We interviewed Korean American rapper, IZ, a few months ago. Check it out here!

IZ recently came out with a new song called Paper Chaser and all we can say is that it’s smooth and a nice change of pace from his other material.  We can see this song being a nice song to dance to at the club and think the music video is creative.  Check out the music video below and for more info go to: http://454life-ent.com

All we can say is there anybody like or crazy as Danny Cho? Danny talks about how proud he is to be Korean and his project, Ktown Cowboys. Our own Christina Lee dares to interview Danny Cho and she survives.

The Korea Times interviewed MTV’s SuChin Pak, the first Asian-American face and correspondent for MTV Networks.  She has interviewed all the music luminaries we’ve heard of and she has supported multiple Korean-American causes.

“What I do every day is really a dream job,’’ says Pak. “The experience is indescribable.’’

Since joining MTV as a news correspondent in 2001, Pak has covered the MTV Movie Awards, the Sundance Film Festival and the MTV Video Music Awards, to name but a few. Besides her entertainment coverage, she hosted her own documentary series and reported on major events including September 11 and the Haiti Earthquake.

Unlike typical news jobs, the nature of Pak’s work requires great versatility to quickly switch gears from touring celebrity homes to covering the presidential election.

“There is really nothing that can prepare you for a job like this,’’ said the 34-year-old. “Everyday is different and because MTV is such a huge and global brand, it’s all about how you figure out your voice.’’

For the full interview, go to the Korea Times.

Janice Min, formerly of Us Weekly, has reemerged at The Hollywood Reporter as their editorial director. Janice Min was famous for turning Us Weekly into a powerhouse magazine.

Min was editor in chief of Us Weekly magazine from 2003-09. During her tenure, she more than doubled the weekly circulation, increased advertising sales, launched and served as editor in chief of Usmagazine.com and garnered many of publishing’s most prestigious awards, including Adweek’s Editor of the Year.

“Janice dramatically transformed the landscape of entertainment journalism, and she is perfectly suited to lead The Hollywood Reporter’s business-to-influencer coverage of the global entertainment industry,” said Richard Beckman, CEO of e5 Global Media, owner of THR.

Asked why she wanted to come aboard, Min said Wednesday she was “sold” on the idea after speaking with Beckman.

“The vision he laid out for the brand was really exciting to me, and I loved the idea of re-establishing something from the ground up — and for something that I feel strongly has huge potential.

“If you look at the space as it exists now, there seems to be a huge opportunity to grow and dominate and really start reaching this wide audience of influencers that I feel already reads The Hollywood Reporter, but now will become addicted to it.”

While plans for expanding the THR brand are not complete, Min said the idea is to reach a larger following of influential people.

“I think that whole idea of the influence that Hollywood has over a lot of different areas is important to tons of industries,” she said. “I’d like to think of the person reading THR as the first to know. And I think there will be some consumers who come along with that.

“We are living in an age where boxoffice grosses are important to regular people; the Conan-Leno debacle was essentially a trade story that became a consumer story. People know who Ari Emanuel is thanks to ‘Entourage.’ I think you could almost say that this is a byproduct of celebrity culture, but there’s a lot more interest in ‘how the sausage is made,’ the behind-the-scenes players.”

Min joined Us in 2002 as executive editor. Before that, she was assistant managing editor at InStyle, where she was instrumental in launching several successful newsstand special issues, and she oversaw InStyle Weddings and InStyle Makeover.

Min also held positions at Life magazine and People, where she began her editorial career after receiving a graduate degree from Columbia Journalism School and a bachelor’s degree from Columbia University.

Min will reside in Los Angeles with her husband and their two sons.

Source: The Hollywood Reporter

Jane Kim, the president of the San Francisco Board of Education is running for San Francisco Supervisor in District 6 and she needs your help in the form of signatures.  Jane Kim needs 1,500 signatures from District 6 residents to get on the ballot for the November 6 elections.  If you don’t know Jane, she was the first Korean-American to be an elected official in San Francisco.

Based on her experiences as a community organizer working with young people, Jane Kim was encouraged to run for a seat on San Francisco’s Board of Education. She received the most votes citywide in her 2006 election. In that election, Jane placed first out of fifteen candidates in District 6—earning over 1,000 more votes than her closest competitor.

