AMERICA... ARE YOU READY FOR BoA? BoA... IS AMERICA READY FOR YOU?

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1 IMAGE: BoA at her press conference announcing her US debut. Image courtesy of Avex Entertainment, Inc. AMERICA... ARE YOU READY FOR BoA? BoA... IS AMERICA READY FOR YOU? Korean and Japanese pop sensation, BoA, has her sights on America with her upcoming US CD single debut Eat You Up. BoA becomes the latest Asian pop star to try and crossover musically to the United States. But with the mediocre sales and failures of other well-known Asian pop divas and pop groups in the US, does BoA even have a chance in becoming a breakout hit in America? BY DENNIS A. AMITH, J!-ENT J!-ENT Celebrating our 15th Year Anniversary

2 B oa. Best of Asia. Bring on America. This was the message that the Korean based music label, SM Entertainment, wanted the world to know at a press conference held on Sept. 10. One of South Korea s successful female artists who has managed to not only succeed in her own country but to also crossover to Japan and also top the album and CD single charts and also become one of the biggest selling artist s for Japanese label avex trax. In fact, BoA is the highest selling artist on America s itunes among the many artists from any of the sub-labels of avex entertainment, Inc. And now the music artist who has a growing fandom all over the world will debut her US single Eat You Up (digitally) on Oct. 21 on itunes and MySpace. A physical CD release is tentatively planned for Nov. 11. Once the announcement of BoA s plans to release a single in America, teaser videos were posted on YouTube with many people all over the world wondering how the artist would sound when singing in English and also if she would showcase her dancing skills. There definitely was a level of excitement for BoA s American debut. When she debuted back in 2000 at the age of 13 with her debut album ID; Peace B, many were surprised to see a young teenager busting out dance moves like no other female artist at that time and quickly became a fan favorite among the artist on the SM Entertainment label, known to fans as SM TOWN. Also, in a surprise move, while her career was hot in Korea, her management and label decided to focus her talent in the Japanese music industry and she eventually became the first Korean artist to top the Japanese album charts with her Japanese debut album Listen to My Heart, which sold over a million copies. During her time in Japan, BoA spent a lot of her time studying multiple languages and at the press conference. Not only is she fluent in speaking Korean and Japanese but also speaking advanced English and beginning-level Chinese. Her popularity worldwide led to an invitation to perform at the New York- Tokyo Music Festival in 2003 (performing in Japanese) and has had several live concerts in the United States performing her Korean hits and attracting the large crowds for her performance. But this time, BoA will now embark on promotions of her debut US CD single in America with Eat You Up. An all English song that was produced by Swedish production unit Bloodshy & Avant, known for producing Britney Spear s mega-hit Toxic, Kylie Minogue, Jennifer Lopez, Jordin Sparks and also J-Pop artists Hikaru Utada and LISA. At her press conference, BoA surprised the media with a cast on her left arm and explained to the press that a day before the press conference, she slipped on a staircase and ended up fracturing her arm. She explained that she was told that it would take six weeks to heal and hopes for her arm to be ready by her US debut. But don t think a cast will slow this artist down. Many fans have been waiting for BoA to breakout, even several years ago when there were many news reports that she may star in an international film with legendary actor Jackie Chan. Of course, her management wanted her to focus on the Asian market then but now, her management said it s time to Bring on America! But can an Asian artist like BoA succeed in the US market outside of their current demographic of fans who are more appreciative of her Korean or Japanese music? Can BoA survive in the American music industry where so many Asian pop stars have failed? There have been a number of artists who have tried to crossover to the US and we have seen several cross over in the rock, jazz and classical musical genres. As for pop, of course in the late 70s, the most notable were the Japanese pop duo, PINK LADY (Mitsuyo Nemoto and SM Entertainment and BoA at a press conference to announce her US debut. Image courtesy of Avex Entertainment, Inc. 2 J!-ENT

