Like other K-pop sensations, Big Ocean sings, raps, dances and attracts swooning fans. But this new group’s meteoric rise is fueled by a skill it seems no other boy band boasts: signing. Band members — Lee Chan-yeon, 27, Park Hyun-jin, 25, and Kim Ji-seok, 22 — are all deaf or hard of hearing. They use the latest audio technology to help make their music, coordinate their choreography with flashing metronomes and vibrating watches, and incorporate Korean Sign Language into videos and performances.“Just like divers rely on signs to communicate underwater, we use sign language to convey meaning where sound alone might fall short,” Lee said. “For us, KSL is not just an element — it’s the heart of our performance.” The group released their debut single, “Glow,” last year, on Korea’s Day of People with Disabilities, and they did their first televised performance incorporating KSL. Soon after, they followed up with “Blow,” a single heavy on English lyrics and American Sign Language.In Sept, they were named Billboard’s rookies of the month, and recently, they made the Forbes 30 Under 30 Asia Entertainment & Sports List. This month, the band performed at an anime festival in Brazil and at a UN tech event in Switzerland before touring Europe for the second time since spring. Their first American tour starts later this month. Big Ocean has 995,000 followers on Instagram and more than 696,000 on TikTok. Fans, who call themselves “Pados” after Korean word for wave, are devoted, and many are learning sign languages from the band, which makes numerous tutorials. But fame was never assured, said Haley Cha, CEO of Parastar Entertainment, Big Ocean’s management company.Even the members sometimes questioned their dream, Cha added. They had alternate careers, and it was not always clear to them or to others what they could achieve in music. Cha said she used a variety of tactics to help them visualise stardom, including taking images of established K-pop idols and replacing the faces with those of the trio.Some in the deaf community, however, worry about the framing of the band, particularly for hearing audiences, as an inspirational narrative about “overcoming” disability that could undermine deaf identity.For their part, the trio’s members seem delighted they inspire people and heartened by the world’s response.
