Casual reviews of KPOP songs, music videos & dances
Author: kpopreviewed
Hi, my name is Tony and I am the man behind the site, kpopreviewed. Currently an university student who wants to introduce people to KPOP and if you are already into KPOP, different groups and bands.
After a very long wait, SS501 is finally back. However, as two of their members are currently in the military, the band has reformed to become SS301 for the time being. The line up of this subunit is: Kim Kyu Jong, Heo Young Saeng and Kim Hyung Jun. It has been years since the band last came out with a song. Thier last promoted song was Love Ya, which was released in 2010 (before I started this site as well). They have been going into the military and also been doing a lot of solo work since then.
The song is good. I do have some complaints, but we will get to them eventually. The song has this really nice soft sound to it. The piano and style sounds like they were going for some sort of Latin sound. While I think the mashup between the dance and piano sound was pretty good, there were some parts that I felt did not fit in. For example, the rapping was horrendous. Give them props for attempting it, but if I had the opportunity to eliminate any one part, it would be the rap. It just does not fit in and sounds pretty bad. And the English is pretty bad. “I’m so pain” just gets repeated all throughout the song and it literally gives me pain every time I have to listen to it. But beside that, their vocals were on point and I thought it was a good song to listen to. Is it memorable? Not really. Really did not make me want to listen to the song over and over again.
The video is simply just close up shots and the members dancing. That was simply the formula to the video. Beside that, I don’t have much to say about the video. Love the editing and I thought the video gave the song a really polish yet modern feel. The black and white sets look so cool and with the odd highlight of red. So what else, their fashion looks good? Even though it took me a while to figure out whether they were wearing school uniform at some points. Actually come to the think of it, something could have been added to the video to give it more to talk about. Like some sort of plot would have been nice, but I am honestly fine watching just this.
The dance was pretty cool. Not really memorable.The chorus looked like it just did not go well with the rest of the dance. The chorus looks out of placed and mismatched. The tie grabbing seem pretty cool, but it looked like the members struggled a bit while on stage. But nonetheless, we still got a pretty cool stage.
They’re back and hopefully they will stay. It has been a long time coming, but it is never too late to make a comeback. 6.5/10
Rainbow has finally returned, almost a year after their last comeback, Black Swan.
I actually enjoy listening to this song. Sure, it is not something that many of us expected, but I still think it is a good song. Pretty ordinary and lacking in a lot of areas, but when do we get those songs that tone everything down and takes us back to ordinariness. What I am saying is that sometimes it is good to go back to a lower level and live the good times. Do you understand? Saying that, I thought the song was really bright and catchy, but at times I wanted to listen to something that had a little more flavour to it. For example, the vocals were just meh and quite monotone. Maybe add in some high notes or something to give it life. The rap was too dry and failed to hype me up. Same goes for the chorus, it just fails to hype me up. But I feel like the bridge was the best part of the song for me. I also find it interesting at how girl groups tend to go into more retro songs nowadays, rather than more modernised songs, but that is another topic. Sure, an ordinary song but I still like it.
Regarding the video, wow. It looks like DSP has cut the budget for the girls. Once again. Last time was for the really short promotional period due to “lack of interest” and now DSP probably thinks that the girls won’t get far and decided to put together the cheapest music video ever. White set, with a few black balloons, a few colour screens and one or two props here and there. Heck, even what they are wearing seemed to be picked up from the two dollar store. So, I guess my major complaint is that it might have been too simple (and looks quite cheap). I am going to be honest, but the way they managed to film the video and edit it, gave it a really nice retro feel to it. And how they manage to incorporate their Rainbow theme is most of their comebacks seem quite smart and I think that is why I love them as a group, because they maintain their identity as a group (most of the time). Overall, the end product came out well, just it really did not live up to expectations.
Dance seemed ordinary. Nothing really that special, but it seems like these girls misses the stage quite a bit. I saw their first comeback stage on SBS The Show, and they all looked genuinely happy to be promoting again. Their smiles really reflected the concept they were going for and pretty much showed me their feeling on the stage. But yeah, beside that, there really isn’t much to say about the dance/performance.
Overall, the one word that summarises the comeback is “ordinary”. But it has its perks as well. 7/10
AOA is back in the form of 3 members. They just launched their newest subunit AOA Cream, which consists of Chanmi, Hyejeong and Yuna.
