The Ellen Show interviewed Twice at KCON, say they're happy BTS paved the way for K-Pop in the US

[goshipgurl.livejournal.com]

The Ellen Show send their reporter Kalen Allen to KCON where he met K-Pop fans, got a makeover by Irene Kim, danced to BTS' Fake Love with the help of choreographer Kevin Nguyen and finally got the chance to interview Twice (with Amber as an translator). He asked them if their groupname TWICE has any meaning or if they simply like the number 2 and how they feel now that K-Pop has reached global status after BTS appeared on Ellen, to which Jihyo replied "We never thought K-Pop would become so popular in America, but because BTS paved the way and gave us an opportunity to become more known, we're very thankful and want to promote more in the states." No words on how their former labelmates Wonder Girls feel about this answer.

source: TheEllenShow

OMONA, did BTS and not BoA, SNSD, WG, Psy and others pave the way for K-Pop in the US?

Comments

[torontok.livejournal.com]

OP lmao

[katheli.livejournal.com]

BTS DID pave the way, at least for the new influx of interest from interviewers & channels to interview K-Pop acts and give them cute skits to do etc. Promoters might be more interested too, more likely to take a risk.

People use "pave the way" for like anyone who ever went to the US before, but honestly the other acts mainly showed how NOT to go about it. They still did great within their timeframe and state of the industry and are all amazing acts but BTS succeeding in the US has very little to do with anything that happened years before they even debuted.

I'd say Wonder Girls, SNSD, BoA etc created a K-Pop community in the US, which BTS definitely benefited from, but BTS' success is due to reaching an audience beyond that niche K-Pop community and getting a lot of new fans into them. I don't know if that has translated into better sales for other groups too, but it's possible. There's definitely a boom for K-Pop in the West right now and BTS are leading that wave.

Legit every celeb in Korea has acknowledged that, it's only international fans who keep arguing about it. BTS' impact is undeniable.

[goshipgurl.livejournal.com]

I think BTS success in the US is because they have a rabid fanbase that basically harassed every media outlet to play their songs and write about them, and because one direction went on hiatus and a majority of their fans jumped on the BTS bandwagon. And as someone else already said, BTS paved the way for their group but not the rest. Like in this case, they interviewed Twice but asked them about BTS. I remember Tiffany doing an interview after she dropped her single and she was asked about BTS. It's not about Kpop or other groups, it's always about BTS.

[merlugd.livejournal.com]

It was Psy.

[goshipgurl.livejournal.com]

I forgot about Psy but you're right!

[cosmicdaze.livejournal.com]

i still think bts rly only paved the way for themselves tbh, which is fine and they're completely deserving of it ofc

on twitter i've seen an influx of new bts stans that only care abt bts and use the word "multi stan" like it's a slur so idk what it is abt that fandom but there's definitely an extreme dedication to bts that i've not rly seen w other fandoms? excluding my first few months as a kpop fan when i only stanned shinee but was still checking out every band to see who i liked i've always been a multi stan and i only ever befriend multistans so this kind of militant gatekeeping is rly weird to me. i know this is how they do it in korea too but it doesn't appeal to me

also this is the third year in a row i've gone to kcon and i feel like the sunday show was the emptiest i've ever seen staples...maybe it was just the lineup but i still don't bts' popularity here is spreading to other groups

[a-suitcase.livejournal.com]

This is my feeling re: BTS too. They have many fans in the US who are super dedicated, but just to them, and not to kpop in general.

[ostsiberia.livejournal.com]

I agree with all the artists listed so far, but I also want to add that SHINee needs credit here too. Every bts fan I know irl and many I have interacted with online, began their journey into kmusic because of SHINee.

