Jay Park’s Release From 2PM: Korean-American Culture Shock

One of the most controversial incidents to come out of the K-pop world from the past few years concerned the termination of Park Jaebeom from the popular boy band 2PM. The group was enjoying their rise to the top of the Korean music industry with the success of their second single, “2:00PM Time For Change”, released on April 16, 2009. But in September of that year, attention shifted from their music to past comments made by their leader, Jaebeom.
Korean fans found comments written by Jaebeom on Myspace in 2005 in which he insulted Korea and Korean people. At the time, he had recently moved to South Korea from his hometown of Seattle, Washington to train as an artist under the record label JYP Entertainment. From his comments it seems he was experiencing difficulty adjusting to life in a different country. The most damaging comment he made that was cited by many fans stated, “Korea is gay… I hate Koreans”.

The backlash Jaebeom and 2PM experienced was intense. After the translations of his comments were spread all over Korean media, fans called for Jaebeom’s removal from the group. He issued an official apology explaining the context of his comments, but it did not quell the fans’ anger. There was even a petition signed by thousands of people demanding that he commit suicide. As a result, Jaebeom announced he would leave 2PM temporarily and return to Seattle. By February of 2010 JYP announced that Jaebeom’s contract with their company had been terminated, crushing any hope of a reunited 2PM.

Today 2PM continues as a six-person group and Jaebeom is now a solo artist going by his English name Jay Park. Both parties remain successful in and out of Korea but as entirely separate entities. What can be learned from Jay’s experiences as a Korean American in the Korean music industry? Evidently, even if someone is ethnically Korean he/she can still struggle with cultural differences when relocating to South Korea. Korean fans are vigilant in both their admiration and hatred for idol figures in the music industry. The misinterpretation of language and culture between Korea and the United States almost ruined Jay’s career, but he has managed to start over as an artist on his own terms thanks to support from his fans all around the world. While the Korean Wave is now known worldwide, it is not free from its own controversies that stem from the side effects of globalization.

Link
http://youtu.be/cUgReo37ECw
Music video for “Again & Again” by 2PM

Sources
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jay_Park
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2PM
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2:00PM_Time_For_Change
http://www.dmwmedia.com/blog/%5Buser%5D/myspace-facebook-youtube-twitter-and-story-jay-park-aka-jaebeom-park
http://ourmoderngush.blogspot.com/2011/01/top-5-k-pop-controversies-mistakes-made.html
http://www.allkpop.com/2009/09/does_jaebeom_think_korea_is_gay
http://news.donga.com/3//20090905/8805847/1
http://www.soompi.com/2009/09/10/everything-about-jaebums-departure
http://www.soompi.com/2009/09/05/2pm-jaebum-offends-koreans-with-myspace-posts/
http://www.allkpop.com/2009/09/antis_create_a_suicide_petition_for_2pms_jaebeom

The Korean Music Festival: Bringing K-Pop Fans Closer to Their Favorite Artists

April 28, 2012 marked the 10th Korean Music Festival celebrated at the world-famous venue of the Hollywood Bowl. Since 2003, the Korea Times newspaper has brought artists directly from South Korea to Southern California for their annual concert. The festival was first held as a commemoration for the centennial anniversary of Korean immigrant to the United States. Tickets for the inaugural concert sold out 18,000 seats within two weeks. Now the festival receives support from corporate sponsors (both American and Korean) and members of the community alike that allows for the event’s success every year with continuously record-breaking ticket sales.
 

The festival organizers make an effort to include Korean artists in their line-up that appeal to multiple generations. Over the years the concert has hosted current pop performers like BoA, Rain, TVXQ, and Girls’ Generation along with stars of the past like Arirang, Love & Peace, Nam Jin, and Kim Kyung-ho. The organizers also employ bilingual artists as MCs for the show to help bridge the language gap for non-Korean concertgoers. To show ties to the local community, the Crenshaw Choir and UCLA’s classical Korean music group are invited to perform traditional Korean songs at the beginning of every concert.

