South Korean Rappers Finding Fame in Their 80s
Wearing a bucket hat, silver chains and a black Miu Miu shirt, 82-year-old Park Jeom-sun is practicing her rapping.
But the topic of her rap might surprise you: it's about growing chili peppers, cucumbers and eggplants!
"Picking chili peppers at the pepper field, picking cucumbers at the cucumber field, picking eggplants at the eggplant field, picking zucchini at the zucchini field," she raps. "We're back home now and it feels so good!"
Park, nicknamed Suni, is part of a rap group of seven friends who are known as Suni and the Seven Princesses. With an average age of 85, they're probably the oldest rap group in South Korea.
Born at a time when women were often marginalized in education, Park and her friends were among a group of older adults learning how to read and write the Korean alphabet, hangul, at a community center in their farming village in South Korea's southeast.
They were having so much fun that they started experimenting with poetry. They began writing and performing rap last summer.
Suni and the Seven Princesses are known across the country, appearing in commercials and going viral on social media.
South Korean Prime Minister Han Duck-soo sent them a message last month on their first anniversary, praising their passion for learning.
They performed a show in Seoul at the start of October.
Park said the group usually practices two or three times a week, more if they're preparing for a concert.
They don't just enjoy rapping — they've learned to read too. Park said she can now "go to the bank, ride the bus and go anywhere" she wants without someone helping her.
She added: "Being introduced to rap while learning hangul has made me feel better, and I thought it would help me stay healthy and avoid dementia."
