Boom Di Boom Di

Interesting. I haven't heard of this song or this artist, but it seems that Korean reggae artist Skull is climbing the US R&B/Hip Hop charts.From Chosun Ilbo:Cho Sung-jin, a member of Korean reggae duo Stony Skunk, is creating a stir with a hit solo debut in the U.S.The 28-year-old singer, who goes by the name Skull, has seen his debut single "Boom Di Boom Di" rise to number five on the Billboard Hot R&B/Hiphop Singles Sales chart for the week of Aug. 11, and number 17 on the Hot Singles Sales chart.It is the highest ranking for a Korean artist on the U.S. charts. The previous best was Kim Bum-soo's "Hello Goodbye Hello", the English version of his hit "Once Upon a Day", which ranked 51st on the Hot Singles chart in 2001.A reggae fan since high school, Cho began performing on the Hongik University club scene from 1998 at age 19. He's been a nameless singer for quite some time. He signed a deal with management firm YG Entertainment in 2005 and started out with Stony Skunk but few Koreans knew about him."Boom Di Boom Di" was first released in Korea but garnered little attention. But he hit the bull's eye when he reworked the song with a Jamaican patois for the U.S. market."A Jamaican reggae artist I met in the U.S. told me, 'You're doing the same reggae as we do but your music has a different feel probably because you're an Asian artist. It's something new,'" Cho said. "I always wondered if what I was doing was reggae but his comment boosted my confidence."In October Cho moved to the U.S. "I gave out my record to radio and club DJs and performed about 70 times at clubs, house parties and what not. Over the course I think people grew familiar with my music. Only recently did I appear at large reggae festival before thousands of people. I feel that I'm gradually being recognized."Cho is now on leave from his senior year in the advertising and public relations department of Chung-ang University. "I once dreamed of working in advertising since I wanted to produce ads and background music, but now I feel I won't have enough time to dig into music alone all my life," Cho said.He plans to release his first album in the US this year. Later this month he will release three songs through Apple's iTunes music download service.