The Korean Music Festival’s website boasts that their concert “puts its patrons at the center of the Korean Wave”. For K-pop fans that are unable to travel to Korea to watch their favorite artists perform, this event gives them an once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to see their musical idols in person. People of both Korean and non-Korean heritage come from all over the United States and even across the globe to be a part of the Korea Times’ annual festival.

Link:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qUiyHRAXBzY
susie1431’s fancam of Brown Eyed Girls performing “Abracadbra” at the 2012 KMF

Sources:
http://www.koreanmusicfestival.com/index.php
http://www.facebook.com/koreatimesmusicfestival
http://seoulbeats.com/2012/05/the-los-angeles-korean-music-festival-old-versus-new/
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FJ6lysHU0d8

Riding the Korean Wave – Taeyang Breaks In to the US Music Charts

Taeyang is best known as a member of one of Korea’s biggest boy bands, Big Bang. Since their debut in 2006 the group has achieved massive success all over the world, thanks in part to the Korean Wave (한류). Each member of Big Bang has released solo albums, but Taeyang set himself apart by trying to make his way into the American music industry. Born Dong Young-bae on May 18, 1988 in South Korea, Taeyang chose to use the Korean word for sun as his stage name before Big Bang made their debut. When he was young he secretly danced to the music of Michael Jackson and Stevie Wonder without sharing his aspirations of becoming a performer with anyone.

Taeyang released his first solo work in 2008, the mini-album “Hot”. “Hot” earned two awards from the 7th Korean Music Awards: Best R&B/Soul Song for the single "Only Look At Me" and Best R&B/Soul Album. By the time he released his second solo work in 2010, the full-length album “Solar”, Taeyang was a full-blown idol in the Korean music industry both as a member of Big Bang and as an individual. The limited deluxe edition of “Solar” sold out on its first day of sales. After being released on iTunes, the album ranked #2 on the Top R&B-Soul albums on the US chart and #1 on the Canadian chart. He was the first Asian artist to accomplish this feat. The international version of the album featured English versions of some tracks. Taeyang also chose to work with Asian American choreographers for his music videos and live performances from the album.

Currently Taeyang is set to go on the Alive Tour 2012 with the rest of Big Bang. Their first world tour will visit countries in Asia, North America, South America, and Europe in the second half of this year. As a solo artist Taeyang may release another work this year as well. With all the success he has achieved so far in his career, fans from all other the world look forward to what Taeyang will bring in the future.

Link
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qIt6KCwlFPw
Music video for “Wedding Dress” by Taeyang

Sources:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Taeyang
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Big_Bang_(Korean_band)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Solar_(album)
http://www.time.com/time/world/article/0,8599,2013227,00.html
http://www.dcnews.in/etc_list.php?code=succeed&id=11632
http://news.nate.com/view/20100826n04439
http://www.allkpop.com/2012/05/big-bang-releases-initial-tour-dates-and-cities-for-alive-tour

K-Pop Mogul 3: Lee Soo Man- The Titan

In the spirit of Korean culture and their adherence to seniority we saved the best for last with Lee Soo Man, the founder and former chairman of the board for SM Entertainment, born in 1952. Hands down, Lee is the biggest figure in K-Pop. A graduate from Seoul University, Lee started to have a career as a singer releasing hits during the seventies. Lee’s artistic ambition led to him forming the first heavy metal band in South Korea. As the music industry became more strict Lee left South Korea to study at California State University, Northridge. Influenced by the popularity of the Mtv culture in America, Lee went back to South Korea with a vision of changing the music scene in the country. In 1995, Lee founded SM Entertainment and since then has pushed this company to becoming the biggest music agency in all of South Korea. Since last year Lee managed to increase SM’s sales revenue by 198.71%. Which is not that hard considering some of the talent they have including BoA, Super Junior, and Girls Generation.

