known as Suni.

At first, they had a small fan group of 150 people, but the group's popularity spread. They have been asked to perform in nearby towns and to appear on TV shows. Their videos have gained more than 77,000 views on YouTube.

Their success comes as South Korea is about to become a "super-ageing" country as early as next year. One fifth of the country's population is over the age of 65.

Rural areas like Chilgok are shrinking as young people move away to the cities and fewer of them have children.

Park said, "In the past, it felt like I'm living in a really busy town, but now it's not good. There are no people here anymore."

Park said she and the group feel like they are reliving their youth when they perform in clothes like funny hats and baggy pants and wear metal jewelry.

Their songs tell about rural life with lines like: "Picking chili from a chili farm...Picking watermelon from a watermelon farm. So happy to be back home!"

Watermelon and chili are popular crops in the area.

The group members have known each other since they were young. They could not receive an education during the years after the Korean War. In 2016, they all took an adult education class to learn how to read and write the Korean alphabet, Hangul.

Last year, Park came across a rap performance on the internet and the group decided to learn rap from their Hangul teacher. They wanted to form a senior group, rapping about rural life.

Their first performance came at a school play at the same community center where they met for their Hangul classes.

Inspired by the success of Suni and the Seven Princesses, four other rap groups of older South Koreans have appeared in Chilgok. Some formed with the idea of keeping their minds strong and to not feel alone.

Park's proud 27-year-old granddaughter, Kang Hye-eun, believes her grandmother is the most famous person of Chilgok.

She said, "I thought only celebrities become popular on social media, but my grandmother is there now."

I'm Gregory Stachel.

Minwoo Park reported this story for Reuters. Gregory Stachel adapted it for VOA Learning English.

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Words in This Story

rap – n. a type of music that has words that are spoken with the rhythm instead of being sung

excited – adj. very enthusiastic and eager about something

baggy –adj. loose fitting and not tight

inspired – adj. having a particular cause or influence

proud – adj. very happy and pleased because of something you have done, something you own, or someone you know or are related to

celebrity – n. a person who is famous