Psy doesn’t understand why some Asian artists try to act American

[soramai.livejournal.com]

Psy recently guested on QTV‘s ‘Talk Asia‘ and expressed his concerns about why some Asian artists try so hard to “act American.”

Psy stated, “I don’t know why, but I think there are a lot of Asian singers who try to act American. I’m not an American, so it wouldn’t make sense for me to act like one. I want to maintain my status, career, and nationality.”

When asked what the secret to his worldwide success is, he stated, “When I was on the plane to attend to some American schedules, I thought of different ways to introduce myself to the world. They were mostly thoughts about what kind of position I had to put myself in for the future.”

He continued, “After much deliberation, the answer was simple: be what I am, Korean. That’s one of the reasons why I chose to introduce myself before I began dancing on ‘The Ellen Show‘.”

The 20-minute interview done with CNN correspondent Alina Cho will air on December 1st.

I only find this 2:44 video of the interview on yt. :(

source: allkpop, ChannelDaily

Comments

[reelrecnizereel.livejournal.com]

Dying at the truth

[21banged.livejournal.com]

This thread is flaw-free :')

[liferule91.livejournal.com]

"That’s one of the reasons why I chose to introduce myself before I began dancing on ‘The Ellen Show‘.”

shade shade shade shade

i remember complaining about ellen being rude and not introducing him and thinking it was sad that he had to do it.

[ashiva.livejournal.com]

Ellen introduced him though. But he himself made the situation awkward by following Korean style and introducing himself again (you know how even if you were some top star everyone knows you still say hello I'm ... in Korean shows).

[miwa201.livejournal.com]

I think what he meant is that he doesn't understand why kpop acts who are trying to break the American market do that in an American style (see the Wonder Girls and SNSD). Still, the fact that he comes from YG and he says something like this is pretty hilarious.

[akaich0u.livejournal.com]

I think he is also forgetting that JYP very deliberately tries (tried?) to keep the WG in their own style...otherwise they wouldn't have promoted with Nobody, 2DT or Be My Baby at all. I would say it's different from SNSD who tried to break the market with an Americanized track like The Boys first, which is a move WG didn't try til very recently (Like Money).

Of course when WG were still doing things like Nobody and 2DT in the US you had people complaining they weren't American enough, so it's damned if you do, damned if you don't.

[uledy.livejournal.com]

We don't understand either, PSY. Make no type of sense.

[erbalurbal.livejournal.com]

he will understand soon enough

[akaich0u.livejournal.com]

mte. Also did he not remember his own label mate Se7en's US attempt? I like Psy but him saying this is like.....sorta indicative of him not grasping Gangnam Style being an exception and not a trend, which is weird cause I thought he was more self aware .

[decimatedreams.livejournal.com]

i don't understand this shit AT ALL

i don't get what it means to 'act american', or how psy/gagnam style is not western-style pop. someone, please enlighten me.

[brackdiamon.livejournal.com]

'Acting American', aka people like GD and Taeyang who are often called try-hard for trying to emulate the Hip Hop swag. The funny thing with them is that I'm sure they they have a genuine fascination for it, but still. To most Americans, I think they'll just look like a derivative Asian copy of the acts already out in America. Same thing with SNSD, even though us as fans may enjoy it.

[ashiva.livejournal.com]

If he means acting like you were from hood I agree, but even he himself does act in Korean and American shows a bit differently apart that start of Ellen show which confused people to think that Ellen hadn't introduced him even if she did. Also music he does is very strongly influenced by western artists.

[p-jae.livejournal.com]

He says promoting a dance/electronica song derived from current western pop trends.
I agree with him in the respect that YG's (in particular) artists do all this 'from the hood' shit, which is so embarrassing I could cry. You can be a good rapper without the bling/hoodies. Geez. But pop music is very much a global thing. Everyone's influencing everyone. KPop is hardly original.