Much of the credit to these artist’s success is Lee’s rigorous and controversial methods of success involved having potentials sign 13 year contracts to the company. The potentials are then given non stop training and singing and dancing to ensure stardom and success. Due to complaints, the contract was shortened to 7 years but Lee has still conquered the pop music market in South Korea. Because of his success he has gained an infamous reputation of overworking his stars and focusing only on commercial gains. He has been known to spend frivolous amounts of money to create some songs such as hiring the best composers and musicians in Korea just to produce one song. Despite the crazy tactics he employs for his artists, his recipes are recipes for success. And that is why he is the biggest man in the game of K-pop.

K-Pop Mogul 2: Yang Hyun Suk- The Veteran

The next on our list of K-Pop Moguls is Yang Hyun Suk of YG Entertainment. Born on December 2, 1970 Yang first got his start in the K-Pop industry as a member of the band Seo Taiji & The Boys in the early 90s. in 1996 the band broke up and this led Yang to found YG Entertainment where he is still the current owner and CEO. Bringing up acts such as Big Bang, 2NE1, and Se7en he puts his old experience and knowledge into the work as he not only acts as producer, but mentor for all of YG’s artists and entertainers.

Helping spread the rise of the Korean Wave, Yang is one of the bright thinkers that joined and expanded his K-Pop arsenal with companies in Japan, such as Nippon Columbia, to spread K-Pop throughout Asia and dominate the music market. As Yang acquired more acts and solidified the financial value of YG Entertainment, he was recently allowed to let his company go public in 2010.


From creating magazines and opening night clubs throughout South Korea, Yang has been the leading figure in spreading the hip hop culture throughout South Korea. His other contributions have been philanthropic with a notable donation for Japanese Earthquake relief. Yang’s contributions to YG Entertainment are not just business. He is well known for writing the songs, producing the songs, choreographing the dances, and photographing the art. This is why out of the “Big Three” Yang sticks out as the most versatile figure in the South Korean music industry.

K-Pop Mogul 1: Park Jin Young- The Prince

K-Pop Mogul 1: Park Jin Young- The Prince

The next three posts are part of a thread focusing on the lives of Park Jin Young, Yang Hyun Suk, and Lee Soo Man. Each of them is the head of the so called “Big Three” K-Pop Agencies in South Korea (SM Entertainment, JYP Entertainment, and YG Entertainment). The importance of these threads is recognizing the impact these figures have on the pop culture and general culture of Korea and for Korean Americans.

The first to be featured in the new thread about the heads of the “Big Three” K-Pop Agencies (SM Entertainment, JYP Entertainment, and YG Entertainment) is Park Jin Young, the founder and former CEO of JYP Entertainment. Born in Seoul on January 1, 1972, Park Jin Young is the youngest head of the “Big Three”

As the biggest producer for his record label, JYP Entertainment, Park Jin Young has displayed success in the K-Pop industry not just by his own talent as a singer but also his eye for talent as his company proudly boasts the popularity of their artists including: Rain, Wonder Girls, 2AM, and 2PM.

Park founded the Tae- Hong Planning Corporation in 1997 and soon changed the name to JYP Entertainment in 2001. As the company’s first artist, the stylish and trendy Park exploded onto the Korean music scene and has been pushing the expansion of K-Pop globally ever since. From being able to produce for American artists such as Will Smith, Mase and Cassie from becoming the first Korean songwriter to be in the Billboard Hot 100 with song “Nobody” by the Wonder Girls, Park has the best ear for pop music out of the “Big Three”. Despite his knowledge insight with music and trends, Park lacks in business skills and it has led to JYP Entertainment suffering many financial losses. It was recently reported in the 2012 Revenue First Quarter Report, JYP Entertainment is making the least money with $934,000. Despite their economic shortcomings, JYP Entertainment has proved themselves to be one of the leading visionaries on which direction to take K-Pop and Park Jin Young has been there leading them.

Hair Styles: Blonde Ambition

As a final post, I will be speaking about hair bleaching. It is very common for girls to dye and bleach their hair, changing the colors frequently—so much that finding a girl with her natural hair color is like finding a unicorn! Extremely rare and hard to spot. Asian girls especially dye their hair different colors and some say it’s in effort to become more “Caucasian” and “American”.

Girl group Rania in an ad for Maxim Korea
with altered and bleach hair.

Korean pop stars prefer to keep their hair natural shades of blonde, though some go platinum (ringing a bell with television reality star Heidi Montag, from The Hills) or a “white-blond”. Some do this to soften their looks and make them appear more feminine (boys become pretty boys and girls become more girly).

At least 12 out of the “22 Great Haircuts for Asian Men” feature male k-pop singers with altered hair colors, many of those 12 have definitely bleached or lightened their hair color.

Not all Korean pop stars bleach their hair, however, such as Kim Ki Bum of the Korean boy band Shinee. He streaks his hair different colors. Korean pop stars have a great influence on the hair styles of the youth in Korea as well as those who join in on the Kpop wave in America. Natural hair color is not what you’re aiming for and the more bold you are with hair colors, the better.

Nickhun of Korean group 2PM

Kim Ki Bum of Shinee

Sources:

http://coolmenshair.com/2012/02/kim-ki-bum-shinee-key-hairstyles.html

http://seoulbeats.com/2012/05/all-about-the-hair/

http://coolmenshair.com/2011/11/korean-pop-hairstyles.html

Mirror, Mirror on the Wall: Complexion Obsessions

Ginnifer Goodwin as Snow White

Hello again, today’s topic is about skin whiteners! Many Asians think that having pale skin is beautiful; many speculate that this is because they want to appear “whiter” as snow white was extremely pale and was an American tale. But, it is also a cultural fact that those who were tanned or had dark skin were the ones who worked outside in the fields. The field workers were the ones of lower class status because they had to do manual labor, so having dark skin was a sign of poor wealth. To have pale skin, it meant you came from money and that you were of higher class. To achieve this pale look today, many Asians avoid the sun as well as use products such as skin whiteners and lighteners to avoid the tanned look.

SNSD (Girls’ Gneration) members Yuri, Sooyoung and Tiffany have advertisements with Biotherm Whitening cream. Many youths in America are obsessed with figuring out how these celebrities lose their tans so quickly. Many whitening creams have nicer names such as “skin lighteners” or “pearl skin”. This is to detach the negative stigma that the creams are actually bleaching products for the skin.

It’s funny because many American girls I know spend their off days outside poolside hoping to get a tan because it looks more healthy in our culture. In Korean culture, having pale skin is a sign of health, once again, because of their economic status. There is a lot of pressure to have flawless skin in Korea and this is reflected back onto the cultures of Asian American youth where some girls are hiding from the sun, wearing long gloves while driving or using hats to shield their faces. Granted, this is probably the healthier choice with the increasingly rampant skin cancer rates.

Sources:

http://hubmania.hubpages.com/hub/Korean-Whitening-Products

http://www.allkpop.com/2010/04/tiffany-sooyoung-and-yuri-have-flawless-skin

http://fashionsastranger.wordpress.com/category/beauty-in-korea/

Eyes Are the Windows to the Soul: The Double Eyelid

America has always been fascinated with Asia, deeming it “the Orient” and found it mystical, exotic and foreign. There was trade of teas and silks—and of beauty ideals. While America fantasized about Asian life and beauty, Asians tried to emulate American beauty.

From straightening hair and bleaching it to more extensive and painful surgeries such as eyelid and nose reconstruction, there has been an obsession that has grown into the modern culture of Korean youth. These beauty ideals are reflected in the Korean pop stars of today’s generation and it reinforces the thoughts of young people both in Korea and in America. Many Korean pop stars have altered their appearances to look more Western. Some argue that this isn’t true, but where else would they have gotten these ideas to change how they look?

Because of the strong cultural practices that come from Korea, it is common for young girls to get eyelid surgery because it has become more affordable and thus has become more common. The eyelid surgery is purely a cosmetic surgery where after the surgery one has a double eyelid, or a crease/fold above the eye. This surgery creates a wider, rounder eye, something that Koreans hold to a very high beauty standard. Many teenagers get this particular surgery on their 16th birthday as a present from their parents.

