KMK: BOA

Boa is a Korean pop princess who conquered South Korea, took Japan by storm and now has her sights set firmly on the US market.

Discovered by talent scouts, Boa, which stands for Beat of Angel, speaks Korean, Japanese, and English. She has sold over a million albums in Japan, making her one of two non Japanese Asians to do so.

Asia loves Boa and since September last year they want Americans to love her too. She dropped her first single “Eat you up” along with a video and immediately grabbed the attention of the dance club enthusiasts and music charts. Her self titled album was released last month.

Her video for Eat you Up is dance heavy but lacking personality. She needed to do something in the video at the beginning or end to show the audience a little bit of who she is. Only niche markets probably know of Boa in the States a little video drama could have gone a long way in giving the American audience a glimpse of the inner Boa. As it stands she’s a funky dressing dance machine which only goes so far since most back up dancers can say the same thing.

Now, Boa can sing, but for some reason her voice is synthesized to high heaven. Not to question her producers, but singers who can sing should, you know, sing. But that’s neither here nor there.

First, Boa needs a Persona to call her own. She already has a cool stage name so the next logical step is to establish a presence on the American pop landscape, to lay claim to her own pop princess domain. She has her work cut out for her. So far Ciara owns the kingdom of dance R&B, Beyonce preens as the glamour puss diva, Britney holds down the bat shit crazy bad girl corner, while Christina reigns as the voice of a generation. Add in Rhianna and Boa has to start throwing some elbows to make room.

Second, Boa must release video masterpieces. I’m talking about the videos everyone talks and remembers like Beyonce’s Single Ladies or Britney’s Womanizer. In today’s pop music market if the video doesn’t stand out from the pack then more likely than not the artist will languish at the bottom of the charts.

Hopefully, she puts all the pieces together and comes out on top of the American Pop scene. It’s tough for international artists. Just look at Fefe Dobson and Samantha Mumba.