Jay Park

If Americans are asked "Do you know Kpop? Who do you know the most," besides Psy with his "Gangman Style," approximately every one out of ten Americans will say Jay Park if they are asked.
Jay Park is an American singer, dancer, rapper, b-boy, music producer, songwriter and so on. Although he was used to perform only in American, he was so talented that a Korean entertainment named JYP agreed to train him and promised that he would debut in the future. After 4 years of training, Jay Park became the leader of South Korean boy band 2PM in 2008.

However, in 2009, Jay Park was forced to quit from the group and resent back to Seattle, America. In October, 2009, Jay Park’s Myspace account was hacked by a Korean teenager, and what he wrote about Korea in 2005 was dug out and misinterpreted by the Korean media. No one listened to his explanations, and he officially left the group in early 2010. Everyone felt a deep sympathy for this talented boy, and no one believed that Jay Park could back to the peak of his career life. However, after three months blank periods, Jay Park uploaded a cover video of B.o.B’s hit “Nothin’ on You”, with his own rap and lyrics, to Youtube, and this video reached over 2,000,000 views in less than 24 hours. This was the horn which represented Jay Park’s coming back.

In June 2010, Jay Park returned to South Korea for the filming of Hype Nation, and in July 2010, Park signed a contract with SidusHQ, one of the largest agencies in South Korean, re-debuting as a solo singer and an actor. In 2011, Jay Park released his first mini album, Take a Deeper Look, and won “Record of the Year” at the 2011 Golden Disk Awards, dubbed the Korean Grammys.

Utada - Catering To An Audience

(Michael)

Taken from Amazon Album Page

It is no surprise that music tastes in Japan differ from those in the US. Sometimes music is universal, but most of the time it is very specific to the region it was produced in. An extreme example of this is anything and everything released by Krary Pamyu Pamyu. For those who don't know who she is, I'll just leave this music video here and leave it at that. You'll get the point I'm trying to make.

Kyary Pamyu Pamyu - PONPONPON

Anyways, back on track to Utada Hikaru. In 2009, she released an English album: This is the One under the artist name Utada. Her first English album was released in 2004 called Exodus which had more of an underground following. This is the One, however, was absolutely catered to a wider audience. America is often known for having very avid hip hop and R&B fans, and this album reflects that. Utada aimed to make the album more relatable to a general audience in America. The main single of the album is a track called "Come Back To Me."

Utada - Come Back To Me

If you compare the track to anything she released in Japan before, it is obviously different. But I think this just adds to her music prowess: adapt to your surroundings. Even with an increased following of all Japanese things related, I feel that songs catered to a Japanese audience won't make a big splash in the US. Unlike the recent phenomenon of K-Pop, J-Pop has a very different feel. The very meanings of cute and sexy do not translate the same way in Japan as they do in Korea. There are always exceptions (Like BoA, a Korean artist who has produced numerous songs in Japanese) but the differences are apparent. 

This album was unique and I think innovative. She recreated her image to fit an American audience and I think it succeeded.  My favorite song on the album is "Apple and Cinnamon." It has a very catchy rhythm and with the R&B feel to the song, you can really feel the passion in her voice. 

Utada - Apple & Cinnamon

Sunny Lee

(Megan)

Formerly known as Lee Soon-kyu, she was born on May 15, 1989 in Los Angeles, California. Her family moved when she was still a baby to Kuwait and then finally her family settled in South Korea where she started training in 1998 for five years before becoming a member of Sugar which never made it out to the public. Sunny grew up around music as her  father was apart of a college band called Hwalijooro with Bae Chul-soo. Her connection to becoming a star was her uncle ,who is the founder of SM Entertainment. With SM Entertainment, she trained for months and then became a member of Girls' Generation in that same year she joined the company.

She also has done solo work as an artist, singing the theme son for the SBS television drama Working Mom, Story of Wine and Oh My Lady. She has also made a duet with the famous Taeyeon who is also another member of Girls' Generation. The duet was called "Heading to the Ground" but also better known as "It's Love"

Sunny

http://www.wikihow.com/Act-Like-Sunny-from-Girls-Generation

This is a wikihow article on how to act like Sunny in which it tells you to master her aegyo, which includes a baby voice, facial expressions and gestures. It even references you to go Youtube to find clips of her speaking so it can help you mimic her actions. Then it even says specifically to use Herbal Essences Drama Clean shampoo to get that "silky sleek shine," and also recommending playing around with hair color and lengths as Sunny goes from long and dark to short and blonde. Step 3 then tells you to try going to pick up some cute graphic tees from the mall and to find pictures of Sunny to use as inspiration.  Lastly, the article tells you to keep your skin clear and only use light makeup including eyeliner and light shadow.