A popular substitute for this surgery is the double eyelid tape or glue where it creates the look of a double eyelid for the day and is much more affordable to those who still can’t

afford the surgery. 

There are many steps to create this double eyelid:

1)Wash face to remove oils.

2) Apply the eyelid tape or glue above the lash line.

3) Push the upper eyelid towards the adhesive tape or glue using the end of a bobby pin.

4) Apply makeup as desired to enhance the eyes.

5) Can be washed off with warm water and soap at the end of the day.

 While it still is an individual’s choice of whether or not to get the surgery, many youths do because of cultural values and the fact that many of the celebrities they idolize have it done as well. There are still celebrities such as Gain who haven’t had the double eyelid surgery and is still seen as beautiful in the eyes of her fans. Though all the girls from group Girls Generation have been speculated as having a variety of plastic surgeries.

Gain of the Korean group Brown Eyed Girls

Hyoyeon of the Korean group Girls Generation

Sources:

http://www.gossiprocks.com/forum/plastic-surgery/korean-stars-ps-before-after-page11-23650.html

http://www.ohkpop.com/f/double-eyelid-surgery-in-korean-k-pop-stars.html

http://www.ohkpop.com/35914/list-of-stars-sparking-plastic-surgery-speculation-draws-attention

http://journal.transformativeworks.org/index.php/twc/article/view/289/219

http://www.wikihow.com/Make-a-Double-Eyelid

Korean Music Wave concert and Youtube

Korean Music Wave was an event held not too long ago thanks to Korea’s MBC Broadcasting, Google and YouTube to celebrate the video sharing website’s 7^th anniversary. Thanks to YouTube, the largest video sharing site that can be accessed around the globe Korean pop has spread to several different countries worldwide. Even the head of YouTube entertainment, Alex Carlos was amazed by this phenomenon and the company’s unintended contributions to the Korean music wave currently going on. Alex Carlos stated, “This event became an important opportunity to confirm the possibility of globalization of media as to see one small East Asia country cultural contents to spread out through the world” conveying that media is becoming globalized as it spreads from country of origin to other regions instantly (Kpopstarz.com). Some of the most popular groups were present at the concert; these groups included Girls Generation, Sistar, Big Bang, Wonder Girls, 2NE1 and much more.

It is unclear why YouTube choose to celebrate its 7^th anniversary with a Kpop concert, perhaps it is because both are so vital to one another, maybe it is because particularly in the U.S., where YouTube is physically located has a large growing fan base or perhaps because both are undergoing media globalization is some form. I am not totally sure, but regardless it opened up chances for America fans to interact with their Korean idols who homes are on the opposing side of the world. Even if you weren’t there in attendance, thanks to YouTube Presents, it was also stream live so viewers like me, carless and broke freshmen can watch their favorite groups perform live in some shape or form too! Sadly, I did not attend the actual event, but I was able to view it online in the privacy of my room and it was awesome. I’m pretty sure I wasn’t the only one embracing the awesomeness (and laptop) that night during the Korean Music Wave.

Link to Kpopstarz's article on the Google concert: http://www.kpopstarz.com/articles/8442/20120523/kpop-goes-worldwide-with-google-facebook-and-youtube.htm

Wonder Girls does wonderful in the U.S!

It's the Wonder Girls!

The Wonder Girls are a popular Korean Pop female group from South Korea that consist of five members, they are affiliated with several labels all over the word, these labels include JYP Entertainment in Seoul, Korea, Sony Music and DefStar Records in Japan and even Jonas records in the United States. These girls have been active in the Korean pop industry since their debut in 2007. Two years after their debut, 2009, Wonder Girls successfully broke into the American music industry and became the first Korean group to enter the Billboard Chart 100 hits with an English version of their song Nobody. Their success in the U.S began during a tour with the American boy band The Jonas Brothers for over 30 concerts in the U.S. Explaining why they are affiliated with the U.S label called Jonas records. Since then the Wonder Girls and other Korean pop groups and artist have tour in countless cities in the states. With this success, JYP, mentor of the girl group and the Wonder Girls plan to make an all English album using already released songs but in English along with new tracks as well for a U.S Debut.  

