Illustration by Glenn Harvey
This content is part of Billboard’s K-Pop Issue. In July 2022, J.Y. Park and Monte Lipman, founders of JYP Entertainment and Republic Records respectively, announced their competition series A2K, which stands for America to Korea. They pledged to jointly produce “the first American artist made out of the K-pop system.” This marks a significant moment for Park, who has long aspired for crossover success between South Korea and America ever since JYP’s Wonder Girls became the first K-pop act to enter the Billboard Hot 100 in 2009. Now, American artists are seeking recognition and assistance from Park and other major Korean labels in their pursuit of a breakthrough in the global race to launch a unique K-pop act.
K-pop, short for “Korean pop,” has always been built on genre fusion and the inclusion of members from various countries outside of South Korea. Trainees now come not just from Asian countries like China, Japan, and Thailand, but also from places like Australia, New Zealand, Canada, and the United States. John Yang, a U.S.-based entertainment executive with 15 years of experience in the Korean music industry, explains that the strategy often begins with having a member who can speak the language of the targeted market. This helps drive engagement among fans and facilitates faster expansion into local markets.
As K-pop’s popularity continues to grow in major markets, the definition of a K-pop star is no longer tied solely to nationality. Instead, industry standards and criteria such as rigorous training, contracts with Korean agencies, visual aesthetics (slick videos, synchronized choreography), and release strategies involving multiple album drops each year are what define K-pop stars. Yang emphasizes that K-pop’s essence lies in who creates and produces the music, rather than where it’s made. It’s akin to the restaurant business, where the location or ethnicity of the CEO, managers, or customers doesn’t define the cuisine, but rather the ingredients, recipes, and techniques associated with that specific country.
While the majority of K-pop artists are still Asian or of Asian descent, Korea’s industry leaders are increasingly incorporating diverse young talent from America into their system, regardless of race or ethnicity. HYBE, formerly known as Big Hit Entertainment, took the lead in this global endeavor before rebranding. In March 2021, HYBE’s chairman and then-CEO Bang Si-hyuk, along with Universal Music Group’s chairman/CEO Lucian Grainge, announced a strategic partnership to create a “global” K-pop boy group in the United States under a new joint-venture label between HYBE and Geffen Records. Initially, plans involved worldwide auditions with a major U.S. media partner, but they were adjusted later. HYBE and Geffen eventually held auditions in five American cities for a “global girl group” before expanding to other countries such as Japan, Australia, the United Kingdom, and South Korea.
Around the same time, A2K commenced its own auditions in an American Idol-style format. JYP Entertainment’s Park visited Atlanta, Chicago, New York, Dallas, and Los Angeles to select contestants for an L.A. “boot camp,” reminiscent of The X Factor. Semi-finalists then flew to JYP Entertainment’s Seoul headquarters for “intensive training” with music, dance, and business executives. The winners of A2K will join JYP and Republic Records to form a supergroup for all music releases, similar to TWICE, Stray Kids, and ITZY, who have achieved significant success on the Billboard 200 chart since their partnership in 2020.
SM Entertainment took a different approach by partnering directly with MGM Worldwide Television Group for its global project. In May 2021, SM announced a partnership with MGM and its chairman at the time, Mark Burnett, to create a competition series and form NCT-Hollywood, a U.S. branch of SM’s boy band collective NCT. However, the departure of Burnett from MGM in late 2022, along with leadership changes at SM, including the controversial ousting of Lee Soo-man, and SM’s new CEOs’ announcement about halting NCT’s expansion after a Tokyo-based team launch in 2023, raises uncertainties about the NCT-Hollywood project.
While no major U.S. label has made a significant effort to create a K-pop group, there have been previous attempts to launch American and British “K-pop” groups. EXP EDITION, called “the world’s most controversial ‘Korean’ band” by the BBC, was formed in 2014 as part of a master’s thesis by Columbia University student Bora Kim. The band consisted of six non-Korean men who underwent a shortened version of the rigorous training process followed by K-pop hopefuls in Seoul. EXP EDITION made appearances on popular Korean TV shows but faced criticism for their lack of captivating stage presence. Their debut EP, First Edition, was their only release.
KAACHI, created by Frontrow Records and marketed as the first London-based K-pop group, also faced similar criticism. Unlike EXP EDITION, one of KAACHI’s members was Korean. They received sponsorship from a Seoul theme park for their music video “Get Up” and performed alongside top K-pop stars. However, the group disbanded in less than two years.
However, what sets the current ventures to create global K-pop groups apart is that they have the support of some of the most influential Korean and American companies in the music industry. Whether or not these initiatives yield artists who achieve success on the Billboard charts, the launch of future groups will serve as a significant indicator of a thriving, locally grown K-pop presence in America, similar to the influence that SM, JYP, HYBE, and other companies have had in Asia for decades.
According to Yang, the success of these projects will be evident through Billboard charting, which relies on fan support. However, the long-term success and consistent creation of more groups will be the true historical markers for a healthy, homegrown K-pop presence in America. This article was originally published in the April 22, 2023 issue of Billboard.
