Kayne and JYJ

So, as I so recently found out...yet another American hip-hop man is influential in k-pop (see will.i.am). This time, Kayne West shows a little Asian pride in JYJ's song "Ayy Girl":

Korean Nicki Minaj and Will.i.am

So Nickki Minaj and Will.i.am recently collaborated on their new song "check it out". As of week 42 2010, "check it out" was 28 on the Hot 100 Billboard. Now, in the past on the MTV Video Music Awards, Will.i.am had gotten some comments on his wearing his "blackface" outfit while performing "check it out".

Though he says it was not a racially charged choice, it still offended many people. The Black Eyed Peas' star responded with some twitter action (tweets).

"1st. just because I where all black including head mask as expression and emphasize my outfit, it shouldn't be looked at as racial," Will tweeted. "Let go of the past. there are far more important things 2 bark about. (Jobs, health, education) not a black man wearing all black everything."

 "Are you guys serious? my outfit set 'black people back 100 yrs' choose your twits wisely," Will typed. "No education sets people back, no jobs, bad health."

More specifically related to the song, the MV shows the pair in front of a Korean audience, with Hangul (Korean language) floating around them. Even the intro in entirely in Korean.



Will.i.am has a close relationship with some k-pop idols such as, 2ne1. Here's a video of the girls at Will.i.am's studio:




credit: aatheory, http://blogs.dallasobserver.com/dc9/2010/10/the_problem_with_william_and_n.php, http://www.directlyrics.com/nicki-minaj-check-it-out-lyrics.html

Let's Talk Media Stereotypes

According to the ANN (Asian News Network), Multiple U.S dramas are distorting the South Korean Image. Shows such as Lost, CSI and 24 portray South Korea as a tool for the rest of Asia, the "glory" of the country are put down and portrayed as less magnificent.

 One example is Lost, which has gained much popularity here thanks to Korean-born actress Kim Yun-jin. In it, the Han River, regarded as one of the iconic landmarks in the capital of Seoul, was described as a small stream in a village, the lawmaker said. The 1-kilometre-long bridge over the river was shown as an old small bridge, he added.

In another scene, a fishing village in Namhae, South Gyeongsang Province, was described as if it were located in Southeast Asia. In the scene, there is a villager wearing a traditional Vietnamese hat and a small sailboat, which can hardly be seen in Korea given its shape and size, was also shown, Hong said.

Also in the television series, a person seen drinking soju, a traditional Korean alcoholic beverage, uses a glass different from the typical Korean glass for the drink. Korean houses and Buddhist temples were also different from those commonly seen here.

“In short, it was a mix-up of elements from China, Japan and Southeast Asia,” said Hong in a press release.

In the TV series 24, a scene where a person suffers harsh torture in Seoul is shown, which could tarnish the overall image of the capital city even though it was a fictional one, Hong said.

In CSI, there was a scene of a Korean community in the United States where a North Korean song regarding an allegiance to the communist state’s ruling Workers’ Party was played as background music.

Viewers in other countries experience foreign countries such as South Korea through dramas and other entertainment forms.  

Say Helo to SHINee

With SHINee's new album Hello out, I decided to share some of my (recent) favorite pictures of them....enjoy :)'


^^ their transformations ;)

Co-Ed's dorms

So as many people have already read on allkpop.com, Co-Ed revealed that the girls and boys don't live together...bummer...so many fantasies crushed.

I was looking at the pictures and I swear Chanmi looks like a female version of the ex-Super Junior member Hangeng.
 look at that face, does it not remind you of him?? Well, to me it seems super similar.

The main thing I don't like about the dorms is how pink everything seems. Of course, most of k-pop seems super cute. :).

source: http://www.allkpop.com/2010/10/co-ed-reveals-their-dorms

Korean Food Rocks My Socks

So I was staying at school during our school's parent's weekend and there were only 6 girls on dorm. Last night (being Saturday), one of our teachers took us out to eat...at a Korean restaurant. Now, in our group only 4 girls went that were staying at the school: one was Korean, one was Chinese, one was Dominican, I am white and our teacher is white.

We went to a place called Han Gang which was really good. 

I got broiled eel, which was a first for me and most of the other girls order bulgogi, which is super good. I had never eaten at a restaurant quite like that and I found it interesting how there were different soupdand courses.

Overall I rate Korean food an A+ experience.

Oh Oh Oh

O-O-O-Oh My God... what to talk about in Asian Grown News today? How about movie news? That's ok, right. So I was on One Asian World and I saw so me pictures for the movie Warrior's Way. And I'm thinking the last guy, Geoffrey Rush is from Pirate's of the Caribbean...no? Well, take a look:

It looks similar I swear. And so armed with my trusty google.com I searched him and this is what I found: click if you want the google search, but you can most likely ignore this link. And yes, he is from Pirate's of the Caribbean. Score.
 And double score b/c he's from Australia. And in the 3rd installment of the Pirate movies, it takes place in the Philippines. Asian Grown MAJOR SCORE. :).
More to come (when I don't have a major amount of homework.

Noble Peace Prize 2010

So a  few days ago when I signed into my aol mail account I found an interesting story. It was about  Liu Xiaobo, a jailed Chinese ma, winning the noble peace prize.  

He's described as "chain-smoking" and "leather-jacketed" 

Now, that doesn't particularly meet the mold of a "peaceful person".  But according to aol, "Liu, who shot to fame as an adviser to the student protesters at Tiananmen Square in 1989, have become symbols of a feisty home-grown human rights campaign that China's authoritarian regime has sought to snuff out." 

...to snuff out? an interesting verb choice I might say...

Anyhow, Liu is the first Chinese recipient of the noble peace prize and thus, his news is here...on this blog. 

Liu, among being Chinese, is also in jail. That's right an 11 year sentence. So far, Liu is less than a year into his sentence, and the people around him are also being affected. 

"Shortly after the Nobel announcement, Liu's wife told Reuters during a phone interview that plainclothes police had arrived at her home to take her away to the prison where her husband is being held so that she wouldn't be able to talk to reporters. 'They are forcing me to leave Beijing,' Liu Xia told the news agency. 'They want to distance me from the media.'"

Let's Talk Far East Movement

So, at first I didn't really like them, but now...well...let's just say this:

  

1. Far East Movement is the first Asian-American group to ever make it to the Billboard Hot 100.

2. The group’s “Like a G6″ is #1 on iTunes

3. They performed on Lopez Tonight, the first Asian-American group to perform on the show and most if not all the other talk shows in America. 

 

E online wrote an article:

http://www.etonline.com/music/101253_Now_Trending_Far_East_Movement_Soaring_on_the_Charts/

P.S. pleas ignore the random 1's...hmmm...

Watch their video here: