24-7KPOP Treasure Chest: Asian & American Music Collaborations

With the Hallyu wave increasing exponentially, many famous American musicians are jumping on the bandwagon. Recently the Wonder Girl’s released their MV for Like Money which featured Akon, 2NE1 is expected to do a collaboration with Will.I.Am, and Swizz Beatz stated how he wants to expand Kpop into the US. Using celebrity collaborations isn’t a new idea, though. There have been many collaborations between Asian and American Entertainers throughout the years. Here I have made a list of some MVs and audio clips of these collaborations. Some you may know about, some you may not. Most of these songs and videos are really good, but still haven’t gotten much recognition in the US. I am really excited to see if these new collaborations will have any affect on bringing Kpop to the US. It was tried in the past, and hadn’t seemed to have any affect. But with Kpop becoming more popular than it was in years past, it may just be the right time for a break through.

Van Ness Wu Ft. Ryan Tedder – Is This All
This video does not have Ryan Tedder in it and I’m not sure if he is singing in it either, but I know he wrote and produced the song. Is This All was used in the Taiwanese Drama Material Queen.

Jin Akanishi Ft. Jason Derulo – Test Drive
This song is a single featuring Jason Derulo, who is actually present in the video. Jin Akanishi, a Japanese Musician, has since released an English Album called Japonicana.

JYJ Ft. Kanye West and Malik Yusef – Ayy Girl
This song is off of JYJ’s English Album The Beginning. Many Kpop fans know of this collaboration, and it has gotten a lot of criticism. Even though this song/video may not be up to par with other works by JYJ, a lot of the songs on the album are pretty good (My favorite is Empty and I really wished they had a video for it).

Teriyaki Boyz Ft. Pharrel & Chris Brown- Work That **Viewer Discression Advised**
Teriyaki Boyz are a Japanese hip hop group. The song was a collaboration with Pharrel and Chris Brown, but only Pharrel shows in the video.

SE7EN Ft. Lil’ Kim – Girls
SE7EN released this Jay-Z cover in 2009 as his first US single. The video premiered on BET’s 106 & Park.

Koda Kumi Ft. Omarion – Slow
Although Omarion isn’t in the spotlight anymore, back in the day, he was a really popular R&B artist. He actually shows in this video alongside Koda Kumi.

Beyoncé Ft. Van Ness Wu- Crazy In Love
Not all Asian artists are the main vocal with the celebs added in. Beyoncé released an Asia Only Version of Crazy In Love that featured Van Ness Wu rapping away in Chinese. I would have loved to have a video for this!

Van Ness Wu Ft. Bruno Mars – Knockin’
Although I am not sure if Bruno Mars is actually singing in this song, I know that it was written by him for Van Ness Wu’s album C’est La V.

I’m sure there are more collaborations that I have missed. These are just the ones that I had found with a little bit of research.