“East Meets Dirty South” was the theme of the press conference held earlier today at the Marriott Marquis in Times Square, appropriately moderated by Miss Info, a Korean American journalist who, ironically, specializes in black pop culture, with stints at BET, The Source, Vibe and Hot 97.
Lil Jon also made an appearance at the event, representing- no pun intended – the black music community. Although it was too early in the morning for Lil Jon to appear sans iridescent sunglasses, he was there in support of his protege Min. In fact, at 10 a.m. even maintaining fresh dialogue proved difficult for Lil Jon, who continued to fall back on this oh-so politically correct standby, “It don’t matter who you are, I always feel that music transcends any ethnic barriers, no matter who you are or where you come from. If you got good music, people don’t care, they just want to hear good music and good songs.”
J Lim’s and G Soul’s respective “mentors,” Big Boi and R. Kelly were not in attendance and with the underage Min and Wonder Girls, the latter party’s absence was a relief.Regardless, the head gorilla JYP did all the talking, inflating his ego at every possible juncture.
First there was his statement of intent for worldwide domination, or the musical equivalent, “My dream is to make this tour into an Asian music festival down the line.”
“I’m not going to stop this tour, and I hope this tour starts among Asian Americans and spreads to general Americans who cares about real good music” Now, I don’t know what “general” Americans are but this festival business sounds downright scary.Not to mention the gross overestimation of his status.
“Right now for this show and a couple of shows, I’ll be the main engine of the show because I’m the only established artist.” The only established artist according to whom, the legions of fans scarred by the sight JYP in skin tight red velvet pants?
However, JYP’s lack of microphone etiquette was for good reason. When the artists were presented with the opportunity to verbally fend for themselves, J Lim remained mute, a nervous G Soul fumbled, and the English inept Wondergirls were tongue tied. Hopes were high for Min, the best English speaker of the group, however her confession to a predilection for “partying,” served only to anger the alpha male, JYP.
With a quiet press room comprised of indifferent Korean ajusshi journalists, Wondergirl hungry photographers, and a scant few Japanese ajumma fans in VIP seats, the festivities came to a close before lunchtime, but not before a random special appearance by the alumni members of the Harlem Boys Choir, whom the ever philanthropic JYP donated $10,000 to.
Stay tuned for POPSEOUL!’s “tough” Q-A session with the JYP Troop and behind the scenes coverage and the sel-ca stylings of G Soul, Min and Wondergirls’ Sun Me.
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I’m really going to enjoy the fall of JYP and YG. They still haven’t learn from Rain massive failure in trying to break in the US market.
“Partying” Min? Is that all she did here?
“I’ll be the main engine of the show because I’m the only established artist.”
Oh gawd..please tell me he’s joking..
what a big EGOOO..
Honestly I don’t think the thing that is holding JYP and them back is their being Asian but the fact that Asians are so used to just dealing with other Asians some have a hard time accepting the fact that other people exist in the world…i.e the fact that everyone here can see that Lil Jon is black so why keep mentioning it…anyway yeah I hope Asians begin to open up more to the rest of the world and not just white people because a lot of other people like their music and etc…so yeah the need to get over themselves.
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agree! and lil jon doesnt respect african americans or african american music. get that right! he represents himself! thats like saying that crazy korean guy who killed all those people at v-tech represents koreans and korean americans. YEAH RIGHT!
G-SOUL is starting to grow into his looks. and looks like he lost weight cus at the sbs special when he performed he looked a lil chunky. and wondergirls lmaoo omg they look soo confused.
Thank you to everyone who made the fine line between Lil Jon and African American music clear. He may have intended to make an appearance as an African American Music representative, but I personally don’t think he was the best of choices. I’d be more proud to send over somebody like Kanye West or Common or other rappers who don’t consider music all about b*tches and ho*s.
@ Camilla: what other term can you use? Hip-hop? Rap? It is what the genre is called (I’m not trying to be a smartass, but hip-hop and rap and r&b aren’t JUST black genres, it’s just what most blacks are famous for). And I’m personally not offended by the term “black music”, at least not as offended as I am about having Lil Jon as a so-called representative for my community. That’s just embarrassing and it kind of sheds some light on some people’s misconception of blacks (though it doesn’t excuse it). If you don’t understand, imagine JYP (who, after the plastic pants incident, I doubt very many people even like) traveling the world as a representative of the Korean community.
I agree that being asian isn’t holding any one of those artist back, the same way being black or white or hispanic hasn’t held other international stars back. It’s more of a lack of talent, IMO.
