“Swag Age: Shout Out, Joseon!” is a Korean musical that combines the Joseon Dynasty setting including traditional clothing (hanbok) and Korean music with modern music and street style dance. It features rap and hip-hop styles to tell a lively, energetic story about young people seeking freedom and self-expression while challenging old rules.

Originally created in 2017 as a student project at the Seoul Institute of the Arts, the musical has since become a multi-award-winning sensation. It earned the Ensemble Award at the 8th Yegreen Musical Awards (2019), Best New Male and Best New Female Actor at the 4th Korea Musical Awards (2019), and received Best Work, Best Choreography, and Best New Male Artist at the 5th Korea Musical Awards (2020). It recently became the first Korean musical to win Best Concert Production at the 2025 BroadwayWorld UK / West End Awards.

‘’Swag Age: Shout Out, Joseon!” premiered in 2019 at Doosan Arts Center’s Yeongang Hall in Seoul. Encore performances followed in 2020 at the Hongik University Daehangno Arts Center Grand Theater. Second run (revival) in 2021 at the Seoul Arts Center’s CJ Towol Theater and performances at the Hongik University Daehangno Arts Center Grand Theater in 2023 and 2025. In 2023, it was also presented at the Icheon Art Hall Grand Theater as part of a regional tour. The work made its West End concert debut at the Gillian Lynne Theatre in London in 2025.

The story centers on a young man named Dan, whose father was wrongly accused of treason. In the Joseon era, when traditional poetry (sijo) was banned, Dan becomes involved with a secret group called Golbindang, which initially performs in a conventional sijo style. Dan, however, possesses a unique rap-style interpretation of sijo that sets him apart from everyone else. After he joins Golbindang, his hip-hop–influenced style transforms the group’s performances, placing Dan at the center of their artistic evolution. As they gain attention through this new form, Dan meets Jin, the daughter of the corrupt minister in power. Together, they enter a national competition, expose the minister’s corruption, and ultimately inspire the king to restore freedom of expression.

The following are excerpts from an email interview with producer Hyeseon Song, writer Chanmin Park, composer Jungyeon Lee, and choreographer Eun-chong Kim about “Swag Age: Shout Out, Joseon!,” on Jan 15-21.

1. What was the spark behind ‘’Swag Age: Shout Out, Joseon!’’?

Writer Park Chan-min: The time I first conceived this work was a period of significant social change. Watching citizens gather in public squares to raise their voices and seeing that power actually move society, I began to think deeply about the “power of the voice” held by the crowd. The historical event of the highest authority’s resignation was a powerful experience that demonstrated how much change can be created when individual voices come together. A question naturally arose during that time: “What if there was a society where raising such a voice was prohibited?” Starting from that question, I established a world where speech itself becomes a crime, and I judged that the historical setting of the Joseon Dynasty could more clearly illustrate this structure of oppression. I felt that by combining this with rap, one of the most honest ways the current generation expresses themselves, the story could expand into one where the past and present resonate together. While our work does not directly deal with specific events, I believe that the collective emotions and the power of the voice we experienced during that period are clearly embedded in the sentiment and starting point of the work.

2. The musical blends traditional Korean culture with modern hip-hop elements. How did you approach balancing history and contemporary expression?

Writer Park Chan-min: What I considered most important was not “reproduction,” but the “inheritance of the spirit.” Rather than focusing on strictly researching and verifying Joseon as it was, I chose the direction of maintaining the structure of oppression, human emotions, and the essence of relationships from that era, while boldly adopting a modern style of expression. To ensure that tradition and modernity did not mix awkwardly, I constantly checked to make sure each element functioned as an essential language of the narrative rather than just decoration. I hoped that rap would not feel like a standout element, but like a “language” naturally used by the character named Dan in this world. Actually, in the Joseon Dynasty, there was a play called Gatu (song-fighting), where people recited Sijo in a competitive format, so I thought that play was similar to today’s rap battles. Based on that fact, I think I tried to find a point of contact where the historical subject matter of the work could achieve harmony with modern elements.

3. How did you translate hip-hop movements into a Joseon-era setting?

Choreographer Kim Eun-chong: When implementing hip-hop choreography against the backdrop of the Joseon Dynasty, I thought it was very similar in that hip-hop is a language of resistance and survival. Hip-hop is a culture created by the Black community to prove their existence and dignity and to raise their voices amidst oppression and discrimination, and the oppressed commoners in the Joseon of the work were also beings who found it difficult to directly express their emotions within the social structure. Therefore, in terms of choreography, rather than the ostentatious movements of hip-hop, I composed it around a sense of rhythm that lowers the body, shrinks, and moves quickly. This was designed to show the reality of the commoners who were intimidated in front of power, while allowing the many emotions, including accumulated anger, to erupt through the movements of street genres.