As a Commissioner on the Board of Education, Jane Kim has advocated for expanded access for immigrant families, more equitable distribution of district resources, and greater accountability by the administration to the community whom they serve. Even as funding and resources for education at the state level have continued to decline, Jane has led her colleagues in the difficult challenge of balancing a fractured budget, while still prioritizing student needs and preserving district jobs.

If you live in District 6, go submit your signature!  For more information on Jane Kim’s run, go to her website janekim.org.

Maxim Magazine came out with their definitive list of the world’s most beautiful women for 2010. Grace Park was the lone Korean on the list. Of course she’s very well deserving to be on the list but we all know there are many other Korean ladies who could be on this list but they’re not well known to Maxim and the public. Let’s just enjoy Grace Park’s talents and her beauty.

Kim Yu Na came across the Pacific to attend Time Magazine’s top 100 most influential gala in New York.  She was one of the luminaries in attendance at this very prestigious gala.  It’s pretty cool that such a young girl from Korea could make so many people around the world smile.  Former figure skating champion Michelle Kwan shares her thoughts about Kim Yu Na.

I couldn’t have been more surprised or honored last summer when Korean figure skater Kim Yu-Na told me that as a 7-year-old, she was so inspired by my skating at the 1998 Winter Games that she memorized my skating routines, pretending to be at the Olympics. Twelve years later, she no longer had to pretend. I have never seen a skater with such a combination of artistry and athleticism. From the first notes of her sassy James Bond medley to the closing Gershwin strains, Kim’s inspiring performances in Vancouver changed the face of figure skating forever. Those 6½ minutes on the ice left not only a mark in the record book but also an indelible impression on millions of young girls around the world. For Kim, the dream that began as a 7-year-old has been realized. For these girls, thanks to her, a dream and journey are just beginning.

Time Magazine released their top 100 list of most influential people in the world and there are two Koreans who are in the top 100. Kim Yu Na captivated the world with her elegance and power at this past Winter Olympics.   She had the pressure of a country on her shoulders and she not only survived but she triumphed wonderfully with a near perfect performance that brought everyone to tears.

I couldn’t have been more surprised or honored last summer when Korean figure skater Kim Yu-Na told me that as a 7-year-old, she was so inspired by my skating at the 1998 Winter Games that she memorized my skating routines, pretending to be at the Olympics. Twelve years later, she no longer had to pretend. I have never seen a skater with such a combination of artistry and athleticism. From the first notes of her sassy James Bond medley to the closing Gershwin strains, Kim’s inspiring performances in Vancouver changed the face of figure skating forever. Those 6½ minutes on the ice left not only a mark in the record book but also an indelible impression on millions of young girls around the world. For Kim, the dream that began as a 7-year-old has been realized. For these girls, thanks to her, a dream and journey are just beginning.

Kwan is the most decorated figure skater in U.S. history

David Chang is the genius chef who makes kimchi butter and drizzles it onto one of his famed dishes that even impress chefs of the world. David runs the Momofuku empire in New York and has served dishes to some of the most famous people in the world. His inventive cooking is truly influential.

The cold pink fluff looks like cotton candy and seems entirely tasteless. But soon it begins to melt, seducing your mouth with such creamy richness, it is impossible not to gasp. Beside it sits a fragrant fruit, smooth as pearls. Only David Chang would grate frozen foie gras and serve it with lychees.

When Chang, 32, opened Momofuku in New York in 2004, he reinvented the casual restaurant and changed the game. Turning his back on the high-end kitchens in which he had been working, he started off with a bare-bones place his peers could afford. At first he offered a few simple dishes — pork buns so soft they practically swallowed themselves and memorable ramen made with organic ingredients — but Chang soon began pushing the boundaries, combining a passion for Asian food with his classic European training and serving the kind of challenging dishes once relegated to expensive establishments. He trusted his customers — who trusted him. Whipped tofu with sea urchins and tapioca? Bring it on!

The profane, irreverent Momofuku cookbook, published last fall, brings Chang’s exuberant style right into your kitchen. What he’s feeding is an appetite for adventure, and the ride has just begun.
Reichl, a former restaurant critic for the Los Angeles Times and the New York Times, was the last editor of Gourmet magazine

Source: Time Magazine

How do you describe David Choe?  Mad artist?  Pure genius?  There are many adjectives we could apply to David but this boy wonder is ready to share his genius again in Beverly Hills at the Lazarides Gallery.  David is an art school drop out who roams the world looking for inspiration.  So how does David describe himself and the town where he’s about to open a new exhibit?

