Jay Park is an American-Korean artist who has successfully been exploring both Korean and Western music. His ambiguous identity has allowed him to produce music that is globally accepted and to be less criticized for cultural appropriation. Lee Hee-Eun strongly argues that the construction of an identity is continuous and prone to changes, which is particularly true for Jay Park’s case (2006: 128). He debuted as an idol group, 2pm, and now, he has built two labels, AOMG and H1GHR Music, and become the first American-Asian to be signed with Roc Nation. This gradual transition of his identity has inspired many Korean artists, especially for those who love hip-pop.
Hip-pop was developed in the West and is so far different from Korean popular music but Jay Park has managed to incorporate both of his “Korean-ness” and “American-ness” into his songs and music videos. While Lee insists that Korean music videos serve dual functions of constructing and deconstructing national identities (Ibid., 141), I believe that Jay Park’s MVs have been striving to achieve the appropriate cultural intersection of both local and international elements. Since hip-pop is considered “black ” or “alien” music for the Korean audience, even short appearances of nationalism can have a drastic impact. The addition of “Korean-ness” to a Western music attracts diverse groups of fans including foreigners who were never exposed to K-pop or Korean culture. Due to the fact that he is a Korean born and raised in America, the origin of hip-pop, he is in a perfect position for creating “Korean” hip-pop.
Jay Park took this opportunity further and founded a global label, H1GHR Music, which consists of various racial identities. There are “black” or “African” artists for making “authentic” hip-pop music as well as hybridized artists, who are in the same situation as Jay Park, Asians from the West. His questionable identity has led to “Koreanized” hip-pop and has built a bridge between “Korean-ness” and “American-ness.”
Lee, Hee-Eun. “Discourses of Korean-ness in Korean popular music.” In Seeking the “others” within us, edited by Todd Joseph Mile Holden and Timnothy J. Scrase. 129-46. New York: Routtledge, 2006.