So How Can K-Pop Make It In The US?

I've talked a lot about why artists from Korea and Japan don't seem to make it.  I've also discussed what the new Korean wave is doing wrong.  I've made 'what I would of done' comments.  Last weekend some of my friends and I discussed what it takes to make it in the US market.  I believe there are some key factors that would be helpful for K-Pop artists to make it.

The first thing we need to get into our heads as idol fans is this is the American market.  If you make it here, you'll make it anywhere.  Because of that, big acts after conquering their own market set their sights here.  While I do think these artists want to do it, I question whether they or their management are willing to go all in.


It Takes Time to Make a Hit:
There are those songs that hit hard and fast.  Britney Spears, I assume I don't actually remember when she debut, came out with instance success.  You'll also see that with artists that have already made a name for themselves.  But, if you are new on the scene, even if you have a hit-worthy track, might have to sit awhile and wait.

 

If you don't make it right out of the gate doesn't mean you don't have what it takes.  Touring helps create a buzz.  Pumped Up Kicks was on the New Moon Soundtrack, but it didn't become a sensation until 2011. This is a problem for Asian artists because in order to promote themselves they might need to sacrifice guaranteed success back home.  We know from Rain, BoA, Akanishi Jin, Utada, Wonder Girls' first attempt, and plenty other artists that just because you come in with good producers and a record label doesn't mean a thing.  Nicki Minj first couple of singles didn't catch my attention.  I discovered her when Super Bass' music video was trending on YouTube and my friends were sharing it on Facebook.  She has been in the music scene since 2007.

The Asian Thing:
I myself have pondered if this is a problem or not.  It is obvious that Asian Americans aren't as common as Anglo-Saxon, Black, and Hispanic artists.  The Far East Movement has done pretty well with a number one hit and touring with artists like Lady GaGa.  Then I considered one of my favorite artists: M.I.A.

It is not like there is a significant Sri Lankan Tamil population in the United States.  Heck, I bet you there are more people in the states who couldn't point to it on a map.  British artists, white or black, aren't successful here.  I think it is a possible barrier to be Asian or from a foreign country, but it doesn't mean it is impossible.

Covering the Basics:
Good things to have if you want to be a hit: cool concept, good music, and talent.  Adele isn't what is generally considered beautiful but she is a huge star.  Why?  She is an amazing singer and she shows it off.  She also has amazing songs.  Ke$ha isn't the best singer, but she writes her own music and has a clear and attention-grabbing concept.  If you are able to get a hit these are the things you need for people to stick around.  If they find out they don't like any of your other music they're aren't going to wait around for long.

The two things I'm not too worried about is abilities.  2NE1 also has a good concept, but beware of being called Asian Lady GaGas.  The thing is that Americans love to hear talent, so show it off!  Why was Whitney Houston so popular?  She could sing her butt off and even after all the scandals people still wanted her to succeed because she was talented.

The Industry Differences: 
Here is where I see the majority of the problems coming from, and I think I've mentioned them.  Lady GaGa writes her own music.  Ke$ha writes her own music.  Adele writes her own music.  Katy Perry writes her own music.  Superstars in the US market tend to contribute in a major way to their music.  They may not write all of it or come up with the instrumental, but they help.  It helps provide a genuine portrayal of the artist.  [It also means that they are talented which is why people will look past poor vocals.]  I'm not saying they need to play a hand, but the fact that they are just company puppets will be said and hurt their reputation.

Other aspects of the K-Pop Idol Industry which will promote that 'fake' image is the plastic surgery and how thin the girls are.  Both of those things are MAJOR turn offs for myself.  I prefer to see SNSD wearing more clothes to hide how skinny they are because I think it is not sexy and gross.  Rumors go flying around all the time about how one Hollywood star may be anorexic.  Personally, SNSD should gain some weight in order to not be scary thin or else here comes 'they aren't real women' claims.

Ever heard of Jennifer Grey?  She was a film star in the '80s; she was in films like Ferris Bueller's Day Off and Dirty Dancing.  What do you think killed her career?  One nose job.  I don't even like her anymore and I wasn't alive back then (I did love her movies before the nose incident).  There isn't much they can do now about past operations.  The best they can do is try to down play it or if it does come out be honest about what they did do to extinguish false rumors.


