K-pop star IU is only Asian artist on US influential song list
The 24-year-old chosen with global artists including Katy Perry and Bruno Mars on ‘25 Songs That Tell Us Where Music Is Going’ of ‘The New York Times’
Fans of South Korean singer IU are delighted to find that one of her songs has made it to The New York Times' trend-spotting list of “25 Songs That Tell Us Where Music Is Going”.
The list – made available on March 8 – features the song, Palette, by the 24-year-old songwriter and actress, Soompi, an English-language news website focusing on Korean pop culture, reported.
Palette is the title track of her studio album released last year.
The song list examines present trends in popular music and looks at examples of music that might indicate new trends.
Each song on the list is selected and written about by a group of writers, including music critics and the newspaper's columnists and freelance writers.
The article focusing on the song by IU, whose real name is Lee Ji-eun, examined the lyrics of Palette, which rejected youthful impulses and embraced old-fashioned individuality, and compared the singer's image with that of American pop singer Britney Spears, who went through a more public transition from teen idol to mature artist.
The writer appreciated IU’s ability as a singer-songwriter to project authenticity in K-pop – something different from the “ebullient and hugely viral” style familiar to the West by Psy’s global hit, Gangnam Style.