Hello EVERYONE & HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!! I’M BACK!!!! Long time no see,
literally. BUT I’m back and if you have read the title (which you probably have
because I’m pretty sure that’s the reason you clicked on this post right like…duh
lol) But let me explain, confirm and inform y’all on this title.
So I recently graduated from the University of South
Carolina with my bachelors in Theater YAS!
And I have been thinking about my future and really
trying to figure out what I really want to do. I thought about this a lot in
college and I went through a lot of stress, which lead to self – doubt and
depression and the reason why is because on one hand I wanted to REALLY pursue my dreams
and stand in my truth but on the other hand I was scared to be judged negatively
by the people I grew up with and being looked at as the “weird one”.
A lot of people always thought I would do great things and I didn’t want to let
them down. Plus the lifestyle I want to lead doesn’t guarantee success, fame,
or financial stability. I didn’t want to be a disappointment in their eyes. I
also didn’t want to dishonor my family name. I was so confused and felt trapped
in my own confusion and frustration. I
prayed a lot during this time and talked to God asking him what I should do and
what is the right path for me and if K-pop wasn’t a part of that path I asked Him
to remove it from my life completely but if it was let the love for it [K-pop]
grow stronger. I thought I was going to have to let K-pop go but my love for it
just keep getting stronger and stronger and it wasn’t until after I graduated
and came back home I realized what I have to do; that this was my calling!
It was that time I realized I have to become a K-pop
idol/artist. I don’t just want to do it I HAVE TO DO IT! And when I realized it
all of my thoughts became clear and I understood my purpose and the reason why
I was born. I know this all sounds a little ridiculous right now but these are
my honest feelings. I have ALWAYS wanted to be a popstar like Beyoncé, Rihanna,
Janet Jackson, Britney Spears, etc… but never thought about becoming one until I got into K-pop. I can go into the reasons WHY I want to be a K-pop idol on another post because I have soooooooo many lol! ^_^
So after reading ALL of this, you are probably
wondering well what’s going to happen to the blog well…NOTHING! The blog will
still be here but the content on it will be a little different.
The next chapter of my life will be a whole journey
and I want to take y’all on this journey with me and that’s where this blog
comes in. I will be using this blog to show y’all my journey to becoming a
K-pop idol/artist. This blog will go through some rebranding but the concept
and idea of it will still be the same. I still want this blog to inspire y’all to not be scared to follow your dreams and that you can do anything you
set your mind to. Y’all have no idea how many comments I get on a daily from
Black, White and Hispanic people; and even Southeast Asians from India, the Phillipines, Singapore, etc… asking if
they could be K-pop idols/artists even if they’re not East Asian. And I gave
the best advice telling them they could but I couldn’t go any farther than that
because I am not a K-pop idol and I don’t know any K-pop idols. I felt sad that
I couldn’t really give them better advice. So that’s why I will be using this
blog and documenting my entire experience because I don’t want you to give up
on your dreams and, if I can, help guide and lead you through the right paths.
I want to help create a path for ALL NON EAST ASIANS to become K-pop idols
because honestly that’s the future of, not only K-pop, but the whole world; the
inclusion, representation and acceptance of different races and different
cultures.
ALSO I will not only have this blog but I will also
have a YouTube channel dedicated to this journey as well. My channel is
ThisIsCharlese.
NOW! I do have short-term goals that I have set for
this year in order to reach my overall long-term goal, which is to become a
K-pop idol. So…here are a list of my goals.
1.
MOVE
TO SOUTH KOREA! – Out of all of the I have this is the most important one! If I’m
going to be a K-pop idol that is the place I will wind up eventually and that
is the place that will provide more opportunities. Plus it’s Korean Pop so that
would require me to be in Korea.
GLOW
UP! – I REALLY need to lose weight, it’s ridiculous how fat I am TT^TT and I
also went natural last year so I am growing out my hair. I also need to learn
how to do my makeup. I have watched YouTube videos here and there and I really
want to learn but makeup is SOOOO EXPENSIVE!!! TT^TT I also want to
improve my fashion so yall might see
some stuff about fashion on this blog.
SAVE
MONEY – So in order to get to Korea I am going to have to say money to pay for
my flight and living and to just plain SURVIVE! So yeah…need money!
