Daily Archives: July 5, 2009

aTunes News: GT x MTV Iggy

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Hey everyone. Just wanted to make a quick announcement. I’ve been asked to guest blog for a little while for none other than MTV Iggy! This won’t affect a-Tunes in the least bit since much of what I write here will also be posted over there but there will be occasions where I will write something for Iggy that won’t be posted on a-Tunes and vice versa.

Anyways I’ve already made my first post over there (a repost of our most recent Two Cents feature) and look forward to this joint venture! If you wanna follow my posts at Iggy you can always use this link: http://blog.mtviggy.com/author/gt/ but I also recommend you check out the other great writers as well.

Anyways, thanks for your continued support towards myself, a-Tunes, MTV Iggy, and most of all the artists.

Two Cents: All Accents Are Not Created Equal

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WonderSpice

With so many Asian artists attempting to cross over to the US music industry this year (BoA, Wonder Girls, Se7en, Utada Hikaru, etc), it goes without question that increased public awareness also brings increased scrutiny. Across the board it seems like a lot of people are commenting on how (fill in the name of an Asian artist here) needs to work out their accent (Utada being the exception). Or how they sound foolish or embarrassing. Go to any youtube video or forum post about these artists and you’ll undoubtedly see all the negative remarks. You know I’m not going to lie, I’ve made similar comments many times myself.

However I think it begs the question, what makes an Asian accent so “ugly”? I mean, British and Latin accents are almost unanimously considered attractive or sexy, yet Asian accents are often the subject of ridicule and shame. What makes Enrique sound so exotic and smooth, but Se7en awkward and funny? What made the Spice Girls sound so endearing but the Wonder Girls like level 2 ESL students?

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