Kpop Arrived On American Soil Long Before SNSD Did Last Monday

slide 2 of 6


A Jessica Wachtel Original

This past week, Girls' Generation took America by storm. Although it is too soon to say exactly why this trip garnered so much attention, it's safe to assume that it did make some sort of impact. Understandably, there are supporters and critics as everyone knows Americans love to offer opinions. Since this is the first major stateside press tour, a rocket scientist is not needed to draw the conclusion that some took note of the events solely because they had no clue what was going on while others wanted to see pretty girls. No, tuning in is not solely based on those factors, but let's keep it short (ish) and oh so sweet.

Since history always has a hand in dictating the future, if anyone wants to weigh in on what is going to happen in the American music community, they must review the past few years and the attention kpop had but was swept under the rug.

Kanye West and Malik Yusef  traveled East back in 2010. On October 12th Warner Music Asia released The Beginning by JYJ. The lead single, "Ayyy Girl", was produced by Kanye West best known for "Golddigger", "Stronger", and his extremely educated comment about George Bush hating black people. Looks like George Bush may be the only one with that alleged sentiment since West experienced worldwide success via JYJ. After the 500,000 copies were pre-sold, anyone can go out on the limb and speculate that Mr. West is not opposed to another collaboration.

Omarion proclaimed his true feelings about kpop to the world when he appeared on stage with B2ST as they received the Cool Star Award in the 2010 Mnet 20's Choice Award ceremony. This American R&B sensation's inspiration for a kpop collaboration came via Youtube. B2ST set Omarion's hit single "Ice Box" to rhythm and danced their way into kpop's American history. From an American perspective, one may say B2ST used Omarion. If they do, they are wrong. Omarion made references to wanting his first Korean performance to be with B2ST. Hmmm. Now that's a different perspective.

Flo Rida had a good feeling about kpop back in 2010. Unfortunately though this endorsement did not start with fancy footwork or a brilliant track. This began in the form of a "he said, 그가 말했다" drama. Rumors that G-dragon ripped off Flo RIda's hit "Right Round" and did little more than slap on the name "Heartbreaker" prior to collecting checks. After some investigation this rumor suffered the fate of far too many and was rendered fiction. To further alleviate any possibly tensions YG Entertainment announced that they contacted Flo Rida's representatives with the purpose of having the American hip hop giant feature G-Dragon's live album, Shine a Light. Flo Rida accepted the offer and forever linked his name with kpop.

Though opinions are a right to all, fact is fact. While Americans were busy with the economic crisis and going green, Korean entertainment executives grabbed their screw driver and began to pick the lock on the door to American success.

Tags
kanye
omairon
flo rida
america
b2st
G-Dragon
JYJ
collaborate

Latest Photo Gallery

Featured

Prev Image 1 of 6 NEXT
}
Real Time Analytics