LEARN
KOREAN & CULTURE – I have been learning Korean on and off since 2012 lol xD
If I would have stuck with it I would probably be fluent right now and have one
less thing to worry about but meh -.- I also have learned a lot about Korean
culture because I am friends with Koreans from Korea and they have taught me a lot
about their culture and were happy to share it and teach me about it.
STAY
CONSTANT! – When I mean “stay constant” I mean to stick to what I’m doing and
to not give up and to stay focused on my goals. I have problems with inconstancy
in my life but if I can just be constant and focused I know that I can accomplish
ANYTHING!
Overall, these are my main goals for 2018! It’s a
new year it’s a new chapter! I can’t lie to yall…I’m nervous and really scared.
I’m jumping into unknown territory. I have never done ANYTHING like this before
plus I’m doing it all by myself and I don’t even know it I will be successful
but I’ll never know it I don’t try so…wish me luck on this crazy adventure of
ours and I’ll see you in my next post. BYEZ!!!!
SM is BACK!!! They're back with their annual global auditions. They are hitting some interesting places that y'all might be interested in ^_^ . SO! Who's ready to be the next EXO, Red Velvet, SNSD, Super Junior, F(x) or SHINee???? ME!!!!!!!! ^_^
Through the time period of Dec 18th - April 19th SM entertainment will be hosting auditions in CHINA, TAIPEI, KOREA, JAPAN, USA, AUSTRALIA and NEW ZEALAND!!!!!!
Locations of the avenues have not been posted yet.
So y'all know the drill SM is looking for talent. Anyone is allowed to participate in the audition regardless of race, ethnicity, age, gender and nationality. THERE IS NO AUDITION FEE! ^_^
The caterogizes they are looking for are SINGERS, DANCERS, ACTORS/ACTRESSES, MODEL(FASHION/CF) and COMPOSER(LYRICISTS)
At this audition you HAVE to sign up before hand between NOW until the day before the audition. You must register online at their website https://www.smtown.com/Audition/Global?m=info and they will send you the confirmation email stating your audition time and what you may need to bring.
**ALL APPLICANTS MUST SHOW UP ON THE SCHEDULED DAY NO LATER THAN THE TIME GIVEN TO THEM!**
The applicants that pass this audition WILL be given the opportunity to sign an exclusive contract with SM entertainment! ^_~ YEAH!!!
EVERYONE START PREPARING NOW!!!!!!! That way you will do your best at the audition ^_^
I wish everyone that is going to participate the best of luck! I hope you acheive your dream, meet new people and make new friends and HAVE FUN!!! ^_^ FIGHTING!!!!!!!!!
Hii Guyz! I'm BACK!!! I know it's been a while since I posted anything on my blog and tbh its just from the lack of inspiration+laziness+business-ness = NO POST. But I'm back because I wanted to share some thoughts that I've been having with you guys. So y'all know that I am a HUGE, BIG-TIME supporter of Non-Asians becoming K-pop idols/stars and I've been on Google & Tumblr recently and I've been seeing all these comments about Non-Asians shouldn't been K-pop idol/stars because it wouldn't look right, no one would accept them into the culture or even like them for that matter SIMPLY because they aren't ASIAN!!! Usually the people that talk all this trash aren't Asian, haven't even been to an Asian country....might not even have any Asian friends BUT that's a topic for another day.
TODAY...I want to get into the nitty and the gritty about this WHOLE THANG that Non-Asians will never be accepted in Korean society and that "it won't look right" mess and all that lovely stuff. I have proof! I've got receipts and documents proving these statements to be untrue! After that I will tell y'all the REAL reason why I think we have yet to see an Non-Asian K-pop idol/star.
1.) Companies have ALREADY stated that they don't care about race/ethnicity/nationality; they are just simply looking for TALENT!
this piece came from an online new article from Korea.net,an online Korean news website. The article was released in 2012 and the title of it is, Foreign Young Talents Flock to K-pop Auditions, and it basically discussed how more foreigners (non-Asians) are auditioning for the opportunity to become K-pop idols/stars. It also included the Korean entertainment companies thoughts about this and they have noticed that every year the amount of foreigners that audition keep increase and in 2012 outweighed the amount of Koreans that auditioned.
adding on to that with the next point
2.) There have ALREADY been foreigners (non-Asians) that were casted by Korean entertainment companies as trainees or given spotlight for their amazing talents.
