In case you didn't know, The Asians Are Coming.
Thanks to the internet there is a multi-directional flow of cultural goods around the world that threatens America's position as the world's cultural neocolonialists. Across the Pacific there is a fierce battle to become the first Asian pop act to achieve crossover success in the States. Here is your guide to those Asian popstars- they're all cheesy, chiseled, and hilariously styled- but only one will (hopefully) be the first to crossover.
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Rain
Origin: Korea
Born: June 25, 1982
Genre: pop, R&B, hip hop
Collaborated with: Omarion, Diddy
Pop singer, dancer, model, actor, CEO and designer- Rain does it all. He's got the sex appeal of JT and the business acumen of Diddy . Although Rain originally struggled in the Korean entertainment industry due to his "lack of double eyelids" he not only wrapped up his first film I'm a Cyborg, But That's OK, but also became the focus of newly single Megan Fox's libido. Oh yeah, he also sold out two shows at Madison Square Garden.
Rain's website (w/ hilarious flash opening)
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BoA aka Beat of Angel
Origin: Korea
Born: November 5, 1986
Genre: urban pop
Influences: Nelly and Janet Jackson
BoA is the Britney of Asia- she doesn't write her own anything, but her dance moves are incredible.
The following jam is almost so amazing it hurts... for some reason the beat and the lyrics aren't in synch during the verse, but the chorus is smooth as butter. It's obviously produced by the people who gave you Brit's "Toxic".
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Hiraku Utada
Origin: Tokyo, NYC
Born: January 19, 1983
Genre: Japanese pop
Utada is Japanese Pop Royalty, unlike BoA she is a singer-songwriter, arranger, and record producer who wrote and recorded her first song at 12 under the name Cubic U. Unfortunately, Utada came down with peritonsillitis and is currently unable to promote her album leaving her at a disadvantage at the height of the great Asian pop wars. We know that her song and lyric writing ability doesn't give her a leg-up....
Real lyrics: You're easy breezy/ and I'm Japan-easy
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Se7en
Origin: Korea
Born: November 9, 1984 (age 24)
Genre: pop, r&b
Influences: Michael Jackson
Oh Se7en, you will never be as popular as Rain, and that inferiority complex has led you to stack your album with a confusing lineup of guests like Lil' Kim, Darkchild, and Three 6 Mafia. It's sad that your album release keeps getting delayed- and it's even sadder that the video for your autotune club banger "Girls" coincided with Jay-Z's "Death of Autotune" - plus it features awkward forced sexing between you and Lil Kim while you say things like, "I'm like MJ girl/It don't matter if you're black or white"
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Wonder Girls
Origin: Korea
Born: ages range from 16-20.
Genre: poppy pop
While the Wonder Girls has undoubtably the best aesthetic, they also have the cheesiest music of all the Asian invaders- and that say A LOT. FYI: Wonder Girls is the Korean Danity Kane, forming on an MTV show called, what else, Wonder Girls.
Oh! Guess who is opening for the Jonas Brothers on their North American Tour?
Watch an adorable interview with the Wonder Girls
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Best Bet for Crossover Success: BoA or Wonder Girls
BoA has the best jams and best moves but Wonder Girls are going to clean up on tour with The Jo-Bros.
THANKS ASIA!
Previously in Misc/Awesome:
- 12/28: Terrible Boyfriend/ Girlfriend Generator.
- 12/1: The John Waters Advent Calendar-it starts today
- 11/28: It Chooses You: All I Want for Christmas is Everything from Miranda July's Pop-Up Shop
- 11/3: Things I'd Move to Minnesota For
- 9/6: PHOTOS: Maloof $$ Money Cup
- 9/2: PHOTOS: Chantilly Model Train Show
- 9/1: Libby's List: 5 Things I Want Right Now...
- 8/22: PHOTOS: Best Friends Day
- 8/10: PHOTOS: Lawn Mover Racing, Eastern Seaboard Regionals @ Bowles Farm
- 7/26: Special List: Things the BYGays Want Now That We Can Marry In DC (and NY!)
God loves a cheerful giver.
no mention of my sammi cheng?? she's from my mother land, hong kong. i am obsessed, OBSESSED w/ sammi cheng. she is by far, the hottest and wealthiest pop star in all of asia to date. it's true.
Why is this labeled "Asian Pop Stars" when it's really all Koreans minus Utada... Japan has popstars that could make it, most notably M-Flo (collaborations with everyone in Asian pop ever) and Teriyaki Boyz (collaborations with Pharrell, Daft Punk & Kanye West)
i hope BoA makes it, she deserves it - she's put in hard work over the last 8 years learning Japanese, Chinese and English to expand her reach beyond Korea. Rain is also kind of deserving but my true hope is for the few American born Korean popstars like Brian of Fly to the Sky who aren't hampered by their accents and have legitimate chances of success.
For me contemporary Asian music begins and ends with X-Japan!
Was this article pulled together by glancing at one korean friend's record collection? A single google search for "asian pop stars?"
I mean, what exactly is "ultimate" about this guide?
Yes and from yg entertainment press releases
This is awesome. Double eyelids. Amazing.
@todd - Did you really click on the link to this article really expecting an "ultimate" guide to Asian Pop Stars? Really? It's "ultimate" because the word "ultimate" makes it funny. And it's "ultimate" because no other DC online magazine/blog run by people who do this all on their spare time has taken the time to do this round up. I agree that there are some notables left off the list like the Teriyaki Boyz, but they're not nearly as gossip worthy and fun to talk about as the above mentioned. I mean seriously - Megan Fox has the hots for the Asian Justin Timberlake? If you want to get serious about it - go pick up whatever the Asian version of Us Weekly or Rolling Stone is and read it. Read BYT for a bit good humor in the morning.
My old roommate interviewed BoA a couple of months ago for MTV Iggy (whatever that is).
http://www.mtviggy.com/korean/exclusive-boa-los-angeles-interview-part-one
how about gakt, lol
must... fight... memories... of high school...
What about PeeLanderZeeeeeeee?
Ooh ooh no, what about Melt Banana? Their guitarist is sick.
All the bands in this article suck. Pedro probably loves them though. (he knows why)
um, how could you forget to include PERFUME?!?
or
and of course the legend YOKO TAKAHASHI
heres the link for yoko's most famous song probably:
another takahashi classic:
ALSO MINMI, who's song took japan by storm:
Utada Hikaru, for goodness sake. Man, even the NY Times manages to get every other Japanese word wrong. Thanks for the article, though-it's a good start (the Asian pop industry is huuge and always rapidly changing, so an ultimate anything is kinda hard to pin down.