The transnational distribution of East-Asian popular culture to Western audiences by internet platforms Master thesis in Musicology Joram Bauwens Supervisor: Dr. O. Seibt Amsterdam, The Netherlands – August 15, 2017 3 Table of contents INTRODUCTION ……………………………………………………………………….. 4 PLATFORM ANALYSES ……………………………………………………………… 10 88Rising ………………………………………………………………………………….. 10 Overview of 88Rising …………………………………………………………….. 13 Intention and target audience ……………………………………………………... 14 Categorical content ……………………………………………………………….. 17 Analysis …………………………………………………………………………... 19 Synthesis ………………………………………………………………………….. 26 JaME / KoME ……………………………………………………………........................ 29 Overview of JaME / KoME ………………………………………………...…….. 29 Target audience and intention …………………………………………………….. 32 Categorical content ………………………………………………………………... 35 Analysis …………………………………………………………………………… 36 Synthesis …………………………………………………………………………... 43 HiphopKR ………………………………………………………………............................ 46 Overview of HiphopKR …………………………………………………………… 47 Target audience and intention……………………………………………………… 48 Categorical content ……………………………………………………………….... 49 Analysis ……………………………………………………………………………. 51 Synthesis ………………………………………………………………………….... 56 OVERALL SYNTHESIS AND DISCUSSION………………………………...……....... 58 CONCLUSION………………………………………………………………………….… 62 WORKS CITED…………………………………………………………………………... 65 3 4 Introduction Back in early 2015, a song called ‘It G Ma’ by South-Korean rapper Keith Ape appeared; a hard-hitting hip-hop song featuring five rappers (two Koreans, two Japanese and a Korean-American) who rapped exclusively in Japanese and Korean, with the exception of a few loose English words added for occasional emphasis. The track quickly went viral and amassed tens of thousands of views on YouTube; within a few months, this number had already increased to a few million.1 To me, the initial most interesting point was how a hip- hop song of Asian origin managed to generate such popularity amongst Western audiences. However, at this point I still wondered who Keith Ape was, who had produced the track, and where it had been made. A quick search revealed that it had been produced by Keith Ape himself (real name: Dongheon Lee), who was born in Bundang, South Korea, and co- produced by JuniorChef, another South-Korean hip-hop producer. The song was released through Hi-Lite Records, a South-Korean music label based in Seoul. Finally, the video was directed and produced by a friend of Lee, South-Korean video artist Jan’Qui with simple resources (only a basic camera and simple editing tools) and shot in a room of the IP Boutique Hotel in Seoul’s Itaewon neighbourhood.2 To me, the confirmation that Keith Ape and ‘It G Ma’ were indeed East-Asian was interesting, because it made me wonder through which channels such a song could reach a Western audience on the other side of the world and subsequently become so popular. Although YouTube as distributive internet platform seemed like the obvious answer to this question, I still wondered what the driving forces were behind the popularity of the song; was it because it clearly followed the American trend of ‘trap’ (a specific subgenre marked by deep bass, a sparse beat and idiosyncratic rapping rhythms3) in hip-hop? Or was it because the five rappers in the video took recognisable symbols from contemporary American hip- hop, such as red Styrofoam cups, the do-rag (a piece of headwear occasionally worn by American rappers), and replaced these with makgeolli (a Korean rice wine) and surgical masks, enunciating an image of localised authenticity?4 Regardless of the answer, it seemed 1 Hi-Lite Records (2015): video statistics. 2 Kenfe (2015): 14. 3 In general, modern trap (a subgenre of hip-hop) is characterised by a sparse beat that is often most recognisable by double- or triple-time subdivided hi-hats and extremely low bass that often sits in the >100 Hz range. Trap has been of the more popular forms of contemporary hip-hop over the past few years and has spawned numerous hits; ‘Harlem Shake’ by Baauer (2013), ‘Hot N*igga’ by Bobby Schmurda (2014), ‘Trap Queen’ by Fetty Wap (2015), ‘Fuck Up Some Commas’, by Future (2015), ‘Often’ by The Weeknd (2015), ‘Panda’ by Desiigner (2016), ‘Bad and Boujee’ by Migos (2017), ‘Mask Off’ by Future (2017), etc. 4 Ishizumi (2015). 