I think the first one I am going to start off with is an obvious one. Y'all might have heard of or seen this woman before her name is, Nataile White aka Pumashock!!! She is known for making Korean covers of popular Korean songs that she remixes to fit her style. She's covered artist like Lee Hyori, SS501, Wondergirls, SuperJunior, BoA, TVXQ, etc... BUT the cover that put her on the map was her remixed cover of SNSD - Gee. It got over a million views in one day and a featuring on Star King. ^_~
On Star King they really showed a LOT of interest in her! They said that when she sung in Korean she sounded like a Korean person. They really like her. They said it was like she has Korean blood in her because her pronunciation was PERFECT! They also mentioned that she had such a unique R&B style to it that it was like she created a new genre!
This is also a video of her doing a South Korean commercial for a coffee brand.
The man in the middle, his name is Gregg. He is an English teacher in South Korea and he is very well loved by the community. He got noticed when he was a contestant on Superstar k6 and after that he has been doing little performances, collaborations and mini concerts in Seoul mostly. He has also been featured on famous TV programs like Running Man and Star King. I also saw him on a episode of AfreecaTV with a famous host on there.
You all may know this young lady. Her name is Allyse and she is a YouTube star most known for her amazing vocals and K-pop covers of groups like BIGBANG & 2NE1. In 2012 she won the best vocal for the BIGBANG cover contest. After that she was scouted by an entertainment company in South Korea called, StarStruck entertainment. She moved to Seoul and started training with the company. But because it was a small company that was short on funds and lost financial support causing the company shut down and Allyse, unfortunately, had to comeback to the States. Now she is back on YouTube making covers again and she participates in singing contest and still trying to debut in South Korea. In my opinion I think she would have been the first African American K-pop idol/star if she would have still been able to be in company.
This is a cover she made in honor of Aaliyah but she remixed to and added Korean lyrics! It's really good!
I was searching on the web and I found this article about this guy named, Neil Hannigan. He was a SM trainee for 2 years or more but he recently left and is now continuing his studies back in his hometown, New York. The article itself is actually an interview and he was asked various questions about his trainee life in SM entertainment. If you would like to read his interview ---->CLICK HERE!!!
The interview is very eye-opening to the good and the dark side of trainee life. So if you want to know more about trainee life in SM you can just go check out the interview.
In the very last (2nd to last) question of the interview, he was asked if had anything that he wanted to say or provide anymore information that he felt needed to be included in the interview; and he responded with......
I think he just pretty much summed it up right there.
FUN THOUGHT: The reason why he left was because he didn't get picked to be in SM's new boy upcoming boy group! (and plus his contract expired). If he would have gotten picked he would have probably been in the same group with Hansol, Ten, Yuta, Johny, Taeyong, Jaehyun (SM rookies)....that would have been REALLY cool to see. Plus, he was mainly skilled in dancing and rapping and this new group is definitely not going to be a ballad group! lol But I always thought with SM's new upcoming boy group I can see that they are trying to go more "global" with this one because they have more diverse groups than just Korean and Chinese. Now they got a Thai member, a Japanese member, an American member and if Neil was in that group I just feel like he would have been the icing on the cake. ^_^
Here's a video of a young lady just talking about her SM global audition experience and in here she talks about an African American guy who was asked to dance again and again in the audition. They even asked if they could get a head shot of him so they could get a closer view of his face. If you know or have went to a K-pop audition or ANY audition for that matter. When they ask you to do something else or want to get head shots of you or ask if you can stay a little longer THAT usually means that they are interested in what you are trying to sell honey! It starts at 4:36.
Also, a long time ago, back in 2013, I watched a video of a young boy he was like 14/15 years old and he had just got through with the SM 2013 global auditions. He was Hispanic American and he was talking about his audition and how excited he was and how much he prepared for it. He even gave some helpful tips that I still use when I go to auditions. He previously had already auditioned for JYP the previous year...anyway. He was applying as a dancer for the audition and he was talking about how after the whole group he was finished the judge asked him to stay behind while the rest of the group left. After that they asked if he could dance again and he did but for a longer time. He also (or I think) that they asked him some more questions and then after all that he was able to leave. Unfortunately, I can't find the video he had on YouTube I think he might have deleted his account because I don't see his account anywhere. BUT I just thought that I should share this little piece of information. For what it's worth, I thought that this would be good information for the Hispanic community so they don't lose hope! Since I don't have actual PROOF or evidence that this is what he said that leaves this info invalid but again, for what it's worth I hope it gave some hope to people out there.
