In hopes of making JYP’s lackluster press conference somewhat interesting for ourselves, we asked these questions to the egomaniac. They are by no means “tough” but we did find out that Min’s will probably debut first and that she likes to party it up while the troop master is dancing in his clear plastic pants. POPSEOUL! questions in italics.
How is Min’s entry into the US Market going to be different from Se7en or Boa or Rain’s?
JYP: I think the biggest difference is that all the other artists that are preparing for the United States are going to be sent to an American producer and an American label. But Min is not sent to an American label or American producer. We opened up a label, so our label is here, our company is here, our system is here and especially the marketing tools we use compared to American record labels are very different coming from Seoul, we don’t even sell CDs anymore you know? So the digital marketing, the online marketing the 360 degree marketing that we use we’re not only going to launch her but basically launch our system and our launching our music too. Other artists preparing for the United States they’re sent to American producers, compared to us, we are making the music together. So it’s not just going to sound like another American song. I think that will be the biggest difference.
Lil Jon: And we’re giving you good music. Like the bottom line with black folks, we don’t care what you look like if we like the song. I think that’s with anybody, they don’t really care as long as they like the music. She’s a 16 year old girl, so we’re making records for 16 year old girls to listen to and that’s the number one thing, it’s for all women or young ladies of her age group so they’re going to be able to relate to the songs no matter who they are.
What was it like to adjust your life to live in the States and how have you liked it here for the past four years?
Min: Well you know, I don’t really remember because I got here when I was like 12 so I think it was really easy and it was really fun and exciting to be in the States
Any specific fun episodes that you’d like to share with your fans?
Min: Well going to the parties and stuff, (laughter) I don’t know…
You have a lot of artists that you’re marketing right now, which artist do you plan to debut first and how do you go about competition within the group?
JYP: I don’t really know who’s going to come out first, but one thing for sure is Min’s album is close to being finished. So it’s very likely that her album will come out first. G Soul and J Lim they only have two or three songs done each, Min already has more than 10 songs done so I think it’s very likely that Min will come out first.
We’ve heard that G Soul and J Lim have the weakest English skills of the group, so how are you preparing them to be launched in an American market?
JYP: First of course they go to language schools and get private tutoring. They study English almost more than 8 hours a day for the past couple of years. And kids from our academy are very focused, because I don’t pick kids by talent, I pick kids by their attitude and their passion. So these kids, if they have to learn Chinese from tomorrow they’ll learn it in a couple of years not because they’re smart, not because they’re intelligent but because they want it so much and they know it takes more than singing to go into another cultural territory and be somebody. And there’s a lot of talented kids that I didn’t pick, trust me. To me attitude is the most important. Talent doesn’t get you anywhere attitude can get you anywhere.
You guys talked a lot about the things you want to do while you’re in New York. Is there anything that you have done in the past three days that you want to share with your fans?
Yoobin: I took a picture, a lot of pictures with New York sights, nice sights of course yea and a little shopping around our hotel.
Our POPSEOUL! readers have a question for Ye Eun because she recently graduated achieving high marks. They want to know what her study secrets are.
Ye Eun in English: Secret…I don’t know I just like reading the book. I don’t know.
In Korean: I don’t have any secrets, it’s not that I even study that well. I just read text books a lot. People hate that response but that’s the truth, I just read text books.
oh jyp, you don’t choose by talent? i guess that explains why only half the girls in wg can sing. and i do mean “half”.
“So it’s not just going to sound like another American song”
yeah, that’s a lie.
good luck to all of them. i’m interested in how it will turn out. just hope it’s worth listening to, not some of that cookie cutter stuff that’s been comin out these days..
After reading the interview I have come up with five things:
1. Min seems like a stupid girl that doesn’t know anything really, in other words a young teenage girl who is still immature.
2. JYP is an idiot (that’s nothing new)
3. Lil’Jon sounds like an idiot (again nothing new)
4. J Lim & G Soul need more english training or just training period. In other words they are SO not ready for this debut.
5. WG’s seem lost & confused…lol
I think Min, J Lim & G Soul’s debuts are all gonna be BIG FAILURES why because they don’t seem ready for it. Min couldn’t even answer a question correctly. The only thing you got out of her was mainly she likes to party. What young immature teenage girl doesn’t like to party? She is still young & seem rather immature. She should be in school & study more.
Then her comment about how she doesn’t remember much because she came to america when she was 12. That’s a bunch of BS I remember alot of things from when I was 12 & i’m 21 now. It don’t matter if you went to a foreign country I’m pretty damn sure you can remember what happened. It’s just her english vocabulary isn’t even all that great. That’s why her ass needs to stay in school in study more english.