3 BoA at her US debut announcement press conference and surprising the media with a cast on her left arm. Image courtesy of Avex Entertainment, Inc. Keiko Masuda) who literally sacrificed their Japanese music career to perform in the US. Broke into the billboard charts and also were the first to crossover and have their own television show in America ( Pink Lady and Jeff, 1980, and has received the distinction as one of the worst variety show ever in America). Of course, it was well documented that their lack of English knowledge proved to be the nail in the coffin for the two women. As we reach the mid to late 80 s, MCA Records had found a hit with the Polynesian brother and sister band known as the Jets. The Jets was one of the most successful bands in the US that were not Caucasian, Black or Latino and yet produced countless hit after hit with songs such as Curiosity, Crush on You, You Got it All and many other hit songs. The Jets managed to crossover and have their music enjoyed by a diverse American audience. The 1990 s would bring a number of Asian and Asian Americans who managed to enter into the Billboard dance charts but for the Billboard charts, popular Japanese pop star Seiko Matsuda would have a big hit in 1990 with New Kids on the Block s Donnie Wahlberg for the song The Right Combination. But although having two pop albums released in the US and having two more songs break into the top 10 of the Billboard Dance Charts, album sales were mediocre at best. In 1997, Sony was ready to bring another Asian artist to the US after Seiko Matsuda s attempts and this time with Japanese soul R&B artist, Toshi Kubota (TOSHI). TOSHI received airplay on the radio, college music TV and had success by collaborating with various major artist s within the modern soul world and performing throughout the US. Although having not received tremendous sales with his English album releases, he is the only pop star in Asia (specifically Japan) to have released three full-length albums in the US. Also, as an interesting side note, BoA sung a cover of Kubota s largest hit CD single La.La.La. Love Song for his Japanese tribute album. In 1998, one of Japan s top selling groups of all time, Dreams Come True, released the album Sing or Die. With lead vocalist Yoshida Miwa having sung several English songs for the Japanese soundtracks for films such as Sleepless in Seattle, unfortunately their album sales were also mediocre at best. In fact, there was hardly any promotion of their album and although a large number of their supporters turned out for their concerts in the US, the Japanese ratio versus American ratio for concert attendance was like 20 to 1 and many Japanese fans attended the event in hopes that Dreams Come True would sing many of their Japanese songs. In 1999, Hong Kong pop diva Coco Lee (who lives in the US and is fluent in English), was chosen by Sony to be their first Asian crossover star. After all, her albums had sold millions in Asia and the fact that she has the sex appeal, the vocals and that she was also fluent in English, you would imagine that she would have a chance breaking out in the US. But with the release of Just No Other Way, the artist sold hundreds of thousands of her US album in Asia but in America, her album didn t do well at all. In fact, when a lot of the Asian media received our press kits for Coco Lee, we received hardly anything but a photo and J!-ENT 3

