[talk] Lim Young-woong's Weapons Are "Moderate Creation and Multi-Genre"... Academic Analysis Revealed

There is an academic analysis that the reason singer Lim Young-woong (33) gained national popularity is because of his unique restrained singing style and his diverse repertoire that is not limited to trot. In addition, there is an assessment that the good stories and positive narratives revealed through his communication with fans are leading to a virtuous cycle in the fandom.

Professor Kim Hee-sun of Kookmin University and Professor Kim Hee-sun (same name) of Kyonggi University analyzed and presented the following content on the topic of Lim Young-woong at the 35th regular academic conference of the Korean Society for Popular Music held at Korea National Open University in Hyehwa-dong, Seoul on the 30th of last month.

The two professors diagnosed that Lim Young-woong's music, which is enjoying syndrome-like popularity, has established its own genre with a singing style and repertoire that distinguishes it from other trot singers.

In doing so, they mentioned Noh Sa-yeon's "Wish" that Lim Young-woong performed on the audition program "Mr. Trot" as a representative example. They said, "A song like 'Wish' has a narrow range and is generally low, so it's easy to shout out loud," and "Lim Young-woong showed a new interpretation by singing loudly and powerfully during the chorus, but then swallowing his emotions in a restrained manner." This means that Lim Young-woong uses a method of swallowing his emotions inside rather than showing them on the outside.

Also, Lim Young-woong's characteristic was cited as his precise pronunciation that sounds like he's humming. For example, the sibilant sounds created by consonants like 'ㅅ' and 'ㅆ' are generally considered irritating sounds in popular music vocals, but Lim Young-woong, on the contrary, frequently uses them.

The two professors explained, “It is also interesting that Lim Young-woong shows a trendy and relatively light vocalization in dance and rock genre songs.” They continued, “Lim Young-woong’s essence is his restrained singing style that deviates from the original singing style of trot, his comfortable tone, his sincere voice, his ability to convey lyrics, and his comfort,” adding, “Fans say this is why they love Lim Young-woong.”