This is a video of an African American woman who currently resides in South Korea. She has been there for some years now and has had many experiences and on her YouTube channel she shares a lot of stories that are about her experiences that she's had in South Korea. This particular video is about the time where she was told to audition for JYP entertainment by her trainer at one of the most well-known K-pop academies, Her trainer thinks she has what it takes to become a SINGER in SOUTH KOREA.
This video is a snippet from an episode of Star King. They were having K-pop cover groups from all over the world come and perform on the show. This is of the girl group that came they are really good and got to do a dance with F(x). Now why is this significant? Well one of the reasons why people say that non-Asians can't be K-pop stars/idols is because they won't look right in the group well that's why I got this video to prove that statement wrong! It starts at 4:14
And this video is from the K-pop cover dance final. The group performing is Febris Eroctica and they did a cover of Beast(B2ST) - Shock and they were given high praise for their performance. The fans even did fanchants while they were dancing, I thought that was pretty cool.
This next person is getting really well-known in the K-pop world. She is a YouTuber that has won numerous K-pop contest and was even on American Idol! Her name is Arnelle "Elly" Nonon but you probably know her as Ellythefiaryy on her YouTube Channel. In 2013, she was the grand prize winner of the 2013 K-pop World Festival. She is also well-known for her vocal cover response to Bang Yongguk's "CURXE". Someone posted on his twitter and he commented about saying how good it was.
and this is a cover of Taeyang's "Eyes, Nose, Lips".
This is Margarita Letitchevski is a YouTuber and she is well-known for her K-pop vocal covers. This is a video about her 2012 YG global audition and how it went. She said that the judges told her that they were interested in her becoming a trainee. But unfortunately, she did not get in but she came pretty close.
This young lady's name is Toyanna Rae aka Toy as most of you would know her as. She was a contestant on Show Me the Money 3 in Illionaire's team alongside with Bobby of iKON. She is a female rapper and a YouTuber. She has been living in South Korea for 4 years now and is hoping to debut in South Korea as a rapper.
This is one of her remixes called "I mean that"
3.) Korean entertainment companies have ALREADY casted non-Asians into K-pop groups.
I'm pretty sure most of you know about this group. They are called, The Gloss, and they are a four member girl group that was formed under, entertainment company MGMC. They were introduced in 2013 on their official YouTube channel doing vocal covers of both Korean and American songs. The whole group concept is that they are the first international/interraical girl group because they have a member in their group who was Non-Asian. Her name is Olivia and she is from France. They found all of their members through auditions held in Korea, Europe and America. Although, the group disband last year they did come pretty close to debuting as an official group in South Korea. I think they are very talented girls and who knows we might see them again. This next video is just a documentary of the girl group and Olivia.
This is a documentary about a group named Esquire (ESQ). They were a 5 member boy group that was introduced back in 2012/2013 on promotions through YouTube. They were formed by Avance entertainment but disband before their debut. Their concept was also that they were going to be the first boy group with a Non-Asian. Three of the members were finalists on Bell & Koreaboo: Cube Audition 2011. The finalists were Tony, K9 and Kyle M
Kyle Moffat was the 3rd place winner of the whole contest.
4.) Because BRAD EXIST!!!
Okay...I already know what you're going to say...BUT HE'S NOT K-POP!!! Well technically he is because K-pop meaning Korean POPULAR music isn't really a genre. It is just a category where the hottest songs of the year are put. But that's neither here nor there because honest...IT DOESN'T MATTER!!! He IS a singer (or part of a singing group/band) in South Korea. The band (itself) is very famous and much loved in South Korea. And last time I checked he ain't Korean...or Asian! I know people can deny a LOT of things but one thing they can't deny is his success! You can't deny that! You just can't!
5.) There are entertainment companie(s) based in South Korea that their main goal is to successfully debut non-Asians K-pop idols.
So far, the only company I know that right now (or at least heard of) that are branching out and are trying to successfully debut an interracial idol group is...
Areia Creations is an entertainment company based in Seoul, South Korea.
