Ludacris himself has recently expressed his opinions about kpop and YG’s influence in the hallyu wave and that if given the opportunity, he’d love to collaborate with YG Entertainment. Well, word has gotten out that Ludacris, Illinois-born rapper and actor, will be signing an MOU agreement with YG Entertainment beginning of next week. For those of us who have no idea what an MOU is, it is known as a memorandum of understanding and is, in essence, an informal contract with no legal backing between two parties collaborating for mutual interests. On the 19th, Ludacris will be in Korea to sign this MOU with YG and on the 20th will appear in a press conference to announce the agreement. He will be pursing his own musical endeavors within the label (I would not be surprised if he and Teddy become fast friends…) as well as releasing a new line of his luxury headphones “Soul by Ludacris” through YG Entertainment. As per this MOU, Ludacris will also be featuring in various productions for YG’s idol groups.
Personally, I don’t like Ludacris. But that’s beside the point. I think this is a smart business move that may even be a game changer in the long run for YG and music production in general. For some time now, mainstream pop has been largely a jumble of European mix beats, remakes [with the occasional plagiarism], and of course, the typical digital bubblegum pop that gets churned out of the k-pop music industry every ten seconds. Perhaps with Ludacris on the YG team to add some original hip-hop flavor, we may be nearing the dawn of a new aesthetic of the idol, both conceptually and musically. Of course, this is mere speculation: for all we really know, we may only see Ludacris’ face once or twice and then he might become another good rumor gone with wind. Still, its interesting to wonder just what YG and it’s artists will be coming out with after this MOU, how the other major music labels will respond to this shift in musical taste, and what crazed fans and netizens will have to say about it.
