New and rare 'crossover' duo dodree aims to fuse K-pop with traditional Korean sounds

A new female duo named dodree debuted on Wednesday. If you want to know what makes the two women stand out in an oversaturated industry, it’s because they comprise a rare “crossover” group that aims to fuse K-pop with traditional Korean sounds.

Lee Song-hyun, right and Na Yeong-joo of the new ″K-crossover pop″ duo dodree [INNIT ENTERTAINMENT]

A new female duo named dodree debuted on Wednesday. If you want to know what makes the two women stand out in an oversaturated industry, it’s because they comprise a rare “crossover” group that aims to fuse K-pop with traditional Korean sounds.

Both Lee Song-hyun and Na Yeong-joo were contestants on KBS2’s music audition show “The Ddanddara” (2024-25), during which Lee ranked fourth, and Na placed fifth.

By combining the contemporary and the traditional — all while performing choreographed routines like other K-pop artists do — the duo hopes to present Korean and global audiences with a fresh perspective on K-pop’s potential and evolution.

dodree is the first duo to debut under Innit Entertainment, a subsidiary of JYP Entertainment. Ahead of its debut, the group released concept photos with the theme “Just Like a Dream” on their official social media accounts.

Lee and Na say they’ve had an open attitude toward crossover music since childhood.

Na comes from a prestigious family of traditional Korean musicians and grew up immersed in gugak, or traditional Korean music, and trained in pansori, or traditional Korean lyrical storytelling and a subgenre of gugak. However, she became increasingly curious about the unique ways in which pop mixed with other genres, such as jazz or band music.

That interest, she said, turned into a strong desire to showcase that type of music on stage.

Na Yeong-joo, center, of the newly formed duo dodree performs on stage during the audition show “The Ddanddara” (2024-25) [SCREEN CAPTURE]

She described herself as “a black sheep from a third-generation gugak family.”

Na reached the final round of “The Ddanddara” in January last year.

For her last performance, she chose “Sheesh” (2024) by girl group BabyMonster, merging a pop melody with gugak vocal techniques, traditional Korean drums and modern dance.

Lee, who trained in traditional Korean dance, said she was also drawn to music that naturally blurred the boundaries between gugak and pop, explaining that gugak-pop hybrids made both past and present Korean music feel more accessible. She cited gugak singer Song So-hee as one of her artistic influences.

On “The Ddanddara,” Lee performed Kim Soo-chul’s “A Flower That Never Bloomed” (1983) in the fourth round, during which she blended her strong and solid voice with expressive traditional dance movements.

JYP Entertainment founder Park Jin-young praised the performance as “a real-life version of Jeongnyeon,” referring to the K-drama “Jeongnyeon: The Star is Born” (2024) about a traditional female theater troupe.

Lee Song-hyun of the newly formed duo dodree performs on stage during the audition show “The Ddanddara” (2024-25) [SCREEN CAPTURE]

“The name dodree comes from dodeuri jangdan, a common six-beat time signature in Korean traditional music, and the English word ‘free,’” said Na during an interview with the JoongAng Ilbo on Jan. 12. “Dodeuri is a rhythm used in jeongak, or music that was performed in formal settings. The name reflects our ambition to break boundaries and go global.”

Regarding their debut single, “Just Like a Dream,” Lee explained that the title track is a pop song about longing for someone who passed through your life like a dream.

“It includes [poetic] lyrics such as ‘Leave me behind on the same path that you use to walk away’ and incorporates pop elements in its sound, with guitar as the primary instrument,” said Lee.

The B-side track, “Bon,” mixes cinematic pop with traditional sounds.

“It captures the origin and birth of dodree in both a literal and symbolic sense,” Lee added.

Lee Song-hyun, left, and Na Yeong-joo of the new ″K-crossover pop″ duo dodree [INNIT ENTERTAINMENT]

The choreography includes traditional elements as well.

“We incorporated the feeling of ‘drawing lines’ from traditional dance into modern moves,” Lee said, adding that they also wear pul-chima, or a long Korean traditional skirt, for the choreography.

The concept evokes parallels with characters such as HUNTR/X, a fictional K-pop girl group from the animated film “KPop Demon Hunters” (2025), and real-life crossover performer Song.

“We're not trying to emulate anyone,” said Na and Lee. “We want to create our own genre by fusing K-pop with gugak and build a unique identity that stands on its own.”

This article was originally written in Korean and translated by a bilingual reporter with the help of generative AI tools. It was then edited by a native English-speaking editor. All AI-assisted translations are reviewed and refined by our newsroom. BY CHOI HYE-RI, LIM JEONG-WON [lim.jeongwon@joongang.co.kr]