Boy, does this song grow on you or what? When I first heard the song, I thought it was a really bad interpretation of a 90s Girl Groups’ songs. It honestly sounded really bad and cringe worthy. But, as every other song, I replayed it and started to fall for it. Now, it just sounds really cringe worthy and bad. Yeah, I can’t get over the fact about how bad the song is. It is catchy and addictive (I probably only gives marks on that), but that rap sequence really needs to be stomped on and thrown out. I complain about Jimin’s whiny rap, but this is just something that does not fit in with the song and does not give off that feeling of a great song. It was recorded and then it sounds exactly like the producer autotuned it with the maximum possible setting. The vocals are not exactly bad, it is just the “hip hop” feel or whatever genre they are trying to attempt with the “La La La Lady” parts. So yeah, this isn’t right for me.
The music video is just so cringe worthy, once again. First of all, I feel like it the wrong concept. The acting in this video was pretty bad. The last thing I think we all want to see is the return of the aegyo and cutesy girls that was probably ditched and became outdated years ago. And furthermore, they went with the Sailor Moon or Power Puff Girls inspired heroes concept, which I thought was a really bad idea. And the fact that they use their powers to their own pleasure, seems very selfish. It looks like the guy doesn’t even notice the girls, yet, they decide it is right to torture him and embarrass him. Girl, there is a scenario, where he might not even know who you are, so scaring him and turning into a superhero with a wand, is not going to help your case. It was a very bright video (matched the tone of the song), just I think the concept should have either been something else or otherwise thought through a lot better.
The dance was another major problem in my point of view. Too sexualised. What were they even doing in the chorus? What can you even call that? Is that even a dance? I have no idea regarding that. I just thought it was an odd dance to have with such a cutesy and aegyo concept. In addition, their clothing really don’t match the dance was well.
Overall, this whole comeback as a whole, missed the whole point. Sorry. 2.5/10
Probably one of the biggest award ceremonies for music and also probably one of the most prestigious, the 30th Golden Disk Awards (GDA) was held on the 20th to the 21st of January 2016. The GDA was supposed to be held in China but was moved back to South Korea due to the recent earthquakes that occurred there just 1 or two weeks before the scheduled event. Even though many people were shocked and feared the award ceremony would be either postponed or cancelled, the ceremony went off without a single hiccup and was broadcast live in both Korea and China.
What I like about this particular awards is that is focuses on both the physical albums and downloaded songs of the year. In other words, more awards for everyone. It is also nice to see who excelled in what (hahahaha…). The digital awards were handed out on the 20th of January, while the physical album awards were handed out on the 21st of January. The award show on the first night was hosted by Jun Hyun Moo, Kim Jong Kook and Seohyun (SNSD). The second night was hosted by Jun Hyun Moo, Leeteuk (Super Junior) and Krystal (F(x)) I have recapped the award winners on the two nights below.
Disk Daesang (Album Of The Year) – EXODUS (EXO) Digital Daesang (Song Of The Year) – Loser (Big Bang) Disk Bonsang (Best Artist) – APINK, VIXX, F(x), BTS, CNBLUE, Jonghyun (SHINee), EXO, Beast, Super Junior Digital Bonsang (Best Artist) – Red Velvet, EXID, AOA, Zion.T, Park Jin Young, Sistar, Taeyeon (SNSD), Kyuhyun (Super Junior), Big Bang, Girl’s Generation Best New Artist – GFriend, iKON, Seventeen, Twice Popularity Award – SHINee Best Rap / Hip Hop – SanE Best Rock – Hyukoh Global Popularity Award – EXO Best Group Vocal Award – BTOB Best Solo Vocal Award – Jung Yonghwa (CN Blue) Best Male Artist Award – Big Bang Best Female Artist Award – Taeyeon (SNSD) Next Generation Star Award – Monsta X
Once again, this wide spread of award winners seem to be more representative of main stream KPOP. Not that I am complaining. Most of the award recipients were similar to the Seoul Music Award 2016, however a lot more artists won in this ceremony, since their was more rewards. Not that I am being a hater or anything, but Kyuhyun’s bonsang award seems a little far fetched. From memory (correct me if I am wrong though), his song never charted high on the charts and likewise Super Junior barely makes an impact on the digital side of the music industry. So I am a little suspicious of how he managed to get an award for a digital bonsang. Saying that, he did sell a lot. Like a lot on the physical side. But beside that, I think it was a nice range of artists who won and I think it is accurate (as in which artists managed to shine the brightest in 2015).