[pourtant.livejournal.com]

!!! the entire reason i stumbled upon my first bts mv (dope) was because the view mv had singlehandedly re-ignited my interest in kpop and i was checking to see if my friend had done a reaction video to it

[lostintheechoes.livejournal.com]

cute. someday i would love to go to kcon. - or basically anywhere out of the state of wisconsin.

i wouldn't say BTS "paved the way", but they did give kpop more exposure to new heights.
the US is a hard market to crack, whether you are an international artist or even an american artist.

[daceymormont.livejournal.com]

I definitely think without the efforts of their seniors BTS wouldn't be where they are but they're obviously the most successful kpop artist in the US right now and giving kpop more exposure over there.

[purpleglaceon]

Boa, SNSD, and WG didn't really do much to get america interested in kpop. Psy, maybe yes, but he was mostly used as a joke. He might have helped BTS though.

[jackieee94.livejournal.com]

Everyone’s fave paved the way

[ostsiberia.livejournal.com]

Well yeah. It's not dismissive of their talent and hard work to say Bts had a well of established kpop fans to market to, and that well of fans wouldn't have exist without the groups that came before them and dug that well in the first place.

[nekokonneko.livejournal.com]

JYP himself (lol not to mention this very comm when BTS isn't the topic of conversation (https://omonatheydidnt.livejournal.com/11809495.html)) outright called the Wonder Girls venture in the US a big failure that he regrets, why is this still being debated in the year 2018?

As to this argument, BTS first won BBMA top social in May 2017. It is now August 2018; they have a second win under their belt, a number 1 album, sold out tour (including a last minute stadium), and are only gaining in fame and achievements. By this time period for Psy, the only other one who had real success in the US, the non-Korean market was starting to get tired of him and he only had sucess with a few singles. Psy unlocked the door, showed it was possible for a Korean song to dominate, but BTS kicked the door open.

[baekpedaling.livejournal.com]

I agree with the other comments, BTS paved the way for themselves. This hasn't really helped out anyone else.

[violoncelliste.livejournal.com]

i absolutely disagree. buzzfeed started interviewing various kpop groups after their bts video, billboard also writes more about kpop than they used to after bts got involved with them, fifa or whatever try to cause fanwars by pitching exo against bts which gives both groups exposure, that stupid 'everything wrong with' youtube channel started commenting on groups like red velvet and blackpink after they did bangtan's 'blood sweat & tears' and so on

i've been in kpop fandom far longer than bts has been around, before psy, before fantastic baby, before snsd'd i got a boy, and saying bangtan's success in america didn't make ppl more open to the idea of kpop than they had been before is just a blatant lie

[dior-chic.livejournal.com]

I wish the interview with Twice had more questions in general, or asked more questions about how they’ve become so popular in Korea. Then I remember this is for the Ellen Show so I shouldn’t really expected much....it was great seeing Amber there too

The interviewer is a bit much but it was a cute segment, albeit a little cringey (but what is kpop without some cringe amirite) The girls bonding over kpop/kcon was realllyyyyy cute. I like that they gave Cosmic Girls some love too

I thought maybe more people would comment on the video 🙃

[volume1995.livejournal.com]

who the fuck are we kidding it was CL who paved the way

[edanz-castle.livejournal.com]

Lol yassss!!! Had us all drinking Dr pepper.

[meggicchi.livejournal.com]

i don't know about other countries but i do believe bts paved the way for the us market.

also i think armys truly made a change with the kpop mentality, i remember a couple years ago kpop stans barely used to buy their fave's music and didn't care much about charting in other countries, but now everyone wants to chart high on billboard
because they realized that it can actually help their faves' careers.

[queenhinata.livejournal.com]

hey ;)

true, armys have intense buying power. which companies do notice.

[921227.livejournal.com]

If youre a big kpop fan, but not necessarily of current era bts, its a really frustrating time because im happy for them, but im irritated w everyone only talking about them to me && new fans are teenagers who are by nature some of the cringiest fans so...

