I know y’all are here for the XG, so here it is. In my first XG post, I sketched a conspiracy theory behind XGalX and YG entertainment. Well, like most conspiracy theories, I was wrong. The answer behind the affinity of Japanese XG and Korean producers is Simon.
Sakai Simon Junho is a Korean Japanese producer and performer who was born to a Korean mother and Japanese father. He was born to a non-Korean speaking mother in Seattle, and grew up in Korea. Of course, we seeing a recurring theme in this newsletter, that is a mixed cultural upbringing, inflected with stints in Korea, forming into producers of K-pop culture. But what makes Simon particularly compelling is not his heritage, but his experience in the K-pop industry. He performed in the boy band DMTN (dalmatian). He didn’t remain in the group for long, but formed meaningful bonds with the members and continues to work with them, notably Day Day (who is also Korean American).
So, with Simon’s heritage and experience in the K-pop industry itself, he’s an amazing translator of K-pop as a sound, aesthetic and business. We can clearly see his high-level of understanding of K-pop in the way XG is produced. He and Day Day also possess an incredible talent for synthesizing hip hop and global musical trends, while applying a deft level of technicality that isn’t always present in other K-pop production.
The real answer behind XG’s cultural motivation of infiltrating K-pop lies in Simon’s name, JAKOPS. This is an acronym that signifies Simon’s cultural construction, JA - Japan, KO - Korea, P - Produced by, S - Simon. Amazing. The answer to all my suspicions delivered in one stage name.
The area where Simon’s vision starts to divert from current K-pop is the exuberence of XG’s visual stylings. Notably, their nails have been of particular attention for their wildly exaggerated construction and futuristic sculptural form. They are obviously highly-adept at appropriating hip hop, particularly of the 90’s golden age variety. But strangely, their music videos and satorial stylings are from a Y2K future on steroids.
I’m a bit surprised that they haven’t worked with the photographer Bryan Hyunh, who lent his futuristic photoshop skills to Aespa and CL. The XG video for GRL GVNG is a particular stand out for this futuristic, TRON-like styling, which has continued to manifested also in their stage fashion.
Simon signifies a very interesting development in K-pop. He has reversed the direction of production where, as mentioned in a previous post, American or global culture was implanted into Korea via Korean Americans by taking his knowledge of Korean culture and placed himself within Japan. Simon provides a product that’s very coveted by Japan, but possibly hard to replicate for cultural, and possibly prideful reasons. But Simon provides a bridge that is accepted and appreciated as one of their own. Also, my hopes lie in Simon’s ability to bring recognition and representation to Korean Japanese. The inclusion of Korean Japanese member Hinata is also a nod to this recognition.
Go Simon, go.
Signing off…