Op-Ed: Why Wonder Girls are important
The Wonder Girls are coming to America and they are not doing it with cellular store autograph signings. These girls will be introduced to the screaming teeny bopping masses on the biggest stage in America when it comes to age 5-17 girls. If you dare underestimate the power that little girls have, just ask the Olsen twins and their billion dollar conglomerate.
I am a JYP fan. No, not just a fan of his protégés like Rain, g.o.d., and the Wonder Girls (even though I love all three), but I am a fan of him, Park Jin Young, the artist and person. I am not jumping on some band wagon just because he is doing really well these days… don’t get me started on how one of his first ballads is still my favorite song of all time or how one summer vacation in Korea my older cousins were forced to drive hours in addition to sneaking a very underaged fan (me) in to see him perform at a tiny countryside night club. So I will be the first to tell you that I may be a little biased when I say that what JYP is doing right now is very important.
I was at a Korean American festival a few years back when JYP introduced himself to a couple hundred 2nd generation Koreans before Rain’s performance. He told us that day that he was working on something really big, music and artists that we would want to share with our non-asian friends…something that he hoped would make us proud. Maybe it’s because JYP knows how it feels to be asian in America, after all he did spend substantial teenage years living here…but while everyone there at the time quietly dismissed his claims for a future asian music take over, it was hard to dismiss the sincerity in his voice.
There are going to be plenty of people who question JYP’s motives. Money, fame, glory- sure, could all be part of it but I will venture to say that JYP is more than that. When I saw him that one summer, performing like a mad man in front of an audience of 20-30 disengaged club customers, he was someone who really loved what he did and appreciated the audience, however small of a number they were, however “useless” they were in the scheme of the whole “fame” thing.
Well wishes for the Wonder Girls as they set off to conquer America later this month are not without reservations, and rightfully so. While the Wonder Girls are talented performers, very cute, and hard working, is there a chance that their talent and personalities could be lost in translation? yes. Should their english be better at this point before jumping off the cliff? of course. Could they fail in stirring prolonged interest outside of Asia? yes.
But in every new cultural movement, there has to be frontrunners. If these girls are the beginning of asians becoming more prevalent in global media, popular arts, and entertainment industry… what they are doing, what they are attempting, is very important.
While some fans of JYP and the Wonder girls would rather that they stay in Asia where there is no chance of failure, for me it comes down to this:
I think it’s pretty dang cool that my seven year old cousin who idolizes Hannah Montana and the Jonas brothers will be able to see a group of girls that look like her confidently share a stage in America with her favorite idols. When I was her age, I never could have imagined anything like that possible. If these young Wonder Girls are willing to be among the first to take that bold and scary step, then I say let’s get behind them and cheer them on… loudly.
By the end of their little Jonas Bros. appearances, the WGs will still be unknowns in America. All this Disney Channel connections, blah, blah will still only apply to the teenybopper acts who happen to be american. Yeah the WGs will still suck, but they’ll only sell in Korea and other asian nations. The WGs little stint will come and go just like Boa’s album, radio appearances and Se7en’s horrible singles. All three will be joining Rain back in Korea by the end of the year, licking their collective US debut wounds!
“All this Disney Channel connections, blah, blah will still only apply to the teenybopper acts who happen to be american.”
Here’s where your argument fails:
“The Walt Disney Company, often simply known as Disney, is the largest media and entertainment conglomerate in the world, it has become one of the biggest Hollywood studios, and owner and licensor of eleven theme parks and several television networks, including ABC and ESPN.”
I’m sorry, but Disney isn’t weaksauce. Even if its three seconds, they’ll have major exposure. Out of all the current entertainment companies in America it has the most diverse line-up of talents, so even if Wondergirls aren’t American, Disney is their best bet because they are still ahead of the game in diversity.
Everyone knows that America has problems with racism and xenophobia, but that still doesn’t change the fact that the Wondergirls have stumbled upon a huge opportunity and will probably have the most success, making them the forerunner of this “movement”.
Good luck to the Wonder Girls. i will support them and hopefully if they do make, JYP and others will bring along other artist that are more age appropriate for the 18-30 set. And some Asian American artists in the future….
