Last Thursday and Friday nights, we finally had the big New York City debut by the Korean superstar Rain (or Bi, as in Korean for rain) (certainly not bi, as in bisexual, so get your mind out of the gutter and stop your snickering). Rain tried to make it big in the Big Apple, and if he can make it there Well, lets not get ahead of ourselves.
So what did the New York press think of Rain? Heres the summary from the New York Times (registration and some assembly required):
Since Rain’s voice is lower and huskier than Mr. Jackson’s, he dabbles in other pop-R&B approaches: the acoustic-guitar ballads of Babyface, the light funk-pop of Justin Timberlake, the crooning of George Michael and the importunings of Usher. Seeing him onstage was like watching old MTV videos dubbed into Korean.
and
He’s a fine dancer and a passable singer.
But the kicker came at the end:
The obstacle to Rain’s intended United States career is that by the time Mr. Park has figured out how to imitate the latest English-speaking hit, American pop will have jumped ahead of him. Perhaps collaborators like Diddy could help Mr. Park keep Rain up to date. But for the moment, here in the United States, Rain sounded like a nostalgia act.
Which is the crux of the pop music problem around Korea, Asia, and maybe even the world. Wherever you go, you can find local artists who want to be Koreas Justin Timberlake (Rain), Mongolias Britney Spears (Nominjin) or Thailands N.W.A. (lets hope that one does not really exist).
But the last thing Western music labels and music video channels want is the such-and-such version of some Western pop star.
“As soon as someone says, ‘It’s an Asian version of Mariah Carey’ or whatever, it’s like ‘Who cares?’” said Hans Ebert, Executive Director of Regional Office of EMI Recorded Music, Southeast Asia, a while back.
Mishal Varma, senior vp for music programming and talent and artist relations at MTV Network Asia, said something similar to me: There is this misconception in most markets that MTV is looking for western sounds. But if you dont translate music to your culture, then you are competing directly with the West.
So, basically, we have singers and performers (and their fans) all over Asia who want to be accepted in Western terms, but Western A&R execs who want something different, something that reflects regional sounds.
What I do not understand, however, is what happened to the Long Tail. Wasn’t the Internet age supposed to lead to more diversity and niche markets? So why is the Korean music market continuing the same old monotonous path? Korea had a great music scene in the 1970s, with performers such as Shin Jung-hyun, Sanulim and Yang Byun-jip, as well as all the folk singers.
Until Korea gets a viable live music scene again, where young people can tool around, develop their sound, and eventually make a few dollars touring (with the hope of busting out to the mainstream), I doubt that Korea (or any country) will be able to move past this culture trap.
UPDATE
I forgot to mention how K-Pop fans were receiving reviews. There is a big discussion at Soompi.com about the review at the New York Daily News.
A typical quote on the discussion board goes:
if Bi hires a ‘ hipper producer’. he’ll just sound like any other American artists. whats the point in that? he has he own style, he brings asian culture and style into the american industry. and jyp and him are the ultimate duo. stay true to yourself BI!!
Which is pretty funny if you have ready anything by Park Jin-Young (Rain’s producer) about Park’s approach to music. Park wants Rain to compete with American artists, on their terms. That’s why he has tried to hard to work with the biggest American names. Not that there is anything wrong with that… I just think it is funny that the out-of-touch, “retarded” American critics have understood Rain so well.
11 Comments
Again, to quote Will Smith in, appropriately enough, I Robot, “I told you so just doesn’t get it.”
That’s why I like other groups like Rollercoaster or even Seo Taji since they have more of an unique voice. This is also why that 70/80 show on TV is so popular.
I dont know much about Rain or what he intends to uniquely contribute to the world of pop-R&B. But in the world of underground rap/hip-hop, there is Roy Kim who goes by the stage moniker of Snacky Chan.
