Ha! Way to throw down there, but I don't think a Korean has ever done anything remotely deserving of street cred. Um, well, except that one time.
Okay, so by now we know all about singer Crown J and his "A" bullshit. He's considered one of the hottest acts in show business now because he's sort of involved with the classy Suh In-young of "Jewelry." You know, it was bad enough when I couldn't say "tell me the answer" in class, or "try it one more time." But now when I say or allude to the first letter of the alphabet I get a class full of teenagers throwing down gang signs and going "A" like the Fonz. The singer Crown J pushed the letter and the gesture into pop culture by claiming it represents Atlanta. But he's from Los Angeles. And he's Korean. But he's throwing down A. Because it means Atlanta. But he's from Los Angeles. And getting my students to do it. why why why why why why why why why why why why why j098f2uwfejaksjlejrl2awsjdvzx. Some of them have started tagging their notebooks, their hands, and my desks with this letter. They didn't find anything particularly cool about it two weeks ago when it was just another thing they decided to sleep through.
Yes, I know kids all over the world imitate their pop idols. I guess I find it just a little more obnoxious because it's my native culture they're cheapening for a laugh or a buck. I tried to talk about the idiocy of all this and the ridiculous use of English in pop culture during one of my recent teachers' workshops and hahahahahaha you can guess how effective that was. All of the scholarly journals will talk about how natural it is for a culture to adapt a foreign language to its own purposes, and when an article even mentions Korean and Konglish at all it talks about how English---they dare not say "Engrish" because there's no such thing as incorrect English everybodyknowsthatyouimperialistpig---is a linguistic escape from the rigidity of the Korean language and from the daily grind of Korean young people's lives. So yeah, nothing at all unusual with pop stars going "A" for no fucking reason or t-shirts with all kinds of gibberish on it or with kids walking around saying "terr me terr me" having no god damn idea what they're talking about and no idea how to pronounce the shit in the first place. I guess the problem is that this linguistc escape comes in the form of my native language and culture, and that cheapening one while preserving the sanctity of the other falls neatly in line with how English education itself is handled around here and how native speakers are written into the equation. Sure, I guess I can't call gibberish "wrong" any more than I could call any regional accent in the States "wrong" or my low, informal register on this blog "wrong"---because you can't. But I really want to.
Atlanta Braves baseball caps are insanely popular these days because they're what Crown J wears. If you type in "A모" into Naver, the search engine will finish your thought and suggest the 자. Not sure why you'd do be searching for that, though. I was in an MLB store in the basement of an E-Mart last week and two guys were there looking for Atlanta merchandise. There were only two Braves hats left, and they were tucked behind a row of hats from some other team. The saleswoman said they were the most popular items now. Lol, Oakland Athletics hats are also big sellers, too.
Interesting that loads of other sites I browsed don't even advertise Atlanta hats. That leads me to believe---and I know this will shock you---that customers here have no idea what they're actually buying, and that they are unaware that the hats with goofy letters actually, like represent actual teams in real life. I wonder if they're classified as fashion items rather than baseball caps.
In Crown J's latest single "Too much" he's teamed up with his love Suh In-young of the group "Jewelry," a girl band whose name its fans and their parents aren't even able to pronounce. You can find the lyrics here with subtitles, and I'm sure a video will turn up eventually. Here's a taste for you:
come on girl do u like it? i like it i like it
i luv you i luv you A~ what u gonna do about that
and
I love you 너 하나만 I need-e- you 널 바라보는 눈빛과 내 말투도
조금씩 그댈 닮아가네요 I love you make this love to me
kevin I`m so in to you I love you
우리 함께 라면 난 기분이 함께 하루 하루라면 매일이
Baby 24/7 all day, i`m clean, so clean
Cool, I'm so proud of my language and what it's come to represent to allow for such creative freedom and such eloquence that would be impossible in these singers' native language.
Ugh, I actually listened to that song (in shifts.) Lol @ "heavy weight every day" and "And your privy," but I think we're the only ones laughing since everyone else is too busy throwing down. Fuck you Crown J, and fuck you to all you half-gyopos cashing in on the quite-unquote toughness you acquired by your years cloistered in LA's Koreatown. Just think, if the Bulldozer's plan goes into effect, these are the kids we'll have over here teaching students English. Wonder how long it will take before the public figures out who the real drug runners are.
The issue of rendering English ridiculous is something I've been working on in my head for quite some time, but it's still too difficult for me to properly get into on this 'umble blog. But as I was putting this little entry together I caught myself laughably trying to defend the quote-unquote purity of hip-hop culture, even as its spent the past two decades glorifying drugs, violence, poverty, and idleness. Can't get too bent out of shape about rendering gangbanging ridiculous when the dude from "Pimp My Ride" has a song called "Get your walk on."
