[News]The New York Times reviews ‘SM TOWN in NYC’ concert.
Cr.- allkpop
With Kpop’s recent takeover of the Tri-state area with the ‘KBS New York Korea Festival’ and ‘SM TOWN in Madison Square Garden’, it seems the American media outlets could not help but take notice. In addition to the New York Daily News and Billboard articles that discussed SM TOWN and the spread of Kpop, The New York Times has also joined in on the bandwagon with their review of the concert. In addition to the article that was posted online recently, the printed version was seen in Today’s edition of the newspaper (October 25th).
Comparing Kpop’s idols to Justin Bieber, The NY Times described the pop-craze in Korea and the idol groups that performed at the SM TOWN as acts that “any one of which any American reality-TV talent show or major-label A&R department worth its salt would be thrilled to have discovered.”
The writer also noted the subtle differences between the veteran acts, such as BoA and TVXQ, and the newer groups, like Super Junior, SNSD, f(x), and SHINee, that took the stage during the sold-out concert on Sunday night.
The article stated that the newer groups “are less concerned with boundaries, drawing from the spectrum of pop of the last decade in their music: post-Timbaland hip-hop rumbles, trance-influenced thump, dance music driven by arena-rock guitars, straightforward balladry.” In contrast, the veteran singers were described to have “more mature styles”. Kangta was called “Josh Groban-esque”, TVXQ‘s R&B ballad was “reminiscent of Jodeci or early Usher”, while BoA‘s “Copy & Paste” was compared to “a vintage 1993 Janet Jackson song”.
The article briefly touched on the success of Kpop calling it a “creeping global influence” and pointing out the inaugration of Billboard’s ‘K-POP Hot 100 Chart’, as well as SNSD’s signing with Interscope Records in the U.S. However, the writer also pointed out that “none of the acts on the SM Town Live bill are in the Top 20 of the current edition of the fast-moving [Billboard] chart.”
