JYPE’s Rainstone dishes details regarding Wonder Girls album, Rodney Jerkins & Claude Kelly

by lawlietta on January 18, 2011 at 4:08 am

Rainstone (Rhee Woo Seok) of JYP Entertainment, the songwriter behind the Wonder Girls‘ Billboard Hot 100 charter Nobody, sat down with JoongAng Ilbo and dished new details regarding the pop quintet’s upcoming US debut album slated to drop this March.

Rainstone explained that plans to enter the American music market have been developing for a long time, with JYPE vice-president Lee Woo-Suk beginning preparations in 2003. A graduate of Berklee College of Music, Lee also participated in the production of Nobody and Tell Me, and has been closely involved with the preparations for the Girls’ 2011 album, flying back and forth between New York and Los Angeles. Although the Girls’ American success thus far has been promising, he explained that the Girls have yet to truly begin their entrance into the US scene. ”Until now, it has only been a practice game. The Wonder Girls will begin their real, full-scale American debut this year.”

The album is expected to have six to seven tracks, Rainstone says. Furthermore, Rodney ‘Darkchild’ Jerkins, the mind behind Michael Jackson (You Rock My World), Britney Spears (I Love Rock ‘n’ Roll), Lady Gaga (Telephone), Beyoncé (Déjà Vu), JYJ (Empty) and Se7en (Girls), and Claude Kelly, a singer-songwriter who’s worked with Miley Cyrus (Party in the USA), Britney Spears (Circus) and Jesse McCartney (Oxygen), were revealed to be heavily participating in the album.

Rainstone attributed the Girls’ successes to the fact that, instead of attempting to conform to current American styles of music and become totally Westernized, the Wonder Girls take advantage of their Oriental charm instead. When asked about the greatest changes that have occurred in American music in the past seven years, Rainstone answered, “They’ve got their eyes on Korean singers. Initially, one challenge was engaging with record companies because they weren’t very interested in Asian artists. But these days it’s improving. … With the American music market becoming saturated, many are beginning to turn their attention toward the Asia. Labels in America know that Korea is covering the whole Asian market.”

As a testament to the promising outlook for an Asian breakthrough in America, Rainstone revealed, “The Wonder Girls’ album will be released by one of the three major labels of America.” With Universal Music Group, Sony Music Entertainment, Warner Music Group and EMI known as the top corporate labels dominating the music industry, fans are already wondering if one of these companies will soon be announced as the US distributor for the Wonder Girls’ American music, with many casting bids on Universal, as the company was responsible for distributing the Girls’ music in Taiwan, Malaysia, Hong Kong and other countries.

Until further announcements reveal more details, we can only speculate. Stay tuned to allkpop for more on the Wonder Girls’ long-awaited comeback!

Source: JoongAng Ilbo
Credit: allkpop