Kpop in the States, Prediction

Beno recently posted an article on his Facebook titled, "Does Korean Pop Actually Have a Shot at Success in the US". I thought it was an interesting read and the author spent a great deal of time researching past Asian artists that tried to make a debut here in the US. I think he should have focused mainly on Korean artists, but he mixed in Japanese history in the article (but who can blame him.. he lives in Japan). There have been other Korean artists that attempted a run at the US market, such as Kim Bum Soo with his English single of "Memory" and S7ven. Both failed.

His article concludes with a few marketing grips regarding the three girl groups currently working on their US debut (Wonder Girls, Girls Generation, and 2NE1). He lists WG's as the favorite to make a breakthrough in the US market while giving GG and 2NE1 unfavorable forecasts. I strongly disagree with his assessment.

Here's what i think. There are three criteria's that must be met.

1. Audience
2. Marketing/Branding
3. Music/Popularity/Swag

Audience is particularly important because that's how you know what to do for #2 and #3. Boa and others failed IMO because they never reached a clear audience or demographic. Was it tweens, Asian Americans, high school kids, or young adults? Males or females? Audience also makes up your customer base. They will be the ones buying your music on iTunes and CD's - so it's vital to choose correctly.

This is why it's so hard for Kpop to break through in the States. About 30-40% of the audience in the US are White. 10-20% are Black. Asian Americans make up only about 5-10% of the market in the US. So you need to get White kids to listen to your music, especially little girls. And folks, that's the brick wall in front of us. Why? Cuz what do little white girls like? Jonas Brothers and Justin Bieber.

But Bronx, in Europe Kpop is spreading like wild fire! Partly true. It was exaggerated by the Korean media. Kpop is a nice hit in Europe, but they aren't Americans.


Marketing. Spending money to make money. If you look at some of the artists here in the US and how their popularity sky rockets in a single month - you can truly appreciate the power of marketing. If not already, the Korean labels should get 3rd party professional help with their US marketing.


Swag, style, popularity, and music. In other words, the artists themselves. Can they sing? Do they have the right music to sing? Are they stylish?


My conclusion is that it's too early for Kpop to branch out in the states. USA is a proud country. Music produced and sang by Americans will always trump others. When an Asian American wins American Idol you can prove me wrong.

The right thing to do would be to stay in Asia. Maybe make some English songs collaborating with Snoop Dog once in a while. But don't make an album, make a TV movie, or open concerts for the Jonas Brothers.

Even if i blabber on and on, the 3 girl groups will be making their way into the US this year. So what's my prediction?

Wonder Girls will fall flat. JYP just needs to stop investing so much money on them. They don't have the audience and popularity to make it. Sorry WG's.. should probably quit while you can.

Girl's Generation will make some money. They have the attention of most healthy males in the US. They certainly have the looks and swag. They have already received millions of Youtube hits and have 2 English speaking Korean Americans. What they lack right now is the right music. If they were to create a hit single with the right beat and lyrics... the possibilities could be endless.

My #1 pick in terms of which girl group has the best chance at bringing Kpop to the US is 2NE1. They have the swag. Popularity based on Youtube hits and Hollywood stars talking about them. Pretty much every song they've produced - i could see hints of Western culture embedded inside. The beats are dope, but what worries me is the fact that anytime Koreans try to make a song in English.. it's broken English. Get rid of the Korean fob accent. Make a #1 hit single. Put it out on the radio. Let it ride.

Racism on TAM Airlines

Re-posting this from G+. Don't know the original author, but it's worth sharing.

This happened on TAM airlines.

A 50-something year old white woman arrived at her seat and saw that the passenger next to her was a black man.

Visibly furious, she called the air hostess.

"What's the problem, ma'am?" the hostess asked her

"Can't you see?" the lady said - "I was given a seat next to a black man. I can't seat here next to him. You have to change my seat"

"Please, calm down, ma'am" - said the hostess
"Unfortunately, all the seats are occupied, but I'm still going to check if we have any."

The hostess left and returned some minutes later.

"Madam, as I told you, there isn't any empty seat in this class- economy class.
But I spoke to the captain and he confirmed that there isn't any empty seats in the economy class. We only have seats in the first class."

And before the woman said anything, the hostess continued

"Look, it is unusual for our company to allow a passenger from the economy class change to the first class.
However, given the circumstances, the commandant thinks that it would be a scandal to make a passenger travel sat next to an unpleasant person."

And turning to the black man, the hostess said:

"Which means, Sir, if you would be so nice to pack your handbag, we have reserved you a seat in the first class..."

And all the passengers nearby, who were shocked to see the scene started applauding, some standing on their feet."