XXL magazine said, “Chan is the rugged-est, most skilled Asian-American MC I’ve heard yet — actually, he’s pretty dope on any scale …”
Chan is also a nostalgia act, in the sense that in this age of commercialized, mainstreamized, dumbed-down hip-hop, his stated intent is to restore the true, original meaning of hip-hop as it were during the nascent years of the 80s.
He has a number of critically acclaimed compilations. His debut album “Part of the Nation” dropped in 04 under his own record label Dynasty Muzik.
http://www.chanhiphop.com/tracks/index.php
music critics are notoriously fickle and unforgiving when they encounter what they consider to be derivative imitators.
the korean music scene has nothing to offer but poorly done copycats, and sadly enough, the copycats aren’t even current. they’re always a decade behind.
mix the two. observe.
I don’t think the ‘Stones’ have much to worry about.
The fact this guy can attract 6,000 fans to MSG is more attributed to loyal affluent Asian fans who follow him around and NYCs ethinic Korean population.
The Korean media is crowing like a local boy has finally cracked the US mainstream music scene but they dreaming.
I agree with the OP in that some of the older Korean music that is truely of Korean influence is pretty good. Shim-su-bong is my favorite. Even some North Korean music has a haunting quality.
The Korean music industry is great at producing glitzy eye-candy vidoes but they lack the quality or hook to hold a listener in other pure audio mediums.
Bi is a typical of Korean products so be careful not to scratch the paint or look beneath the hood.
Where’s the bulgogi?
Wow. I’m pleasantly surprised that somebody knows about Shin Jung-hyun (with Music Power) and Sanulim. (You’ve got me stumped on Yang Byun-jip, but we’ll see what the Internet knows…)
Korea truly rocked in the late 70s. One did not require access to one’s home country music because the Korean rockers did the job quite well. Times must change, I guess. Maybe there was conscious imitation of Western acts even in the 70s, but I didn’t feel it? Hard to know.
At any rate, I look forward to a Korean version of iTunes, where I can go find some of my old favorites. (If it works like the rest of iTunes, it will require a Korea-issued credit card.)
Out,
kpmsprtd
Sorry, that should be Yang Byeong Jip (Yangbyungjeep… whatever). He is most famous (with me, anyhow) for “Yeok”, his cover/reinterpretation of Bob Dylan’s “It’s All Right (Don’t Think Twice)”.
If ‘quality’ is the only thing that makes something popular, then how do you explain Britney Spears, Bay City Rollers (70’s boy pop band), New Kids, and others what we would call bad pop imitators? How some of the worst movies out of Hollywood which the critics slag can become big hits? Is the quality of the content the only thing? I don’t think so.
Pop sucks this is true.
I think the issue many have with Korean music is the lack of originality. Why don’t more artist put their own spin on original Korean music?
I’ve often heard expats say “If you listen to Korean pop music today you’ll know what they were listening to back home last year……
Did you ever notice the best music in Korea is played on T.V. ads, the home shopping channels and infomercials?
Here’s how the Chosun spun this:
Rain’s Sold-Out New York Gig Could Take K-Pop Global
Rain’s Global Ambition Alerts New York Times
??y heart is thumping. Famous big-time songwriters and producers come looking for Rain every night,??a breathless voice on the phone from New York says. It?? the director of JYP Entertainment, the K-pop star?? agency. ??he interest in the music industry here shows that Rain has gone way beyond what we could have imagined.??All 11,000 tickets for Rain?? two concerts at Madison Square Garden on Friday and Saturday have sold out.
The U.S. pop music industry, constantly on the lookout for the next best thing, is hoping Asian pop could be the phenomenon of this decade just as Latino pop led by Ricky Martin was in the late 90s, revitalizing the industry with guaranteed worldwide appeal.
Park Jin-young, who produced Rain, would be a far better bet for success overseas, since he at least understands R&B and sing with a bit of character in his voice. Rain’s a bit of eye candy for the girls, and this might be the peak of his career, at least outside of Asia.
Sometimes I hear some wicked Korean rock from the 70s-early 80s in bars around town–that music would do well overseas today.