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Jay Park Signs To Jay-Z's Label: Collaboration Instead Of Invasion

abbyeste
Jul 26, 2017
2 min read

"This is a win for Korea. This is a win for Asian Americans. This is a win for the overlooked and underappreciated."

Korean artist, Jay Park announced that he has signed a deal with Roc Nation, a label founded by Jay-Z and houses artists like Rihanna and Lil Wayne.

A small part of me went to heaven when he announced this over Instagram. Not only because I"m a huge fan of Jay Park as an artist, producer, and as a human, but because of a much nerdier reason.

As people can recall, something called the British Invasion happened in the mid-60's. British rock and pop swept the nation with bands like The Beatles, The Rolling Stones, and The Animals. Fast-forward a few decades, we're able to look back at the influence of British culture on mainstream American music as well as how it's integrated into mainstream music now. Now we see British artists like Adele and Ed Sheeran dominating American music charts alongside American artist.

While the British Invasion was called an invasion, it seems to have evolved into more of an integration; one that has benefitted both parties greatly.

I realize the Korean Wave and British Invasion aren't very comparable. For one, American was once a British colony so I imagine they'd be much more accepting (especially at the time) of British culture than they would some other country. Also, speaking the same language helps.

What I believe holds true to both the Korean Wave and British Invasion is the idea of collaboration. International artists working with international artists to make good music. Sharing culture, not invading or appropriating.

To me, that's pretty damn cool.

Check out some of Jay Park's most recent hits: