YouTube’s most-watched Korean pop music video, Girls’ Generation’s “Gee,” has earned 74,000,000 American views alone, even though most mainstream U.S. music fans have never heard of it. The song and video – a calculated, colorful, choreographed affair that sees the nine-member girl group smiling and winking for the camera in flirty outfits as they change formations and soloists without a hitch – epitomize how Korean pop music (K-Pop for short) has been able to break language barriers and captivate a passionate U.S. audience. More recently, acts have begun turning the interest into profitable American tour stops and announcing plans to officially release music stateside. And as if to officially christen the genre’s U.S. crossover potential as an internet phenomenon, Google will host a multi-act K-Pop concert at their California headquarters on May 21st, which will be livestreamed on their YouTube Presents channel.
In the past, popular Korean acts (like BoA and Se7en) made unsuccessful American debuts likely due to the fact that they were molded by American record labels to be presented in a way they saw best to break into the notoriously difficult market.
Yet K-pop has garnered a strong following without the help of any major American backing. K-Pop is a mixture of trendy Western music and high-energy Japanese pop (J-Pop), which preys on listeners’ heads with repeated hooks, sometimes in English. It embraces genre fusion with both singing and rap, and emphasizes performance and strong visuals.
Never very racy, K-pop could easily slide into America’s Top 40 market if correctly targeted at children and teenagers. The following are the 10 acts most likely to successfully crossover to America – as long as they’re allowed to keep the same sounds and concepts that made them popular in Asia.
2NE1
One of South Korea’s most notable acts, 2NE1 stands out for the wide array of sounds heard in their latest EP that includes the club banger “I Am The Best,” the slick electro-pop/hip-hop “Hate You,” and the emotionally charged “Ugly.” 2NE1’s genre-hopping and large personalities bring Nicki Minaj’s rap/singing approach to mind. Without any push into the U.S., the group caught the eye of will.i.am, who signed on to work on their American debut rumored to be released later this year. Listeners can get a sample of what a will.i.am/2NE1 production sounds like with the track “Take On The World,” currently being used for a promotional video for Intel. The foursome’s fierce fashion even caught the eye of designer Jeremy Scott who has styled for the group. Several of the members have strong English skills, and the group won the award for “Best New Band In The World” for MTV Iggy, an MTV initiative that showcases music from all over the world.
Click the link below to see the 10 K-pop groups:
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