Korean Invasion of Summer 2009 (US Pop)

Utada Hikaru started off as 2009's hope to become a hit in the American market, releasing her second cd. Then swine flu hit, she used it as an excuse not to come to the US (never mind the fact her album was at best forgetful). Then a funny thing happened. The Korean pop stars moved in (to NY!) and took her thunder away totally in the press, and actually experienced some success (although no one hit big). (Funny thing, all the Korean pop stars who came to the US not only stayed in NY, but all stayed in the upper East or West side in Manhattan. Did you see a pretty girl shopping at Zabar's on Broadway? Or taking pictures near Uniqlo downtown? It may have been Sun of the Wonder Girls. See a tall handsome Korean guy drinking coffee outside near Central Park? It may have been Se7en.)

Let's start from smallest impact to biggest...

SE7EN

He released his debut single, GIRLS with Lil Kim. It actually got some play on local radio stations, and Hot 97 actually mixes in his sample of him saying GIRLS with their mixes. It came and went without much fanfare. He is still in the process of making his US cd, and some have suggested (not farfetched in my opinion) that he is using the cd to get his green card as he has a valid US job, and not return to Korea for his millitary service. A US career and no army service?
Hardly sounds like a bad thing to me.


Se7en - Girls

Grade: C. Did a few local shows, got some attention, got on TV. It's a question right now if his album is actually moving along, or will move along. He may need to go back to Korea to resurrect his career there, which would trigger his millitary service and probably kill any chance of a US career. His album needs to come out and soon for him to have any chance at US stardom.

THE WONDER GIRLS

Some groups come to the US to become big stars. The Wonder Girls did just this, although I'm getting the feeling they wanted to be bigger stars in Korea. Their driving force, JYP got buzz for their English single prior to release, got them on tour with the Jonas Bros (which finished in August), and then....nothing. No TV push, no real single release (just the ITunes), no album even looking like it's planned. Their buzz was great, they came across great, their web presence is outstanding and yet I get the feeling that nothing else is planned.

WONDER GIRLS - NOBODY (US Version)

Grade: C+. I really saw potential here. I hope I'm wrong, but I think the cute korean girls visiting NY for the summer was just them doing a great angle for their TV show, and nothing more.

BOA

BoA is the artist out of the three listed here, who seems to have a personal vested interest in wanting to be a US star. And it's not surprising, BoA is a very driven young women. She is a huge star in Japan, probably bigger than she ever was in Korea. Seeking an even larger market isn't much of a stretch. And she did what no one else could do, she charted on radio (Two Singles - Top 100). On the internet (and ITunes) she had much more success. Her album was 11th most downloaded the week of its release, she has a few singles which have done well, enough so that a second version of her debut album is being released in a few weeks. The truth of all these artists is even a small US presence helps their popularity in their home country immensely, but only BoA seems to be striving for US success for simply that reason - US success, and not translated success at home.

BoA - I Did it For Love (1st Single)

BoA - Energetic (2nd Single)

Grade: B. Did she get a radio hit? Nope. Did she get video rotation? (Does anyone play videos?) Did she get name recognition? YES - some. She made a real push at being a presence in the US pop scene, enough so that a future US BoA release seems not only possible, but likely. BoA suprised me a lot. And the best thing. The CD is REALLY good. Pick it up if you can. (Note: A 3rd single seems possible.)

Note: 2NE1, a fairly new Korean girl group were hanging out in NY for a few weeks this year at the same time the Wonder Girls were around. I wonder if they met?

The summer of 2009 had not one but three english releases from K-Pop artists alone! (Plus Rain working on his first US movie and Utada pretending to be sick so she didn't have to visit NY and contract Swine Flu. (It's flu people! Just flu!!) Great stuff, even if no one hit big. What will the Summer of 2010 bring? (G.E.M., I'm pointing at you!)