Granny rappers to perform original songs at Gwanghwamun

“Sooni and the Seven Princesses,” a group of granny rappers from Chilgok County, North Gyeongsang Province, who learned Hangul in their late 70s and write their own songs, will perform at Gwanghwamun Square for Hangul Week, alongside B-boy groups.. “Sooni and the Seven Princesses,” a group of granny rappers from Chilgok County, North Gyeongsang Province, who learned Hangul in their late 70s and write their own songs, will perform at Gwanghwamun Square for Hangul Week, alongside B-boy groups.

Chilgok County announced that the group will perform at the Hangul Week opening ceremony on October 4. Hosted by the Ministry of Culture, Sports, and Tourism, the ceremony will feature performances on themes such as the creation of Hangul, chaos, determination, and hope. The grandmothers will perform seven original rap songs adapted from their poems on the theme of hope.

Their songs explore feelings of loneliness, longing, and pain throughout their lives, delivered with professional-level rhyme and rhythm, often surprising audiences. Their signature track, “It Drives Me Crazy,” reflects on the pain of missing school due to poverty and gender. Other notable songs for the opening ceremony include "Ttakong Ttakong," describing their mistaken belief that gunfire during the Korean War was fireworks, and "Commies," expressing their reaction to meeting a North Korean soldier. They will also perform with MB Crew, the French B-boy champions who performed at the closing ceremony of the 2018 PyeongChang Winter Olympics.

The group, formed in August 2023, consists of eight grandmothers from Chilgok. After learning Hangul in their late 70s, they even created a computer font, which garnered attention. The name "Sooni" comes from leader Park Jeom-soon (86). The average age of the group is 85, with the oldest member, Jeong Du-i, being 93 years old and the youngest, Jang Ok-geum, being 76 years old.


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