Indulging in reminiscence with 2000s megahits like “Phone Number,” veteran hip-hop duo Jinusean raised the curtain for the first exclusive concert in their 18-year history Sunday at the Olympic Hall in Olympic Park, Seoul.
As fans brimmed with expectation, the concert “Jinusean Bomb” kicked off with a witty video clip of Jinu and Sean explaining the group’s long history, parodying the epic U.S. film from 1994, “Forrest Gump.”
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| Hip-hop duo Jinusean’s concert “Jinusean Bomb” held at Olympic Hall, Olympic Park in Seoul on Sunday. (YG Entertainment) |
Jinusean heated up the stage with “A-Yo,” bringing avid fans to their feet. The duo then performed nostalgic hit after hit, including “Bing Bing Bing,” “Exciting Hip-hop,” “How Deep Is Your Love?” and “Tell Me One More Time.”
“If it wasn’t for Jinu, who has been with me for all these years, it would have been difficult to put on this concert as a team. I really thank him,” said Sean, conveying his gratitude toward Jinu.
Jinu tactfully responded, “You really thank me? How much would it be if you convert that appreciation into money?” eliciting laughter from the crowd.
Darkness fell on the stage as the lights were turned off, and singer Se7en soon appeared on stage as a guest, donning an all-black outfit matched with charismatic sunglasses. “I met Jinusean 15, 16 years ago. They made me who I am right now. Jinu and Sean have been at the center of YG, developing a slew of competent singers.”
Next up was “Jinusean Bomb” and “Gasoline,” along with Sean delivering his sincerity after the performances. “The past 18 years with our fans has been a great gift to us. Now we hope to return that gift through this moment,” he said.
Glow sticks lit the venue in dazzling neon as the duo showed wonderful chemistry with singer and actress Uhm Jung-hwa, enthralling the audience with “Tell Me.”
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| Hip-hop duo Jinusean’s concert “Jinusean Bomb” held at Olympic Hall, Olympic Park in Seoul on Sunday. (YG Entertainment) |
However, as Zion. T came on stage the venue became calm, harkening to the soft yet emotional vocals of “Eat” and “Yanghwa Bridge.”
The concert moved toward a climax with fans turning on their smartphones, lighting up the hall. Starting out with “Phone Number,” iKON’s Bobby, B.I and WINNER’s Song Min-ho’s appearance in YG Family’s “Hip-hop Gentleman” and “Famillenium” and Epik High’s “Born Hater” drove the audience even wilder.
Penultimate guest Ailee’s powerful yet husky vocals resounded through the concert hall in her collaboration with Jinusean and performance of her solo track “I Will Show You.”
Jinusean delivered another moving performance by showcasing GD&Taeyang’s “Good Boy,” followed by DJ DOC’s “I’m A Guy Like This” and Psy’s “Daddy.”
Jinu confessed, “We practiced really hard to show you ‘Good Boy.’”
“It feels like a dream even right now that we could hold a year-end exclusive concert, based on the love that we have received from the past. We deeply thank you,” said Sean, signaling the group’s last performance, “Oppa’s Car,” which went viral through the fourth season of Mnet’s “Show Me the Money.”
After the lights went down for so long that fans thought the concert was actually over, the stage lit up one final time with an encore by DJ DOC, part of the elite group of first-generation idols, along with Jinusean.
Debuting with their first album “Gasoline” in 1997, Jinusean released their newest single “Tell Me One More Time” in April, their first in 11 years.
By Kim Yu-jin (kimyujin@heraldcorp.com)