ACGE focus is to blend the current K-pop image with international trends that are beyond the Korean social and creative boundaries in order to appeal better to the emerging global K-pop market mainly by promoting artists for their personality.[2]
In order to better describe their vision, they have declared a subgenre of K-pop called "Global K-pop", attempting to create products specifically tailored for the peculiar taste of international K-pop fans. In the process of doing so they will attempt to create groups that include non-Asian members. All their releases will be bilingual (English and Korean) and distributed both internationally and to the Korean market.[2]
(wikipedia)
The CEO and founder of the company is named, June, and he is from Greece. He remixes K-pop songs and makes his own songs. His vision is to successfully debut K-pop groups with Non-Asian members. He even explains how it can be done! In fact I have made post about them.
6.) Koreans (themselves) seem open-minded to the idea.
This man here, his name is Uncle JJ, or that's what he goes by on this channel. He is a modern South Korean man and in this video he discusses his thoughts of Non-Koreans (Asians) becoming K-pop idols/stars. He thinks that it would be GREAT for non-Asians to become K-pop idols/stars because he thinks that Korea is too mono-polarized and that they need more people to become more diverse and to him adding a non-Asian in a K-pop group would be a good idea and he would like to see it happen.
This video is of a K-pop cover duo called, Double the Fire (2XTF). They have performed for various K-pop events and this is when they performed at K-POP WORLD FESTIVAL 2014 in Changwon. The next video was the aftermath of their performance. They got so much love from the South Korea people it really was amazing to see how good of a response they had.
In an article, that I have mention before, it was a response to a question that was asked by fan of the blogger. The name of the blog is called, Ask a Korean, the blogger is Korean, ethically they are Korean and they were born and raised.There is a section called Ask a Korean, it's where fans of the blog go and ask questions, mostly about things related to Korea. One fan asked the question:
Dear Korean,
How ready do you think Korea is for a foreigner in the K-pop scene? My definition of a foreigner in Korean market would be someone who isn't Korean and does not look visibly Asian.
Maria J.
HIS RESPONSE:
"The Korean is not joking when Busker Busker was the number one K-pop band of 2012. They deserve the moniker based on any serious metric. Busker Busker sold the most number of albums in 2012 in Korea, and their songs were the most downloaded. (They sold significantly more songs online than PSY in 2012 Korea, even with PSY's Gangnam Style.) The band also placed six different songs in the top 10 of Gaon Chart (the most authoritative chart for K-pop) through 2012, and five songs in the top 10 of Billboard's K-pop chart. Busker Busker also took home three Korean Music Awards for 2013, including Best Pop Album and Best Pop Song. In the cafes of Seoul last year, it was practically impossible to avoid Busker Busker's songs, like 벚꽃 엔딩 ["Cherry Blossom Ending", the video above] or 여수 밤바다 ["Yeosu Night Sea"]. And this wildly successful band had a highly visible white member, who is the drummer for the band.
Does this mean that the next non-Asian foreigner will be inevitably successful, or be able to completely avoid Korea's racism? Of course not. But Busker Busker's success is still a significant data point. The number one band of K-pop in 2012 had a member who was a non-Asian foreigner, and Korean pop music scene hardly made a fuss about it. That should have answered the question before it even made its way to the Korean's inbox", (Ask A Korean 2013)
Lastly, I have stories from my own experience with Korean people. KEEP IN MIND THAT ALL OF THESE EXPERIENCE HAVE BEEN WITH PEOPLE WHO ARE ETHICALLY KOREAN, WERE BORN AND RAISED IN KOREAN AND STILL LIVE THERE TIL THIS DAY.
Before I went to China I was practicing my Chinese with a Chinese lady I met at her families restaurant and she would help me with my Chinese and I would practice speaking English with her and her friend, Koran. Mrs. Koran was from South Korea, Both ladies are mothers and wives so they are a lot older than me but Mrs. Koran was the oldest. One day while we were practicing we started talking about singing and dancing. They asked me if I could sing and dance and I told them yes I could; I started dancing and singing and they were very impressed. After I finished Mrs. Koran started asking me if I knew what K-pop was...(I couldn't lie! BUT I said very modestly) I told her I knew a little bit about it lol and she began telling me about different famous groups like 2PM, BIGBANG and she also said that in South Korea they hold lots of auditions to become K-pop idols and she told me that I should audition because she thinks that I could be a idol in South Korea....let me say that again....SHE TOLD ME THAT I SHOULD AUDITION BECAUSE SHE THINKS THAT I COULD BE A IDOL IN SOUTH KOREA!