52 comments:
Everytime I see him dropthe "A" ... ... I wish he'd do the "L" up to his forehead (as in LOSER) first ... ... at least he'd be doing an L then an A and could tell all the Koreans it meant Ls Angeles instead of Loser Alex.
It's a dubious claim to "fame," but I am familiar with Atlanta underground. For a number of years, I made my living representing not a few of them in court.
This Crown J character wouldn't last a minute in Bankhead.
He would be just one of the posers in a Korean pool hall in Duluth, driving up in his daddy's Lexus.
I used to work at a cell phone store in Bankhead with a kid that reminds me of Crown J (he lives in Alpharetta). All the black customers were cool with him & me, so as long as you don't go around the hoods doing it - it's all good.
I must be the only one that really likes him
Puerto Rican and think he's hilarious and I like his music.
My black friends like him too and I got my coworkers to say "A" as a joke.
I live in the 2007 5th most dangerous city.
It doesn't bug me at all (his antics). I mean he'd be thought of as being funny more than anything else. He makes all my friends and coworkers laugh. We think he's alright.
oops mistakes
I'm Puerto Rican*
and
2007's*
A-men.
Thanks for attempting to explain your feelings towards misuse of English in Korea. It's nice to hear that I'm not the only one bothered. I cringe when I read signs or t-shirts sometimes. Do they know the English is incorrect? Another one of my pet peeves is an incorrect translation. For example, it's "health" food, not "well-being" food. Now I can understand why the French try to protect their language!
SHUT THE FUCK UP U GUYS DONT EVEN KNOW WHATS UP
HE WEARS THE A CUZ HES FRIENDS WOULD
CALL HIM ANT NOT CUZ OF ATLANTA MAN
AN HES NOT WITH THE GIRL FROM JEWLRY THEYRE JUST RECORDING THE PROGRAM TOGUETHER
I THINK U GUYS ARE REALLY STUPID
FOR TALKING SHIT WIHTOUT EVEN KNOWIN WHATS UP
SHUT THE FUCK UP U GUYS DONT EVEN KNOW WHATS UP
HE WEARS THE A CUZ HES FRIENDS WOULD
CALL HIM ANT NOT CUZ OF ATLANTA MAN
AN HES NOT WITH THE GIRL FROM JEWLRY THEYRE JUST RECORDING THE PROGRAM TOGUETHER
I THINK U GUYS ARE REALLY STUPID
FOR TALKING SHIT WIHTOUT EVEN KNOWIN WHATS UP
please don't take this into offense,
...but for the majority of the public, crown j is entertainment, and he does that job quite well..in my opinion.
For anyone to nitpick at his use, or rather misuse, of slangs or phrases, seems almost like computer geeks complaining about a programs misuse of binary and hexamdecimal. Personally, I couldn't care less the authenticity of his speech, he's just trying to give himself some character. So what if he is a poser, its entertainment ya'll. He's just a fun guy, and I think everyone should cut him some slack. Just my two cents.
I agree with thao.
As you can tell from my name, I am Korean, and I love him! I also happen to like and live pop culture of US and Korea. Tell me Brian if you can understand, speak, and write your second language perfectly. Pop culture in America influences every country around the globe, and you will find some "lost in translation" situations. Don't be so angry and uptight! Every musician in any country aspires to make it onto the Billboard chart. Every actor/actress would kill to appear on the red carpet in Hollywood. Heck, even a regular person wants to come to America to make that American Dream come true. You are bound to see some wrong grammar, strong accents, and abuse of some hand gestures (A!). So why so serious? :)
P.S. Why are you protecting Hip Hop over there when people here can't even keep the rappers in school. Knuh what um sayin'? I ain't tryin' to school ya'll but you trippin' out f'shizzle m'nizzle. Peace out.
It's funny that I get so many hits from people looking for Crown J.
Interestingly my students don't care about him anymore, so when I say "A" in class nobody looks twice. Same with "tell me" and "one more time." It's been a glorious semester so far.
My main point was that he's irritating, but like I said entertainers are annoying the world over to people outside their audience.
Me using a second language has nothing to do with this (and it's kind of a tired line to throw at foreigners in Korea) . . . I'm not cashing in on having authority with Koreans as Crown J is trying to foster credibility as a former resident of the US. Nor does sticking up for hip-hop back home have anything to do with it, and I said that much in the post. Hell, wasn't the top song not too long about giving Lil' Wayne a blowjob?
The main objection is just to how annoying it is to have yet another entertainer cash in on using English in a ridiculous or meaningless way. Countless pop groups do it, TV entertainers do it, hell, even the people on "English Cafe" do it. It sucks, and of course as somebody who grew up with the language and its culture, I wish people would, yeah, be a little more serious. If it were just Crown J, I'd mock him but I would't devote two long posts to it. But since there are so many like him . . .