[nekobot.livejournal.com]

Missing Queen Gyuri and her epic variety show appearances, can they please just fly her out and give her her own segment already

[edanz-castle.livejournal.com]

For the first of my life, I come from a not so known city in Florida, but I was shocked to see BTS was the only korean pop album I saw on Target shelves in my own neighborhood. And they were constantly selling out! Because of this, at my local mall places like Hot Topic and a nationally known music store dedicated to fandom cultures FYE (for your entertainment stores) actually put out request sheets of more things customers wanted to see in their stores. I legit have a picture of these lists of local people putting down several kpop artists merch and albums. Fast forward today, MY LOCAL FYE STORE AND HOT TOPIC STORES ARE SELLING FANDOM MONSTA X/GD/INFINITE MERCH AND KPOP ALBUMS! I bought an EXO album in FYE for 27.00USD. And surprisingly they had a lot of Exo's albums, the latest cbx albums, stray kids, got7,astro. Basically LEGIT KPOP ALBUMS I COULD ONLY BUY ONLINE or travel 2 hrs away to get.

In a big way I think BTS continues to carry that torch that was brought on by the acts before them. They have basically transcended what the others have tried to do. They are breaking records and I do think to a certain degree they bring attention to kpop in a way that its actually popping up in teen magazines, national stores are selling kpop albums and shirts. You can't totally discredit the way Rain, BoA, and The Wondergirls tried to breakthrough in America. Honestly with BTS, it was their fandom. But BTS didn't try to appeal to American artists the way JYP did with the Wondergirls or SM with SNSD. In a way it was organic/natural and the big companies always forced it. Before, no one asked for k-pop to come to America. I also think....maybe because the big companies never tried with boy groups before, maybe there was always an opportunity for a group of korean boys to come over and dominate but no one really tried?

[lostintheechoes.livejournal.com]

same in wisconsin... saw BTS in Target, then FYE had all the BTS albums and a couple EXO and SHINee albums. the FYE store manager said they only sell kpop artist who are popular at the time, when i inquired if they will get any other kpop albums in store, but still they're selling kpop albums locally!

[violoncelliste.livejournal.com]

influence comes in various ways. sure, big bang wg psy etc made people very much aware of kpop, but it's the first time american media is so open to actually interacting with kpop groups and we do have bts to thank for that. my god, ellen show going to freaking kcon and talking to twice is the best example of it.

just cause jihyo decided to give a short answer during a 5 minutes interview doesn't mean she doesn't know that imo

[mc1a.livejournal.com]

[violoncelliste.livejournal.com]

i don't know if you hit 'post' by mistake or not but this made me laugh anyway lmao

[by-venoms-sting.livejournal.com]

I never thought about why Twice is called Twice before (well at least not beyond JYPE being obsessed with numbers) so the explanation was neat.

[benihime99.livejournal.com]

Fandom paved the way lbr
BTS fandom did all the work and that is the major difference with other US venture. They got shit tone of support from their fans who harassed radio station and youtube channel.

Kpop is in general more 'mainstream' now and with the development of social network it's easier for fans to connect and make some noise for their fave.

BTS in itself didn't do shit, fans did. And they can undo it just as easily.

[nekobot.livejournal.com]

Yeah, not that SNSD would have gotten their levels of US success but people really need to take into account just how much fandom culture and social media changed in the past few years. There was no way to easily show that we wanted this type of content and that it would pay off for outlets to produce it. I still remember struggling to find a high quality version of their Letterman performance and you could forget being able to stream for charts or even buy anyone's album for a reasonable price. BTS were putting out top quality content years ago and no one was checking for them then - their social media strategy combined with their underdog image really worked wonders.

[maboroshi-i.livejournal.com]

some people take this "paved the way" thing too seriously especially on twitter, I've seen so many people get into useless arguments like i really don't think it's that deep. none of it is.
I think bts' popularity helped with more exposure for kpop overall. I dont think any of the previous groups/artists had the amount of impact that bts have had in the US and idk thats just something you'll have to accept eventually. nobody (i hope) intends to insult the efforts of any of the earlier acts by saying "bts paved the way".