To me that was sooooooooo shocking because I would have NEVER though that I would hear something like that from a Korean person (let alone an OLDER Korean person). The fact that she was actually VERY serious with her statement just made me feel like...SURPRISED I was so surprised.
Also, when I was in China I made LOTS of Korean and Chinese friends and they ALL would tell me that I should audition to become an idol because I have the talent and the personality. Now this is not me bragging BUT this is to prove a point!
MY THOUGHTS: What a think about this WHOLE thing is that South Korea (or just Asia in general) actually might be more open-minded than people make it out to be. Usually, most of the hate comes from people who AREN'T EVEN KOREAN!!! or Asian for that matter; because literally my Asian friends support my dream more than all of my Non-Asian friends COMBINED! Now does that mean that ALL Koreans (Asians) are going to be open to it? NO! it definitely does not but the fact that there are a good number of them that would be open gives a little hope. To be honest, I don't think Koreans (Asians) would like the fact that people refer to them as being racist and unwelcoming to other races and cultures. That is actually very rude to call another race of people racist when you don't even know the culture yourself; so how can say that EVERY SINGLE person racist when people themselves come very different. Everyone is different they have their own way of thinking and doing things. So saying that a whole race is racist simply because of certain things you read somewhere and what you heard is very rude and ignorant and not fair to that race of people at all!
With all this being said I hope that this post helps and encourages some people. I also hope that this proves to some people that Korea may be more open-minded than you think it is.
Hey watz up guys!!! So I don't know it you all have heard but FNC is going to be hosting auditions in the USA (mainly west coast)....I guess the east coast doesn't exist but NO MATTER! If you can participate than you should definitely go I might be able to go I am not sure just yet I gotta see how my money is going to be workin' but I will try my best.
All I can say is....I hope it's NOT a typo; because if they really mean what they are saying than that it another reason why more people of other enthnicites SHOULD audition. I want the amount of Non-Asians to exceed the amount of Asians at the audition to show them that we REALLY want and think we can do this...I am going to try my hardest to be there and everyone, Asian and Non-Asian, should participate.
If you want to participate in this audition CLICK HERE!!!! GOOD LUCK GUYS!!! FIGHTING!!!!
So a lot people are on debate about this topic. Some people think it can happen and some think it can't......
CAN YOU BE A K-POP IDOL/STAR WITHOUTBEING ASIAN?!?!
This question has been hovering in the K-pop world for sometime but was recently brought to attention by Misterpopo of PopoTV on YouTube. He asked this question and he said the comment section went wild with half the people saying "No" and half saying "Yes". He also tagged it for everyone to share their opinions about the topic and this blog post is my response to the question. But before I get into my answer I want discuss the matter at hand.
YES! NO! YES! NO! YESSSSS!!! NOOOO!!! A lot people have their own opinions about this topic. Some say you can do it and that it is possible; while others say there is no chance in hell, its impossible, so why bother? I have seen the reasons why people would think either way about this subject ( I have also written an essay about it for a project in my English class; if you want a better explanation go CLICK HERE!).
There a many reasons why some people say you can't be a K-pop idol if you aren't Asian but these are the main reasons many have stated.
K-pop is an "ASIAN" genre of music. If anyone other than Asians were singing it, it wouldn't "feel" right.
Koreans aren't as open minded to the idea as the western industry is.
If they REALLY wanted to be idols than they can be one in their own industry. They would probably have a better chance.
Simply because they aren't Asian is the main reason why they cannot be K-pop idols. It's called "K"-pop (as in Korean Pop) for a reason. Its only meant for Asians and if a Non-Asian were in a group than it wouldn't be K-pop anymore.
In this video both friends discuss their feelings on whether a Non-Asian can be a K-pop idol. Both had different feelings on the matter. One thought that it could be possible while the other thought it couldn't because it wouldn't "feel" like K-pop anymore. I can understand why they might feel this way. K-pop has been only done by Asians. It was a genre created by Asians and was originally for Asians.