I really need to think of ways to start off the different sections, but once again… I think out of the all the ceremonies that have already been broadcast (NOTE: I am typing this prior to the Gaon Chart Awards), GDA has the best performances. Why? Because many of the artists performed multiple songs and I really enjoy how some artists (or their producers) integrate different songs together. GFriend, Red Velvet, EXID, Seventeen and BTS had the best stages on the nights. Some artists performed some songs that were released in the past (in previous years, such as EXID’s Up & Down, VIXX’s Error, Sistar’s Touch My Body etc.), which I kind of liked, but, the songs were released last year… so maybe a little outdated. But overall, the performances, I think, were to a very high standard and pleased me (*points at myself* and *acting as the biggest critic of all time*).
Below are just the few performances that I found and slapped together in a playlist format in no particular order.
For a last minute change to the ceremony, it managed to do pretty well in my books. Awards, performances. Everything was just great. There is one more to go of this season’s award ceremonies, which will be coming out in the coming days. Until then, bye!!
The Seoul Music Awards is one of the award ceremonies held the year after for the year before. For example, the award ceremony for the 25th Seoul Music Award was held in 2016, but celebrates the flourishing artists of 2015. Understand yet? Well now that hard to understand concept has been dealt with, the 25th Seoul Music Award ceremony was held on the 14th of January 2016, in Seoul. It is said that this award ceremony is one of the most prestigious awards ceremonies for the year as it recognises the popular and talented artists of the year. Selection process for winners on the night are as follow: 20% mobile votes, 10% Popularity Polls, 40% music sales (both digital and physical album sales) and 30% judging panel’s scores. Only artists who released singles or albums in 2015 are eligible to win.
Like all ceremonies, a number of actors, actresses and other celebrities attended the event to give out awards. The night was hosted by Jun Hyun Moo, EXID’s Hani and Honey Lee. All artists that received the award on the night performed on stage (minus those whose awards were accepted on their behalf by label mates – Big Bang is who I am trying to refer to).
Just to recap the awards winners of the night: Bonsang Awards – EXID, Red Velvet, Taeyeon (SNSD), VIXX, Yoon Mi Rae, Zion.T, BTS, EXO, APINK, Sistar, Big Bang & SHINee.
Best New Artist – iKON, GFriend, Seventeen
Performance Award – Hyukoh
Best Trot Award – Hong Jin Young
Best RnB Award – Sane
Best Ballad Award – BTOB
Best OST Award – Jang Jae In (performed with Wonwoo (Seventeen) on the night)
Male Dance Performance Award – Monsta X
Female Dance Performance Award – Ailee
Mobile Popularity Award – Kim Junsu (JYJ)
Hallyu Special Award – EXO
Record Of The Year (Digital Release) – Bang Bang Bang (Big Bang)
Record Of The Year (Physical Release) – Kiss My Lip (BOA)
Daesang Award (Best Artist Of The Year) – EXO
The Bonsang awards seem to be more representative of the mainstream KPOP this year. Finally, Seventeen get their Best New Artist award that I think they truly deserve. Most likely they got it for their record breaking album sales. And finally some people decided to pay attention to BTOB. I am not technically fond of their ballads in the past year, but hey, it looks like South Korea is finally paying attention to them. Ailee’s award is one I am not exactly sure of. I don’t think it was the best dance performance of the year. I think that belongs to a particular rookie who was present on the night as well. Regarding Kim Junsu, who was apparently not invited to the ceremony despite winning a key award on the night, there is some shady business going on. But hopefully, when this matter is resolved, justice for Junsu and JYJ will occur. 2015 was a step forward for them, with the introduction of the JYJ Law.
Ailee should not have been pestered for the cameras catching her “on her mobile”. The netizens make it sound like she was too busy texting another person or was too busy looking at pictures of food. Put simply, she was just downloading an app to support SHINee and was later seen supporting Boa. People should really see the bigger picture (or in this case, wait for it) before making a big deal out it. Also, Boa’s award. Even though it was nice to see her win something, I agree with a lot of people who say she got the award just because of her senior status. It was her 15 year anniversary and she probably wouldn’t have received any award for her album if she debuted later on. Also, Starship should not deprive Sistar of any chances to get on the stage. They looked like they really enjoyed being there and were probably excited for their first stage together in what seemed to be 6 months.
Performance wise, I actually did not pay that much attention to the performances in this ceremony. Some of them were disappointing to watch, while others just did not appeal to me or make me want to watch. All I am going to say is the few that I did manage to watch (mainly the first half) were okay. Just minus the introduction for EXID’s performance. That was shocking. Stand out was probably GFriend’s intro. While their fan chant came to a close second. I don’t why I feel that way regarding the performances, I just was not feeling it. For the past few years which I have been watching the SMA ceremonies, their performances are by far the weakest of all ceremonies. Below I have put a handful of performances that I could quickly find into a playlist from the night.