[violoncelliste.livejournal.com]

There it is. I don't know why people are getting so defensive over this. As an older fan it pisses me off when armies forget about older groups' accomplishments, but it doesn't mean bangtan as in the group/fandom/whatever did nothing for kpop in the west. That's ridiculous.

[sra-interesante.livejournal.com]

... i mean groups that imo paved the way are mostly disbanded, in hiatus/MIA or already enlisted... so they cant even enjoy how relevant they still are between ifans
bts are for sure the most relevant rigt now and leading hallyu wave

i do agree with you op, girls should've mention another jyp acts (who knows maybe they did & they just cut it out) but we all know how hungry western media is for easy clicks and media hype from army lol i kinda agree with other comments saying bts fanbase deserve some credits

[jaelissi.livejournal.com]

I didn't want to play your game OP, but I'll give my two cents: BTS did pave the way for kpop to be taken seriously in the US misic industry. US media only care about attention and money and BTS is the one that showed them that kpop fandom is capable of getting them a steady stream of both. It wasn't PSY, WG n them who did that. PSY was never taken seriously as an artist or performer. He was the funny horse dance fat Asian guy. You only need one of those. WG has been a non-entity since I've been kpop-adjacent, so I can't speak on them (which is also kind of my point).

[mc1a.livejournal.com]

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[nekobot.livejournal.com]

I'm quite worried the foreign interest in media will start waning once other groups fail to pull in BTS levels of traffic. Western outlets have gotten super greedy, not to mention tons of them resorting to seriously cheap low level content that would never fly with a Western group just because they're used to BTS getting tons of support and traffic on whatever old crap they put out that has their name in it (BTS signature analysis? really?).

It sucks to think that we might slowly get a wave of more creative, cute, actually entertaining videos for other groups (finally the content we wanted in the first place) only for it to get scrapped later on because arranging anything with K-pop groups is still a huge pain in the ass and most people covering it now don't give a shit about anything other than furthering their own interests (whether it be meeting idols, promoting themselves or getting tons of easy traffic). BTS did have a huge impact in the interest in K-pop, but they also cheapened the way it actually gets covered dramatically - and asking other groups about them just to get those clicks is just so tacky.

I think it is great that they forced K-pop companies in Korea to finally get with the program and start caring about their overseas presence though. An increasing amount of Bangtan Bomb style homemade output is something I'd love to see from other groups as nothing else has filled the old school variety show gap just yet.

[merlugd.livejournal.com]

None of those ppl paved the way like BTS did no matter how much yall cry. Why? Because their companies didnt care and still dont care. See what happend here? Someone from the Ellen Show production team, a popular show in the US, asked Twices team for an interview and what happend? Twice didnt have an interpreter they had to ask to Amber, an artist from another company. Thats how well prepared they are to ~pave the way~, as good as the first time with WG, and even they can speak english.
When the first kcon happend (I think) SM sent exom because they thought it was the lesser unit for the lesser event, and what did they do? They only booked interviews with MNET in English, thats how much the BIG3 are and have always been interested in the western fandom. So the discussion is pointless, if the companies of the artists that you listed werent interested then what are beeing salty for? Also SNSD didnt even do good with their meet and greet in the US, I dont remember them having magazine interviews or anything there even with two native English speakers. SM wouldnt move. Doesnt want to move for their artists cause Im pretty sure that every two Army requests theres at least one EXOL request on Twitter.
IDK if BTS deserves it nor if their music is thaaat good, but what Im sure is that their company took the interest of the western fandom seriously and grab an oportunity that others didnt know how to handle.
Also I cant believe how some ppl still think that having a big fanbase supporting you on social media is bad. Right because TVXQ is still a sold out artist in Japan because they have two fans and fill up 30000 seats arenas with only their close friends and family. SMH.