JLim being mute & G soul stubbling. How in the hell are they gonna successed if one is too afarid or shy to even talk in english at a press conference while the other one can’t even speak right? They too are not ready to debut & need to study more on their english & public speaking skills.
JYP & his stupid comment about “Talent doesn’t get you anywhere attitude can get you anywhere”..please STFU already…This guy seriously does not THINK before he SPEAKS. I admit we have some ppl in the industry who don’t even have talent but they are famous and those same ppl also get bad press ALOT. They get trashed in the press. Brittany Spears, Paris Hilton & so forth. So if JYP wants to market his artists based on no talent & just passion then expect a whole lot of bad press & expect them to get trashed in the public because that is what will happen.
But artists whom have talent are praised by the press (well unless they do something stupid then they get both bad press & good press).
Plus in America if you don’t got the talent then you best believe you will not be liked. You will get alot of ppl talking ish about you.
Lil Jon will no comment on him, he just sounds like an idiot.
I feel bad for WG’s they just seem lost in the interview, but i give them prop on speaking some english.
Here is Crystal Kay:
http://www.sonymusic.co.jp/Music/Info/C-Kay/img/image.jpg
She’s quite beautiful. She’s clearly half black but her Asian genes are strong, too. Very pretty eyes. It’s a good mix.
i once interview jyp in hk. when i read this article, i feel like a trip down the memory lane. it’s SOO him…. smart, very determined yet tricky. im supposed to have 15 min exclusive with rain but, he wont ok it unless the first 5 min is interview with him. i cant say no to it. have to agree cos i need those 10 min left to produce the 1 hour rain special.
luckiy, media still have the power to decide which one to air, which one is not. those 5 min tape was cut on the editing room
i dont know why the accent matters that much. theres singers like shakira, snow patrol and all that have accents when they sing. British accent, hispanic accent, whatever. if the media is going to make a such a big deal out of it, then it probably is discrimination againts asians. i mean, aside from accents, why arnt there any famous asians singers out there? it doesnt make sense. are we only known for our martial arts and stuff? meehh.
The accent DOESN’T matter. I really don’t think anyone was making an issue of the accent. I don’t know how that even came up. The issue is them speaking English so poorly that it’s un-intelligible. There’s accent…but then there’s total mispronunciation. Two different things.
When a Korean learns English they HAVE to learn to pronounce the “r” and “l” distinctly, no matter how difficult it is. They have to do it, because “lice” and “rice” and “rude” and “lewd” are all completely different words. Can’t speak mispronounced words and then cry “it’s just the accent”. No,it’s not.
shakira’s accent?
latino/spanish people is soon to be the largest minority in the united states. united states has a huge spanish speaking fan base.
latino speaking singers and actors are exploding in the usa, ecause of the spanish population.
its so huge, beyonce is actually singing in spanish in few of her songs to acquire some of the spanish fanbase.
business 101. supply demand. compared to spanish singers,no one is going to buy these koreans cds nationally. only few koreans, and whats so wrong with that! but the gorillas overhype is creating too much pressure for these artists. im starting to feel bad.
i really see the look in gsoul & jlim s faces that they are overmatched, defeated,insecure look. the gorilla is over hyping these artists and its going to crumble down. i hope these artists are not ruin even if they go back to korea and be labled “losers” and unaccepted because of jyps unrealistic goals and ego.
these artists seems to be nice and hardworking. im sure they have alot of pressure from family and finacially to suceed. i hope their careers are not ruined.
@ blingoooooo!!!
R U serious? There are plenty of Korean singers with powerful voices! I can name 10 off hand that sound waaaay better than friggen J-LO!!! Madonna’s whiny ass? Are you serious??? You might as well have said Britney Spears! Now had you said Christina Aguilera (sp?) or Whitney Houston or something, I might say, yeah you’ve got a point…
@ lilo
ABOSOLUTELY! That’s how Americans are. We gereralize on race. It doesn’t mean we’re racist (look who’s running for President…and WINNING), but if JYP were working with all white people, Americans would say that they were all white-washed or trying to be white. Of course we know that they are not trying to “be black” as in, they don’t wanna be Korean anymore, but we DO realize that he is trying to appeal to a certain audience, and hip/hop and R&B rule the country right now, and he knows that Black people, for the most part, do that kind of music. But OBVIOUSLY as Elle pointed out, Lil’ John is the WORST person he could have teamed up with…
@ Dumpling
THANK YOU! OMG I LOVE YOU!!! I hate questions like “how do you act black” too. That was the best answer I have ever read on that topic ^_^
@ the Crystal kay comments
I think her reason for her not debuting in the US is because she doesn’t want to. Her fanbase in Japan is huge enought as it is, and she MIGHT just be content with her own country. Just because an artist is popular, it doesn’t mean that they have to debut in America for them to prove themselves. Why does US stardom have to be the seal of approval? There are ACTUALLY artists who are happy with major success in their OWN countries. It’s really only Korea who is so adamant about breaking into the American market.
