I recently read a tweet from a very talented up and coming Korean-American R&B singer that said the following:
listening to BoA’s US CD while working on my secret weapon. girl needs to learn english or just STOP. *cringe*
Now I don’t wanna blow up her spot, and I imagine if you tried hard enough you could figure out who it is but that statement did get me thinking…
You may remember last month I wrote a post about the perception of Asian accents. The statement above definitely exemplifies the point I was trying to get across, and it’s coming directly from another Korean. With that said, I must admit I do somewhat understand where she’s coming from but I really didn’t think BoA’s English was that bad. In fact it all made sense, S.M. paid the writers to make sure of that, it’s just BoA’s accent did peep through now and then, despite the heavy electronic masking of her voice. By no means did I find it all that distracting or detrimental as a listener nor did I ever feel the need to “cringe”, but that may be just me.
And as my train of thought continued, the next thing that popped into my head was that BoA is making much bigger moves than this particular outspoken artist. I don’t see this artist headlining major events, having song placements in major TV shows, putting out numerous music videos, working w/ Akon, etc. Of course it’s not fair to directly compare since this artist doesn’t have the backing of a major Korean entertainment company to see her through the market, but still… it seemed almost silly for her to make such a statement when she hasn’t achieved nearly as much tangible success. It’s kinda like when someone upstaged you in HS so you drew all over the picture in the yearbook.
All of this reminded me of a conversation I had earlier this year with a Korean-American MC named Lyricks, about how it’s hard for him as an artist to garner the support of his fellow Asian community. He expressed that many have a disenchanted predisposition to judgingly question his abilities before ever giving any props. It’s often a case of “OK, I see you, I know who you are… so show me what you got. Prove yourself.” This seems especially true when coming from the perspective of another artist.
Not to say we should blindly follow and support any slant-eyed musician, but perhaps it’s time to learn to give credit where credit is due. And not to say the original artist whom expressed her displeasure with BoA’s album isn’t entitled to her own opinions, and in no way should she be required to like the CD, but telling BoA to “learn english or just STOP” seems out of line. If anything, BoA and her engrish is ever so slightly paving the way for other Asians to make it in this crazy industry.
Of course it’s easy to take a statement limited to the 140 char constraints of a tweet out of context, and if I’ve done so I apologize. However, I do believe it makes an interesting argument regardless.
Thoughts? Comments?
a-Tunes 
I think the whole hating thing is just not right. I say “hating” because it sounded more like it, instead of just saying an opinion that BoA’s English is bad. The whole “Asian accented English” really comes from the perception, “When in America, do it like the Americans do” or the thinking that when you “sound American” (if there’s even such a thing) then it’s automatically better. It’s a racially biased mentality. Though I must say her English needs a little work, but like you said, she deserves credit for all her hard work. BoA is her own person, she brings her own flavor to the scene. Like her album or not, as a fellow artist that girl should at least show some support, I’m sure she can relate to BoA’s experiences as someone who’s trying to “make it.” Anyways, this person has got me all intrigued. Who is it? MESSAGE ME!!! LOL. love this article! very well written! keep up the good work!!
Umm… it’s easy to find out who she is if you just twitter search “boA cringe”. I think you hit the nail on the head GT. I’m sorry, but I never heard of the artist who tweeted this statement. I even went to her MySpace page. Didn’t ring a bell. And I wonder how her Japanese, Mandarin and Korean language skills are? I believe BoA is fluent in all the above.
i hope people don’t look her up and in turn, hate on her now. haha. the girl was just expressing herself… albeit in a seemingly overly candid manner.
*cringe* I followed your advice and did the research. Now that Plazes is twitted out, I might put start using it again.
For those who would rather have a link than waste time searching out this UNC singer:
Cristina Chung.
http://www.myspace.com/christinachungmusic
I agree, good work should be credited as such.
There are plenty of artists who have become very successful despite not sounding like native English speakers and thus the comment does sound a bit harsh, especially coming from one who is a native speaker. But could this lesser known artist have ulterior motives… like aiming at a more famous artist to get her name out? 50 cent vs Ja Rule should come to mind. It worked for 50, but is it going to work for “a very talented up and coming Korean-American R&B singer” known to me only as “a very talented up and coming Korean-American R&B singer?”
But if Boa was to take her advice and sit a few 1 Point English lessons, who would be the better teacher? 50 Cent or Janet Jackson?
my initial reaction was j.ho… but i’m assuming she’s learned her lesson. anyway, not a smart move.
But… BoA isn’t anywhere here in the States… not really.
And hey, she was just stating her mind.
What secret ‘weapon’ could she possibly have?
Does she even have any non-secret weapon?
She sucks.