Lee Hi's Seoulite: Life In Korea's Largest City

Seoul is a massive city. Its total metropolitan area houses a whopping 26 million people. The entire country of Korea is home to a little under 52 million people as of 2021. For those of you keeping score at home, that means that over half of the entire population of Korea lives in Seoul. As someone who has been a small town country bumpkin my entire life I can’t even begin to fathom what that is like, not only to live in but for over 50% of a population to be completely used to that as everyday life. When I went to school in a “city” of over 20,000 residents, that was fairly overwhelming even after I settled in. Even as a gigantic population, cities often have a personality, individualism must be observed of course, but it’s not impossible to believe that each city leaves a “piece” of itself with a resident when they leave, or has a profound impact on someone’s perception of the world, wherever they might find themselves.

Seoulite, by Lee Hi, is a record which I believe in 12 tracks is an attempt to capture the multifaceted emotions and spaces, that those who call Seoul home are familiar with. Impressive on multiple fronts, impactful and varied in its tone, instrumentation, and feeling like a fully cohesive album from start to finish with no tracks that feel out of place. Despite the fact that she was only 19 years old when this record was released, it has a quiet maturity and confidence in its expression. Lee Hi truly comes into her own as a vocalist and cemented her place as a prominent female soloist.

To begin “World Tour” is a track with hip-hop undertones lending an urban feel that permeates throughout the album, a statement of intention showing the Seoul has become the global city that many metropolises inspire to be. While still a culturally and racially homogenous country, Seoul is starting to bring in more and more international influence with not only music that sounds like this in its native tongue but all across the city. It is the epicenter of everything glamorous not only to outsiders but to native citizens as well. “My Star” incorporates more jazz elements, horns, saxophones (!), exactly what you would expect with hooks and elements that feel fresh and organic. As the entertainment arts center of the country, many go to “strike out” catching their big break, being talented and fortunate enough to land the gig they dreamed about their whole lives, and it is with that angle that the song feels a triumphant proclamation of celebration.

A lesser work of art would leave it at celebratory happiness. Sanitizing the multifaceted aspects of a shiny city down to something of a tourist ad, rather than an honest portrayal. 

But it is in the song “Blues” that Lee Hi begins to touch on the more clandestine aspects of the life of a Seoulite. Genre wise it smartly makes like it’s namesake with elements of Swing-Jazz sprinkled in to allow it to feel varied. The lethargy of expectation reflected in its tenor saxophone harmonies, the monotony shown in its measured repeating piano chords. Above the surface an exciting busy epicenter, beneath exhausted, real human lives weighted down by the speed at which modern life expects of us, increased exponentially by a demanding working culture and mental health wasteland. And it is through to its next track that the aftermath of anxious realization hits. “Breathe” penned by the late, great Jonghyun of SHINee feels an exercise in self-measurement. A gentle, albeit by the numbers, piano ballad accompanied with soft percussion and harmonizing strings that is a reminder that one cannot expect to take on the city, let alone the world, without recognizing their own human need to rest. 

“Passing By” is a dynamically light and gentle song that comes across as feeling like an expression of futility. Being too slow to keep up with the speed of life. It’s acoustic chord progressions and soft voiced vocals show a world weary figure, unable to get back up after succumbing to colossally gigantic assault on the senses. Not just once, but every day.

It is with this that we make a headfirst transition into the second half of the album, starting with the punchy, husky, and tonal shift into a more rebellious and brash side of the city’s personality. “F*** With Us” is exactly what it sounds like. A low octave piano progression emphasized by Lee’s aggressive vocal shift. A reflection of the city’s understated and often times unseen backbone. A collection of battle-tested individuals who do not take kindly to being messed around with by those “above” them. 

“Official” to me always seemed like Lee Hi coming to terms with her desires being more important to her than any exhaustion she might feel. She chose this lifestyle, and if it’s what she truly wants, nothing will stand in her way. “Video” a sarcastic apology to those who don’t see the value not only in her inherently as a human being, but those who try to get in the way of her dream. “Missing U” being an acknowledgement of those she left behind to pursue said dream and an acknowledgment of those in the same path as her. Concluding with “Up All Night” as the acceptance of relaxation being hard to come by in a place as busy and expectant as this one. But the endeavor to make the best of this chosen life will not wane, no matter how much the city tries to take that from her.

It has always been the instrumentation that has stuck with me in regards to this record. Not only is it of consistent high quality and choice for each respective part, it is also organic and consistent without lacking variety. It’s the richness in each saxophone section, the clarity of each trumpet hit, the different tones the percussion is able to touch upon that keeps me consistently coming back to this record as often as Lee Hi’s immaculate vocals do.

If I am to boil down this record into a succinct interpretation of mine, it is not only an expression of many different facets of living in Seoul and each emotion that is felt along with those, but an homage to the population as a whole and forging a distinct identity of all these disparate elements of individuality into a cohesive “persona” if you will. Seoul is a city that expects a lot from you and gives back very little. It is outgoing, combative, and a city of dreamers all trying to force their way into the life you might be trying for yourself. It is also a city of spectacle, wonder, and beauty (naturally because Korea), and if enough dreams have been fulfilled to keep it functional, surely it’s doing something right, even if not everything.