Crystal Kay (Kuri chan ^_^) is my FAVORITE singer of all time. She’s very classy and I love her style. I would NOT want her to come to America and have to look like a slut in order to compete. Her outfits are always cute, but never trashy. Because of her half Korean heritage they would always compare her to Amerie or she might have to start dancing in her videos like Beyonce or Ciara, and that’s just not C-Kay style.
wow..jyp said his artists practice english for 8 hrs..hahaha and they cant even answer a question properly in english..min lived here ever since shes 12 and still cant speak english..wft..
jyp choose attitude over talent..huh?..he must be stupid..talent is what u must have to succeed..attitude and passion is a factor, but talent is more important..
im sure these artists are going to fail..hope they prove me wrong
….
Concerning speaking English well-> I don’t think its so much of a set back, as Ziyi Zhang comes to mind. Of course it can only HELP but I don’t think it’ll hurt, honestly.
I really hope they don’t flop I like min and g-soul but I’m rooting for J-Lim.
Crystal Kay is more talented than Amerie. At least she’s biliginual.
kylie, Utada Hikaru is going to release a 2nd English album in the future.
to dumpling:
You cant tell me that people, in general has never made fun of asian people because of the way they talk, or even sing. they go ”you sound asian.” or even ”you sound white.” or even black. its silly, really. but sounding ”asian” isnt really a compliment aside from the others. its because people has poke fun on the way some asian people talk. or whatever the reason is. and yes, i dont think anyone has ever made an issue about that here, but other than here, issues like this occure everywhere, such as G-soul’s youtube videos. mainly when he sings keyisha coles ”love.” and besides, singers like shakira, amy winehouse and many others do mispronounce there words and has neevr been critisized about it. and even though the US has a large base of hispanics/latinos, english is still the base language. so to add to that: theres plenty of asian singers who are born in america, and speak perfect english, but why arn’t any of us big?
OMG!!!!
i can’t believe JYP was retarded enough to say that he doesn’t pick kids by talent but by attitudes and passion!!
who would be stupid enough to say something like that…
i mean yeah the wondergirls are like really famous but if you really listen to then they can’t really sing..just listen…
Okay,
“Acting Black”, “White-washed” etc. It’s all relative. Its true that Asian people in America have been reduced to the role of martial arts star or computer geek on television and in movies. However, before the writer’s strike, there were at least two asian MALE actors in lead roles on TV both Korean and as I recall, Korean people talked badly about Daniel Dae Kim because his Korean wasn’t “perfect”.
Every minority in America has been portayed as some horrible racist stereotype. Blacks have definately had it the worst because those images have been transported overseas for people with no context to copy and regurgitate. But Hispanics, Asians, Native Americans,Asians and Arabs have been victims of this. We are all fighting to be portayed correctly!!
So JYP is trying to sell his “product” in the states. Good for him. He is working with Lil’Jon because despite his image he is not ignorant. The man grew up “upper middle class” and isn’t from the hood. His image is that because just like the Koreans, no one in the rap game/music industry will respect an articulate, clean cut, upper middle class black man, AS IGNORANT AS THAT IS. He created the persona of Lil’Jon to create a niche market and it worked. So JYP is working with him to do the same.
Unfortunately, I don’t know if his artists are ready for America, not because they are Korean but because Korean society has no context for race in the society. Here instead of just being a citizen of a country you are now in a sub catagory. Also, to make it in hip hop even though white kids are the biggest purchasers, you have to be associated (at least in the beginning) with blacks to gain acceptance. If that sounds wrong…look at what Justin Timberlake did. He went from Nsync to working with Timbaland. His first video he had a black girl as the focus, later videos (now that he has gained acceptance) he has white women (to keep that universal appeal). So they have a shot if they don’t keep mentioning race and let the music speak for itself.
