Social Borders That K-Pop Artists Face in the Western Music Industry
Preface
I could not conduct this research without addressing and remembering what’s currently happening in our own country regarding Asian racism and violence
Resources
Places to Donate/Volunteer With
- Heart of Dinner
- Heart of Dinner combats food insecurity and isolation within NYC’s elderly Asian American community. They deliver love and care by way of weekly hot lunches, fresh produce, and bulk ingredients, all while supporting local small businesses.
- The Asian Mental Health Collective
- The Asian Mental Health Collective is dedicated to making mental health services more accessible for the community, and has created the Asian, Pacific Islander, and South Asian American (APISAA) Therapist Directory.
- Main Street Patrol (Volunteer Form)
- A civilian founded and run patrol group here in NYC that is “dedicated to protecting its beloved Flushing community by standing up against xenophobia, speaking out against racism, and safeguarding the neighborhood from anti-Asian hate crimes.”
Introduction
Regardless of whether or not you personally enjoy Korean Pop Music, it is undoubtable that it is taking over the world. With the K-Pop industry being worth over $5 Billion dollars and becoming more successful everyday, it is useless to deny the success of any of these artists.
But in the Western world, K-Pop is still a relatively new concept, despite it’s large success in Asian countries. Although it is starting to become more mainstream in places like the United States, there is a history of racism and xenophobia in these Western countries, that have made it extremely difficult for K-Pop to take off, as well as the artists in this genre.
How the U.S. Views K-Pop
In “How K-Pop Broke the West: An Analysis of Western Media Coverage from 2009 to 2019”, Political Science and International Relations major at University of Chicago, Jenna Gibson, breaks down the history of K-Pop media coverage in four parts, specifically in the United States, citing this as a main reason as to why so many are starting to enjoy it more.
Although this graph displays a rough timeline of K-Pop’s up-track in popularity in the U.S., it is important to dissect the racism involved in it.
For example, South Korean pop artist PSY’s song ‘Gangnam Style’ became a huge hit in the U.S., breaking multiple records and at one point was the most liked YouTube video of all time. But we also have to ask ourselves why this is. How was this particular artist able to break through into the Western mainstream, in a time such as 2012 where no other artists had been able to before? Analysts have identified a few reasons.
- The song itself is extremely ‘catchy’ and has an easy enough accompanying dance to pair with it, and it has a different sound than most K-Pop songs.
- The “comedic Asian male” trope was a more acceptable stereotype that American audiences were used to, which is deeply rooted in racism.
That’s right: alongside clowns from other mediums like Ken Jeong (and yellow-face disgraces like Mickey Rooney’s Mr. Yunoishi from Breakfast at Tiffany’s), PSY fits right into the mainstream-friendly role of Asian male jester, offering goofy laughs for all and, thanks to PSY’s decidedly non-pop star looks, in a very non-threatening package (Pan).
Xenophobia in Media Coverage
“When I first heard something Korean had exploded in America, I got worried, so I guess it could have been worse. But not much worse.”
This is only one of Australia’s Channel 9 new station’s line of derogatory and xenophobic comments about Korean Pop group BTS.
This is not the first or last time this has happened to the group either.
German radio host Matthias Matuschik unleashed a torrent of racist “jokes” about the boy band. Apparently incensed by BTS’s cover of Coldplay’s “Fix You” during their recent MTV Unplugged performance, Matuschik likened the group to the coronavirus and said they needed to be eradicated with a vaccine. He added that BTS deserved to take a “vacation” to North Korea for the next 20 years for their cover, then tried to preemptively shield himself against accusations of xenophobia by arguing that he drives a South Korean car.
Xenophobia in the Western Music Industry
Xenophobia in Award Shows
Although K-Pop is perhaps one of the most “pop” sounding genres right now, award shows have separate categories for it, where they do not have to compete with “other” pop artists.
For example, at the Video Music Awards in 2019, artists from other countries such as Canada and Australia were still allowed and nominated in “Best Pop” and “Artist of the Year” categories, but K-Pop group BTS, was subjected to just the “Best K-Pop” award.
Although in this presentation I am only addressing this in regards to K-Pop, it still happens to other artists as well, especially black artists who are forced into “urban” categories.
How Do We Intervene?
Although we cannot fix deeply rooted issues such as racism and xenophobia, we can create and work towards ways to stop it
Concrete Solutions Include:
- Conducting research about what you do not understand
- Examining your own biases, and why you have them
In Regards to the Music Industry
- Holding labels/agencies responsible for hosting presentations for employees about international artists’ cultures and possible racism they face, and how not to contribute to it
- Having consequences and following through on them for employees who exhibit racist or xenophobic behavior
Citations
Gibson, Jenna. (2019). How K-pop Broke the West: An Analysis of Western Media Coverage from 2009 to 2019.
Liu, M. (2020, January 30). The ‘separate but equal’ rules of American music awards.
Retrieved May 05, 2021, from
https://www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2019/07/26/separate-equal-rules-american-music-awards/
Pan, Deanna. (2012, September 24). Is “Gangnam Style” a hit because of Our Asian Stereotypes? Retrieved April 27, 2021, from https://www.motherjones.com/politics/2012/09/gangnam-style-asian-masculinity/
Rolli, B. (2021, March 02). Bts were once again the subject of racist on-air remarks-and
received a pathetic non-apology. Retrieved May 05, 2021, from
https://www.forbes.com/sites/bryanrolli/2021/02/26/bts-were-once-again-the-subject-of-racist-on-air-remarks-and-received-a-pathetic-non-apology/?sh=77d7ad0d495d
