W Magazine - Can Rosé’s Solo Debut Change America’s Perception of K-Pop?

I agree with the author. Rosé voice is very unique and fits pop and ballad songs very well. She’s also an endearing speaker, especially in English. She’s gonna have a lot of westerners fall in love with her

I hope so

"(...) but Rosé’s solo endeavors could very well spell the beginning of a new chapter for K-Pop’s continued quest for musical world domination"

hopefully

I think it will provide the opportunity to see more artistic dimensions of the genre. Most casuals don't see K-Pop artists as singer-songwriters. I count Rosé in my list of international K-artists pushing the music forward along with Jessi, CL, and BM.

Quote

Together, Blackpink and BTS have proven that K-Pop groups can make waves in American culture—but what happens when one of their members attempts to go solo? Well, we’re about to find out when Blackpink member Rosé officially launches her solo career on Friday.

As if BTS members and Jennie haven't done solos and set records? The disrespect.

And no, she's not going to change America's perception of kpop. Partly because it's a two-track album, so where is the content, and partly because it's dropping right before the Grammys, where BTS are set to perform (here's a thought, they may do a set with as many tracks as her album has). The whole article was kinda ignorant, frankly. This is someone whose editor said "write an article about X that you have no knowledge of" and they just spat out some pat copy.

Answering the headline, No. Americans won't change their perception of a Kpop by listening to a song that will likely be majorly in English, if anything any major success in the US will help Rosé greatly and maybe blackpink(mostly Rosé). Can it increase the awareness of Kpop idols/artists? Personally I don't think so but maybe. Unless songs that are sang in Korean are chart toppers(like Latin songs) consistently, it will be extremely difficult to change the perception as it's still two different cultures and languages ultimately.

It would be cool. A pop-rock ballad has the potential to be huge everywhere.

Pretty much all K-Pop that breaks through internationally still has shades of Psy - fun, loud, a bit silly. It says something that BTS's legit big breakthrough song internationally is bordering the novelty song genre.

I think if Rose's song is super successful and people are saying "She's a K-Pop singer in this group and they played Coachella, etc..." it would give Blackpink a bit more credibility. They might see them as outliers though.

Changing American’s perception on kpop is a reach. Unless Rosé is already mainstream I don’t see how the American public is gonna listen to her out of the kpop bubble