Visually, I utilized the elegance of the Hanbok details implemented for each character (layers, long sleeves, and dopo) so that the unique rhythm and groove of hip-hop would appear like a wriggling vitality within a suppressed body. This touches upon the way identity was protected through the body even in an oppressed environment when hip-hop was born in Black communities. Ultimately, hip-hop in this work was implemented on stage not as a foreign element within the setting of the Joseon Dynasty, but as a body language that oppressed people across eras have commonly chosen.

4. Tell us a few words about the music in ‘’Swag Age: Shout Out, Joseon!’’

Composer Lee Jeong-yeon: The music of ‘’Swag Age” started from a desire for a wider public to easily enjoy the beautiful tones and sentiments possessed by traditional Korean musical instruments. The sentiments of Han (sorrowful longing) and Heung (joyful excitement) that I felt when encountering Korean traditional instruments during my college years were very impressive, and I sought to naturally melt that charm into modern popular music genres such as pop, hip-hop, and dance. Throughout the work, I maintained a sense of unity by using the “Heung” provided by Korean traditional rhythms and the “Han” sentiment of Korean traditional orchestral music as the center of the musical color, while configuring it so that a diverse sound could be experienced by combining various elements of popular music to suit the drama and characters of each scene.

In addition, I hoped that Sijo, an important subject matter throughout the work, would be accepted without difficulty by the audience and be felt as an element of entertainment. By expressing Sijo, Korea’s unique traditional poetic form, in various musical styles according to the social status and character traits of each person, I intended to more clearly reveal the contrasts between characters and the drama. Within the work, Sijo functions as the Han and Heung itself possessed by the characters, and it conveys the stories of life contained within it by reconstructing them into a musical language. Through this, I hoped that the audience could naturally feel the joys and sorrows of life through Sijo. I express my gratitude and respect to the audience who empathize with the shouts of our Heung and Han. I pray that our stories, delivered through the musical and through music, can become a source of hope and a power to achieve dreams for the audience watching the performance.

5. What do you think best captures the spirit of ‘’Swag Age: Shout Out, Joseon!’’?

Writer Park Chan-min: I think the core spirit of our work is best contained in a single word that Dan delivers to Hong-guk in the last scene. It is the line: “You may be able to take our lives, but you cannot take our shouts.” This line is also the core that our work intended to hold onto until the very end. At the center of this work is the belief that while physical power, such as authority, can oppress the body, it cannot erase the voice that a human has drawn up from within themselves, and the emotion that ultimately, that voice will move the world. In that scene, if the audience does not accept it only as the character’s story but feels emotions by connecting it to their own lives, I would feel truly proud as that would be the result of realizing the spirit that this work aims for.

6. Looking back on the journey from development to winning the Best Concert Production at the 2025 BroadwayWorld UK / West End Awards, what moment are you most proud of?

Producer Song Hye-sun: There were many moments when I was truly proud while doing ‘’Swag Age: Shout Out, Joseon!,” but the day we put on the first performance at Doosan Art Center on June 18, 2019, remains in my memory. I cannot forget that touching moment when the audience stood up after watching the first performance, applauded, and laughed and cried together. On September 8, 2025, we staged a single performance in London, and when the audience in London filled the theater, sang “Oh-Eh-Oh,” and all rose for a standing ovation, it felt like the day of the first performance at Doosan Art Center, which moved me deeply and made me feel proud.

7. What does the success of ‘’Swag Age: Shout Out, Joseon!’’ mean for the future of original Korean musicals?

Producer Song Hye-sun: ‘’Swag Age: Shout Out, Joseon!” is a work that highlights the power of original content possessed by Korean creative musicals and the outstanding capabilities of the actors. Through this work, I hope it serves as an opportunity for the abilities of Korean musical actors to be recognized worldwide. Furthermore, I believe that not only the actors but also the outstanding technical skills of the staff will be recognized. We intend to continue promoting the charm of our work to audiences around the world through tours in the future. Through the Swag Age content, fans around the world will become interested in other Korean musicals. Even at this very moment, many young Korean creators are constantly developing works and taking on challenges. We ask for much affection and interest in the future of K-musical.