Times

Times is a hip hop club in Apgujeong, operating in a different register entirely from the underground electronic circuit across the river in Itaewon. Apgujeong is one of Seoul’s most affluent neighborhoods, and Times reflects its surroundings: the crowd is dressed, the production is polished, and the programming is built around the Korean and international hip hop that lands in a room with money behind it. This is not the underground. It is something else, operating by different rules and serving a different audience, and understanding that distinction is what makes the venue useful to know about.

The programming covers the range from Korean rap and R&B — the domestic chart and scene acts that drive the room on local-crowd nights — through to international bookings when the venue has a reason to bring someone in. Apgujeong’s nightlife economics are closer to Gangnam’s megaclub model than to Itaewon’s underground circuit: table service exists, the room is larger than most Itaewon venues, and the door policy reflects the neighborhood’s demographics more than the music’s.

For the working DJ or the serious electronic music visitor, Times is useful to know about as context rather than as a destination. Understanding that Seoul has serious hip hop club infrastructure in Apgujeong, separate from both the Gangnam megaclub circuit and the Itaewon underground, gives a more complete picture of what the city’s nightlife actually looks like. The electronic scene in Itaewon and the hip hop scene in Apgujeong coexist without much overlap, serving different audiences with different priorities. Times is a clear example of what the hip hop end of that axis looks like when it is done properly.

Worth visiting if hip hop is what you are looking for on a given night in Seoul, or if you want to see a part of the city’s club landscape that the Itaewon-focused guides tend to skip over. The Apgujeong location is a 15-20 minute taxi from Itaewon. Check the venue’s social channels for current programming.