No, I'm not so serious about Crown J, because there are plenty of other things to think about. But as an English teacher I notice how the language is presented in everyday life, and how some random gangsta knock-off (in pink no less) has so much influence over it.
I agree with Thao too. He's just being fun in my opinion.
you make some interesting points and I know that this is your blog but your irritation with Koreans for using improper English seems quite hypocritical when you hear improper grammar all the time in the US - I found several mistakes in your own post. At least Koreans have the ingenuity and creativity to try to incorporate another language into their own.
I speak both English and Korean fluently and I have no problem with how they don't use proper English. Yeah, it might be nice if they didn't put random words on a T-shirt, but that's culture and we should all be respecting each other's. Living in America, you realize just how small minded and unworldly Americans truly are. There is no effort to incorporate any foreign culture because God forbid we actually admit there might be something of use that isn't American.
Also, Koreans do know exactly what they're buying and buying into. Entertainment isn't about the proper use of English, no one cares what your IQ is. Instead, it is about bringing joy and fun into people's lives. Yeah, Crown J isn't the most thugged out "rapper" out there. That's not the point. He is an entertainer who is selling an image and people understand that. Exactly how much more thug is K Fed or how much smarter is Britney Spears? It's the same thing except you're all offended because they're using the English language and American customs to create a new fad. Yeah, fads pass and that's the point. No one expects them to stay around. Get over it.
Last comment: Koreans know fully well what each baseball insignia means. American baseball is very popular over there and they don't get it because it just looks cool. Although I know just as many guys over here in the US who do it cuz it looks "cool" too.
I don't know where you get off being so condescending and bashing on them when you're the one getting money from their government and people - not to mention the mistakes you made in your own post. If you don't like their culture, then get it cuz you're obviously not taking advantage of your opportunities and learning much about what it truly means to be Korean.
Like I said I'm still surprised at how many hits each day I get for Crown J, especially from the US. He must be in the news for something over there.
I'll have to agree to disagree with a lot of Korean-Americans on this one. It'd be equivalent to some American rapper or rock star putting ridiculous, nonsensical Chinese characters all over his album cover and his clothing, and, moreover, was selling himself as some huge trans-Pacific star. My annoyance isn't with Crown J's attempts at thuggishness. American rappers do the same thing and are equally annoying. As I've said before it's with him making money off cheapning the language. Yes, Americans do it too, and like I just got done saying, isn't "crunk" a big trend nowadays? Won't find much "proper" English there, either. But, certainly if an American made his name in the US by cheapening the Korean language and culture, Korean-Americans would be annoyed. Hell, annoyed? We know they'd have protests on every university campus on the west coast.
Some of your comments were out of line, such as expecting me to humble myself because I happen to work in Korea. I don't have to be a spokesman for the country all the time, nor am I a guest who owes my existence to the kindness and charity of the Korean people. I'm a contracted worker here because Koreans want to learn English. It's a fair trade. People who suggest that, oooh, I must hate Korea because I rip on some no-name rapper are coming out of left field. It's quite condescending to come out with "You don't understand this" or whatever, because I'm an American. If you've read this blog you know I admit all the time there's stuff I don't know and stuff I'm trying to understand. But I'm not Korean, and never CAN be Korean, so there's no point in trying to become Korean. As a foreigner what I can do is learn how to negotiate my role as a white, English-speaking foreigner in a country where those traits are sometimes considered valuable.
I notice the people who constantly get on my back for being quote-unquote negative are equally vocal and negative in their opposition, and toward their own pet issues. It's quite humorous to watch people get bent out of shape with me being bent out of shape over a rapper.
Just worth adding, too, that no, Koreans don't always get what the insignias mean. American basball is popular when a Korean player is on a team, and Korean sports fans do know the Yankees, but let's not get carried away. You expect the average 18-year-old to know the difference between the As and Braves?
The whole "A" thing came from a group in Atlanta. I have their cd...they don't say it like that but then all these R&B artists started saying it and I was thinking "DAMN SHUT THE F*** UP!". His song is ok.
I think the whole "A!" thing is funny, but if I was in Korea and someone said that, I'd probably just start laughing.
And now it seems that Soulja Boy has a monopoly over the letter "U" lmao
oh hip hop, hip hop, what're you doin to me? Anyways!! The Oakland raiders and the Atlanta Braves are shit! (Even though I have family in those states) It's all about NEW YORK!! hahaha
I agree with shenard though. He's cool n all but keep it out of the hood. I'm just hoping he doesn't think he has some street cred or whatever...b/c if he does...well I feel bad for him haha
you guys hating on him are fucking losers u need to get a life.
he has accomplished his so why are u losers hating?
and FYI the "A" you guys are mentioning stands for ANT!!!
u dumbbitchass assholes damn!
what the fuck did he ever do to you guys?
carrying atlanta on your head like ur some damn mayor
eat the whole city then will you please do why dont u change the name to ur name so he wont have anything else to say
what do rappers here sing about?