Earlier in the year, in January a trailer for “The Wonder Girls” was aired on the popular network Teen Nick in America. Teen Nick is a network associated with nickelodeon, the famous children network on cable television. However, Teen Nick is mostly targeted for teenagers and pre-teens.  A month after the trailer was aired the movie premiered on Teen Nick at 8PM EST (allkpop.com). The film displays the Wonder Girls making a debut in America and achieving success as Korean Artist in the states, but all is not well as the American group School Gyrls appear and a musical rivalry develops with the Wonder Girls creating amusing scenes of drama between the two groups and within the groups as well.

I viewed the movie for the purpose of this blog entry recently, like many Teen Nick movies it was amateur in the aspects of editing and acting. The Wonder Girls were quite good with their acting, much better than the American co-stars. Overall, I will say this film was okay as a television aired only movie on a teenage targeted network. I rate this movIe a six out of ten, but I am in way shape and form a professional movie critic of any kind. There were several ideas brought up in the film that I find to be controversial. The rival group and even the Wonder Girls American allies always brought up ideas that reminded viewers of their foreignness or perhaps that the Wonder Girls can’t assimilate into America and emphasized their otherness. There was also an idea of the Yellow Peril and Asian competition, this can be seen with the alas for the group as the Asian Invasion when competing in a talent show in America. I feel like it was a “cute” way to disguise the Yellow peril. Despite these ideas, it was a pretty decent movie with a simple plot. This movie will play a significant role in not only making the Wonder Girls popular in American mainstream media but also Korean pop in general. Although the movie was cheesy, it is at the same time ground breaking for Korean Pop and U.S. pop culture.

Here is a link to the Wonder Girls song Nobody with english subtitles: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YnVycboTpI0

Here is a link to the Wonder Girls Movie Trailer:  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LMLzWRYZLhs

Korean American artist achieves success in Korea

Korean American artist & Korea success: Lets talk Ailee!

With the help of Youtube, the popular video sharing website Asian America is successfully displaying  talents that has been repeatedly overlooked and frequently ignored in our mainstream media for decades. Despite of the recent successes of Asian American artist on the internet, it is still hard to be of Asian ancestry in the United States and pursue a career in the Entertainment industry.  In an industry were an Asian American have a low chance in infiltrating, some Asian Americans seek acceptance in the industry in their place of nationality that puts the "Asian" in Asian American.  

Singer, Ailee, a young Korean American female who was born in New Jersey has achieve recent success in South Korea after appearing on an MBC's special for the holiday autum harvest, Chuseok called "Singer and Trainee" with her mentor Wheesung in September 2011. This special provided a chance for mentees to display skills their mentor helped develop. Aliee, mentee of Wheesung, the South Korean R&B artist who's been in the industry for over a decade, gave both a winning and touching performance. Since then she has been featured in alot of songs for big Kpop artist, recently in Feburary she released her first video debut a song called Heaven for her first album in South Korea.  Although, she was associated with a label in the U.S, she did not recieve much attention or sucess which lead to her partnering up with Wheesung.

I came across the talented singer on Youtube while watching a series of Kpop music videos and viewed the debut video and song Heaven. Amazed and wanting to know more about this new artist I discovered that she had a youtube channel in which she covered popular R&B songs from artist that ranged from Alicia Keys to Mariah Carey getting around 20,000 views. Now her Heaven video has 3,106,809 views! This once amatuer Korean American youtube cover artist is now an award winning Korean pop star!
    

Here is a link to Ailee's first debut single called Heaven: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L9ro1KjkJMg

Here is a link to Ailee's performance of Beyonce's Halo for the MBC Special: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QfeQXZRhvRc&feature=endscreen&NR=1