Hyukoh

Hyukoh

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Music Festivals 2018: SXSW Rebrands Its Korea Spotlight

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K-Pop Night Out is in the works for SXSW in March, which is shining its Korea Spotlight on performers Hyukoh, Kard, and many more
Philip Merrill
GRAMMYs
Jan 16, 2018 - 2:27 pm

Korea Spotlight is the new name for the Korean Creative Content Agency's sixth annual showcase at SXSW 2018. Formerly known as K-Pop Night Out, the 18+ event will take place on March 16 at Austin, Texas' the Belmont.  The event promises a packed lineup, including indie rockers Hyukoh, tropical fusion group Kard, and newcomers Say Sue Me.

Other Korean artists to catch in Texas will be Cifika, whose Jan. 14 Momom YouTube is spinning into higher views, and rappers DPR Live. Korean R&B will be out in force as well with Crush and Lee Hi.

SXSW is always an opportunity to broaden horizons and become exposed to new sounds and visions. Fans and industry members alike will sure be eager to explore these poised Korean talents who are all trending even as the K-pop wave rises higher and higher.

Music Festivals 2018: Bonnaroo Lands Eminem, The Killers, & Much More

Mr. Eazi

Mr. Eazi

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SXSW Adds Second Round Of Global Artists For March 2019 Festival

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Deerhunter, Mr. Eazi, Jerry Paper, Nadine Shah, and hundreds more emerging acts will make the 33rd SXSW in Austin, Texas a wild opener for 2019's festival season
Philip Merrill
GRAMMYs
Nov 28, 2018 - 2:14 pm

On Nov. 28 SXSW added more than 240 showcasing artists, including Deerhunter, Mr. Eazi, Jerry Paper and Nadine Shah, to their 2019 music festival lineup, in addition to 240 artists already slated in their first-round announcement last month. Emerging talent from around the world will be the center-of-attention in Austin, Texas on March 11–17, 2019, as the annual music event reconvenes for its 33rd year.

Any small sampling of the global array of up-and-comers planning to play SXSW next spring is bound to call on many rising stars and the hits they have in store. For example, also on Nov. 28, Nigerian afrobeats performer Mr. Eazi released Lagos To London, a documentary to complement his recent mixtape of the same name, explaining his evolution as an artist. As music consumers in the U.S. and elsewhere continue to build their interest in more international sounds, Mr. Eazi's fans have even compared some of his beats to those of K-pop phenomenon BTS. SXSW will bring plenty of global sounds to Texas, with Seoul, South Korea to be represented by Cifika and Duo Bud.

Read More: Keith Urban, K-Pop, Women In Music: Go Behind The Scenes At SXSW 2018

Experimental indie-rock group Deerhunter from Atlanta, Ga. and rapper Jerry Paper from Los Angeles, Calif. will be there. Tyler, The Creator teamed up with Paper just two weeks ago on their release "Hot Chocolate," to warm up the winter months. Britain's Nadine Shah is also a new addition to the lineup, whose growing following delights in her unique sound, blending jazz and pop with influences from the Sufi music she grew up listening to with her Pakistani dad, putting her on the Mercury Prize shortlist for 2018.

Feast your eyes on the diversity of SXSW's second-round list at the festival's website and then indulge your ears with the fest's compilation on Mixcloud, introducing just some of these acts' new sounds. Whether from Asia, Australia, Europe or North and South America, these artists leave an impression that the world is in good hands with the energy they bring, striving to enrich us with their music.

SXSW Announces First Wave Of Artists For Music Festival In Spring 2019

Kard photographed in 2017

Kard

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SXSW 2018: Inside The K-Pop Explosion With Kard's BM

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Learn why K-pop fans are the driving force behind the genre's popularity and find out the latest on the 2018 installments of KCon
Renée Fabian
GRAMMYs
Mar 15, 2018 - 2:53 pm

If you've been hesitant to get onboard the K-pop revolution express, now is the time to commit. The latest proof was offered in the form of the SXSW 2018 panel How K-Pop Grew Beyond Niche, which illuminated why K-pop is such a revolutionary modern genre, with help from a very special guest: BM from K-pop group Kard.

The K-pop art form has been expanding to audiences around the globe, and artists such as GRAMMY winners Diplo, Skrillex and the Chainsmokers, and the production team the Stereotypes, who most recently won Album Of The Year as producers on Bruno Mars' 24K Magic, have lent their talents to help make K-pop's biggest stars shine. But that doesn’t tell the whole story.

As we learned from the SXSW panelists — Fuse editor and K-pop Billboard columnist Jeff Benjamin, Instagram executive Justin Anthony, YG Entertainment USA's Greg Fish, and CJ E&M Entertainment's Angela Killoren — K-pop thrives because of its diverse communal group of fans.

"K-pop isn't a music genre, it's a music scene," said Benjamin.

Need some convincing?

BTS' Billboard February cover issues sold out all 10,000 copies, according to Benjamin. Of Instagram's total audience of 800 million, 49 million of those interact with K-pop content on the social media platform, according to Anthony. K-pop fans spend on average 65 hours a week consuming K-pop content, 50 percent of whom are returning visitors. Approximately 36 percent of fans will travel out of state to Killoren's Los Angeles or New York yearly KCon festivals, and K-pop fans spend on average 8 percent of their annual income on K-pop.