"bitches and sex and money and drugs and partying all night long"
and what does he rap about?
not even quarter the kind of shit they rap about!!!
his rap is tight his whole personality is tight so u fuckers need to get a life
haha losers
u actually have time to hate on someone when u can be accomplishing something good in your life
wow!
I'll leave the vulgar comment up as a testament to the kind of visitors I get looking for this topic.
"Brian " what is your problem with Crown J ? Hes a entertainer and hes doing his job quite well, i enjoy watching him on "WGM" very much and his performance has been fantastic.
If your not familiar with the hip hop scene then i advise you to pay a visit to a hip hop club or maybe actually listen to some hip hop music and you will understand his style. I'm doubt whether you've had any contact with any hip hop people or rappers before or you wouldn't have made these comments.
Teenages 9 out of 10 will want to be like the idols which they admire. Being a teacher shouldn't you understand this ? Are you even a teacher with QTS? In asia and by asia i mean Korea, Japan , Hong Kong etc it is very normal for someone to adapt western speech after being abroad for some time.
I dont think this job in Korea is right for you if you dont understand the culture and how we do things in our side.seeing you dont agree with it then you should get on a plane back to where your from theres plenty of people wanting a job in Korea.
"A"
"Brian " what is your problem with Crown J ? Hes a entertainer and hes doing his job quite well, i enjoy watching him on "WGM" very much and his performance has been fantastic.
If your not familiar with the hip hop scene then i advise you to pay a visit to a hip hop club or maybe actually listen to some hip hop music and you will understand his style. I'm doubt whether you've had any contact with any hip hop people or rappers before or you wouldn't have made these comments.
Teenages 9 out of 10 will want to be like the idols which they admire. Being a teacher shouldn't you understand this ? Are you even a teacher with QTS? In asia and by asia i mean Korea, Japan , Hong Kong etc it is very normal for someone to adapt western speech after being abroad for some time.
I dont think this job in Korea is right for you if you dont understand the culture and how we do things in our side.seeing you dont agree with it then you should get on a plane back to where your from theres plenty of people wanting a job in Korea.
"A"
Hey B,
I have to agree, he is a douche. Before you people go off talking sh!t, remember, we are entitled to our opinion.
Koreans who say they have lived in the states and then go to Korea generally are all losers. No one likes them here so they have to go fly out to another country and make it big there. The only reason he went to Korea is cause he would NEVER make it big in the sates. He (and others) act like they all big and bad in Korea but if he brought his music and acting here, it would be considered straight up garbage. There is no solid talent. Koreans believe talent is based on beauty, not skills. If you say he has skills, you are a follower, pop music lover (not hip hop) with no real taste and awareness of true music. I am most positive 90% of Korean "rappers" have ghost writers; I am sure he has one. A real man with street cred doesn't have to try so hard. We all know this kid wasn't struttin' like this back in LA. Come on now!
Anyway, LA boys aren't all that. There are way finer looking men on the east coast. I went to Cali and saw a bunch of busted up Korean dudes. Again, it's my opinion.
So in conclusion, Crown J will never make it anywhere other than Korea; he went there cause no one in the states beleived that fakeness. We can smell wanabe a mile away. He is a douche and always will be in my book!
Smooches!
first off, yea, it's annoying. I watch "we got married", and he's in it with that girl who's holding a chain up with a hat on.
But just because he is korean and from LA doesn't mean he can't put up a "A" sign. People all around the world, even in Africa and in Europe, do it. It's a really famous thing to do because they respect hip-hop, and hip-hop was first created by the black community in Atlanta.
They're just respecting it, and for god's sakes, he's an entertainer!!! and he does one hell of a good job on it, because he makes shows fun, WHICH IS WHAT HE'S SUPPOSED TO DO.
yea, it makes him look stupid, but hell if he makes me laugh, i'm fine with it.
"A" is part of the hip-hop culture....hip-hop is international, so if you don't like it, go to the south pole where you won't see any penguins flipping their fingers, "A"!
Hey buddy,
You're the latest victim of the Korean netizen world. Look at all these lively comments coming to the defense of Crown J!
However, it doesn't surprise me. One thing I've learned from my time in Korea is that these people are utterly incapable of taking even the most modest, intelligent critique of their country/culture.
Just remember, the people coming to the defense of Crown J are also the same idiots who were hiding in their basements scared of American beef a few months back. Better not to even acknowledge their points.
