K-Pop Beyond The Charts is a weekly review column highlighting Korea's modern day musical innovators who have yet to find mainstream success.
For anyone old enough to have seen a few of their favorite one-hit wonders come and go, you learn to accept a pop act's debut offering with the understanding that this might just be all that you get.
That's why it's particularly exhilarating to see South Korean vocalist Kassy release another quality slow jam on Nov. 30 on "Ooh Ooh Ooh" featuring rapper Eluphant of the rap group VIRUS.
Though her first release "In My Bed" came out only a few months ago (Aug. 25 to be exact), Kassy has had the powerful restraint and in-control sensuality of a veteran pop diva right out of the gate, making her one of the year's most exciting discoveries
The hip-hop soul of Mary J. Blige, Faith Evans and Erykah Badu is still majorly present in Kassy's sound, but she trades in some of the attitude to dial in the kind of simmering soul that took icons like Janet Jackson or Aaliyah, straight to the top.
Eluphant does his part to add the prerequisite rap to "Ooh Ooh Ooh," but as he drops references to Drake's "Hotline Bling" and even the Gershwin-penned "I've Got A Crush On You," his contributions feel a bit like an afterthought.
It is Kassy who is the clear star here, as she joins the growing ranks of sublime but unsung Korean electro pop solo artists like KOHO, Risso and Neon Bunny.
If larger audiences were to catch on to these gifted artists, there is no telling where Hallyu could go.
Listen to South Korean R&B singer Kassy's second single "Ooh Ooh Ooh" RIGHT HERE
