A Jessica Wachtel Original

True Story. A tour originally scheduled to grace only 13 cities morphed into a 45 city run with none other than the Jonas Brothers. Yes, the Jonas Brothers, Paul, Joe, and Nick. Though no research was done, it’s safe to say their audience attended the concert to see (gasp) main stream American pop music. Again, investigation is lacking, but it’s more than fair to assume the Jonas Brothers (and their purity rings) are about as American as they come, with the exception of maybe Garth Brooks.  

Not only that, but their fan base doesn’t seem like the type to enjoy watching gorgeous, talented, exotic women perform with their beloved American idols. The moral here is that this group had not one, but two strikes against them (the kpop stigma rendering the genre “cheesy” and the screaming Jonas brothers cult following). Did it matter? Nope. They still hit the American Billboard Top 100. Who is this kpop mega goup? The Wonder Girls. Don’t try to hide it, everyone knows who they are.

And with that, history was made. As a result, the never ending debate over kpop not being cool, edgy, or insert adjective of choice here became nothing more than a waste of time. There is much mystery clouding the reasons as to why everyone from Stacey’s mom to Snoop Dogg still feel the need to discuss it since the Wonder Girls’ success rendered said argument null and void. Clearly their time should be spent reaching out to The Wonder Girls and trying to join in on the phenomenon.

Flash forward to 2012. The Wonder Girls are back, though they never completely left the good ole USA. This time they aren’t messing around. Rather than go the traditional route by way of Jonas brother, they enlisted the help of American girl group, The School Gyrls. Good choice.

I had the fortunate opportunity to hear from the School Gyrls themselves about the collaboration and jumped on it. Lauren said, “The 1st time I heard the Dj is Mine I absolutely loved it and to work with such talented, sweet, beautiful girls was an honor and I hope to be able to work on more music with WG & hopefully each song rises straight to the top 100!” Please refer back to the aforementioned good choice.

In case there is any confusion regarding the School Gyrls and if they can make it in American music, just know they can and they did. Oh right, and they are in fact from America. Their endorsement of The Wonder Girls does hold weight and its importance needs to be noted since The School Gyrls are the definition of “not cheesy”. With their self-titled studio album released on March 23, 2010charting at #118 on the Billboard 200 albums chart, they pair perfectly with The Wonder Girls.

Ladies and gentlemen, get ready to watch history get made again. Their collaborative track “The D.J. Is Mine” was released on January 12, 2012. Honestly, as a skeptic of just about everything, this track really had to perform. It did. So for everyone looking to judge kpop and proclaim its American failure , feel free to do as you please... but for your sake, google the facts first.

By Jessica Wachtel