Well, of course I remember netizens, since I've been the target of them before. However, the reason I've been getting comments is because this page turns up near the top of Google.
i dont understand how you can say such mean things about crown j when he never did anything against you and its just not nice and obviously your a racist because crown j is the most sincere awesome singer and probably a ninja too so you should stop picking on him just because you heard some bad english i bet your not a real gangster either but crown j is totally badass he could dance so good all those other gangsters would say "holy hell" and leave him alone so you should back off because you obviously dont know anything about crown j or korea or anything and you should just go back to your job at mcdonalds and jerk off to anime and stop making fun of awesome amazing korean stars who are way better than anything you can do anyway and im so angry at you because i want crown j to marry my sister so let me say it one more time to make sure you understand: LEAVE CROWN J ALOOOOONE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
hahaha, i can smell the stench of jealousy from this place. it's all good, he has fun with his little A! nonsense while people hate. he's fuckin hilarious imo.
lol just to piss you fags off: A! A! A! A! A! A! A! A! A! A! A! A! A! A! A! A! A! A! A! A! A! A! A! A! A! A! A! A! A! A! A! A! A! A! A! A! A! A! A! A! A! A! A! A! A! A! A! A! A! A! A! A! A! A! A! A! A! A! A! A! A! A! A! A! A! A! A! A! A! A! A! A! A! A! A! A! A! A! A! A! A! A! A! A! A! A! A! A! A! A! A! A! A! A! A! A! A! A! A! A! A! A! A! A! A! A! A! A! A! A! A! A! A! A! A! A! A! A! A! A! A! A! A! A! A! A! A! A! A! A! A! A! A! A! A! A! A! A! A! A! A! A! A! A! A! A! A! A! A! A! A! A! A! A! A! A! A! A! A! A! A! A! A! A! A! A! A! A! A! A! A! A! A! A! A! A! A! A! A! A! A! A! A! A! A! A! A! A! A! A! A! A! A! A! A! A! A! A! A! A! A! A! A! A! A! A! A! A! A! A! A! A! A! A! A! A! A! A! A! A! A! A! A! A! A! A! A! A! A! A! A! A! A! A! A! A! A! A! A! A! A! A! A! A! A! A! A! A! A! A! A! A! A! A! A! A! A! A! A! A! A! A! A! A! A! A! A! A! A! A! A! A! A! A! A! A! A! A! A! A! A! A! A! A! A! A! A! A! A! A! A! A! A! A! A! A! A! A! A! A! A! A! A! A! A! A! A! A! A!
later bitches.
I find you to be the IGNORANT one. Quite irritating if you ask me. I was going to just leave this blog because I was utterly disgusted with your comments. Let me recap what you said a few months ago:
"If you've read this blog you know I admit all the time there's stuff I don't know and stuff I'm trying to understand. But I'm not Korean, and never CAN be Korean, so there's no point in trying to become Korean. As a foreigner what I can do is learn how to negotiate my role as a white, English-speaking foreigner in a country where those traits are sometimes considered valuable." -You, Brian
I found your reply to be quite hilarious. You contradict yourself. Although you don't directly state it, you're basically saying that you will not learn and respect the Korean culture even though you say you try to "understand" it. Haha, you amuse me. So, being an American makes you better than the Koreans? I'm an American, too, but you don't see me acting in a haughty manner.
As an instructor teaching English in Korea, you should at least learn to respect the culture. If you're going to live there, don't complain. If you dislike the entertainment there, just hop on a plane and return home. Korean students don't need ignorant teachers like you.
Should immigrants from other countries ignore the traditions and culture of the United States? No. I'm pretty sure you would say the same. See where I'm going with this?
Oh, and btw, it's not like our singers and actors use English correctly as well. Why don't you critique them, too, huh? I could name at least 10 American celebrities whose English grammar and usage are just horrendous.
=] It ain't like you truly understand them Koreans 'cuz you sed yo self you're never goin' to be Korean and you imply dat you have no reason to understand dem. Noh wat I'm sayin?
Did you love those ugly sentences up there? I'm sure you did. ;)
P.S. Listen to 50 cent's "Candy Shop." I'm sure you will understand what he's trying to say, since--oh, wait!--you are an English teacher. Oh, do tell me what we should do with our American teens who sing "Soulja Boy" incessantly yet have no clue what that song even means.
"Brian is a douche."
=] -YummyMango
LOL, I know I said I wouldn't reply to this thread anymore, but I can't resist a good troll. Clearly you haven't paid attention to anything I've ever written or said. The "if you don't like it go home" line is tired and inapprorpiate, so give it a rest, and quit being a worthless banana cunt who doesn't know how to use paragraphs. Why don't you go back to Korea? Oh, that's right, you're only as Korean as you look, and you only are interested in ethnicity when it comes to choosing a restaurant and checking the box on your college application. Got it.
