Besides having amazing pronunciation on english words in korean songs (finally), there are so many genuinely great artistes in the K-Pop industry who are Korean-Americans.
Although most of them featured in this article do in fact emerge from mainly TV singing contests like Superstar K or K-Pop Star, they are nonetheless full of talent and showmanship, perhaps even more than some of their talent-scouted counterparts in K-Pop.
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Even though there is no doubting the reign and reach of K-Pop today, most of them deserve to be internationally-recognized, with vocals that are easily fit for a much wider and grander stage.
Although the list should perhaps include many more, here are just a handful of the more prominent artistes in K-Pop who are Korean-Americans.
Eddy Kim, 23
Eddy, real name Kim Jung-hwan, was a contestant in the Top 6 of Mnet's Superstar K4. He had previously attended Berklee College of Music in Boston, Massachusetts before returning to Korea to serve as a soldier.
Just last month he released his first mini-album with title track "2 Years Apart,". Synonymous with the album title, song "The Manual” is a particular hit with its gentle and beautiful guitar sounds. The song showcases the pure and soothing quality of Eddy’s voice along with the guitar strums, in which its lyrics expresses ways on how to love a girl (hence title, "The Manual"). The song is simple, relaxing, and almost insanely sweet – a quiet yet impactful tune that will surely stick in one's head for some time.
"The Manual"
Roy Kim, 20
Roy Kim is perhaps the more famous one from Mnet Superstar, being the sole winner the same year with artistes like Eddy, Jung Joon Young and Hong Dae Kwang (of whom are all enjoying relative success after the competition). The Winner of the Superstar K4 in 2012 took a gap year from his college in order to participate in the competition. Currently Roy is back in the US attending Georgetown University's McDonough School of Business. He is signed to CJ E&M early this year and has plans for a comeback later in 2014.
"Bom Bom Bom"
Bernard Park, 21
Bernard is the winner of SBS's K-pop Star Season 3, which concluded just last month. He is currently signed to JYP Entertainment. Despite losing out in judges’ scores in both songs in the final round to competitor Sam Kim, Bernard proved to be a crowd favourite with his beautifully emotional renditions of songs like Richard Marx’ “Right Here Waiting” and Michael Buble’s “Home”. A prince of ballads, Bernard impresses with great emotional depth in each song he delivers.
"Right Here Waiting"
"Home"
Sam Kim, 16
Sam blows audiences away with his great vocals and showmanship despite being only 16 years old. He is the runner-up in SBS's K-pop Star Season 3 and has signed on with Antenna Music. Definitely bursting with talent, passion and potential, he is one to look out for in the near future.
One of his last 2 final songs for the competition was "Englishman In New York" which in every way showcased the best of Sam’s vocal ability and showmanship. Proof of how wonderful his rendition was? That would be the near perfect score he received by all 3 judges for this final performance.
"Englishman in New York"
John Park, 25
Who can ever forget one of the most notable Korean-Americans to brace the K-Pop stage? (Being born in Chicago, technically, John is American) But saying John is a national pride of Korea would be an understatement - he was a semifinalist on the ninth season of American Idol.
Upon returning to Korea to try out for Superstar K2, he became the runner-up, coming just behind singer Huh Gak. He has went on to enter the K-Pop industry as of 2011 and is currently signed to Music Farm Entertainment.
"Falling"
Jay Park, 27
A highly successful artiste in his own right is multi-talented Jay Park who has advanced so much more in his career ever since his myspace incident and subsequent departure from then super-hot group 2PM years ago in 2009.
Debuting as a solo with a mini-album that went multi-platinum in Korea in 2011, and another chart-topping album in 2012, Jay quickly redeemed himself fully within the Korean population.
With a solid fan base, Jay inspires with his many talents be it singing, dancing or even songwriting. His latest single released just a month ago is “Metronome” featuring a well-matched and amazing rap by Simon D. of former hip-hop duo Supreme Team.
"Metronome"
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