Don’t get me wrong–they’re plenty entertaining and their talent is appealing to an Asian audience, but Se7en, Min, and The Wonder Girls aren’t that strong vocally. Sure, you can argue that a lot of people in America were/are famous even though their voices suck, but I could argue that nobody really respects those sucky singers. And even if those singers did get respect for sucking, do we honestly want our favorite Korean acts to scrape by in Hollywood? I personally want them to be successful FOR REAl, and not just because they’ve worked with Lil Jon or R Kelly (are they seriously letting him meet all those underaged girls?) or Big Boi.
Lim33853 said, “I hope JYP and G-soul don’t go near the Virginia Tech campus. I swear, give a handgun to G-soul, he looks exactly like the Korean nut who slaughtered the college kids last year.”
Although, I find your comment funny it is also a little offensive. You cannot summarize an entire ethnic group based on the action of one single individual. That is racial profiling and it’s wrong by any standard.
XD R.Kelly.
Friends and I went crazy and finished watching ch. 1-22 of his Trapped in a Closet music videos for no reason what-so-ever and…XDDD
Um…I don’t understand why they don’t just get talented Korean-Americans who have been fluent in English since they were 3-years-old to “break into” the American music industry. I mean…why fobby Asians from the east? We have tons of Asian-Americans who want to become singers and know the music well. It should start with the first-generations, not the cross-cultural immigrants. (no offense)
I’m pretty sure they all audition for American Idol.
ok WTF is MIN wearing…? ewwww!
and JYP seriously…this guy seem way too too too too FAKE
for me..like he a GOLD DIGGING dude..i mean DAMN the guy is just too OVER RATED. like he think WAY WAY WAY TO HIGHLY of himself… i know he is only trying to get what he wants in life BUT ARGGH it’s freaken annoying..
MIN SHOULD DRESS HER AGE..
I’m somewhat afraid that JYP will one day come across PopSeoul, shut PopSeoul down or something!! AHHH! Anyway, first things first… WHAT THE HELL IS MIN WEARING?! I could say the same for Jeong Hee, but those mountains of her distract you away from the dress. HAHAHAHA! Sorry, that was crude.
I’m going to have to agree with Lolly, who made an excellent point. There are Asian-Americans that are fluent in English and possibly more talented than these guys and would know the culture much better. I think it would be better to break into the US industry with first-generation Asians before they put “fobby” Asians who fumble with their English and are clearly not yet confident with being exposed to so much press. I think by this point they should know how to speak English, or some basic English to at least respond a little to the press.
I’m somewhat disappointed with the Wonder Girls, especially Yoobin who should know how to speak English well after living in the US for awhile.
I’m also kindof irritated at JYP for having over-confidence and calling himself the “engine” of the show because he’s the only “established artist”. What the hell are Wonder Girls? Obviously, they’re doing much better than him at the moment. And it’s not like JYP is publicly known in the US.
Uh, people from other countries who migrate to another country (ie. Someone who was born in Asia and migrated to the States) is first generation. Asian Americans (born in the States) are second generation
Also, it doesn’t help when Asians hate each other and throw the term ‘fobs’ and look down on them.
Yes, there are talented Asian Americans – but hardly any of them has that X factor or have wide mass appeal. There are not even that many Asian Americans who support their own people whether – Asian American or Asian.
The problem is that majority of Koreans are overly self-conscious. They’re too worried about speaking correctly they miss opportunities to TALK and just be themselves. The Korean talk show Misuda features foreign panelists, some who barely speak a word of Korean and months later have captured the heart of Korea. And Koreans are extremely ethnocentric… America is the land of the melting pot. Koreans have as much of chance at fame in the U.S. as anyone else.
The English that all these Korean artists are trying to learn in a couple of years is going to have an accent no matter what. For that short amount of time, they’re not going to speak like natives anytime soon. So I say embrace the accent. Use it as a way to stand out from all the other American artists. Yea, I cringe whenever I hear my mom and pops accents, but the only way any of them are going to improve is by talking. No surprise there. The Popseoul interview says G-Soul and J-lim barely said a word. Instead of investing all this time and energy in getting the right enunciation of words, they should work to bring out their character, personality, and wit. I remember an old interview with Jackie Chan on the Tonight Show. His accent was terrible but he was incredibly charming. He was outgoing, funny, TALKATIVE, and most importantly he was Jackie.
“people from other countries who migrate to another country (ie. Someone who was born in Asia and migrated to the States) is first generation. Asian Americans (born in the States) are second generation”
@ Camilla:
No, no, no, no, no. This is flat-out wrong. An immigrant is NOT “first generation”. What is wrong with you? First generation refers to (try to grasp this, okay?) the FIRST GENERATION BORN IN THE USA. If your parents were immigrants and you were BORN in the USA, then YOU are the first generation.
