Korean Job Discussion Forums

chilgok007 · Joined: 28 May 2006 Location: Chilgok

To the best of my knowledge, no Asian song has ever been "popular" back home.

I think most Asian songs are too sappy and sentimental for Western ears, but recently there have definitely been a few that are pretty catchy.

Is it only a matter of time?

diver · Joined: 16 Jun 2003

Lizara · Joined: 14 Apr 2004 Location: Seoul

When I was in Kazakhstan, one of the songs that was really popular that summer was called something like, "Malchik Gay" by Tatu, which was kind of a similar bad pop/dancey style to all the other Russian music I heard. A couple of years later I was somewhere back in Canada and I heard that same song, only in English. Never would have expected that.

so yeah, seeing as a lot of Asian pop is ripped off from American pop anyway... I'm sure sooner or later someone will become famous for the novelty value if nothing else. J-pop certainly has enough of a following back home.

Smee · Joined: 24 Dec 2004 Location: Jeollanam-do

Tatu was popular in the US for about a month. Because they were "lesbians."

I guess BoA's planning a US debut in the near future. Her English is good, so I think she has a chance.

Anything foreign doesn't really fare well in the US, though. (Don't know about other countries.) There's always a stigma attached to being "foreign." I mean, Coldplay is/was popular, but they were always lumped in as Britpop. I guess the Spice Girls, too . . . and they kind of played up their Englishness for the foreign audience.

I guess BoA could do it, even Lee Hyori (if she learns English.) They'd be playing into the Yellow Fever fetish, so I don't know if they'd be popular in their own right, in terms of their music. But aren't all pop acts essentially burlesque acts anyway?

the_beaver · Joined: 15 Jan 2003

That Japanese singer did some duet with one of the guys from New Kids on the Block that wasted video air time for a little while back in the late 80s.

Ya-ta Boy · Joined: 16 Jan 2003 Location: Established in 1994

You may be right. It may be only a matter of time until the SECOND Asian pop song becomes popular in the west.

From Wikipedia:

"Sukiyaki", known in Japan as "Ue o muite arukō" (上を向いて歩こう "looking up while walking") is a Japanese song that was performed by Japanese crooner Kyu Sakamoto (坂本九, Sakamoto Kyū), and written by Rokusuke Ei and Hachidai Nakamura. It is best known under its alternative title "Sukiyaki" in English-speaking parts of the world. The song reached the top of the sales charts in the United States in 1963, and was the only Japanese language song to do so.

seoulsucker · Posted: Wed Oct 25, 2006 4:34 am Post subject:

The only international sound that made it big for a while in the states was with the "latin explosion" in the late 90's, with Ricky Martin, Enrique Iglesias, etc.

The sound was just different enough to make it interesting for a year or so.

K-pop has absolutely nothing new to offer the US pop market. The sounds are the same, the vocals are the same, the dance moves are the same, the fashion is the same, the image is the same, etc.

The only card they can play is Asian sex appeal, which could go off like a bomb, but fizzle out quick...gals like BoA, Hyori and Mina could get airtime simply because of the rockin' bods they sport, but I doubt it would hold.

Moldy Rutabaga · Joined: 01 Jul 2003 Location: Ansan, Korea

There has to be a niche. Latino music has the salsa & sexy angle, German music has the crunchy gothic angle, Britpop has the cool synth sound. It is not necessary to record in English, but it sure helps. For Korean music to be popular, it has two strikes against it; a foreign language and unoriginal, factory-produced music. Korean actors can and will be big for their great looks; the music will not succeed until it stops ripping off Britney Spears.

Ken:>

Tiberious aka Sparkles · Joined: 23 Jan 2003 Location: I'm one cool cat!

Anyone remember CoCo Lee?

voth · Joined: 05 Jan 2006

I remember CoCo, but if I recall she didn't do very well. Same could be said for Utada Hikaru when she tried to break into the market as well, crash and burn.

Tiberious aka Sparkles · Joined: 23 Jan 2003 Location: I'm one cool cat!

Ekuboko · Joined: 22 Dec 2004 Location: ex-Gyeonggi

Did Hikaru Utada ever make a dent in the States?

I remember she was trying to when I lived in Japan a few years ago.
(She supposedly had an advantage because she had already lived in the States..?)

pastis · Joined: 20 Jun 2006

flakfizer · Posted: Wed Oct 25, 2006 10:04 pm Post subject:

chilgok007 · Joined: 28 May 2006 Location: Chilgok

A lot of foreign (or non-native English) songs make it big. As already mentioned, there was the "Latin explosion" in the 90s. Currently, one could make the case that Punjabi Bhangra music is/was becoming trendy (mostly in the bigger cities...think Panjabi MC and Jay-Z). The list goes on and on...Nena with "99 Luftballons", ABBA, Ramstein, Ravi Shankhar, Haiduci with "Dragostea Din Tei" And, as already been mentioned, J-pop is quite popular in some very very limited circles. Maybe foreign acts don't always enter into the top 10, but from time to time, they certainly leave their mark on mainstream consciousness.

In fact, as of June of this year, there were 5 foreign #1 songs on the billboard 500:

You're Beautiful," James Blunt (United Kingdom)
"Temperature," Sean Paul (Jamaica)
"Bad Day," Daniel Powter (Canada)
"SOS," Rihanna (Barbados)
"Hips Don't Lie," Shakira (Colombia)
(Source: http://billboard.com/bbcom/chart_beat/chat_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1002651182)

I don't think there will ever be an "Asian Wave," but that dosen't mean that some fluke song will never grip our imagination. Maybe some underground/indy stuff could one day leave it's mark (a la Brit pop). One of these days someone here is going to make something original.