 

With articles like these floating around in English, it's clear that she still makes a big impact on the United States.

John Park

2010

The first time I saw John Park was from the small, second-hand television I bought from ebay, which specifically for practicing my listening skill. After I finished setting up the television and connecting it to the cable, a big boy wearing a simple white shirt appeared on the scene and caught my eyes. He was sitting on a chair peacefully, having his eyes half-closed, and singing "Gravity" by John Mayor.

During the same year, he rejected offers from many American entertainments, choosing to move back to Korea, his hometown, and joining the Korean American Idol "Superstar K2." His decision surprised his family, fans and most of the Americans. Many critics questioned the reason he chose to abandon his popularity in America and to start over in Korea. John Park, during many interviews, explained that he wanted to experience different music environment.

2012
He released his first album on 23 February, 2012. Not only did his album become popular in Korea, but also in America. People listened to his music at Billboard and watch the music video on Youtube.

Utada Hikaru

(Michael)

Photo taken from Utada Hikaru's official site: http://www.utadahikaru.jp/

Considered "the most influential artist of the decade" by The Japan Times, Utada Hikaru has led a long and successful career at the young age of 31. Also known by her stage name Utada, she released her first album, "First Love," in 1999 where the album eventually became the top selling album in Oricon history (one of the top authorities on music charts in Japan, similar to Billboards in the US). Throughout her career, Utada has released a total of 5 Japanese albums and 3 English albums, estimated more than 52 million records sold worldwide.

Utada Hikaru  - First Love (1999)

In America, many know Utada Hikaru for her song contributions to the Kingdom Hearts series: "Simple and Clean," the theme song for Kingdom Hearts and "Sanctuary," the theme song for Kingdom Hearts 2. Growing up as a young Japanese American, I couldn't help but be entranced by games like Final Fantasy and Kingdom Hearts. I clearly remember playing the opening songs over and over again until my parents were annoyed with it. Utada Hikaru was my "gateway drug" into J-pop as I'm sure it was for many others. I started listening to her other songs in Japanese; I didn't understand a thing she was saying but it didn't stop me from enjoying it. i'm not really sure myself, but I 100% prefer the Japanese versions of all of her songs (and everything else). It feels much more natural and... just sounds better. With that I will post the Japanese versions of each; the Japanese version of "Simple and Clean" is Hikari, while the Japanese version of "Sanctuary" is "Passion."

Utada Hikaru - Hikari (2002)

Utada Hikaru - Passion (2005)

Utada has been in the spotlight for an extremely long time, I compare her to a more successful and less crazy Britany Spears, and her personal life has definitely been affected. Utada married photographer and film director Kiriya Kazuaki in 2002, but reportedly separated due to her extremely busy schedule. For 15 years, Utada has captured the hearts of fans around the world (including mine) but, deservingly so, has taken a hiatus to get remarried. Her last active presence in the music world was the DVD release of her tour footage "Utada: In the Flesh 2010." I have watched the DVD countless of times and it doesn't even surprise me how good her live singing voice is. 

This short blog is no where near enough to encapsulate the brilliance of Utada Hikaru. She is a classic, a legend, an icon. I leave you now with her last single: "Goodbye Happiness." 

Utada Hikaru - Goodbye Happiness (2010)

Girls' Generation

(Megan)

I grew up in a very cookie cutter kind of suburbs where everyone was really Americanized and the population was predominantly white and Asian. So when my friend started to do the dance in our high school halls to the "Gee" song made by the South Korean all girl group Girls' Generation, it caught me off guard.

She shuffled back and forth with her feet, turning in and out while holding a peace sign horizontally up to her face, eye peering through her peace sign eventually bringing it against the side of her head. She sang, "Gee, gee, gee, gee baby, baby." 

(That girl in the middle, Samantha Wong, started it.)

(Jessica Jung doing the famous pose)

http://www.fanpop.com/clubs/girls-generation-fanclub/picks/results/985373/who-best-peace-sign-pose-snsd

Jessica Jung was born and raised in San Francisco, California until she went on vacation with her family to South Korea and was scouted by a talent agency, SM Entertainment. When she was 11 she made the move to South Korea to train for seven years before joining the group that would be known as Girls' Generation.

She is fluent in both English and in Korean, but also can speak Japanese and minimal Chinese. Jessica's Korean name is Jung Soo-yeon and is also nicknamed the "Ice Princess" because of her cold personality. She is also known as a real life "tsundere" which is a manga/anime character who is cold upon the first couple of interactions, but warms up eventually when she gets to know you. 

On August 5, 2007, Girls' Generation made its debut but it wasn't until the release of their popular hit song, "Gee" that made them known. The song was call the "song of the decade" in South Korea. 

Jessica did a lot of side work as well, with a collection of singles, collaborations, modeling and even acting. She released three songs with group members Seohyun and Tiffany, "Love Hate", "Bad Older Brother" and "It's Fantastic!" She also collaborated with 8Eight, though she is not the one in the music video but is singing the harmony and adlibs. 

The singer was also nominated for and won the popularity award from the Musical Awards in South Korea as well as the award as "Korean Barbie". 

Girls' Generation had Jessica and Tiffany as the main spokeswomen for this interview on television. Access Hollywood is aired on NBC and the interview reveals that Jessica and Tiffany are from the United States. At this point Girls' Generation had just broken into America's music scene and that's a pretty big deal, because they were one of the first girl groups from Korea to enter the music scene.

Ailee (에일리)

(Hilary)

Ailee is a South Korean-American singer who moved from the U.S. to South Korea to pursue a professional music career. Ailee was born as Amy Lee (Korean name: Lee Yejin) on May 30, 1989 in Denver, Colorado, but she grew up in New Jersey. After attending Park Junior/Senior High School and graduating from Scotch Plains-Fanwood High School, Ailee went on to study communications, journalism, and criminal justice at Pace University. However, she later dropped out to pursue a music career. She took her first steps towards a singing career by creating a YouTube channel called “mzamyx3,” which later evolved into another channel called “aileemusic” that was meant to garner in more attention for her singing on the Internet. Her video, which proved to be pretty popular, caught the attention of the program director of NBC’s Maury Show, who contacted her in hopes of obtaining her participation in a program similar to American Idol. Although her win of second place in the competition opened some doors in the U.S. music scene, Ailee was determined to debut in South Korea first. 

Ailee's performance of Rihanna's "Unfaithful" on the Maury Show

Prior to her K-pop debut in South Korea, Ailee was singed under an independent agency based in New York and New Jersey Muzo Entertainment, where she collaborated with many artists, including Johnnyphlo and Philadelphia-based rapper Decipher. She later landed an audition in 2010 and, thus, moved to South Korea. Her performance of Big Mama’s “Resignation” landed her a spot in YMC Entertainment as a trainee. During her trainee days, she performed on MBC’s Singer and Trainee,” where she performed Usher’s “My Boo” with Wheesung, a South Korean R&B artist, and Beyoncé’s “Halo” solo. Judges and audiences alike praised Ailee for her professionalism although she had not yet officially debuted. 

Ailee's performance of Beyoncé's "Halo" on Singer and Trainee

In February 2012, she made her official debut with a song written and produced by Wheesung called “Heaven,” which had a strong run and peaked at #3 on GaOn, Korea’s real-time digital charts. She dominated the Cyworld Music Awards where she snatched two awards for “Song of the Month” and Rookie of the Month.” Several months later in October 2012, Ailee released her debut mini album entitled Invitation, which is composed of six tracks. Ailee’s sophomore mini album, A’s Doll House was released the following year on July 12, 2013. “U&I,” the album’s single, quickly shot to the top the music charts within four hours of its release. After releasing a Japanese single for “Heaven” in November of 2013 and a six-month hiatus in South Korea, Ailee made a comeback with “Singing Got Better.” Not surprisingly, as hinted by her previous two immensely popular singles, “Singing Got Better” reached #1 on many of Korea’s major music charts, including Mnet, Naver Music, and Daum Music.

Check out three of Ailee's hit singles, "Heaven," "U&I," and "Singing Got Better," respectively.