Posted 09 February 2007 - 05:20 PM
JYP Entertainment Group recently announced that Park Jin-young, the head of JYP USA, and the American famous hip-hop producer Lil Jon, discovered a Korean teenage newcomer to produce and market a record in the United States.
The Korean teenager ‘Min’, whose full name is Lee Min-young and was born in Korea, boldly dedicated herself to breaking through the U.S. music market.
When Min was a teenager in 2001, JYP heard about her musical and dancing talents, she was selected by the company for two years of training. She won an award in a December 2003 competition shown on a Korean television station with Korean singer ‘Rain’ and shared the stage with him, which gave her the opportunity to showcase her talents.
After her success in Korea, Min went to Los Angeles and New York for two years of voice, dance, language and other kinds of training and participated in a televised ‘dance battle.’ She is currently in New York, working with Park to record and produce her debut single which she plans in the first half of next year.
A JYP official said, “Major record studios and producers decide to collaborate. They decided that Lil Jon’s style is compatible with Min’s in terms of goals and style. That’s why they decided to work together.”
“Korean singers have lately been looking at the U.S. market as a challenge to boost their musical careers for those who haven’t made their debuts in Korea as teenagers and view that as an opportunity to break into the American music market,” the official added.
Park said, “For the past three years, I was the first Asian composer to participate in the production of such albums of major American pop start such as Mase, Will Smith and Cassie. Therefore, I believe that I am increasingly establishing my credibility as a music producer.” He added, “Based on that foundation, I am confident that Min and other JYP singers’ entry into the U.S. market would be much more solid.”
On Dec. 23, Min, Park and Lil Jon will be giving a press conference and attend ‘Rain’s’ concert later that evening.
In 2004, Park and Lil Jon became close through their work with the hip-hop duo Outkast. After Lil Jon saw a demonstration tape of Min, he suggested to Park that the two collaborate together on producing a single.
By Peter Kim
credits : Nadila@sjfullhouse.net