[MY RESPONSE]: They say it should only be an "Asian thing" when really it should only be a "Korean" thing, right? I mean, K-pop was created by KOREAN people and only had Korean idols initially. But, overtime started accepting other Asians to participate because it wasn't just Koreans that liked K-pop; Chinese people started liking K-pop and so did Japanese and Thai, etc... K-pop started getting attention not just in Korea but in other parts of Asian as well. To move and venture out to these different markets they started adding people from these countries to become K-pop idols so that they could appeal to a different audience. Where would idols like Nickhun of 2pm, Lay, Kris, Luhan & Tao of EXO, Jia & Fei of MissA, Jackson Mark & Bambam of GOT7, Henry & Zhoumi of SUJU, Amber & Victoria of F(x) come from? None of them are Korean (ethnicity or nationally wise) BUT, they are currently some of the most famous K-pop idols out right now. Korean music is called Korean music NOT because of the people that sing it BUT because of the LANGUAGE they sing it in. J-pop is called J-pop because it is sung in Japanese, C-pop is called C-pop because it's sung in Chinese. It's not the person that makes it K-pop it is the language it's sung in. No matter who sings it, if it's still sung in Korean it is STILL considered K-pop.
Some people watch and listen to K-pop just to simply look at Asians, its like a like "fetish". So when someone of Non-Asian descent comes along trying to break through the K-pop music industry that's where all the hate comes from. They don't want someone coming in and ruining their fantasy. That one Non-Asian would destroy the very reason they got into K-pop in the first place. But, if that were the case, then people would just listen to country music when they want to see White people. Hip-pop/R&B when they want to see Black people. Rock when they want to see Emo and Goth kids, and Classical when they want to see old people. But, they also forget the fact that there are Black country singers, there are White rappers and R&B singers. Preppy kids like to bang their heads to Linkin Park and Nirvana just as much as the Emo and Goth kids do; and there are young people EVERY DAY being recognized for their talents in the art of classical music. You can't just hold certain people to a certain genre because in the end people are people the only thing that differentiates us is our appearance (race, genes, etc...)
2. Korea is a homogeneous place and a lot of them tend to be racist. They won't accept someone of Non-Asians descent. They just aren't ready for something like that.
In Korea, 96% of the population is Korean and the rest of the 4 % are foreigners. Half of that is made up of Chinese people that live in South Korea. So that leaves the other 2% to Non-Asian foreigners and HALF of that percent goes to the US soldiers stationed there. That leaves 1% to Non-Asians that are there to teach or just live. So yes, Korea in a whole is not a very diverse place and it is rare (especially in the more rural areas of South Korea) for Korean people to come across an experience to meet a Non-Asian foreigner.
BUT...just because they don't know much about other cultures doesn't mean they don't want to or that they aren't curious. Check out this video! This man's name is Uncle JJ or at least that's what he goes by on his YouTube channel. He is a modern Korean man and in this video he discusses the topic of Non-Koreans (Asians) becoming K-pop stars.
MY RESPONSE: In this video he states that he thinks it would be GREAT if Non-Asians became K-pop idols. To him it would give Korea more diversity. Some people say that Korea isn’t ready for a
Non-Asian to be in the K-pop scene right now. But when the first Non-Korean was
added into the picture people would have probably said the same thing. In fact
when Hangeng, the first Chinese K-pop idol, debuted with Super Junior in Korea
he wore a mask in all the live performances so Koreans wouldn’t know that he
was Chinese descent. Once Korea found out they had to do some warming up to the
idea but after a while it wasn’t much of an issue anymore and now they have
Thai, Chinese, Japanese and Malaysian members and Korea has accepted the idea
of them so why wouldn’t they be ready for the idea of a Non-Asian? Some people
would say the reason why is because Korea is a very homogeneous society. Most
of time (especially with the older generation in the countryside) they would
live their entire lives and would have never seen anyone outside their
ethnicity. With the younger generation that is not the case because more
students are exposed to different ethnicities in their schools because their
English teachers are, most of the time, Non-Asians all together. Most of the
hate would come from the older generation who don’t know a lot about other
cultures and have never had the chance to experience them because of Korea’s lack
of diversity in their society. I have a Korean friend and she is from Korea but
she came to America with her husband because of his occupation, they will be
going back in the summer. She is an older (probably middle-aged) lady with
children of her own and I use to help her with her English. One day I was
singing and dancing for her and she asked me if I knew what K-pop was and I
told her I did. She said I should audition for one of companies in Korea
because I could become an idol if I was talented enough. When I heard this it
surprised me because I didn't expect to hear that especially from someone of
her generation. When I went to Beijing last year I came across many Koreans and they also thought the same way as my friend. They told me I should audition and became a K-pop idol, they didn't see why I shouldn't.
