Thanks to everyone who attended the panel at this year's KCON LA. Your thoughts and experiences were invaluable to our discussion. Let's continue the discussion on our YouTube channel. WATCH the comparative video below and LET'S CHAT!
Video x Zach Johnson | IG: @itszach11
MODERATOR:
Ebony Rae Vanderveer | @ebyrae x @InRageEnt Ebony is a singer, songwriter, producer and vocal stylist. She had the pleasure of working with XIA Junsu on his chart-topping single releases Uncommitted, Incredible, Rock The World, which she also co-wrote with Automatic and XIA. Her most recent Kpop song, I’m Gonna Be A Star by Twice is a favorite among fans. Ebony has worked with The Dream, Cristina Milian, Floetry, and Aaron Neville. Ebony is co-owner and vice president of InRage Entertainment. She is a magna cum laude alumna of USC’s Thornton School of Music and she holds a Master of Religion in Theology and Ethics from Azusa Pacific University.
PANELISTS: Bruce “Automatic” Vanderveer | @bruceautomatic x @InRageEnt Automatic has been writing and producing KPOP since 2012 starting with his first collaboration with XIA JUNSU, Uncommitted. The video for Uncommitted debuted at #1 in Korea and China and held the #1 spot on charts worldwide. His second collaboration with XIA, Incredible, debuted at #1 on Japan’s Tower Records Charts and iTunes charts and it debuted at #5 on Billboard’s World Album Charts. Rock The World and Twice’s I’m Gonna Be A Star, co-written with his partner, Ebony Rae Vanderveer, have both gone on to top charts and become fan favorites in Asia and abroad. Crystal S. Anderson | @DrCeefu Dr. Anderson (PhD) is a dynamic scholar with an international reputation in transnational American Studies. Currently, she is Research Scholar of Cultural Studies at Longwood University (USA) and Director of KPK: Kpop Kollective, the oldest and only aca-fansite for K-pop. She also writes on Asian popular culture on her blog, High Yellow. Her scholarship focuses on African American, Asian, and Asian American culture within a global context, particularly popular culture and audience and reception studies. In addition to her book, Beyond the Chinese Connection: Contemporary Afro-Asian Cultural Production (2013), she has published journal articles and book chapters on Afro-Asian cultural dynamics and K-pop. In her most recent work, “Hybrid Hallyu: The African American Music Tradition in K-pop,” she argues for a mode of authenticity that emphasizes black music aesthetics, which allows for participation by non-blacks and recognizes the realities of cultural exchange beyond negative appropriation and imitation. She is currently working on a book on black popular music and K-pop. Dayna Chatman | @dayna.e.chatman Dr. Dayna Chatman (PhD) is a George Gerberner Postdoctoral Fellow at the University of Pennsylvania's Annenberg School for Communication. She is a K-Pop enthusiast, who, in addition to engaging in scholarship that explores K-Pop's connections with Black American style, music, and dance, enjoys collecting albums and blogging about her favorite idol groups. Currently, Dr. Chatman is working on an article-length manuscript with Dr. Myoung-sun Song (PhD, Sogang University) titled “Colorism to the ‘N-word’: Black Women K-Pop Fans’ Fight against Anti- blackness,” which was originally presented at the Society for Cinema and Media Studies in March 2017. Danny Chung | @thedannychung Danny (formerly known as Decipher) was born and raised in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Danny began his career in music as a rapper/songwriter for himself and then eventually went on to write for KPOP artists such as Ailee, Jessi, and CL. He splits his time between music, content creation, and fashion. Danny has worked with 88Rising, OogeeWoogee, and WAV as a creative, editorial writer, and content producer all focused around music. Jenna Rose | @_justjennarose_ Jenna is a founding member of CoCo Avenue, a hip-hop and RnB girl group that sings in both English and Korean. After the release of CoCo Avenue’s single, ‘Eottae’, the group garnered the attention of major Kpop news sources like Soompi, All Kpop, and Koreaboo, who referred to them as the first African American K-Pop group. Although no longer a member of the group, Jenna continues to use that platform to discuss the complexities of race and ethnicity in KPop. She has written articles featured in Korean publications like MoonROK and she uses social media to address the darker sides of the Korean entertainment industry as well as the bright aspects.
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