4 5 interesting how a single song could raise all these questions, and I felt that its widespread reach was a topic worth exploring. Furthermore, the dissemination of East-Asian cultural products and practices to U.S. and European markets is a phenomenon that was already observable over the past few decades. During this time, Western markets and consumers developed increasingly more interest in varying forms of East-Asian culture. Japan has been an important international exporter of technology since the 1980’s; Sony’s global distribution of the Walkman was one of the most worldwide influential technological commodities of the period,5 and the brand is still key in the modern field of technology. The rise of Nintendo and the incredible popularity of its most recognisable icons, Mario and Pokémon, or the remarkable success abroad of anime films such as Akira or Ghost in the shell all mark Japan’s significant and influential spread of popular culture through technology and media.6 These cultural outings saw a significant increase in popularity amongst overseas markets during the 1990’s, which was simultaneously a period of economic recession for Japan.7 In 2002, the Japanese government established these particular forms of intangible intellectual as national policy, intended to function as a form of national branding that would lead Japan out of the economic depression.8 The more traditional emphasis on capital manufacturing was replaced by the promotion of intellectual property and ‘the creation of information of value’, 9 meant to increase Japan’s ‘soft power’, or the ability to ‘indirectly influence behaviour or interests through cultural or ideological means’ and focusing on desirability rather than subjugation or coercion.10 Thus, the policy intended to affirm and enhance Japan’s image of ‘cool’ by using elements and imagery from its popular culture, such as anime and manga, which eventually led to the term ‘Cool Japan’ and the establishment of Japan as influential transnational distributor of popular culture. Since the 1990’s, Hallyu (or also popularly known as the Korean Wave) describes the growing global popularity of Korean popular culture, with K-pop as one of its most well- known spearheads amongst Western audiences. The Korean Wave initially began as a mostly inter-Asian phenomenon, where Korean television dramas saw a significant increase in popularity in China and Southeast Asian nations.11 The term was introduced by the Chinese 5 Iwabuchi (2002): 25-26. 6 Iwabuchi (2002): 30. 7 Valaskivi (2013): 8 Daliot-Bul (2009): 248. 9 Daliot-Bul (2009): 251. 10 Yano (2009): 683. 11 Kim et al. (2007): 117-118. 5 6 press in the 1990s to describe the popularity of Korean popular culture in China.12 In the late 1990s, a regional music television channel called Channel V broadcasted music videos of Korean popular music, which led to a large K-pop fanbase around Asia.13 Similarly to the ‘Cool Japan’ policy, the South-Korean government initiated a national branding policy that focused on such intellectual property, after a report from Presidential Advisory Board on Science and Technology proposed that Korean economy could strongly benefit from an increased focus on cultural industry. Prior to this report, South-Korea allowed Hollywood films into the nation, and the following influx of American product greatly suppressed Korean culture and industry. The report noted that the revenue generated by a Hollywood movie such as Jurassic Park was equivalent to the sales of 1.5 million Hyundai cars, which demonstrated the potential of cultural industry.14 From the new millennium and onwards, Korean popular culture extended its scope to Western markets through the internet and social media.15 This new Korean Wave was typified by the usage of internet platforms such as YouTube to promote K-pop, a genre characterised by ‘the industrialisation of the star-making process’,16 which saw the international rise of several popular Korean artists, such as boy band H.O.T. and singers Rain or BoA in the early 2000’s, and more contemporary acts like Epik High, PSY, Big Bang and CL. The spread of East-Asian popular culture has also been an influential phenomenon in inter-Asian cultural studies. However, this movement is only a recent development, as transnational interaction between Asian scholars has mostly begun since the last two decades. During the 1990s, the theoretical point of reference for most Asian scholars originated from Western-based works that defined international popular music studies, such as Simon Frith, Philip Tagg, Will Straw and Keith Negus.17 However, under the influence of the earlier mentioned transnational phenomena of pop culture, a need of a more contextualised and localised theoretical framework arose; one that could adequately explore the growing inter- Asian popular culture while steering away from Western hegemonic intellectualism.18 This movement also flowed from a growing discourse of inter-Asian cultural studies, fronted by notable authors such as Kuan-Hsing Chen, who has extensively explored topics such as inter- 12 Jang, Won (2012): 196. 13 Shim (2006): 28. 14 Shim (2006): 32. 15 Jang, Won (2012): 198. 16 Shim (2006): 38. 17 Shin (2009): 471. 18 Shin et