I think BoA had what it took to make it but her music was only okay and mostly just dance songs.  She also ran back to Japan when sales weren't that good.  Utada had a better shot talent wise.  I really liked her music video for her debut single, but a couple of the lyrics were suspect.  Utada at least tried harder.  She did see the most success in my opinion.  [I discovered Utada during her American stint.]  Akanishi is releasing the same type of music BoA tried, so he won't go anywhere.  However, like Utada, I feel he is more dedicated than BoA.

Let's Compare this to the top female artists at the moment:

Notice how all of the major female artists are solo acts.

Mina's K-Pop Hottie Picks (Girls Edition)

Since I'm still a noob when it comes to K-Pop I've yet to find a variety show to watch with English subtitles so that I can get to know the personalities of the various idols.  Therefore, what I'm going to do is  pick out who I find the most attractive of each group.  I will also provide a runner-up.  I'll remind you guys, like my wifey/BFF post this is based on my personal preferences.  I'm not saying any one member is definitely better than the rest because beauty is in the eye of the beholder.  I thought I would do something fun in between my serious posts, plus I don't have too much time to spare today.  I'm not including explanations because this is based on looks.

Girls Generation (SNSD) - Sunny
Runner Up: Taeyeon

KARA - Jung Nicole
Runner Up: Han Seung Yeon

F(x) - Sulli
Runner Up: Amber

4Minute - Jihyun
Runner Up: Jiyoon

Chocolat - Melanie
Runner Up: Juliane

2NE1 - Minzy
Runner Up: CL

Wonder Girls - Sohee
Runner Up: Yubin

T-ara - Jiyeon
Runner Up: Boram

Brown Eyed Girls - Narsha
Runner Up: Gain

Miss A - Suzy
Runner Up: Min

Nine Muses - Hyemi
Runner Up: Kyungri

SunnyHill - Seung Ah
Runner Up: Ju Bi

K-Pop and J-Pop on the International Stage

For the holidays I got an iTunes gift card.  I don't listen to American music much anymore so I had no idea what I wanted to buy (except for Florence + The Machine).  There was of plenty of options for K-Pop, but my usual go to artists were missing, completely.  I've purchased tons of music from Hamasaki Ayumi the past couple of years, but everything was gone.  The J-Pop available was scarce with few artists that I was interested like Kyary Pamyu Pamyu, SCANDAL, and Brand-New Idol Society (BiS).  AKB48 only has one of their albums and has not continued adding releases.  The one group who does a decent job is Hello Project.  Manufactured music from Korea, however, is doing quite well.  Popular releases from units like 2NE1, Super Junior, and Kara have songs selling for $1.29.

Now hold your horses K-Pop fans who preach about how awesome it is and how it is taking over the world.  Sit your butt down.  Japanese artists don't expand to the Korean market (like how K-pop artists go to Japan) because they have the second largest music industry in the world.  They are not going to go to a smaller market, therefore the only place they are going to go for is the United States.  And we've all seen how well that goes over, for K-Pop artists too.  Artists like Koda Kumi are comfortable with being successful at home.  Korean culture will be a sub-culture in the United States, just like how J-Pop is.  There will be some attempt to cash in on the boom.  I don't want to be a wet blanket.  I would just like to remind fans who are excited for the Wonder Girls TV show what happened to Puffy's program: it got pulled off the air eventually.  Another major factor is that they are manufactured.  The United States' and the UK's consumers tend to have a negative perception of artists that don't have power in the creative process.  Even girl groups like Danity Kane wrote some of their own music.

I expect all of you to react to the reaction with an open mind.  Many K-Pop fans had that same reaction when they first saw it.  My perception of K-Pop wasn't too favorable either.  They are children!  They are asked to react to a little glimpse of the whole picture.  It is suppose to be off-the-cuff and a bit outrageous because that is entertaining.  Notice the majority of them are interested in listening to more of the genre.  This video is to illustrate the major issues K-Pop faces when expanding to the United States.    

What I'm curious about is the promotion of K-Pop groups in Japan.  A fair amount of songs by Korean groups are Japanese versions and not originals.  Those releases match their Korean image.  [The following statement has nothing to do with the male groups.]  However, to reach significant success they may dispose of their typical persona for a Japanese one.  This is evident if we compare Kara to SNSD.  I never realized how 'competitive' they are with each other until I did a Google search about their comparative activities in Japan.  The results were mixed.  Some sites claimed SNSD was beating Kara and are relevant in Japan.  Other data suggested the Kara had a stronger foothold.  Then there were others that suggested that the results didn't match up to the hype.  One thing is clear is that the strategy between the two is different.  SNSD basically re-released songs that were successful.  Kara, in my opinion, actually went all out.  Their musical style, with the exception of a couple singles, turned to a more care-free, innocent spirit that is common in Japanese idol music.  Kara is the reason why I resent people who said as part of the hype of the Hallyu wave that K-Pop was more popular with women because they presented a less doll-like persona.  First of all, those people were clearly not familiar with female Japanese artists (Namie Amuro, Ayumi Hamasaki, Kumi Koda, SCANDAL, members of AKB).  Second, there were female K-Pop artists went all doll-like, cutesy, AEGYO as soon as they hit Japanese shores.  Others followed through not too long after debut.  These girl groups were doing it in Korea too!  Personally I found that Kara was more present in the industry than SNSD, not by a ton but I felt like there was a difference.

