Zico, the main rapper from Block B, is back with a brand new mini-album, titled as Television. The main title track of the release is Artist. Alongside Artist, Zico did also release another music video for Anti, which features G.Soul. I actually finished this review and then just found out about the Anti music video so I will write a separate review for it tomorrow. The video looks promising.

Artist takes you back to the more upbeat and rap centred tracks that Zico was initially known for. While there are many singing segments to this song, Zico’s return to rapping felt much needed. Sure, he has many great tracks where he had a more melodic centrepiece but Zico rapping in a solo song felt like a distant memory. Obviously, his vocals and raps are amazing, per usual. It might have been an artistic choice but I did feel like the delivery of the rap was a lot weaker. It did fit the song, but it needed a little more energy to make it sound bolder and more distinctive. Artist had a fun and bright vibe, which (and I say this a lot) suits the current season. While you can tell there was the obvious hip-hop influenced moments in the song, there were other parts that felt more pop-like. But that might be my ears telling me otherwise. Overall, I thought it was a great song.

This video does a pretty good job at trying to be quirky. The individual scenes seem to be pretty tame standalone. But once you put them together, it is a little more out there. I thought the interaction between Zico and the people around him added more energy to the video, which felt needed. I say that because the video felt very standard and neutral for the most part (i.e. there was nothing that made the video stand out). The dancing school girls did catch my attention. Their facial expressions throughout their parts made me laugh. The bright and outdoor feel seems to suit the song’s sound quite nicely. You may notice that there was a small bit of choreography in the video. While I don’t think a stage version will be available anytime soon, it looked fun.

Song – 8/10
Music Video – 7/10
Overall Rating – 7.5/10