Club Cargo Rocks the Old School!

We’ve covered Club Cargo before, but since going again, we wanted to highly recommend the place in general, since it’s one of the chillest and most comfortable places to drink and dance in Seoul. The people are laid-back, they mix, people talk, and there’s an overall minimum of unnecessary ‘tude in there. It really is one of those places where people go to simply have a good time, sans le bullshit.

FMS가 이미 클럽 카고에 대한 기사를 쓴  경험이 있으나 요즘 ’핫’ 한 클럽들보다 편하게 술마시면서 춤출수 있는 곳 중에 하나라고 적극추천하고 싶어서 다시 한번 기사를 써본다. 또 카고에 오는 클러버들은 성격들이 까칠하기 보다 굉장히 쿨하다.

OK, I’m getting old. But that’s NOT the reason I don’t go clubbing much anymore — my standards have just gone up. If I find something I like that’s high-quality, I still passionately like it. That doesn’t change with age, especially when it comes to music. And my musical “home” is hip hop, but it’s hard to find a talented, old-school DJ here in Seoul — which to me, requires mixing, scratching, and knowing how to put one’s hand on real vinyl when a needle’s in the groove. That takes real skill on top of having good taste in music and knowing how to move the crowd. As Rakim said, that’s “move the crowd” is what “MC” means.

나도 확실히 어느정도 늙었다는 생각이 들정도로 클럽을 별로 즐기진 않지만 그만큼 나의 기준들이 더 까다로워 진것 같다. 요즘 유행하는 클럽 문화도 물론 좋아한다. 나이랑 상관없이 음악도 예외는 아니지만 내가 가장 공감할수 있는 장르의 음악은 힙합이다. 안타깝게도 서울엔 올드스쿨 힙합 디제이들을 만나기 어렵다.

So, it’s too bad that club cargo’s first hip hop night, held on the first Friday of every month, wasn’t as populated as it could have been, since the DJ talent was definitely there, and there were even a couple live rap acts that were, unlike many amateur acts I’ve seen, pretty good. I missed all but the very end of one of them, which had a white guy rapping in Korean. Well.

이번달 부터 카고에서 매달 금요일 첫주째 힙합나이트에 훌륭한 디제잉 과 라이브 공연이 있었음에도 불구하고 사람들이 많이 오지 않아서 아쉬움이 많이 남았다.

The main attraction was DJ Dojo, who could mix and scratch well, and knew how to put on the tunes from back in the day, ones that are a joy to hear on the large speakers again — RUN DMC, Bell Biv Devoe, Salt-n-Pepa, etc.

디제이 도조의 스크래칭 과 한때 히트 쳤던 곡들을 흥미롭게 과시해서 고마울 정도였다.

It’s funny how 80′s rock is “retro” and certain clubs in Hongdae are packed, while you put on a well-mixed string of the old-school good stuff and it’s just “old.” One of the reasons, I suspect, is that the stuff we know as “old school” was before people knew many specific American rap songs before Eminem and 50 Cent, when rap went mainstream enough in KOREA for people to know the music. And hip hop, unfortunately, associated with the overcrowded several clubs around the Hongdae area that simply play top 40 club hits on heavy rotation to sweaty teenagers and early twenty-somethings — not the refreshing “retro” feel that turns small clubs playing bad 80′s music into cool places, while old school hip hop clubs and parties don’t get to enjoy the equivalent association.

In short, the main problem seems to be that the average Korean old fogies like me — in their late 20′s and early 30′s — don’t have a memory bank of old American rap and hip-hop songs to draw from. Sure, a few might, but that’s not enough to fill clubs, especially when people associate hip-hop here with extreme youth. But last Friday night, the people who knew or in the know (and even some who weren’t) were having a great time — because the music was just THAT good.

80년대 락 음악이 아직도 홍대 클럽에서 울려퍼지는 소리가 나는 반면에 올드 힙합은 들리지 않는게 나는 참 신기할 다름이 없다. 내가 생각하기엔 한국에서 힙합이 대중화 된지 얼마 안돼서라고 생각한다. 한국인들은 힙합을 떠올릴때 에미넴이나 50센트 같은 래퍼들이 생각나고 요즘 힙합 클럽들도 40위 안에 드는 최신곡 들만 틀어주는 것도 이유 중에 하나라고 본다.

결국엔 나 같은 2030세대들은 올드 힙합을 기억으로만 되새겨야 되는게 아쉽다. 물론 힙합 클럽들이 올드 힙합을 틀긴 하지만 아직도 불충분하다고 생각한다. 카고에 첫 올드 힙합 이벤트에 온 사람들은 그 결과가 어땠는지 알 것이다. 성공적이었으니까.

And there was quite a mix, with all kinds of friendly foreign types, along with Koreans of all stripes.

다양한 사람들이 파티에 참여를 했다.

This included the main DJ, whom you met above.

디제이 도조와의 단체 사진.

One of the featured rappers, also now a familiar face, but who was gracious enough to also pose for a portrait.

래퍼중에 한명인 그녀가 카메라를 위해서 포즈 한번 취해 주는 모습.

And the party’s organizer, Venus, whose t-shirt helps you pick her out in a crowd.

그리고 파티 관리를 한 비너스, 셔츠에도 이름이 비너스!

We even had two guys making the walls into graffiti art — LIVE. It was very cool to watch them work.

또 벽 쪽에서는 두명의 남자들이 그래피티 아트를 라이브로 하고 있었다. 그 광경은 매우 신기했었다.

And one of the artists taking a portrait break with me while he inspects the wall.

아트스트 한명이 카메라를 위해서 잠깐 포즈를 취하는 중.

Venus is definitely pulling the strings tonight.

비너스는 그날밤 재대로 물 올랐다.

The mixing and the dancing went on and it turned out to be a great night, even if it did get started off slow.

그날 파티는 서서히 물 오르면서 점점 흥미로워졌다.

I definitely encourage you to check out Club Cargo, home to some very good general music and parties like Hidden, Junglist, and Dojo, among others. They’ve got good music, a great bar, a chill atmosphere and space, as well as friendly staff — and you can actually have room to breathe, talk, and relax. Drinks are reasonable (try the Sangria pitcher for 25,000 — you get more good juicin’ than the 2.5 sip-o-drinks you’d likely get in Kangnam), and there’s space to sit and chill.

카고의 특징은 좋은 음악 뿐만 아니라 친절한 직원들 때문에 편하게 술도 마시면서 즐길수 있다. 음료수 가격도 매우 친절하다. 상그리아 피처가 25,000원 정도하는데 왠만한 강남 클럽 음료 가격에 절반이다.

Cargo is a chill place that definitely has won me over. And since we’re gonna try to keep you as up-to-date with their events as possible, you’re gonna check them out, right? If you do, tell somebody that FMS sent ya. Because it definitely fits the FMS sense of style.

모든이들도 나처럼 카고에 빠져 들었으면 한다!

—Original post by FMS
Korean 번역 by Erotic Orange