R.I.P. Bronx

Dead.

Song of the Day: Jo Jang Hyuk - Addicted to Love

The original singer of this song teamed up with the lead vocal of 4Men. I think it would have sounded better with another rock vocalist.. but good anyways.

Change is good right?

Well new years has passed, and i originally didn't make any resolutions. But, the more i thought about it - i received an epiphany, revelation, realization, inspiration, or whatever you want to call it. I think everyone goes through something like this, when they just know it's time.

My time has come, and i'm still in the process of sinking it into my skull. Hope everyone is having an excellent 2012 so far. If you've made any resolutions hope you're sticking to it. Let's all encourage each other!

Song of the Day: Fat Cat - Is pretty everything?

Pictures from New Years

During New Years, my sister and her husband came to visit and we hit up Redondo Beach and San Francisco to visit some friends. All the pics are on my Picasa, but here are a few.

항상 옆에 있어주는 사람

‎"화려하지 않아도, 항상 옆에 있어주면서, 떠나지 않을 사람... 앞에서 생색내면서, 떠드는 사람보다, 뒤에서 조용히 챙겨주는 그런 사람..."

Carlton Dance

Those of you born in the 80's know Will Smith as the Fresh Prince of Bel Air. You will also recognize Carlton, the corky cousin. His dance was famous back in our days - and here's a clever video.

Kim Jong Min.. acting or just real?

I can't remember the last time i laughed so hard. I think i was cracking up for a good 10 minutes non stop as i replayed this clip. Just so you have some background, the clip is from a Korean variety show called "1 Day 2 Nights" - and the two playing the game is Lee Seung Gi and Kim Jong Min. They are both returning cast members of the show.

Lee Seung Gi is considered a boy genius as he is good at almost everything he does except for cooking. Kim Jong Min is considered pretty odd. His brain works differently than others - UNLESS.. it's all an act. I'm still not convinced his like this in real life.

The game they are playing is called "I am Ground" or "Strawberry game". Each person picks a fruit name and then calls on another fruit with the specific number of times they have to say the fruit name. Each time the fruit name is spoken, it needs to correspond with the motion count they do with their bodies. The number can be between 1 to 8. Ugh.. confusing right? Hard to explain.

Anyways, it's a pretty stressful game since you have to use wits and timing to get everything right. For those of you who've played the game before will get a really good laugh out of this.

Lovey Dovey dance along

I'm out of breath just watching these girls shuffle for an entire 3 minutes non stop.

31

It's official.

I am 31. It also started off with a BANG. So much to do these days, yet so little time. I have particularly been neglecting this blog and i apologize if that has ruined anybody's daily entertainment. I still can't believe i wrote over 200 blogs last year. Not sure if i can keep up with that pace 2 years in a row.

My lil cousin has this cool little talent with beat boxing. We may make some funny videos and post them up later.

I forgot to mention, but i watched the new Sherlock Holmes movie and it was pretty good. I was spoiled my Mission Impossible, hence my rating will be 7/10. Def. worth watching though. Robert Downey Jr. is my fav. US actor. Also, there is a TV show in UK called "Sherlock" that is a spinoff the same Sherlock Holmes that Downey Jr. portrays. Each episode is 1 hour 30 minutes making it sorta like a mini movie. If you haven't already, go to EZTV and download it. Season 2 episode 1 was particularly good.

Ever catch yourself talking in an un-ordinary accent after watching something on the tube? After watching Sherlock, i started speaking with an English accent for about 30 minutes and i couldn't stop. Lol.

Everyone make some new year resolutions? I didn't. I generally am not able to keep them, so I decided to just be happy on a day to day basis. #1 on the list is shopping. A really nice pair of jeans and a winter coat are in order.

I took a bunch of pictures during Dec. Jan. that are sitting on my SD Card. I hope to share them soon. So far 2012 has been good. No major dramas. However, no drama = no blog = sad visitors.

I will conclude this post with a short joke.

A man asks his friend "What kind of girls do you like?"
His friend replies, "I like German girls"
The man asks, "Why?"
The friend replies, "Because they are gutentite"

Song of the Day: T-ara - Lovey Dovey

Like! Worth the 20 minutes.

Happy 2012!

Dang, i missed the new year post by 1 hour. December was a rather crazy month. Sister came over from Milwaukee with her husband, and my uncle (dad's younger brother) passed away and had to drive up to San Jose for the funeral.

2011 wasn't the greatest year, but there were many memorable moments including my trip to Korea. Hopefully 2012 will be even better! Life is what you make of it, which means memories won't just create themselves. My new years resolution is to be more proactive in making great memories.

I hope everyone was able to have a safe and happy end of the year.