Honestly….sometimes so many people have the “attitude” that JYP was referring to, yet even with that attitude they never achieved the talent…to survive in Hollywood, you need more talent than attitude
lil jon has a degree in engineer. shocking i know
@ Zumy
I understand what you are saying about lil’ jon not being from “the ghetto,” but he’s not acting that way because America won’t accept an intelligent black man, it’s because he is an ignorant, perverted, crazy jack-ass and I don’t know why JYP is wasting his time working with such a loser. Just because he came from a nice neighborhood doesn’t mean that he’s intelligent. He’s dumb…plain and simple,and if you are black, then you are doing yourself a disservice by saying that the rap industry won’t accept an articulate man. I’m not even black and I see how articulate and intelligent Kanye west, p.diddy, common, most def, jay z, and plenty of others are.
Everyone knows how retarded lil jon (look at what he said during the interview) is, and he will further make a joke out of what jyp is trying to do in the united states. Like elle said, jyp should have picked someone else to work with.
P. Diddy and Jay Z are articulate?? You have to be kidding. Neither one of them can complete a sentence with multiple uses of “um” and “you know what I’m sayin’?”
Please.
As for this comment:
“it’s because he (LJ) is an ignorant, perverted, crazy jack-ass and I don’t know why JYP is wasting his time working with such a loser.”
The reason is simple: it’s because JYP is EXACTLY the same kind of person. They are birds of a feather. JYP, El Gorilla, is also ignorant, perverted and a crazy jack-ass. More than likely he seems himself in LJ.
@ dumpling
Yeah, I guess you’re right…maybe not articulate, but definitely intelligent given their business sense.
Well, if jyp is the same as lil jon,then we may as well count all of these artists as failures in the states…*sigh*
Since no one’s said it, I’ll go ahead: Lil Jon is a talentless faggot.
Good luck to JYP and his future endeavors.
i would love to be a trainee!
Dumpling-
Please. Stop watching rap videos. P.Diddy & Jay-Z just like everyone else knows how to talk proper English when needed. I’m sure Jay-Z didn’t meet Bill Gates and ask him “What’s up,Yo!. P.Diddy and Jay-Z have their hands in so many other business ventures it’s not even funny. So yeah, let’s not sit at home on our computer while they’re out making million and then play it as if they’re the “idiots” in this equation. Stop hanging out in your DC “I know black people” bubble and get a life. Your full of it.
As for the interview…..
JYP once again likes to act as if he knows more than he really does about American culture. So you produced a hit for Will Smith awhile ago, so what? It’s Will Smith. Fish =/= Barrel. Egomaniac at his finest.
NEWSFLASH JYP: Your music sounds just like American music.
WTH? This is where the ego shows. When JYP thinks that he’s bringing something new to the game. He’s not! Min – Seen it. G-soul – Seen it! I don’t need to see it again in “Asian form”.
It’s like Korean record companies/producers are freakin brain dead when it comes to America and what will succeed. I don’t want to see Min trying to be the Asian Ciara. It will only make me laugh my a** off. Lil Jon says she’s doing 16 yr old music. Since when the hell does Lil Jon produce 16 yr old music? They might as well get some glue and stick the “wh0re” sign on her head now. Lil Jon makes gutter music and he will do nothing but turn her into 16 yr old gutter trash.
The truth is they would be better off making her/ all the rest of JYP artist do simple POP music. Black people are not waiting with open arms for someone else to come in and do what they do – most times better. Why go down the hard road? Does anybody in their right mind think that Eminem would have made it doing rap music if he was “mediocre”?
No, he wouldn’t. He would probably be a Detroit dead beat with 4 kids and a dysfunctional marry. Would old people even like Tina Marie if she was “mediocre”? No, she would just have been known as the white woman who slept with Rick James. How many other minorities do you know that have made major ground way in Rap & R&B? Not a lot. And don’t say Justin Timberlake. The only time Justin is on 106 & Park is when he’s with Timberland. Lovestoned was not being snatched up by black folks in the music stores.
The honest truth is – EVERYBODY WILL BUY SOMETHING IF IT’S GOOD!
White, Black, Hispanic, Asian, it doesn’t matter.
Did the everyone in America suddenly start speaking Spanish when “La Gasolina” went to #1? No. People brought it because they liked it.[as horrible as it was]. Call it luck for such a crappy song but it was a hit. Why again? Maybe because with the air waves filled with nothing but crappy Georgia rap and factory pop music, people want to hearing something not so familiar.
The simple fact is you either have to be 10x better than the rest if you want to make inroads in the Black music market if your not Black or you have to have an awesome AMERICAN producer.