Killoren says that part of the appeal of K-pop is its unique ecosystem. "[Fans want to be] part of something a little different that's also fun."

For fans, this extends to the dance — dance covers are very popular on Instagram — as well as food, fashion and beauty. K-pop fans also become fans of what their favorite artists love, creating huge business opportunities for brands. Recently, K-beauty has started to take off in major retailers such as Target and Sephora as K-pop's global reach — and fan base — expands.

Speaking of which, K-pop fans aren't your average fan base. Besides their immense loyalty, they're savvy about upcoming trends in music. According to Killoren, "K-pop fans are a step of two ahead" of where music is, pointing to how they embraced social media long before the rest of the music industry as an example.

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For artists who cultivate their international fandom, the payoff can be huge. Fish, who works with licensees of K-pop merchandise, noted that K-pop artists bring in six or seven figure deals, on par with deals that artists such as Lady Gaga or Madonna command. And as worldwide crossover continues to gain momentum, the deals and opportunities for collaboration between K-pop celebrities and brands continues to grow.

Though it's often surprising to outsiders how popular K-pop is — particularly here in the United States since most Americans don't speak Korean — the panelists agreed that the language barrier is hardly an issue.

"[They] don't need to speak the same language," said Anthony. "It goes around boundaries."

"It's pop," added Fish. "All pop fans care about their genre."

Following the panel, the audience was surprised with special guest BM of Kard, who let the audience know he just flew in exclusively for the festival.

BM was born in Los Angeles and subsequently moved to South Korea to study for nearly five years under DSP Media before joining the popular co-ed K-pop group along with bandmates J.seph, Somin and Jiwoo. Kard will also take the stage during SXSW at The Belmont on 6th Street on March 16, marking their first major music festival performance in the U.S.

Finally, the panel shared some exclusive intel regarding the 2018 installments of the wildly popular KCon. KCon New York will be held June 23–24 at the Prudential Center in New Jersey, and KCon Los Angeles will be hosted at Staples Center — home to Music's Biggest Night — Aug. 10–12.

Still iffy on hopping on the K-pop bandwagon?

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Cardi B

Cardi B

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2018 One Musicfest Bringing Cardi B, Miguel & Nas To Atlanta

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Extended to two days this year, the festival will also feature GRAMMY winners Brandy, Common, Robert Glasper, and T.I.
Philip Merrill
GRAMMYs
Jun 5, 2018 - 1:01 pm

One Musicfest 2018 comes to Atlanta from Sept. 8–9, with Cardi B, Miguel and Nas headlining along with Big Sean, Jeezy and T.I. Attendance at last year's OMF was more than 20,000 and the roster is richer now that the event has been extended to two days.

The supergroup August Greene is slated to perform. The trio unites Common, Robert Glasper and Karriem Riggins following the release of their self-titled album in March after forming during this year's GRAMMY Week festivities. The album's single "Optimistic" features GRAMMY winner Brandy, who is also on the OMF2018 bill.

The expanded OMF2018 roster continues with many of this summer's hottest talents. DVSN, Kelis, Rapsody, and Jessie Reyez will remind all in attendance and online why people love to watch them, and there will be George Clinton & Parliament to depend upon for funk. Other performers include Big Krit, Davido, Goldlink, St Beauty, and Teedra Moses as well as a special Atlanta crunk set.

Tickets are now on sale via the OMF website.

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BTS

BTS

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BTS Become First K-Pop Band To Debut At No. 1 On Billboard 200

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The superstar band continues to prove the vitality of K-pop worldwide with their latest North American chart accomplishment
Philip Merrill
GRAMMYs
May 29, 2018 - 1:38 pm

K-pop septet BTS can add "Billboard top seller" to their list of achievements thanks to their May 18 release Love Yourself: Tear, which entered the Billboard 200 album chart for May 24 at No. 1. This makes BTS the first K-pop band ever and the first foreign-language album in more than 12 years to accomplish this feat.

Driven in part by their enthusiastic BTS Army super fans, traditional album sales reached 100,000, augmented by streaming equivalents for 135,000 adjusted sales units. The previous top K-pop album in the U.S. was BTS' too, when Love Yourself: Her reached No. 7 in October 2017.

For years now, the young men of BTS have crafted personal stories and individual fantasies into alternate storylines that connect through their videos. While dancing, singing and bringing happiness will be enough for some new enthusiasts, inside BTS' music are seeds that can grow U.S. social support on a deeper level.

K-pop's recent success in the U.S. continues to expand. Some of BTS' uniqueness has been their directness addressing depression and hardship, topics that were themselves foreign to Korean idol groups' repertoire, except through metaphor.

"At the very heart of BTS's outstanding dancing and singing is sincerity," President of the Republic of Korea Moon Jae-in said in a statement. "This magical power turns grief into hope and differences into similarity. Each of the seven members sings in a way that is true to himself and the life he wants to live. ... The names of each member — Jin, Suga, J-Hope, RM, Jimin, V, and Jungkook — are going to be remembered for a long time. Thank you to BTS for spreading joy across Korea and the world with your great performances."

Looking ahead, Korean pop culture news Soompi.com has reported that BTS' single "Fake Love" entered the about-to-be-announced Billboard Hot 100 at No. 10, an additional goal of the group that has now been achieved.

As fans look forward to the group's June 13 BTS Festa anniversary celebration, there will be so much to celebrate — as well as a new awareness that the world is watching.

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