Kpop Invasion? 2NE1's Impending American Debut

While researching my post on Girl's Generation, I cam across a few other Korean performers with aspirations of entering the US market. Chief among them is 2NE1, a four member hip-hop group and my current favorite. Here's a video:

2NE1 is working with will.i.am of Black Eyed Peas fame on a brand new, all English CD for their US debut. A prolific producer since as early as 1998, will.i.am's production credits include notable hip-hop artists Usher, Flo Rida, and Nicki Minaj as well as U2, Maria Carey, and Hillary Duff. He was named one of the top ten producers of 2010 by VIBE and graced the cover of GC South Africa in October 2011 with articles appearing in GQ Brazil and GQ Japan in April and October of the same year. This illustrates that he not only has connections and experience within the US, but is also well known overseas. Also this:

This collaboration is not without its detractors, however. Some fear, based off comments made by will.i.am during an interview on BaekJi Yeon's People Inside, that he is only interested in the fame of "discovering" 2NE1 and introducing them to America. Others question whether or not an American debut is something 2NE1 actually wants to do. Still others worry that the group's sound will be Americanized and will lose the edge so many fans enjoy.

The first of these assertions is rather ridiculous. Given his association with The Black Eyed Peas and his established international fame, not to mention the less than stellar track record of Korean acts in America, it is doubtful this collaboration will bring will.i.am any more attention than he already has. Still, with article titles like "Will.i.am Plans to Make 2NE1 Global Superstars" it is easy to see where these people are coming from.

As for whether or not 2NE1 wants to pursue international fame, the answer is clearly yes. In a televised interview on the BBC, team leader CL expressed her belief that "music has no language" as well as her desire to represent Asian women on a global scale. She is clearly elated that her music has spread to countries like Germany, Brazil, and Mexico, and yet still has her sights set even higher. Furthermore, this move was clearly planned since the group's infancy, as talks of this collaboration began before 2NE1 had even released their first full Korean album.

The last argument is probably the hardest to assuage. It's true that will.i.am talked about making "the right type of music" to make 2NE1 successful abroad. Many fans don't want to see 2NE1 simply singing Black Eyed Peas songs and I wholeheartedly agree.  However, I would add to this the fact that will.i.am has worked with a number of varying styles of artists. What's more, with their hip-hop style, use of synth and techno elements, and lyrics about how cool they are, 2NE1 is not a far cry from will.i.am's comfort zone. As way of example, consider the music Minzy, the team's best dancer, chose to perform to on two separate occasions.

Clearly this collaboration is a good fit for 2NE1 and will almost certainly boost their chances of success in America. There are other aspects of the group that will also help them. 

Firstly, much like Girl's Generation, several members speak English well. In this case three of the four have, at the very least, conversational English ability. CL spent her formative years moving around a lot and learned Japanese, French, and English in addition to her native Korean. Bom lived in America for a number of years and was actually enrolled in Lesley University with a major in psychology before having a change of heart and transferring to Berklee College of Music. Dara moved to the Philippines at the age of 10 and, though she speaks with a bit of an accent, is clearly well versed in English. Only Minzy, the youngest member, seems to have no experience with the language outside of their music. 

2NE1 has a sound that distinguishes them from many other K-pop artists and will likely fit well with what is popular in America now. Their choice to record an original English CD is similar to the route Boa took in 2009 and practically guarantees wider exposure, though doubtless at a greater cost than a repackaged Korean album. They have a positive message they wish to convey to the youth of Korea and that message can easily translate across borders, and has in fact already done so.

Ultimately, this group's success in America will depend on whether or not they can attract new fans through their music. While will.i.am's tweets and red carpet interviews will certainly give them the exposure previous attempts were lacking, I can't say with any certainty that it will be enough. If you'd like to hear more from this group, their self titled Korean album is available for download on iTunes and their official youtube channel (which includes videos in Korean, English, and Japanese) can be found here. My personal favorite is "Clap Your Hands".

Girl's Generation US Debut: K-pop Music in America

The Korean group Girl's Generation recently made their US debut with The Boys. A 17 track album, it features an English version of the song of the same name as well as a balanced set of Girl's Generation's more recent Korean music.


The group's attempt to jump across the Pacific is not without precedent. Several Asian artists including Utada, Teriyaki Boyz, and BoA have made similar stabs at breaking into the American market, usually with middling success. As a fellow Korean, BoA's career is perhaps best at illustrating the difficulties associated with this kind of move. Debuting in Korea in 2000 and expanding into Japan the following year, BoA quickly gained notoriety in both countries. In 2008, she released a self titled album under the newly created SM Entertainment USA label. The CD peaked at 127 on the Billboard Top 200 charts and despite high hopes to work with artists such as Justin Timberlake and T-Pain, BoA returned her focus to the Japanese market the next year. Though not attributed as a direct cause for her return, BoA did mention the difficulty she was having learning English and making friends.


Girl's Generation has had a similar, if somewhat slower moving, career. Debuting in Korea in 2007, the group didn't make the hop over to Japan until 2010. There are a number of notable differences in the way they are approaching the move to America as well. For starters, rather than crafting a new CD for the states, The Boys is simply a re-release of their best selling 2011 album with a few remixes thrown in to help sales. They may also have a leg up on the language barrier that BoA found so daunting in that two of their members, Jessica and Tiffany, are from America.



As I said, the CD is a varied arrangement of the type of music I've come to associate with this group. Buried between the dance beats of songs like "The Boys" and "Mr. Taxi" are slower moving, melodic tracks like "How Great Is Your Love" and "Sunflower". The songs "Trick" and "Oscar" are probably best compared to the groups earlier "Run, Devil, Run", which kicked off their move into darker sounding music. I feel "Lazy Girl" has the kind of sound that will appeal to western audiences despite its foreign nature. For some reason, it reminds me of Katy Perry.

If there's one complaint I have with the CD, it's the end. I expected an English and Korean version of "The Boys" to be included, but not four additional remixes. Though I understand the logic behind the choice to pair Girl's Generation with notable American artists in an effort to boost sales, only one of the four remixes does anything for me. The first, a collaboration with Snoop Dogg, is by far the worst, with no effort whatsoever to make the two artists mesh. Suzi's remix fares a bit better, but the overall effect is still a negative in my mind for reasons that are hard to explain. The last two are a David Anthony and Teddy Riley remix, respectively. I like the David Anthony version, which manages to speed the song up a bit while adding an unobtrusive and enjoyable techno beat. The Teddy Riley mix is a close second, but relies a bit too heavily on the tired remixing technique of repeating the end of lines and has a few balance issues.

At the end of the day, I fear the language barrier will once again be the deciding factor of this CDs success stateside. But we don't need to understand music to appreciate it. So I encourage anyone reading this to go take a listen to Girl's Generation. The CD is available on iTunes, which has samples of each song and includes a nice digital booklet. Alternatively, you could just look them up on Youtube. If you like what you hear, there are plenty of other k-pop artists whose CDs are available for download. My favorites include f(x) and 2NE1.