So you’ve heard about Big Bang. I’ve told you plenty of times. Super cool, super fresh KPop group signed with YG Entertainment? Ah, you remember, great!

If you HAVE forgotten about them, maybe you remember that post on World Star Hip Hop about the Korean Bloods?

Here a link >>>>>> Korean Bloods Getting Down on the Dance Floor?

Either way, a year or so back I introduced them to you through a wildly popular video that the subgroup GD & TOP did called “KnockOut” that was vivid and creative and kept you busy the entire video. Especially TOP’s Harlem Shake at the end.

The one cool thing about Big Bang is the way they give all the members of the group shine. Most of them have solo LP’s and projects, and that also includes the leader of the group, G-Dragon. Known for his insane talent at producing, on top of being one of Korea’s most famous singers and rappers, G-Dragon has done it again. The song is a lot less ‘poppy’ than their other projects, but Big Bang is known to throw in [and I hate to use this word] swag into the game where everyone else is totting off about love and bubblegum. This electro hip hop beat, fast rap, highly addictive song is off G-Dragon’s latest project “One of A Kind” and toots guest stars such as Lydia Paek from Quest Crew and fellow Big Banger’s Taeyang.

Even if you turn the volume all the way down [which you shouldn’t do] the video itself is so visually simulating that you’ll want to watch the whole thing despite the language barrier; from G-Dragon’s bright cornrows, the ADORABLE kids, the dancers working all their jelly, this video has enough umph behind it to make it a favorite.

It’s hard breaking into and breaking down American’s strong sense of pop culture and inclusivity. While other countries are embracing our artist and the phrase “World Tour” actually means a world tour, for international artist looking to make a home on American radios and televisions it may be a harder thing to do.

Take the Wonder Girls. They toured with Justin Bieber, Earth Wind and Fire, and The Jonas Brothers. Had their own television movie on Nickelodean and I bet not one person can name any of their English language songs.

JYJ managed to get KANYE FUCKING WEST to produce and feature on one of their songs, Malik Yosef spit a whole poem on the intro and they had Darkchild’s entire production team easing them into the language differences and again, unless you’re a K-POP fan, you wouldn’t know that KANYE WEST was a JYJ fanboy.

• 2NE1 has Will. I. Am in their back pockets. He has flown to Korea so many times for their American langauge LP, you’d think it’d be hard to notice. But it was.

  

  G-Dragon of Big Bang had a callabo with Flo-Rida and Laurie Anne from Diddy’s Making the Band is the executive creative director of Big Bang’s ALIVE tour. Who has heard a song?

  

  I could keep going; Common, Kid Cudi, Tyga Quincy Jones…all of them.

  

  
  

  But after all of the collaborations and traveling and collective culture sharing, guess who finally got the American’s attention?

  
  

  PSY a rapper signed with YG entertainment -tooted as the urban home of the mainstream BIG THREE companies- has managed to take the world by storm with his newest single “OPPA GANGNAM STYLE.” The video has gone viral, reaching 12 million views in less than two weeks.

  

  It has also captured the attention of a lot of big name celebrity who have flown to Twitter to rant and rave about it. Mainly. T-Pain.

  
  

  Even CNN picked up on the noise PSY was making in waves.

  Simply stating, PSY ability to make light of his art, be GOOD at it, and at the same time STYLE on you about the amount of money he makes and the amount of money YOU DON’t…well he deserves all the craziness.

  I’m outtie. If you haven’t seen it, watch it. You’ll enjoy. Trust. (Gallops out of the post)

Being one of the biggest KPop headliners with an international fanbase that rivals most homegrown artist, Big Bang has managed to do it once again with their mini-LP release of “Alive.”

As one of the premier groups who effortless mix the khip-hop phenomoenon with the ever growing K-pop sound, Big Bang has garnered the attention most would kill for. With their label mates 2NE1 tentatively releasing a statewide English album under the production of Brown Eye Pea’s producer Will. I. Am, Big Bang themselves landed themselves center stage of Time.Com

With each song on the mini-Lp being a “title” track, we are expecting to see a music video for each song. So far Blue and Fantastic Baby (which has the international internets going nuts) have been released. But the track “Bad Boy” which was shot on the street of New York, seems to be my personal favorite. The smooth vocals of Daesung and Seungri, mixed with G.Dragons own personal flair, on top of Taeyang dancing (Everywhere; I tell you the man will Dougie with the best of them at the drop of a dime if given the chance) and T.O.P’s undeniable deep baritone rapping makes me want to never stop playing this sound.

Check it out.

(With English Subs)

Don’t forget to check out Taeyang dancing every given moment they allowed him to, G.Dragon’s weave, and T.O.P’s skull piece.

I haven’t done the K-Pop thing a minute, and I tend not to because I realize it’s my love and if I get to blogging about it all the time, I might go crazy in excitement (That’s what my Tumblr is for). BUT whenever I find something that COULD be a transitive to any POPish/HipHopish culture stream that we have in the U.S, of course I’m going to write about it.

B.A.P (Best Absolute Perfection, which the netizens are calling Blond Asian People…which is just hilarious) is a new band who just released a new single and video and MY MY MY are they going crazy over it. Usually because KPop is full of flower pretty boys who sing about love and glitter and rainbows. But when a group is full of argoance and as much “gutter” as a KPop group can get, then that substantive setting apartness they capture is always a unique experience that fans eat up. (Previous groups that have captured that are Big Bang and Block B).

Here is WARRIOR. Set in some dark PLACE (I don’t know club, alley, abandoned dystopian parking lot, take your pick). Couple of things that made me put this on repeat.

• -Ole buddy’s deep ass voice. Shit scared me. But you can’t help liking it. It was unexpected.
• -The DANCING is gritty and violent. Nothing pretty about it at all.
• -Zelo’s speed rap @ 1:46 is mention worthy. VERY mention worthy.
• -The Stomp The Yard montage at the 2:44, had my mother, NPHC greek since the 70’s, SCREAMING her ass off. (Mind you, my mom is a KPopper too, but she was thoroughly impressed at this)

They are doing a good job at building a fanbase already (early Zelo and Bangs releases help build momentum) but with Warrior’s release, I’m sure they are going to go far at solidifying their way into stardom.