Five-member girl group under Cube Entertainment 4minute has recently been causing quite a stir in Asia. Fresh from the announcement that the group would be releasing special edition singles in Japan, the girls (and their company) now faces a crossroads. Stop while we’re ahead? or Go for the gold? Here’s Tuc’s Take…

For years, Korean artists have been trying to break into the Japanese music industry. The land of the rising sun, however, has proven to be a hard shell to crack. The only artist, in my opinion, that has been able to do it successfully was BoA. This is because BoA was put into Japan very early in her career and started learning the language to fluency at a very early age.

The biggest barrier breaking into any country is language. It doesn’t matter how good you are; if you can’t master the language then your career is going to be short-lived. And even when you’ve got the language down pat, the journey can still be quite hard, as shown by Japanese-American artist Utada Hikaru’s foray into the United States.

While 4minute seems to be very popular in Japan, I think Cube needs to take a lesson from JYP and stop stretching the group to cover as many bases as possible. As of now, the Wonder Girls are set to promote in the United States, China, and their home country of South Korea. Popularity alone, however, will not help them against language barriers, fatigue, and jet lag.

If Cube keeps moving at this rate and doesn’t focus first on establishing a stronger base in Korea, then we may soon see the company hemorrhaging funds like a cracked dam.

But who knows? I could be wrong. But probably not.