Key to success in America for Asians:
1.STOP AIMING AT THE BLACK MARKET!
Do catchy pop music. It’s not rocket science.
I sometimes sit at home banging my head against the proverbial wall wondering why in the hell JYP hasn’t done an english remake of “Tell Me” and pushed it in America. Disney kids would eat the crap up. It’s cute & bubbly. 90s Pop music is making come back, I’ll be surprised if there isn’t a new boy band out this year. 11-15 yr olds are buying music again and going to concerts. How the hell else would Hannah Montana be number 1 on the billboard charts? Everytime you turn it on TRL the top spots as of lately have been filled with Disney pop stars.
Earth to JYP: Jump in, the water is fine.
psh, long rant.
Last point I’ll also make is – STOP HAVING YOUR[JYP] ARTIST AROUND OTHER KOREANS SO MUCH!
There is no excuse as to why Min’s English shouldn’t be freakin perfect. 4 years? 4 years? really? And she sounds like that? Who is speaking Korean to this girl because obviously she wasn’t being forced to focus on her English.
She sounds like someone who’s only been in America for a few months or a year. Her “L” & R” problem should not be this polarizing now. And the last video I saw of her in the studio with Lil Jon it still was. Get these artist around native speakers. No way in hell should it be taking this long for Min to be perfecting English. In the first year of immersion she should have gotten her basic conversational skills down. The second and third years should have been spent on nothing more than perfecting pronunciation. Shame.
If only my eyes can shoot lazers…
(NOTE: THIS HAS NOTHING TO DO WITH THE POST!!!)
Tae: SOHEE YA!!!!
PREPARE FOR BATTLE!!!!!
Sohee: ANIEOU, PLEASE UNNI, ANIEOU~!!!
Tae: ITS TOO LATE */LAZERS/* BIZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ ZZZ BI ZZZZZ
*disinegrates*
Sohee: NO!!!!!!! I’LL NEVER BE WITH RAIN NOW THAT I LOOK LIKE THIS!!!! MY DESTINY HAS CHANGED!!!
*Kicks the ugly girl in the shin while on ground*
Tae: You were never destined to be with him in the first place.
*spits* *walks away*
——–
-.-llll
okay…. but anyway, I hope that I will one day marry rain (impossible) and finally defeat Sohee!!!!! BWUAHAAHAHAHAHAAAHAAHAAAHAHAHA *cough* MWUAH HAHA MWUAHA!!!!! LISTEN!!! LISTEN!!!! LISTEN TO ME CACKLING!! LISTEN TO MY VOICE!!!!!!~!! BWUAHAHAAHAH!!
ehheeheee!!!HA!!
————
Sohee: Unni ya, did you want chicken peices on the side, or vegetables on the side.
*looks at empty dish*
Tae: BIOTCH!! *slaps*
——-
But i know that will never happen. much love to ya sohee unni, much love. And lets make this a fair battle. Please.
Untill we meet,
Taeja
what?! haha, i thought everyone was talking about how j lim is 16 and all when i was about min. i was about to get all confused.
but, gosh, why is everyone so pessimistic about everything. quit talking as though you are jyp/lil jon or whoever. you’re not them, whether they’ve done bad or good. and you’re not america; you’re one of the many americans that make up america, so not everyone thinks like you.
america isn’t all about talent, either, like so many of you have pompously stated; sure, that’s preffered, and there are many with talents, but looks and sex sells in america, sadly. take britney and paris. or clay aiken. he can sing so good, but his looks don’t equal that of the indusry, so everyone rubs him off. gwen stefani, she has her own style, but when it comes to really, really singing, she can’t sing. and yet, she made it big.
gotta give these guys/girls some props for trying to break the barriers. it takes more than one person to break the wall. if it’s not jyp now, it’ll be someone else.
and i thought america was a free country for all races. why go against asians? it took some time for blacks and hispanics to make it big. it’ll take some time for asians, too.
jyp, prove us wrong about your predicted failure!
i’ll root 4 ya JYP!!!
Mila, I agree with some of your views, except on how JYP should market to the US because this business is a gamble, there are no sure ways to be successful in the entertainment business. Regarding the ‘acting black’ stereotype, that was an enlightening read. *rolls eyes* Yes, Min, Rain, G-Soul, they all better start ‘acting Asian’ as soon as possible to avoid ‘acting black’. Dumpling, kylie, you have my support the day you guys explain your ‘acting black’ theory to your black friends’ or any self respecting black person’s face without offending them.
“I don’t pick kids by talent,”
hm. that explains a lot.