Ooops, sorry. If you don't like my language, stop reading.
crown j is a FAG!this guy steals beats and other rapper gimics i hope he gets bumrushed america cuz he some rich ass korean boy who momma spoils him, he never ever grew up in the ghetto of atl or la he just immigrated there and claims that he is all gangster and shit..fuck him he's a fag..first he repped L.A and now he repping ATL this guy is a fucking hoodhopper fucking queer this guy i hate him he suck i hate him..his new song fly boy is so gay..rip off of lil waynes got money beat he copied three six mafia style of saying fly iiiiiiii...he even copied t-pain style of singing through a synthesier..wats next for crown j i wonder who else hes going to copy next..this guy sucks
Its all about making that paper. From hip hop artists to street vendors selling shirts so called bad English to you teaching in my country for an extra buck.
p.s. Just like you told one person if you don't like what your seeing don't read back at you dogg if you don't like what your seeing or hearing in my country get the f**k out yo. Another thing don't cry too much when McCain goes down you sorry ass bama.
Peace to my peoples
Oh c'mon. can u say h"A"ter?
Crown J is entertainment and to Asia and the rest of the world, its really funny. I gotta admitt sometimes he gets carried away with his gangster "swag" on WGM. but he's a good guy. AND yes he's from LA but he was born in ATL.
The bulk of popular entertainment is derivative, inane, and generally in some way pandering to people's apathy and inability to appreciate anything original. So, it should be no surprise that Korean pop culture is the same. The fact that it so frequently arises between two minorities in Americas that could scarcely be more alienated by each other, now that's a bit of a surprise. There wasn't a Korean Lil' Wayne...til now. Sure there was an original, but now Koreans can understand what this pampered, bourgeois performer (obviously not an "artist") is prattling on about (except when he says anything in English).
In response to the "yankee go home" diatribe that is the default position of people too insecure to even take a slightly analytical look at their culture...English is not some element of culture or style that can be molded and appropriated to fit the goals of some idiotic marketing or entertainment shill (like Crown J). And because I'm one of the lucky people who get to make a living, enjoy my family life, and relax in the comfort of Seoul...I tell you why. I have been paid a lot to care about "proper English". The Korean media is constantly mauling foreigners for "not setting a proper example" or cultivating an unthinking, unquestioning acceptance of all things Korean...in many ways we are blamed for Korea's perplexing contrast between money spent on English versus their number of fluent speakers.
Do you want us to shut up or do you want us to care??? You can't have both.
In a country that is so rabid to study English ("proper English") as a means of advancement (or "upgrade", if you like) it seems a bit conflicted to allow the rampant and willful destruction of the English language by the same people who spend so much money on it. It's hilarious that on one hand, people attack us for trying to promote use of good English, tell us to go home for having the nerve to do so, and then attack us for not having credentials that are SIMPLY NOT REQUIRED to teach in Korea. We're not here because we speak perfect English (as a doctorate in Linguistics or ELS might) but because the vast majority of us speak it better than the Korean staff responsible for teaching it at so many schools in Seoul.
This guy is a douche-bag, but I suppose equally ardent fans of the blues would say the same of the Rolling Stones or Elvis. I think most people would be hard pressed to find an appropriation of ANY culture by another that no one complained about.
Bleah, that isn't especially coherant but...acknowledging this guy as the Korean Kevin Federline is by no means saying that Koreans can't do hip-hop EXCELLENTLY (see the Korean release of DJ Honda's "D III", Drunken Tiger, or pretty much anything by MC Sniper). Let those who deserve praises, get them...and those that don't...well, they have to go to the States to steal beats and ideas and then try to play it off as new material.
Clown J...well, it's easy to see which category he fits so perfectly in.
I am Korean-American (not that that is necessarily relevant, but nevertheless) and I have to say, I hate Crown-J. I think he represents Korean-Americans negatively, no matter how popular he is, the fact of the matter is, this guy represents Americans in Korea. In fact, he is famous because he “speaks” English and steals lines from American rappers. He is most definitely a poseur.
While I don’t completely agree with everything you’re saying about t-shirts and the other things with misspelled or incorrect English on it, (American English itself has commandeered words from other languages, and is itself a perversion and combination of many different languages; our standard spelling stems from misspellings of the original words) I dislike Crown J the same way I would dislike any other person making a living stealing beats from others and acting like an idiot. (If you listen to “We belong together” by Mariah Carey, you will hear the same melody and chord progression as “Too much”) It seems like that might be your initial point, along with your annoyance of its popularity among your students. Furthermore, as a musician and writer, it is upsetting to see the caliber of entertainment (even if you argue that he is a gag-man, which I think he would strongly resent) dissolve into the crud we see on television in Korea AND in America.