All the sources regarding this Jonas Brothers tour are coming from Korean websites. Even places like Tiger Beat site their source as allkpop. I haven’t seen any official news from the official Jonas websites, american news, or anything. If it’s true, the people at the concerts aren’t gonna know about anyone except the official opening acts Jordin Sparks and Honor Society, the WGs aren’t even listed! Aside all that, the WGs are a joke! No talent, no english skills, nothing. Is this how Korea wants to be represented? Sad.
great article
The Wonder Girls will not be “important”. I see no indication what-so-ever that JYP/Wonder Girls are “cultural frontrunners”. If I were to define cultural frontrunners in changing music history, The Beatles would be one of the first to pop into my mind and if you think the WG are at the same level as the Beatles then you need to get your head out of the clouds!!!!!!! I am an Asian-American and I love, love, love kpop. But seriously: a) They don’t write their own songs; b)Not all of them can sing very well; c) Most importantly, THEY ARE NOT BRINGING ANYTHING NEW TO THE TABLE. Now, one could say the same about a lot of other American artists (i.e. Britney Spears) who are super famous and popular. But that’s all they are. Popular. Popular DOES NOT EQUATE to revolutionizing the music industry.
Good article, but I have to disagree with you on this..
I show WG performance to my friend yesterday and she is a very open minded girl, she know it took more than just a talent to survive in the industry, good body and pretty face can get you far but once she hear So Hee sing, she just wondering how can she debut as a singer…
I still rooting for Cherice. I would not support WG just because they are Asian. I hear the Nobody US version and it’s not better than the korean version. I don’t see the improvement beside the english, which they should because they sing in english.
Sometime failure can make you far. Maybe if they taste the real world in USA they will improve themselves to be better and work twice harder. When that happen, then I will support them because I like hard working people. So far everything is given to WG in silver plate.
For JYP, now he’s the one who deserves a kudos. Although sometimes his decision are questionable.
i hoep they do well, no dout about it!
i too hope they do well. let’s go wondergirls!
I thought Se7en and BoA had better chances of making it in the USA, and they failed. They can both dance and sing, well they don’t have spectacular voices, but they can dance and have much more experience that WG artistically. Their american singles were catchy. I respect what JYP attempts to do, but seriously if Se7en, BoA, Bi-Rain, and even japanese artist Utada were not accepted there I don’t see how WG can make it. Also, the USA likes artists close to their own standards, that’s why Se7en and BoA had to change a little, work with american producers, collaborate with american artist (Sean Garrett, Lil Kim) and they still didn’t make it. Well maybe the difference will be the Disney collabo this time, but I really don’t see anything big happen. Good luck to them though.
it’s funny how loosely some of you are using the word “fail” with all these artists.
How do you know if they “failed” or not when they haven’t completely stopped their album activities? some artists take more than one time to get recognized. Lady gaga is on her second contract. Some people get lucky some others have to take time and even some years to get big. *GASPS*
I do agree with most points. it’s nice seeing Asians trying to cross over. It’s not nice seeing those who are not prepared completely go at it, though. it’s down right frustrating. Even a month later their english version of NObody could have sounded better. Even witht he preview im already annoyed with sohee’s huge accent.
I don’t have anything against your own preference and opinion. I also don’t have anything against Wonder Girls debuting in USA. It’s their choice. Some arguments talked about talent (like composing songs, dancing, etc). To me, if a song is good, then it’s good. If a singer can sing that song well, then kudo for that singer. Singing well is also a talent. Dancing well is a talent. Composing a good piece is a talent. Give credit when it’s due. So for example if Wonder Girls as well as any other groups or singer(s) can’t compose most (even all) of songs they sing but they sing it well, give credit to them (say hello to Norah Jones, Celine Dion, TLC, etc) – sorry that I still don’t see ’singing talent’ in Wonder Girls though (I can image other girl group singing Nobody as successfully as Wonder Girls. That song itself is catchy and easy to sing, that’s it to me).
However, I’ve got some frowning with “If these girls are the beginning of asians becoming more prevalent in global media, popular arts, and entertainment industry… what they are doing, what they are attempting, is very important.”
This sentence itself sounds like a conceited statement to me. It’s like Wonder Girls will play an important role for Asian singers in general.
If you mean Wonder Girls can do wonders for KPOP acts to be known more in America, yes, I’ll check it back if I’ve got time or when I’m in the mood for some light-hearted listenning like now.