This is a video that I posted on my blog a while ago. It is of an African American woman who lives in South Korea. In this video she was telling her story about how she was scouted by a trainer at a famous K-pop academy. At these K-pop academies they train aspiring hopefuls who want to become idols one day. They train them in singing, dancing, acting, instrumentals, modeling, etc... and they also host auditions with scouts from Korean entertainment companies like JYP, YG, SM, FNC, TS, Starship, CUBE, Jellyfish, etc... looking for new trainees to become the next big K-pop idols. And this women is telling her story about how a trainer from this company wanted to train her because she thought she could make it big in Korea and become a singer in South Korea.
I think most of the hate comes from people that AREN'T Korean or even Asian AT ALL and probably have NEVER been to a Asian country because if I were Asian I would feel pretty offended that people are calling me racist and close minded and MY OWN COUNTRY close minded and racist. How would you know if you've NEVER been there or have NEVER interacted with the locals?!?!?! There are racist close minded people EVERYWHERE!!!! BUT because someone doesn't like you because of your skin color/race etc... That alone shouldn't stop ANYONE from doing what they want to do! Just because I few people don't like you doesn't mean the others won't.
This is a comment I saw that I thought suited this topic well. Its pretty much self-explanatory. 3. If they really wanted to be idols, than they would try to make it in their own country. If you really wanted to do something than you do it anywhere. They would have a better chance.
The Korean music industry is really hard for even Koreans to get into. A Non-Asian would have a slim to none chance of ever getting in.
MY RESPONSE: Well all I can say is, if you think like this than tell all these K-pop idols stop to trying to break into other markets because they won't succeed they should just stay where they are and try to make it and
should just stay an “Asian thing”. Korean entertainment companies are
constantly producing idol groups with goals, specifically, to enter the
American market. For every K-pop idol group that debuts in every interview when
they are asked “What are their main future long-term goals as K-pop idols?”
Every one of them says to become GLOBAL international stars; they can’t do that
if they only promote in Asia. The three main companies in Korea such as, JYP
entertainment, SM entertainment and YG entertainment are constantly trying to
promote their groups in America. CL getting ready for her solo debut in the States. ALL YG artist come over here and promote. SM tried to send Boa and SNSD. JYP has been trying to for YEARS to bring in the States. To them breaking in the other outside markets gives them opportunities to make more money and what company would ever turn down an offer to make more money???
Okay now, that I have knocked out some of the biggest excuses (reasons) people make for not auditioning this is my answer....
MY ANWSER:
Q: Can you be a K-pop idol/star WITHOUT being ASIAN?
A: YES! I believe you can be a K-pop idol/star WITHOUT being Asian.
But at the end of the day all of these opinions don't matter. Whether someone says "Yes you can do it" or "No you can't" shouldn't influence your thoughts or actions of the matter. If YOU think you can do it then DO IT! Don't let the opinions of others make or break whether you decide to do something or not; because at the end of the day YOU are the one in control of your life, YOU make your own decisions and NO ONE can stop you from doing so. Do you want to live life with regret and constant wonder of "what could've been or what should've been"? It is the end of 2014 and the beginning of 2015, stop worrying about your race and JUST DO IT! GO FOR IT! "The first mistake you make is if you don't try" (my mother).
"Life may not always be want you want it to be BUT, it's up to YOU to take what you deserve"
-(David So).
I hope this post helped A LOT of people and I hope that 2015 is the year of more change and more progress. With all this being said I'll see you guys later! HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!! ^_^
For those of you hopeful talented Non-Asians that want to be a K-pop star/idol but are scared and discouraged because you have heard comments from others saying that its no use because the Korean society would not accept you because you are not Korean or Asian...well I'm here to tell you that you need to stop listening to those irrelevant haters because this video and A LOT of other things prove that, if not all Koreans but MOST Koreans don't think this way. ENJOY!!! ^_~