I know this is an old entry, but damn, I can't resist. These fools leaving comments implying that you don't respect Korean culture are hilarious. This Crown J, lil fakethug doesn't even respect Korean culture. How does mimicking the goof-ball testosterone ignorance of American gangsta life represent anything Korean? Hip-hop ISN'T Korean culture. Saying you don't understand is just silly. Coming from the States, we understand hip-hopper ignorance better than the majority of Koreans.
Sad.. instead of being a hater and wasting your time babbling on and on like a jealous idiot, maybe you should look at yourself and think about how much of a loser YOU are. One more thing, learn some proper grammar, and learn how to spell please. Two words for you: Grow up.
Sigh I'm actually really disappointed with you how you being a teacher and being such a big anti-. Personally (WITH bad intentions) I feel that teachers should be ROLE MODELS and they shouldn't encourage students to hate. What ARE you blogging here? Hate comments? WhoA, I'm really truly surprised that a mature man who also supposedly is a teacher would say such things.
If I truly hate a celebrity even I wouldn't do something like that.
You're low.
P.S. I think Crown J is really cool because he has his own style and everything, unlike you.
Thanks for reading this :) I hope you reflect on your superbly wrong actions
I'll say it again, for about the seventeenth time, it's remarkable that among all the things I write about, the biggest haters are Korean-Americans who object to what I say about Crown J. Or at least I assume you're Korean-American, Esther, with a name like that. Or else you're a 91-year-old woman.
Go to hell and take your self-righteousness with you. How's that for being a role model? Next time you come here trying to lecture me, expect the same. Or, you could try reading what I write rather than snapping to judgement. How about that? Nah, didn't think so. In that case, how about just replying "woooooot!!!!! First!!!!" to my next thread. Y'all seem to like that.
I seemed to have written that when I was really mad (probably because I read your article)that day, sorry for being rude. But I still think haters are bad.
BTW I hate losers who go wooot firsttt because it means that they obviously have nothing to say.
P.S. Don't be racist douchebag, I am not Korean-American.
Hey Brian.. I really hope you read this.
I don't care you believe me or not but I barely know this guy Crown J and I am not here to defend him.
Your criticism towards Crown J? no problem.
I am not even telling you to leave Korea if you are not going to respect whatever they do... just because you make money there? No...
But there's this one (or two) bullshit of yours that bothers the fuck out of me...
You keep saying Crown J is cheapening your language and it seems like you don't appreciate non americans cheapening ENGLISH.
You even make it sound like American rappers misrepresenting or cheapening English is acceptable because it is THEIR language.
Hmm...
First of all... English has become the most popular language in the world (this is a positive thing in my opinion). People will eventually use it and abuse it. Secondly, American entertainment industry has been trying so hard to spread its VIRUS all over the world. This includes "cheapened Enlglish". So I guess Crown J is doing American entertainment industry a favor by spreading its VIRUS.
Lastly, according to your logic, AMERICANS ARE THE ONES CHEAPENED ENGLISH. Because the English language BELONGS to British.
Oh wait, let me Google this...oh right... they say it is a West Germanic language that developed in England. Poor Germans...
Check your facts before you wreck yourself...
Write me back if you have some more bullshit to whine about you crybaby.
Flashpoint, if you have an idea to share on a blog, it's a pretty good idea not to insult the author when you're trying to present it.
This thread is one that has attracted a lot of drive-by assholes, and you're clearly one of them.
Crown J is an idiot for inserting all kinds of ridiculous English into his songs, and Jewelry---where his on-screen girlfriend used to be---is one of the worst offenders for Gibberlish (gibberish English) in the K-pop world. As a native English speaker, which K-pop acts and most of their fans aren't, I certainly have a right to be annoyed at people using ridiculous English for no fucking reason.
And as the author of this blog I certainly have a right to say whatever I please. So Flashpoint, shove your attitude right back up your ass and keep your bullshit to yourself in your Koreatown apartment. Why don't you go Google that, shithead.
Why don't you eat some kimchi and call the fuck down, asshole. Yeah, I'm a teacher. Yeah, I've had plenty of great jobs. Yeah, my English is awesome.
I didn't counter any of your points because I've done that a million times in this comment thread already. I don't owe you anything, especially when you come to my site with attitude and language like that.
Go back to soompi.
