Saturday, June 07, 2008
Same Old Song
It looks like Se7en's first English language R&B album should be hitting stores pretty soon. I wish I could get excited about this- I mean, the guy has an incredible voice, and his videos are so tightly-choreographed, he makes Justin and Usher seem lazy and uncoordinated by comparison.
Still, I've been here before, and it always ends the same way. Toshinobu Kubota, Utada Hikaru, Coco Lee, Seiko: They've all released R&B albums in the States, only to have them end up in the cutout bin alongside Jeremy Jordan and Ray J. Regardless of quality, it's been made painfully clear that Asian pop/soul artists will never make an impact over here.
It doesn't matter how much money they sink into their debut, or how many rappers they collaborate with (FYI: Fabolous and Three 6 Mafia will appear on Se7en's US debut), Asian R&B acts have about as much chance of connecting with the US market as I have of connecting my penis to Megan Goode's vagina.