[brackdiamon.livejournal.com]

'from the hood' shit

Exactly! It kind of amazes me that GD can have all of these fan girls that think he's oh so cute for that, when he really just wishes he was genuinely hood. It's such a fake and transparent act, idgi. I think it has to do with some people being Asiaphiles.

[asnindie.livejournal.com]

There's a difference between going as you are, PSY likes to sing and dance and have fun, he's not yet changed himself to adhere to the US. He's right about trying to be too American but yet no real Kpop act has tried to break the US trying to be overly American so..

[brackdiamon.livejournal.com]

What was Se7en featuring Lil Kim though? Not to mention BoA singing an album full of auto-tuned Britney-reject tracks.

[iznanassi.livejournal.com]

I agree and disagree, you should just be yourself and stop trying to emulate other people that already exist, then again if yourself is like an "american" or w/e that means there's no reason for you to feel bad or any less korean.

[chungmah.livejournal.com]

bazinga

[sandra-hall.livejournal.com]

4 for you psy coco

[21banged.livejournal.com]

The irony of a YG artist saying this...lmao

But in all seriousness, it's difficult for a any foreign act to make it in the US without being Americanised. Gangnam Style was an exception, and for all we know, PSY may end up like a one hit wonder. So many have before, but he doesn't seem aware of that. He can say stuff like 'why do they act so Americanised', but he would have understood better if he'll understand soon methinks.

[brackdiamon.livejournal.com]

Why do people think it's an irony when all he has in common with YG artists for the most part is the label?

[charlieu.livejournal.com]

This is really annoying. Duh, you adapt to your market. He's just lucky comedy translates a lot easier.

[aleash1989.livejournal.com]

"Duh, you adapt to your market."

This! There is a way to do that right and a way to do that wrong. DBSK's Japanese stuff and Se7en's American attempt come to mind. DBSK's Japanese stuff sounds Japanese (most of it) and adapted to the Japanese market well, but still has the DBSK color to it, while Se7en was clearly just trying to make music the American public would like and feature someone "popular." YG was more than a few years to late on Lil Kim, and Girls didn't seem very Se7en to me.

[realme21.livejournal.com]

I actually think of YG artists :/ The hiphop swag/Chrome Hearts got to go at some point. Taeyang's dougie needs to rest in peace. He looks like an earthworm doing it.

..............
Some Koreans are very nationalistic ie my classmate.

[windygables.livejournal.com]

My roommate too. She wasn't even born in korea nor ever been there longer than a month but she's always touting that everyhing korean is better I don't quite get what the big deal of being so nationalistic

[windygables.livejournal.com]

I do admire him for wanting to be true to himself but he did make it awkward on Ellen, it's not about just being korean and true to himself but being mindful of cultural differences too and what people can or can't understand because of a lack of knowledge. He wants to leave his mark but he has to actually get a second hit before saying that.

[sakura-holic.livejournal.com]

Hmmm..... Everybody is referring to some of the groups who tried to break into the american market and all but maybe this just refers to the general behavior of some idols who are trying to e like Americans thinking it's cool. It's the same among us too! I always see some people in my school behaving like their 'too cool' to have the hottest chick as their girlfriend or just because they have girls/boys behind him or her. Maybe it relates to the influence or western side and not to particularly those people who tried to break into America.

[creepink.livejournal.com]

Gangnam style wasn't even intended for a western audience and suddenly he's an expert on how to break the US market.

[mjspice.livejournal.com]

He's not wrong tho. Many of the acts try to "Americanize" themselves for the sake of debuting in America & flopped hard. Then we see PSY who didn't even do any of that & suddenly is one of the most popular artists in the world. He got lucky but doesn't mean everyone else will be able to do the same tbh even if they un-Americanize themselves. :S

[staaan.livejournal.com]

i agree with him to an extent but this still sounds pretty hypocritical coming from him, considering that the main reason 'gangnam style' became a hit worldwide was because of the comedy factor. one successful single doesn't make you an expert on this stuff, bb.

[45s.livejournal.com]

Damn, shots fired

[pikapika217.livejournal.com]

GRADE A SHADE THROWING BOO