SNSD in Korea

SNSD in Japan

KARA in Korea

KARA in Japan

Was there a Hallyu wave this year?  Yes, and I don't think it is necessarily over.  However, Korean groups in Japan were not the top dog in any way.  AKB48 owned this year, they were head to head with Arashi in 2010.  The other big hitter in the music industry of Japan was the song Maru Maru Mori Mori.  They entered a market where idol groups are doing quite well.  We could chalk up a portion of their success to an idol boom.  JE debuted two new idol groups that made the top spot, and Hey!Say!Jump had a really good year.  There were idol groups that made the top spot which I never expected to do so, like Passpo.  The industries aren't that much different style-wise.  There are some general differences, but I feel like people play them up to be much bigger than they truly are.

New PV Releases

Nami Tamaki - LADY MIND Wonder Girls - The DJ Is Mine   


SunnyHill - The Grasshopper Song

S/mileage - Please Wait A Little

Rainbow Pixie - Hoi Hoi
Morning Musume - Pyoko Pyoko Ultra
9muses - News
T-ara - Lovey-Dovey
Kikkawa Yuu - Early Snow
TEEN TOP - Crazy
SDN48 (Undergirls G) - Yaritagariya-san

Buono! - DEEP MIND

Buono! - Hatsukoi Cider

Jin Akanishi - Test Drive ft. Jason Derulo

Mano Erina - Doki Doki Baby

I'm Sorry Wonder Girls

Let me start off with stating that my first thought while watching this video is WTF is JYP?  Does that stand for Japan?  Why would their Korean single do that.  It was thanks to Eat Your Kimchi I found out that it was the music producer's identification marker.  Like he is some serial killer who has to leave something behind in order for people to know that he did it.  Do you know why they do that?  Because someone has a bit of an ego and can't be satisfied by just producing good work.

This is a fun song to listen to, but I am not a huge fan of dancing to it.  It is a breeze of fresh air from the majority of girl groups who are overtly sexy or aegyo (or both at the same time), but I still prefer to jam out to the powerhouses like 2NE1 or BEG.  Trust me, I've tried jamming out in my dorm room to this but I can't get into it.  The English lines in the chorus is what kills it for me.  It is a bit to cliche.

Everything seemed like it was going along just fine, until nine seconds into the video.  When a whirlwind of YOU ARE NOT SERIOUSLY TRYING TO COPY BEYONCE? passed by.  While they do follow my golden rule about remakes (be different, or significantly better) [wondering which one . . . do you actually think this is better than Single Ladies], let me insert a note to that rule; IT IS TOO SOON.  If you want to bring something back that looks almost identical it better be from a different time like the 80s or farther back.  No one cares that the spectacular Emma Stone is starring in the movie because it was only like ten years ago since they made the first spider man movie.  And before you even suggest that it isn't that similar let's go through the basics ascetics:
 - plain white room, check
 - tight black outfits that show off their legs, check
 - center girl with a big hair bump, check
 - it is a dance shot
 - the lights slowly fade in and out of darkness

I don't care about the pops of colors, or the moving floors, or the fact that there are various types of shots.  It doesn't stop me from seeing it and it won't go away.  If they just didn't have that one shot!  If they had only cut that all out for the circle stage room!  The steps and the circle room would of been fine!  You can't possible try to outshine Sasha Fierce.
  
Besides that I liked it.  I can't review this video well because I can't stop seeing Single Ladies.  (Which is said to be the best video of all time . . . hehehehe.)

The other song they've been promoting with it is GNO.

It isn't until 1:19 in this video that I like the song.  The whole style of that section reeks of songs released from women in the states who have no business releasing music.  So basically I hate half the song.  Yep.  You can see what I mean after the jump.  (The Wonder Girls are much more talented, but the song made me think of this:)