Rappers to showcase Korean hip-hop in U.S. concert series

Rappers Verbal Jint, Beenzino, Bumkey, Sanchez of Phantom and Kanto will give American fans a taste of Korean hip-hop as they headline the first Asian Music Festival: Korean Hip Hop Series Vol 1., which will hold three concerts across the U.S. next month.

The festival will stop at New York, Los Angeles and Seattle, featuring Korean hip-hop artists as well as international DJs Michelle Francheska, DJ Preston and Gank Squad, and rapper Decipher. With the continued international growth of the Asian music market, the festival was created in an effort to bring more Asian artists to the States.

“Asian pop culture and musicians are taking the world by storm and we’ve decided that it’s about time to bring them to you,” the Asian Music Festival organizers wrote on the event’s official website.

The New York performance will take place on May 22 at the B.B. King Blues Club while the Seattle concert will take place on May 23 at The Showbox. The L.A. show will be held on May 25 at the Belasco Theater.

American K-pop fans will also have another opportunity to see their favorite Korean acts perform this summer through the annual K-Con 2014 hallyu festival in August.

The K-Con festival will again be held in downtown L.A. on Aug. 9-10 and will feature a wide range of cultural offerings and events, from Korean music to dramas, films, food, fashion and more.

Last year’s festival included performances by some of the biggest names in Korean music, including G-Dragon, EXO, 2AM, Teen Top, Dynamic Duo and Super Junior-M’s Henry.

K-Con’s 2014 line-up will be announced soon.

By Julie Jackson (juliejackson@heraldcorp.com)