If you’re a K-Pop fan and you haven’t heard of this, there’s an all American K-Pop group who call themselves EXP edition. Yep, all of them are American but they’re really into K-Pop. They even talk in Korean and sing Korean songs.
While none of the members are Korean, nor can they speak Korean fluently, EXP edition actively refer to themselves as a K-Pop group with the tagline “Born in NY, made in Seoul.” The group is composed of Koki Tomlinson, Frankie DaPonte, Hunter Kohl, Šime Košta, who all moved from the United States to South Korea in order to learn the language and record their debut album.
Upon their debut and the release of their “Feel Like This” music video, some people are, well, not too happy about it.
https://twitter.com/Roseshairflip/status/852627753497108480
https://twitter.com/daeguarchives/status/852616214073442308
Exp Edition: Hello, we're a new kpop-
Kpop twitter: pic.twitter.com/n6BvUx90Oa— anti exp edition (@expeditionanti) April 14, 2017
Some are saying that just because they can sing and talk in Korean, doesn’t make them a K-Pop group.
https://twitter.com/jicheolcarat/status/852652344965816322
https://twitter.com/jeonsbutt/status/852669066376617984
Others are calling them out for cultural appropriation and telling them to just stick with being “A-Pop” or American Pop.
https://twitter.com/Igbtwice/status/852970229844111361
https://twitter.com/FentyYoongii/status/852695022151630848
https://twitter.com/wingstrbI/status/852618737660383232
When K-Pop entertainment site Allkpop tweeted about them, people are finding it hard to accept them as a K-Pop group when the “K is missing in K-Pop”.
All American K-Pop group EXP EDITION are filled with excitement in 'Feel Like This' MV teaser https://t.co/ZzUxF966PG pic.twitter.com/iFZASDwMNs
— allkpop (@allkpop) April 13, 2017
https://twitter.com/sujus_twt/status/852606648338313219
https://twitter.com/pyopeasant/status/852599681246834689
For some, the issue isn’t them being American or that they need to be Korean to be considered a K-Pop group. It’s just that their songs and them singing in Korean can’t be qualified as K-Pop.
EXP edition: Annyeonghaseyo, we’re K-Pop…
K-Pop fans:
