The Korean Cultural Centre at the weekend announced plans to promote collaboration of Korean Pop (KPop) and Nigerian Afrobeat.
This, the cultural events and communications officer of the Korean Cultural Centre in Nigeria, Jennifer Ezeonyeasi said, is aimed at cultural integration and promoting both genres of music across Nigeria and Korea and further marketing the two brands worldwide.
Ezeonyeasi, who spoke at the KPop Hurray Concert in Abuja at the weekend, said: “We are hoping for collaboration between KPop and Nigerian music especially the afrobeat, which will promote both genres and give mileage in both countries and make the two music industries big.
“We are hoping for future collaborations with the little activities we are doing now.
We have the intention of taking it around the country. In 2021, we had a KPop Dance Academy in Port Harcourt, we are looking at doing those kinds of things often. When we figure out communities with a large following of KPop we would take some of these shows to them. Like now we have a strong KPop community in Kaduna, we are planning to go there.”
She revealed that the essence of the KPop Hurray Concert in Abuja was to gather all the past winners of KPop concerts and those that have made it to the final stage of each of the KPop from the years past.
She noted: “Most of the time when we have the competition everyone goes their way until the next year. We brought all the past winners and top performers together to create bonding and networking.
“We are trying to build an active KPop community in Abuja and by extension all over Nigeria. In Abuja we intend to create a strong network for enthusiasts and in the process we are going to have a form of exchange, like we are having afrobeat fusion into KPop, with this kind of exchange, we believe KPop would further be accepted by Nigerians.”
