I write a lot of about Korean Pop. I know. I love it. Sue me. Eventually French, Japanese and others may make into the mix but for now, Hallyu wave it is.

There is a reason, though. Soon you will see these artist in the United States, on MTV and VH1, and I don’t want you guys to be surprised. Producers such as Teddy Riley, Kanye West, Common and Will. I. Am, have taken a feverish interest in the Hallyu wave, so it’s only a matter of time before this music (albeit in English) washes us on our shores.



Besides the Wonder Girls (who are traveling all across America now), the next group you’re more than likely to see blowing up all over the place, is 2NE1. Will. I. Am has taken a heavy interest in them, producing most of the tracks that will appear on their English language album. It could be the talented voices of Dara, Pak Bom, Minzy and CL. It could be the charisma of the four ladies, especially of their Leader CL. YG Entertainment is more aligned with a hip hop urban feel which differentiates the ladies from other female pop groups. Either way, the ladies of 2NE1 are already making music that will definitely fit in with the Pop laced radio airwaves here in America. Here are a couple of their videos.

Check them out. (English Subtitled)

“FIRE”


“It Hurts (Apeyo)”

Park Jaebeom also know in South Korea and the States as Jay Park has been pinging off radars for a while (the radars under the surface, like submarines do, woodie). Born in Seattle and then scouted for JYPE entertainment in South Korea, Jay was once the leader of famous idol group 2PM until his departure. Since then he’s been signed to another label and has hit the ground running with his solo act.

He was chosen as the opening act for Ne-Yo when the singer did his first South Korean concert and performed “Love” with Musiq Soulchild in the same vein.



Collectively, as reported on allhiphop.com (@allhiphopcom), Park is recording under Teddy Riley and has completed tracks with Snoop Dogg and T-Pain. They will appear on his first solo album.

Check out Level 1000 by Jay Park feat DOK2.

@jaybumaom

Do ya’ll even know what Hari Kari is…nevermind.

Okay! So I peeped this a month or two ago, and I realized that as hot as it was, it really didn’t get the shine I thought it deserved. Nick and Amy, founders of Karmin music, apparently are the ruling monarchs of the modern day YouTube cover.



Nick a musical genius (who plays a MEAN trombone – check out the All of The Lights Cover) and Amy with her smooth vocals and sulty sound have come together to take YouTube by storm with their covers of various songs such as Forget You by CeeLo Green, Set Fire to the Rain by Adele and enough hip hop covers to make you wonder where have they been hiding these two. Here are a couple of their rap covers.

The more famous of the bunch, the Look At Me Now Cover. Amy pretty much sees Busta on this then matches him. Nick is tearing that keyboard up!



I think I’m in love with Amy.



Here are them doing a set with the Roots at Tufts University (Look at Me Now Cover)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L3A9Biseb4s

You can check out Amy and Nick on their Youtube page @ Karmin Covers
or at http://karminmusic.com/
@karminmusic

But in reality nobody knows, right?

Producers in the music industry do a lot of moving and shaking. Much like the artist, they do so to get their name, and sounds known. Unlike artist tho, they tend to have a stonger staying power because they tend to be able to adapt their sound. There are producers that stay primarily within a realm comfortable them ( a particular genre or sound ) and then there are artist who go beyond that. FAR beyond that.

Teddy Riley? Yeah. Mr. All I Wanna Do Is a Zoom Zoom Zoom in Yo Boom Boom? It’s been years since I’ve heard his name come up in a conversation about music that wasn’t mocking him in years. Teddy Riley, of GUY and BlackStreet fame, has two stepped his way into the Korean music market with groups such as Big Bang, Jay Park and his new love, the girl group Rania.




Guys, you may REALLY like this video…hell Gals, too.

Teddy was recently featured on a popular TV show Inkigayo, where he witnessed first hand artist such as the legendary DBSK and Big Bang and apparently liked what he saw.


(Here is Teddy in Korea, living it up, meeeting up with Big Bang, and speaking on working with Rania.)

Kanye West and Darkchild. Yeah, ya boy Yeezy took to the group JYJ extra hard, by actually featuring himself on one of their tracks. All you stateside bums couldn’t get Yeezy to press the beat machine two times for you, but here he is. He brought along with him Rodney “Darkchild” Jenkins to help him produce JYJ’s first English language track “Aye Girl”. Malik Yusef, a famed poet is also featured on the song.

If you want to see Rodney speak highly of Junsu, Jejung, and Yuchun, read this article.
Living Life Like There’s No Damn Rules

Will. I. Am has always marched to the beat of his own drum. So it’s no wonder that when we found out that Mr. I Am had pretty much adopted the group 2NE1 and is intriciatly involved in their Stateside American release, we weren’t surprised. Will. I. Am has been flying to Korea often to meet up with the four girls of 2NE1 (Dara, Pak Bom, C.L, and Minzy) to discuss everything related to them becoming the next best thing here in America.





Movers and Shakers, for real. They get their work in. And I appreciate it.