This time last year, the majority of Americans had never heard of K-pop. Then, of course, came “Gangnam Style,” which people should probably be sick of by now but is still worth mentioning.
Psy’s “Gangnam Style” gave the American mainstream a glimpse into the shiny, high-octane world of Korean pop music. The song became so viral it garnered attention from American news networks like CNN, with speculation as to what the song’s popularity could mean for both American and Asian music markets.
Recently, the Asian-American pop group Aziatix signed a deal with Cash Money Records, a mainstream American record company home to artists like Drake, Nicki Minaj, and Lil’ Wayne. With this move, it might seem like Asian pop is starting to break into the American musical consciousness.
What’s funny, though, is that the select examples of Asian pop trickling into the American mainstream aren’t necessarily the epitome of “mainstream” in the Asian markets that produced them. Psy’s first five albums, prior to his contract with big Korean label YG Entertainment, came nowhere near the success of “Gangnam Style.”
Aziatix is far from the typical Asian pop group, either. Only one of the group’s members was born in Korea, and all three were raised in America. The group is also more popular in Japan than in Korea. On top of that, most Aziatix songs are in English, and the group has had more tour dates in the U.S. than in any other country.
Meanwhile, some of the most popular musical groups in Korea and Japan, like Girl’s Generation, 2NE1, BIGBANG, SHINee and 2PM have all tried their hand at breaking into the American mainstream, with concerts in New York and Los Angeles and devoted groups of American fans. But none of this popularity can even brush America’s viral obsession with Psy’s bizarre lyrics and quirky presence.
Still, many of the albums and music videos these groups put out exemplify Korean pop music’s long-time love for Western culture. English words and verses are typical in mainstream K-pop. Big-budget music videos showcase Western fashions and concepts similar to American pop videos.
BIGBANG and 2NE1 in particular have taken cues from American culture in terms of fashion and musical style, and Girl’s Generation’s newest music video trades their usual uber-feminine aesthetic for more powerful hip-hop dance moves. Despite this ongoing cultural mash-up, Asia’s love for American music culture remains somewhat unrequited.
It seems the groups that actually try to break into American markets face a unique predicament: the mainstream tastes that brought fame to such songs as “Gangnam Style,” “Call Me Maybe,” Taylor Swift’s entire discography, and good old “Dragostea din tei” (the numa numa song) can be highly unpredictable, even baffling. As a result, the piece of Asian pop music introduced to America through Psy and Aziatix is just that– a piece.
Source: Hilltop Views Online via @ForeverWithDara
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