K-Pop Throwback: The Debut Album 'Infant' From Clazziquai Project's DJ Clazzi Proved His Talent As A Solo Artist

You may know DJ Clazzi as the leader of the indie trio Clazziquai Project.

And although he has never been put forth as the face of the group, he is most definitely the brains and backbone of their music.

Hailing from South Korea and moving on to study music technology in Canada, Clazzi (real name


Kim Sung Hoon) has made a name for himself as a composer/producer/mixer in the electronic and pop music scene.

Before hearing DJ Clazzi's monumental solo album "Infant," I had no idea just how talented this guy was, and really, just how much influence he's had over his group Clazziquai Project's music.

Discovering an artist like DJ Clazzi is like discovering a precious gem in a mountain of ordinary pebbles.

There was a period when I was listening to a lot of K-pop, and honestly wasn't hearing anything new or exciting. My favorite groups usually came out and delivered a decent dance number or a catchy chorus, but there wasn't much that really caught my ear, especially in terms of music production.

I came across Clazziquai on a blog and thought, "hey, this is pretty sweet... and funky too!"

I knew I genuinely liked it from the minute I first heard it. But I didn't really delve any deeper into DJ Clazzi's catalogue until I heard that he had formed his trio the Clazziquai Project.

Although you won't truly understand until you take a listen for yourself, so let's take a closer look at the stand out tracks on DJ Clazzi's "Infant."

The album's focus is on a darker and more mature sound of electronic music in contrast to much of what you hear from the genre these days.

Also, the music on "Infant" is quite different from his group's most popular tracks.

Clazziquai as a whole, can be counted on to give more jazzy, mellow numbers (thanks to Alex Chu and Horan's unique style of singing), but they are never more upbeat than "Love Mode" or "Love Again".

The truly experimental electronic sound appears on the track "Flea". This unique track really showcases Clazzi's talent as a producer.

Sadly, it's all too common in this world for a brilliant track like "Flea" to go unnoticed.

Yet, Clazzi's dedication to challenging his listeners is the very thing that may have kept him in the shadows over the years.

But it's also nice to know that there are Korean artists like Clazzi who are willing to straddle the fence between mainstream pop and dark, underground electronic music.

DJ Clazzi doesn't sing on any of the tracks on "Infant," which is, for now, is his only full-length solo album.

But it doesn't even matter if he is even able to sing, because he pulls together an eclectic pool of guest vocalists on this debut album - each one having their own unique style and character. It's obvious that DJ Clazzi wasn't attempting to make a purely pop album.

"When's Dance" Ft Jinsil has a satisfying club beat to it, but it's still got DJ Clazzi's unique signature. And vocalist Jinsil was an amazing choice for this song (also check her out with Tablo in Bad).

"Star Child" Ft Christina and MYK also subtly builds into a danceable number.

But the two main tracks that won me over completely were "How We Feel" Ft 2AM's Seulong and "Love&Hate" Ft Yi Sung-Yol.

Not surprisingly, both of these songs had trippy and visually appealing music videos to accompany them.

As a whole, DJ Clazzi's "Infant" has some great moments, but not entirely amazing from beginning to end. These four songs stand out though. The one thing that held me back from loving all of them was the lack of variety.

If only DJ Clazzi could make every track as good as these four!

Rehnuma Majid is a recent college graduate, artist, and avid rock climber. Culture, advocacy, and pie are her passions.

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dj clazzi
clazziquai project
Clazziquai
Horan
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