Eric Nam presents a new style of K-Pop with Before We Begin
Credit to Author: Stuart Derdeyn| Date: Mon, 02 Mar 2020 22:08:43 +0000
Before We Begin world tour
When: March 6, 7 p.m.
Where: Vogue Theatre
Tickets and info: From $45 at eventbrite.ca
Congratulations is not standard K-Pop. The single from Eric Nam’s Before We Begin featuring American pop singer Marc E. Bassy boasts all the meticulous hooks and slinky production fans of the genre demand. But its chorus is anything but the usual soft-core romance resonating in global hits such as BTS’ Save Me, GFriend’s Novillera, or vintage classics such as PSY’s Gangnam Style.
Congratulations/You’re finally leaving/Let’s throw a party here tonight/And toast to the end of you and I is more of a kiss-off than a kiss me.
Before We Begin is Nam’s first all-English album, and the Korean-American singer — who was named GQ Korea’s 2016 man of the year and flagged by Forbes as one of the 30 Under 30 Asia 2017 — wanted to dish up something slightly different than the chart-topping, R&B-tinged tunes on EPs such as Cloud 9 and Honestly.
While some of the new album’s tunes are English-language reworking of past hits, Nam wanted to offer up something different to potential new fans.
Nam has long been made in South Korea and across much of Asia, performing at major festivals. He also is a regular presence on TV, hosting programs such as Ariang TV’s After School Club, the ASC After Show, and even hosted a pop-up restaurant program devoted to cuisine cooked by an international group of grandmas.
Postmedia chatted with the Atlanta-born and raised celebrity:
Q: Given your Atlanta roots and Boston College education in business, how did you wind up a star in Korea?
A: It was a combination of a lot of luck, (and) a lot of hard work that lead me to this. I had accepted a position as a business analyst at Deloitte Consulting in New York. But before I went into that workforce, I decided to take a year off and went to India to do a social enterprise fellowship. It wasn’t the best fit, but that was where a TV show in Korea found me and invited me to first come perform.
Q: Was it an instant fit for you being in the K-Pop scene?
A: Not at all. Trying to establish my base took a few years. I didn’t know the culture well, or how to fit in, and must have met with at least 15 labels before finding something that worked. Record deals there can be for singles, or they can be for a certain time period. I put in a stipulation that if my album wasn’t out in a year, I could leave to go back to Deloitte. I signed August of 2012, and by January 2013 I had my first album out.
Q: It seems like many artists are successfully moving out of Korea and into the global market. And they do it without English, too. What made you decide to make the new album in English?
A: When I first toured North America, everyone was saying that it was working because there is such as a solid Korean fan base here. The truth is, that is less than five per cent of the audience, which is mixed of all backgrounds. I think K-Pop is something that sucks people in because it’s open. I can do pop, EDM, rock, R&B and it doesn’t matter, K-Pop embraces them all.
Q: Plus, you crank the performance aspect up a lot don’t you?
A: There was a point when dancing to music became cheesy after the boy band era of NSync and Backstreet Boys, but there were always those who craved that kind of visual satisfaction. K-Pop really filled that void, because it’s so geared to spectacle.
Q: Do you think you have paved the way to build a global career from your K-Pop position?
A: It hasn’t really happened unless you are talking BTS — and they can do anything they want to because they are so big. For a solo singer/songwriter like me, it’s new. But I have done a lot of collaborating with acts like Solange, Timbaland and others and made a point to mix English into my Korean songs. Yes, the new album was a risk, but I enjoy a challenge and pushing boundaries.