Lim Youngwoong, who is above BTS among the over-45 pop of Korea, has a title song written by Lee Juck. Jung Jaeil, who played piano in the Senior Singer's song 'My Sea', also participated in the trottist's album., showing he has the support of the balladists in Korea.
LYW started as a balladist, but as his career went nowhere, he changed to trot. Since he was young and had a reasonably good looks appealing to older people (he kind of looks like Korean stars popular in the 1980s), he was slowly gaining popularity before Mr. Trot. Jang Minho, one of the contestants there (he was a member of a short lived idol dance boy group) and is kind of the 'Older Brother' for all the trottists selected in that show (he knew LYW quite a while before the show), said LYW would become big even without the Mr Trot show.
That aside, LYW's songs , while retaining the enka rhythm which is the basis for all trot songs in Korea, are indistinguishable from ballads. So we can say that LYW's album is the first ballad album to break a million since early 2000s as well.
In a more strict sense, trot is a song done in the Japanese enka style. In practice, trot can be ballad, dance, r&b, rock, etc, anything which are comfortable for the older population (i.e. no electric, no techno, no loud music, etc although exceptions are found), although preferably they should include the basic enka rhythm. Even in the 1970s, the height of trot in Korea, it incorporated disco extensively.
LYW's fans are trying to spread his fame to the Kpop world, even though he himself appears to have no ambition to appeal to the non-Koreans. Since he will probably be going to other countries to sing before Koreans living in the oversea in the near future, that might change his opinion but for now he is Korea-only.
Since he is likely to win at least one Grand Prize this year (His album will probably win the Melon Album of the Year award - BTS' new album will only have 3 new songs and won't be eligible for it ), even though trot is alien to most non-Koreans, it would be necessary to point out
where his music really stands at now.