“I am a typical artist, so I’m definitely my own worst enemy, my irritable bowel syndrome being a close second, I self destruct constantly, I suicide bomb my own s**t weekly, and destroy everything that is good and pure in my life. I love and hate LA. I was born and raised here, this is the city where I first fought, f**ked, farted, and rioted. I f**king love the s**t out of this city and I hate it with all my heart. This is the city that never gave me an art show so I had to exhibit at an ice cream parlor. I want to burn this city to the ground.

This is the city that came out in hundreds to see my movie premiere and made my parents proud. I want to face f**k this city. Either way It’s been way too long Los Angeles, and I’m sorry I had to leave in the first place, but you were really annoying the s**t out of me, but I forgive you. I’m sorry I left you when you needed me most, I’ve seen these horrible atrocious art shows you’ve been subject to, I seen these wacked out gimmicky douchey group shows and art walks you been sexually and mentally harassed by, and I’m here to tell you, I’m coming soon, and maybe you’ll appreciate me and not take me for granted this time. Lets make the dysfunction work for us, ok? I promise to try harder if you try harder. It’s been 6 long years since my last show here when you f**ked me and I left you. In that time I’ve seen things, I’ve heard things, I’ve felt things I’ve never felt before, I’ve been hitch-hiking all over the globe, I’ve been to Japanese jails, African jungles, Chinese torture chambers, the Whitehouse, and to all 7 levels of hell and back.

On the 23rd April 2010, I will have my first solo art show with Lazarides. I will take all my love all my hate all my pain all my rage, all my suffering and all my skills and experience I’ve collected over the years, everything I’ve learned in every medium from watercolors to oils to spraypaint, I’m gonna express everything I feel about this city and what it is to live and die and be born again in the City of Angels…. Los Angeles, I’m coming home, and when I come this time, I’m gonna come harder than I ever have before…”

Don’t you wish David would be a bit more direct?

Source: Evil Monito

Which designer has had her hats worn by J. Lo, Cameron Diaz, and “Carrie Bradshaw in “Sex and the City?”  That would be hat designer to the stars Eugenia Kim.  Apparently her style has been picked up for distribution by Target, as she’s created a collection that you and I can wear just like those Hollywood stars.  Target is pretty bullish on Eugenia’s hats that they’ve started an online campaign promoting hats by Eugenia Kim.  So how did Eugenia arrive at creating hats?  Fast Company recently published an article about her style and approach to fashion.

Big idea: To make fashionable hats the “it” accessory, like handbags, and accessible to all. “Everyone can wear a hat — you just have to find the right one,” says Kim, 35. Her high-end Eugenia Kim hats average $200; pieces in her Eugenia Kim for Target collection, which debuts next month, will go for less than a tenth of that price. The line will be Target’s first-ever limited-edition hats — and give Kim her broadest audience yet.

Credentials: Kim won the 2004 Council of Fashion Designers of America award for accessories design. Her hats and accessories are sold at Barneys and Neiman Marcus, as well as in her own New York showroom. Last year, she did a line called Eek! for Urban Outfitters.

“I’ve made it” moment: When Jennifer Lopez wore Kim’s floppy white concoction to the 2001 American Music Awards.

Her audience: The Eugenia Kim brand “is for a quirky, left-of-center girl in her twenties or thirties with a sense of humor.” Designing for Target, she imagined a hybrid of that shopper and the Midwestern soccer mom. The shared DNA? If you wear her hats, “you’re having a little more fun and standing out.”

Art versus commerce: Kim used to think of herself as an artist. “I was making hats with mohawks 10 feet high for David LaChapelle shoots. I didn’t think about the business.” Once she saw it as a brand, her business took off.

Computer or hand-drawn design? Neither. “I can’t draw, and I don’t know how to use anything like Photoshop.” In fact, Kim may be the only fashion designer who creates mainly in Microsoft Excel: “I like everything in chart format.”

Inspirations for the Target line: Old Cuba. “I was obsessed with the old-school Latin resort thing,” she says.

For the full article, go to Fast Company.