ISAtv announced yesterday that it has picked up web series East Meets Morgan, an experiential pop culture show hosted by blogger and internet personality Morgan Lynzi exploring the bridge between East and West pop cultures through music, style, food, and beyond. The series will debut next Wednesday, August 27 with an exclusive interview with BIGBANG’s Taeyang.
Lyzni is certainly not new to the Asian pop scene. Through her YouTube channel and blog she’s already interviewed multiple K-pop stars including B.A.P, Teen Top, and various Western artists like singer Kay Goldilocks, Asian-American group AZIATIX, and Kollaboration LA 2013 finalist rapper Mike B.
East Meets Morgan will follow Lynzi’s travels across Asia’s biggest cities as she explores Eastern pop music, fashion, food, and trends. The series will include more star-studded interviews from Asian celebrities like Tokyo singer, DJ, and jewelry designer Mademoiselle Yulia; former K-pop song writer now turned R&B singer Jarell Perry, and more.
As Lynzi says in her East Meets Morgan announcement video, “I’ve realized there are hundreds, thousands, probably millions of people who are passionate about pop culture beyond their own countries and languages.”
Accordingly, East Meets Morgan was created to bridge pop culture fans and artists around the world. The web series seeks to provide viewers with a fun and interesting way to get to know Asia’s pop culture scene and see how the East is starting to break through in the West.
However, viewers might be surprised to see just how much Eastern influence is already here.
First and foremost, food. Asian food has influenced American cuisine ever since the first immigrants arrived in this country. In the time since, Americanized Asian food has grown into its own popularity and helped change international cooking styles along the way.
Slate reporter Sara Dickerman wrote in her 2012 article on the popularity of Asian food, “You won’t hear much mention, these days, of ‘Asian fusion,’ let alone its dubious synonyms ‘Pacific Rim,’ ‘East-meets-West,’ or ‘Pan-Asian.’ But the truth is, the idea of a not-too-traditional take on Asian cookery is among the most dynamic in restaurants today.”
Today, the impact of Eastern cuisine shows no sign of slowing down; earlier this year Lay’s chips announced its new ginger wasabi flavor and in 2012, McDonald’s in Germany started carrying bubble tea.
Aside from food, Japanese and Korean pop culture are also wildly popular in the States. Ever since 2003 when Hayao Miyazaki’s famed Spirited Away won the Academy Award for Best Animated Feature, anime started to become more accepted by main stream audiences and paved the way for today’s cosplay phenomenon. The popular costume art even has its own SyFy TV show Heroes of Cosplay.
Most recently, K-pop has seen a rise in popularity thanks to PSY’s mega-hit “Gangnam Style” and his follow-up collaboration with Snoop Dogg “Hangover.” Last year at the 2013 YouTube Music Awards, Girls’ Generation received Video of the Year for their hit “I Got a Boy.” As K-pop becomes more popular with Western fans, Korean artists are bringing their tours to Europe, North America, and South America for the first time. In the States, K-pop artists especially favor Los Angeles and now the city is the home of KCON, the first and largest Korean culture convention for fans in North America. This year’s event featured some of the biggest names in K-pop like Girls’ Generation, G-Dragon, and CNBlue, just to name a few.
Food and media are the most popular cross-overs from East to West, and Lynzi plans on going much further into the pop culture scene to explore the nuanced intersections between the two. Lynzi’s main goal in East Meets Morgan is to open the door to show how much both cultures influence and depend on one another, something all fans can appreciate and learn. I’m excited to watch the series and wish Lynzi the best of luck.
Check out the teaser video below!