Hooray! Lee Michelle from K-pop Star and the not so successful SuPearls is poised to make a comeback! I for one was unsure if we would ever get to hear from her again, but it seems like she’s coming back with a bang.
The teaser video gives us a taste of the concept as well as a bit of the song. The teaser is simple, a girl of (assumed) mixed heritage is shown throwing a paintball at an image of Lee Michelle with the sounds of children’s laughter in the background. It’s safe to be said that this video is going to showcase more than just Lee Michelle’s fantastic vocals.
[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Izcy4nP1GQE] The brief glimpse of the concept is very reminiscent of rap heavy weight’s Yoon Mi-rae’s “Black Happiness,” a song about Yoon Mi-rae’s experience growing up as the product of a Korean mother and a Black father in a country that is very vocal about what it thinks about race and beauty. Race and colorisim is still a big issue in Korea and it often leaks into K-pop through tasteless skits, insensitive songs and photo shoots. While Lee Michelle isn’t the first to deal with the race issues that plague Korea, she is one of the most recent. Her time on K-pop Star and her brief time with YG Entertainment was rife with racial commentary and criticism that was sometimes hard to swallow.
I for one am always happy to see artists to talk about more serious topics, and am thrilled to see her tackle an issues such as this right from the start. Most artists these days don’t stand a chance if they aren’t from a huge company, so it’s great to see that a company has not only signed her on but is giving her a thought out concept and not just an average pop song to ease her into the market. I can only hope that it’s a great song conceptually as well as musically. She’s going to have to give it her all to make it to the top and I’ll be rooting for her.
Are you excited that Lee Michelle is back? What do you hope for her debut?
(YouTube, Images via DIMA Entertainment)
