Legend Takes Korean Sound to Grammys
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By Han Eun-jung
Staff Reporter
Commenting on K-pop star Rain's first concert in New York earlier this month, the local media branded the material out of touch and that his crossover into American mainstream will be far from easy.
However in an industry with very few Asians, the efforts of one Korean-American songwriter went in the making of the 2005 Grammy Best New Artist's album.
R&B singer John Legend was one of the biggest winners at the Grammy Awards held in Los Angeles on Feb. 8, tying with Kanye West and Mariah Carey with three wins each.
Paul Cho co-wrote "So High" and "Refuge" featured in Legend's highly anticipated 2005 debut "Get Lifted".
The remix version of "So High", Legend sang with Lauryn Hill was nominated for Best R&B Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocals but lost out to Beyonce and Stevie Wonder's "So Amazing".
Cho, whose Korean name is Cho Jin-se, said in recent telephone interview that he was happy when he found out that the tracks were going in Legend's demo tape.
"But I learned that Columbia decided to include it in the release, it was just great", he said.
Cho, who was born in 1977, a year after his parents moved to New York for their graduate studies, grew up playing the piano.
"Like any other Korean parents they made me learn the piano, but when I got to college I taught myself how to play the guitar", he said.
And throughout his years at Columbia as an industrial engineering major, Cho said he wrote songs, but never imagined that someday he would have the world listening to his music.
It was the encouragement of a friend he met at a training class when he had first started working for IBM as a consultant that he started to write more.
It also was through this friend, who happened to be Kanye West's cousin and Legend's roommate at U Penn, he came to know Legend. The tracks on the album were written in Legend's apartment.
Cho said that he considers relationships to be very important in the entertainment business, true on both the creative and business end.
"But that doesn't mean that you don't have to have talent. I think you need to have talent first, and then the relationships to really make it far. Relationships can only get you so far, but if you have talent _ it will always be there for you", he said.
His experiences have inspired him to go into entertainment law, today Cho is a second year student at the USC School of Law and already working for FOX.
"It's funny, because I have no idea where I would be had none of this happened. I would probably be in Manhattan working some kind of regular job. I'd still be messing around with music, but nowhere near the level I've reached", Cho said.
He added that he will continue to write songs wherever his career takes him.
Staff Reporter
Commenting on K-pop star Rain's first concert in New York earlier this month, the local media branded the material out of touch and that his crossover into American mainstream will be far from easy.
However in an industry with very few Asians, the efforts of one Korean-American songwriter went in the making of the 2005 Grammy Best New Artist's album.
R&B singer John Legend was one of the biggest winners at the Grammy Awards held in Los Angeles on Feb. 8, tying with Kanye West and Mariah Carey with three wins each.
Paul Cho co-wrote "So High" and "Refuge" featured in Legend's highly anticipated 2005 debut "Get Lifted".
The remix version of "So High", Legend sang with Lauryn Hill was nominated for Best R&B Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocals but lost out to Beyonce and Stevie Wonder's "So Amazing".
Cho, whose Korean name is Cho Jin-se, said in recent telephone interview that he was happy when he found out that the tracks were going in Legend's demo tape.
"But I learned that Columbia decided to include it in the release, it was just great", he said.
Cho, who was born in 1977, a year after his parents moved to New York for their graduate studies, grew up playing the piano.
"Like any other Korean parents they made me learn the piano, but when I got to college I taught myself how to play the guitar", he said.
And throughout his years at Columbia as an industrial engineering major, Cho said he wrote songs, but never imagined that someday he would have the world listening to his music.
It was the encouragement of a friend he met at a training class when he had first started working for IBM as a consultant that he started to write more.
It also was through this friend, who happened to be Kanye West's cousin and Legend's roommate at U Penn, he came to know Legend. The tracks on the album were written in Legend's apartment.
Cho said that he considers relationships to be very important in the entertainment business, true on both the creative and business end.
"But that doesn't mean that you don't have to have talent. I think you need to have talent first, and then the relationships to really make it far. Relationships can only get you so far, but if you have talent _ it will always be there for you", he said.
His experiences have inspired him to go into entertainment law, today Cho is a second year student at the USC School of Law and already working for FOX.
"It's funny, because I have no idea where I would be had none of this happened. I would probably be in Manhattan working some kind of regular job. I'd still be messing around with music, but nowhere near the level I've reached", Cho said.
He added that he will continue to write songs wherever his career takes him.
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