Brian Brian Brian... You know, I just posted a comment just as low as yours and deleted it...cuz I know I am better than that. You call yourself a teacher? Cussin like a low life thug, you don't deserve that title. I gave you three things to counter, you say nothing about that. Here's one more. What do you think about Latin Ameican rappers with not so perfect English? They get along just fine with American rappers and they are hella popular in their Countries. Are they also insulting you? How about Jackie Chan? You are keeping saying things like "as a native English speaker". What does that mean? I bet Crown J is a U.S citizen and he's English is much better than his Korean. His parents being immigrants bother you that much? Mr. Native English Speaker? That Crown J guy was born and raised here in America. The only reason he speaks the way he speaks is for entertainmet. Snoop dogg saying shizzl my nizzl probably drive you crazy huh? It's not like Crown J came out on a TV show and start making fun of Americans with bad English (which AMERICAN entertainers often do to other languages). Then I might understand where you are coming from. If you are saying you are offended cuz Asian American rappers (which I am deeply confused... are you saying just because Crown J is an Asian, he doesn't have a right to speak English the way he does? what's the difference between him and other American rappers?) are speaking hip hop slangs and so called jibberish, you are lucky you are over there. You say some of those bullshit over here in U.S, you can get into a big trouble boy. And stop saying Koreatown this Koreatown that. That sounds really pathetic.
man... now I just feel sorry for you. You crack me up so hard!!! You are just full of it man.
What's the name of the school you are working for? Please let me know.
Eat Kimchi and CALL down? What does that mean? Mr. Perfect English?
Hey Brian,
How can you be from the Pitts and not even listen to a little HipHop.
As for Crown J, I've never heard of him. If he's from K-town in LA. His sound would be influenced by more of a Latin vibe. Since practically every one living in that area or works in that area is Latino. Unless he's an immigrant Korean from Argentina or some other South American country. Most Koreans in LA just rep. K-town but are usually from the valley. Can you do an article on Korea's B-Boy Explosion?
Durp, I like some hip-hop. I haven't kept up on the latest, but I like the stuff from the early 90s, and as far as Korean hip-hop I'm a fan of Leessang and Dynamic Duo.
Dude.... Brian,
Dynamic Duo with their ring my bell cover. Dude, you might as well just say that you like Ginusean, Shinwa, Yoo SeungJun, Drunken Tiger, or HOT(Hive Five of TEEN)
I know that HOT isn't actually in the same genre but I thought that It would help you put this all into perspective. It's pure faggotry. JK. I actually like all those boy bands mentioned above the exception being HOT. I started listening to K-POP since the late 90's since they had really cool beats and conceptual stuff musically.
Brian,
I, too, found you by doing a search for Crown J. I saw him on We Got Married and just wondered what kind of career he had. He seems very insecure and pitiful on that reality show. I am American and watch a lot of Korean TV. I have loved Korean culture for the past few years. The use of English bothers me because it doesn't really seem to be code switching, but just randomly putting in English phrases.
Someone in a post above said that Americans don't embrace foreign culture, but America is truly a collection of Foreigners, where you can find rich cultural diversity, so I wonder what they are basing that statement on. Thanks for your blog and I plan to subscibe to it.
Agree with Roboseyo and Flashpoint_24, maybe you don't like the way but I don't think you needed to rant that much.
The whole "A" for Atlanta doesn't bother me that much. He's wrong yes, but I also think you critisce him too much :/
In no way, I am being harsh that's all I wanted to say. And I know this is an old post for you to look at I guess but I just happened to stumble upon it when it is one of the highest posts on Google when searching Crown J.
lol, thanks. It's been four years to the day since I wrote this post, and I don't think there's a topic I care less about in 2012 than Crown J. Matter of fact I don't think I've thought about him, or his then-girlfriend, in years.
All the comments I get on this blog now now are on really old posts that people come across for one reason or another . . . it's kind of fun to revisit some of these, but it's silly to see people who still get bent out of shape over a rapper, or a song, or something in some magazine. I probably should have just left K-pop, the Sea of Japan, and Naked News Korea alone.
I wanted to comment on this post for alt of reasons. I'm an african american woman who grow up with hip-hop. I'm also a fan of korean drama, but I do have to say that koreans do seem to be very judgmental. I know most of these comments come from four years ago, but I think that one thing that most koreans don't know our understand is hip-hop. For that matter, there are few people in this world that truly the history. Hip-hop is not just about music, clothes, jewerly, and/or dance. Hip-hop is about the life that so many black americans have had to live I'm american. It is about wanting that american dream only to see it float away. It about watching your mother get high, your father being beat by the police, and waking with no food in your stomach. Yes, the genre had changed over the years,.but the history its still there. It is disrespect to see someone who has no ideawhat that life is like faking as though he does. The slang that is use in hip-hop had to do with here a person comes from. Even as a black woman, I don't understand all the slang that is used in hop-hip. I do know this.. Koreans tend to place Africans Americans in very bad way, but koreans like to steal our culture. The way you dance, the way you dress, and the way song comes from hip-hop and rb,.so maybe you should less time at getting mad at someone because out does agree with the way that you intimidated someone culture and spend more time truly understand the culture that seem to idol.
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