4 press release. Very few of us received the album at all. Coco Lee even said in an interview that there was not enough money budgeted to properly promote her album. Fortunately, in 2000, millions of people saw her perform Love Before Time, an Academy Award nominated song from the film Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon on the televised award show. In 2005, Lee had a second chance for another English album with Exposed which received lackadaisical reviews in which she was compared with major American pop stars and that her music lacked any originality. In 2004, it was Hikaru Utada s turn to try and crack her way into the US mainstream. Having broken many sales records in Japan, for her US debut she was paired with producer Timbaland, featured on the Rush Hour 2 soundtrack and even had a fan-favorite English track on the popular video game Kingdom Hearts. Using her family name as her monicker in the US market, Utada s English album EXODUS only reached #160 on the US Billboard 200 charts. To her credit, she did have tracks that did chart on the Billboard Hot Dance/ Club Airplay with Devil Inside (#1) and Exodus 04 (#24). Again, in a similar situation to Coco Lee, there was a lack of promotion for Utada s album. There was so much excitement by fans and even Asian media to promote her but many complained that their requests for press media kits were never answered by Island Def Jam. The label made it up to press by having a one night live showcase with limited seating ($500 per ticket) in which Utada performed a six song set at Skylight Studios. But even at that event, many American press seemed interest in networking than paying attention to Utada perform. Surprisingly, that was the only major live performance in the US and although it was known that she had a busy schedule in Japan, you would have hoped that for a major US album push, there would have been more artist activity in events for her fans. As many have had their own criticism of the album, song selection and even towards the rampant piracy of the Japanese album before its US release. I was even interviewed by Japanese radio station J-WAVE on why her album 4 J!-ENT didn t do well in America. In 2004, the Japanese female pop/rock duo, Puffy AmiYumi, would eventually gain recognition by American audiences and eventually have their own animated TV show that featured live performances by the duo. They even had their own line of video games and toys. Although having had albums released in the US since 2000 (US releases of their Japanese albums), the group generated interest for their theme song for the popular Cartoon Network cartoon series Teen Titans which eventually led to their own Cartoon Network series and even a live televised performance at the Macy s Thanksgiving Parade. Although the spotlight has been on East Asian pop artists crossing over to the US, there have been others who have achieved success. Currently, British artist M.I.A. (Mathangi Maya Arupragasam), an artist of Sri Lankan Tamil descent has had her popularity surge and her song Paper Planes has achieved commercial success in Even before Paper Planes, other Asian entertainment writers have told me years prior to keep my eye on M.I.A. and to see her succeed commercially is great. We are also seeing an interest in Asian American talent such High School Musical starlet/music artist Vanessa Hudgens (Filipino, Spanish and Chinese descent) and Nicole Scherzinger (Filipino and quarter Hawaiian/Russian), vocalist of the Pussycat Dolls Of course, despite the popularity of these three women, most pop music listeners don t know that these women are of Asian descent. As for BoA, her management is emphasizing her career in Asia. Best of Asia is the message they want Americans to know about her. We know that she s sold millions of albums. We know of her success in Korea and Japan. But the question remains... is America ready for BoA? What will it take for her to succeed in America? Looking at the past US campaigns of previous Asian pop stars, Coco Lee, Hikaru Utada and even Puffy AmiYumi had the benefits of having movie and TV tie-ins. Coco Lee had her music featured on Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon and Runaway Bride soundtracks. For Utada, her music was featured on the Rush Hour 2 soundtrack, Queer as Folk TV episode and a popular video game. Puffy AmiYumi was featured on the movie soundtrack for Scoobie Doo and of course, their music was featured on television. Having these tie-ins have helped in the artist s being featured on major print publications as well. Not sure if BoA has any tie-ins but if there is one thing to take advantage of, that s her passion for choreography. With the current, strong interest in dance shows in America, it s definitely important to show America that BoA is an awesome dancer. As seen on her music video for eat you up, it s great to see that side of her showcased. With social media sites, blogs and community sites, labels and management need to tap into the media who are willing to promote BoA and a community that is ready to do the cyber-grassroots voluntary effort of online promotions. Of course, there are many other things that we learned from the marketing of the Asian pop artists and their US debut campaigns in the past that can be mentioned but when it s all said and done, in the end, it all comes down to the fans. And one of the major criticisms towards lackluster sales of Asian pop stars in the US have always been directed towards piracy. Since the CD single will be released on itunes and MySpace digitally, there is no excuse to say that one can t afford it. At 99 cents a song, please support BoA by purchasing the CD single upon release and if you have the chance, also by showing your support by attending any autograph, fan meet or live performance events that BoA will be attending for promotions. We know that she s busy in Korea and Japan but I hope to see BoA interact with her fans and potential music fans in America and not a one-event deal. Granted, it s easy to bring up past failures of other artists but the past is past and the present is now. BoA has reached success in many levels in her career and whether or not Americans are ready for her music... who knows. But for those who are ready... let s all try and support her US debut. DENNIS A. AMITH

5 A J!-ENT SPECIAL FEATURE ARTICLE AND INTERVIEW SUGIZO J!-ENT S WYNNE IP GOES ONE-ON-ONE WITH MUSICIAN/COMPOSER, SUGIZO INTERVIEW BY WYNNE IP PHOTOGRAPHY BY NERGENE ARQUELADA, ANGELO DELOS REYES & MIMI KO IMAGE COURTESY OF EINSOF MARKETING GROUP J!-ENT Celebrating our 15th Year Anniversary

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