But if you mean Wonder Girls will do wonders for Asian (“beginning of asians”), I beg to differ and would like to recommend you to go out of Kpop bubble before writing this Op-Ed post. Why?
1, Say hello to Kitaro (among many). He’s the one Americans respect and thus, Asians can be proud of. That is if we are talking about music, talent and “open American eyes about Asians”.
2, Talk about pop music in particular, I would like to say hello to Charice for instant. Hey, she’s Filipino but she’s Asian, ok? Her voice isn’t as matured as Whitney Houston or so, but she’s around the age of Wonder Girls. So if you mean to give time for Wonder Girls to improve English, then give time to Charice to be second Whitney Houston or so too.
3, Talk about kpop, you can put JYP to pedestal for all you want. But when writing an Op-Ed, i would recommend you not to belittle other Kpop crossover attempts and just blissfully put “let’s get behind them and cheer them on… loudly”. As far as I see many Kpop crossovers are still at the beginning. And most of them do not target only teens so far. But that doesn’t mean they don’t work hard and don’t deserve your “cheer loudly”.
If you talk about marketing strategy, yes, this can be a promising one. Teens tend to be easily influenced. So if by “American”, you mean American teens, then yes, it can be a boom. Disney’s got power but that doesn’t mean American audience in general will take Wonder Girls seriously like they show respect for Kitaro (among many above). Don’t talk about Disney’s power on Billboard lately either please. Popularity and thus fame (read: money), yes. And that’s it. JYP wants fame as far as I see by now. So do SM and YG. I don’t see any difference between those 3 in USA invasion attempt. Just that JYP chooses to display his ‘ambition’ nicely (like a true singer, according to your post), SM choose to display brutally and directly his ambition for money while YG chooses to ‘talk big’ (create craze first).
This is by any means to discard or belittle Wonder Girls and their work. They can work in their own ways – whether it’s half-ass or not. I simply listen to their Nobody song when I’m not in the mood for say, rock. I’m Asian but I don’t want to “cheer loudly” for Asian just because they are Asians and having opportunity to expose BIG in America by singing some pieces that I don’t feel touched or moved by it. I give kudo (not cheer loudly though) for YJP for this big exposure business strategy and that’s it.
Sorry for long comment. But I feel quite disappointed by quality of SeoulBeat’s Op-Ed posts lately, which is the only section I visit SeoulBeat (in previous Op-Ed posts, I find you witty, more in-depth but still down-to-earth comparing to other Kpop sites).
I know this is still somewhat a personal blog, but seeing it displays more of teeny-fancy preference in Op-Ed section, I feel pity and painful somehow. Yea, my 5-cent sentimental. Excuse me.
Sorry, thinking too fast comparing to typing. There’s an error.
This is NOT by any means to discard or belittle Wonder Girls and their work.
well, JYP might be a “genius” BUT why WG???
it’s not that we’re not supporting him and WG but i mean, seriously, WG ?
if he’s targeting the tweenies market right from the start then fine.
i can’t see how 13y.o. girls will help with this “movement” thingy, though.
and their english isn’t up to par yet.
i agree with someone’s mentioning charice.
do you ever think why asian fans have at least lesser “doubts” for her than for WG???
if you know why, that same reason is the biggest flaw in JYP’s plan IMO =(
all in all, props for JYP and WG for the efforts.
I love this article.
I really hope that WG can make it big in america.
I hope they`ll be successful.
WGFTW <3
Well, I like Wonder Girls and all but as much as I want to see them succeed, I don’t think they’re ready. I mean, it’s only been TWO years since they first debuted O_O I think that JYP should not debut them in America (yet) since they still have more things to polish up on (including speaking in English) before they can go for world domination lol.
What happened to JYP’s other artists in the USA? Like Lim Jeonghee who was supposed to debut in the US, and then there’s G Soul, Min… what happened to those guys?
To be honest, the people are being too critical about the whole accent thing in songs. It adds an Asian flavour to it. After all they are born and bred in Korea. It’d be weird NOT to have an asian accent.
I do hope the Wonder Girls make it big, it’ll be fantastic to see some Western recognition. Because if this happens, I feel Asians born in American/Britain/Australia who want to crack the music industry will get a bit of leverage.