An immigrant is not an American at all. If they take American citizenship then they are called “naturalized Americans”. But sometimes it is several years before they receive citizenship. Therefore, it would make ZERO SENSE to refer to them as any generation of American, let alone first generation.
What is it about “first” that you don’t understand?
okay, that press conference sounded like it was an embarrassing mess. gorilla seems eager to control ‘his’ artists.
2 charlstonchew: i totally agree with you. they need to teach the artists to be more talkative, outgoing, funny and witty, because this ain’t korea, it’s AMERICA. i mean, i love korean artists, but they are way too caught up with IDOL & IMAGE. the politically correct, perfect image, cute and shy thing may work in kr, but not in the US of A, and that’s the truth. they expect an artist to have a MOUTH, something to say, to stand for something. not sit there like a damn statue.
Ok, first off I read people’s comments and their mentioning something about “gorilla”, I don’t know if that was supposed to degrade, demoralize and dehumanize the fact that Lil Jon is black or if you were refering to JYP. Either way I guess you were trying to be “cute”, but it was crude, ignorant and immature and anything you have to say before or after the fact is irrevalent. Anyway, I do agree with those who say Lil Jon DOES NOT represent quality African American music, same goes for R. Kelly, except for when his brain is in the right place (not in his pants) he is an excellent producer. I also agree that JYP is giving himself to much credit (but also an excellent producer and competant businessman) and should allow his artist more options to branch out and work with crediable individuals in the music industry. I personally would like to see the artist succeed in the US only if that’s what the artist WANT. I do agree Koreans should be more personable and individualistic instead relying on appearances so much and what everyone else says. I will be living in Korea for a year starting in March so I will be able to experience this behavior first-hand.
“Gorilla” refers to JYP, you race-baiting idiot! It’s been a long-standing nickname for him here at PopSeoul.
” same goes for R. Kelly, except for when his brain is in the right place (not in his pants) he is an excellent producer.”
Who the f*ck cares that R.kelly is a good producer? He’s a sex offender who URINATED on a 15 year old girl, had sex with her and taped it all. Screw his producing skills.
Excuse me Dumpling, did I say Dumpling, I did’nt think I said your name did I. If I was talking to you don’t get offended, besides I did not know that was a nickname for JYP. I have a life outside of reading Popseoul so I don’t know all the little Popseoul wordage and nicknames. As far as R. Kelly is concerned, I really don’t give a f**k about him either, but I was ONLY refering to his producing skills, not R. Kelly as a person, because that goes without saying. And as far as my comment about “gorilla” is concerned, it is known for years that that is a word used in a derogatory manner, and I have seen many MANY racially charged comments here on Popseoul and other sites, so I just wanted to clear that up. It’s only for those who meant it in that way, if nobody did then don’t worry about it. I’m by far not an idiot so I’m not even going to stoop so low as to call you an idiot………..then again I think I will…..you f**king idiot.
oh gee, chill. dumpling’s comments were right on the mark.
http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2008-01/31/content_7535966_7.htm
@ Dumpling:
I’d just like to comment that saying first generation can be used either way…! I looked up the definition on:
http://www.thefreedictionary.com/second-generation
That confuses me too…from experience I’ve heard it used both ways. I frequent this post too much… eh
“Excuse me Dumpling, did I say Dumpling,”
You can rest assured, I don’t need an invitation.
wow,dumpling you’re an idiot,why do you get so defensive,why don’t you just calm down,sheesh.
@ J-man
Are you some bitter little person who had to post under another fake screen name just to say that? Because in a post with 74 comments this is the first one from “j-man”.
What a joke. You’re not clever.
OMG……Dumpling this si the last time I’m going to post on this topic and then I’m letting it go, and you can comment to yourself for all I care. I’ve never been afraid to speak my mind, and gladly attach my name to it. Trust, me, I don’t need to hide, lie or conceal my identity in any way, ESPECIALLY from you or anyone else for that matter. If you were so damn smart you’d notice the tone of the comment is COMPLETELY different from my own comments. So obviously your not the clever one (though you think you are). End of story.
wow,lol,dumpling you are so cocky,you actually think someone needs to agree with you all the time,no one,NO ONE AT ALL,can disagree,lol.wow,i bet you stay on your computer allllll day,posting comments about the articles,and nasty comments about other people,but you would never be able to survive off the computer,in the real world.stupid jerk…plz do reply to this comment cause i want to prove this comment true,plz do,and hurry about it..