Well, that is it for my wrap up of the Seoul Music Awards 2016. Hopefully, next year is better. Less controversy and better stages required to make this an award ceremony that I can look forward to.
The MMA or MelOn Music Awards were held on the 7th of November 2015. MelOn does not refer to the fruit but rather the music chart and on-line music store in South Korea. It is held by LOEN Entertainment, which owns the music distribution company. The music award has its own unique criteria where it only calculates digital sales of artists in the past year and incorporate these sales with on-line votes of fans.
The following artists, groups and actors attended the ceremony: Big Bang, Yoona (SNSD), Hyukoh, Hyorin & Dasom (Sistar) (did not perform), Toy (did not perform), APINK, Zion.T, Sane, iKON, GFriend, Mad Clown (did not perform), Hong Jin Young, BTS, Red Velvet, EXID, Monsta X, Winner (did not perform). Actors, actresses and other celebrities attended the night as presenters.
The show on the night was hosted by Yoo Byung Jae and Seo Kang Joon. They were shortly joined by Lee Boo Yi, Kim Shin Young, Kim So Hyun & Irene (Red Velvet). The red carpet was hosted by Youngji (Former Member of Kara) and Seo Yuri.
Below are the winners on the night. Afterwards, I have left some comments regarding some awards: Top 10 Artist – SHINee, Girl’s Generation, Hyukoh, Toy, Big Bang, Sistar, EXO, APINK, Zion.T, Sane.
Best New Artist – iKON & GFriend
Best Rap/Hip Hop – Mad Clown ft. Jinsil (Fire)
Best Ballad – Baek Ah Yeon ft. Young K (Shouldn’t Have)
Best RnB – Naul (Living In The Same Time)
Best Rock – Kim Sung Gyu (The Answer)
Best OST – Loco & Yuju (Spring Is Gone By Chance)
Best Trot – Hong Jin Young (Love WiFi)
Best Pop – Mark Ronson ft. Bruno Mars (Uptown Funk)
Best Male Dance – BTS (I Need U)
Best Female Dance – Red Velvet (Ice Cream Cake)
Best Folk – 10cm (Sseudam Sseudam)
Best Indie – Standing Egg ft. Wheein & Obroject Yundak (The Sunlight Hurts)
Netizen Popularity Award – Big Bang (Bang Bang Bang)
Hot Trend Award – Infinite Challenge (Yeongdong Expressway Music Festival)
Best Music Video – Park Jin Young ft. Jessi (Who’s Your Mama?)
Song Writer Award – Teddy
MBC Music Star Award – EXID
1theK Performance Award – Monsta X
Album Of The Year (Daesang) – EXODUS
Song Of The Year (Daesang) – Bang Bang Bang
Artist Of The Year (Daesang) – Big Bang
I personally think above is a fair spread for award winners. While I am not knowledgeable to comment on categories such as Best Indie and Best Folk, the rest show 2015 in its glory. Once again, I think Seventeen deserves the Best New Artist award and GFriend finally got what they deserved (it’s a good thing. Kind of sounded like I was hinting at something bad). Sistar and APINK’s Top 10 awards caught me off guard since they were quickly taken over by other artists on the digital charts and failed to be up to par with the other artists. I am glad to see Kim Sung Gyu win something for his album. It was really good.
And as per usual, there were performances that night from the groups who won awards. Performers included: Hyukoh, Big Bang, APINK, Zion.T, Sane, BTS, EXID, Red Velvet, Monsta X, iKON and GFriend. It would have been nicer to see some more artists who won from the night perform. I think best performance of the night was BTS with their cool jackets that had light coming off them. A very large portion of the show was dedicated to Big Bang, which had people talking. Sure, they won a lot of award, but I agree with majority of the audience. Big Bang’s performances just made it feel like one Big Bang concert. Sure, they won prestigious awards, but it just robbed the other artists of their night, who also put hard effort into making 2015 their year. Would have I gotten angry over the fact they turned the award show into a mini concert? No, but maybe they should have dropped one or two songs.
Overall, I think MMA15 was pretty fair. They had a large variety of winners (mainly because they have a lot of categories) and minus that small complaint regarding the performances, the show was great. Oh, but damn was the presentation of the awards cringe worthy. Probably this ceremony takes the award for “Worst Presentation of Awards” award. Could have done it in a way where the presenters did not feel that ashamed of themselves.
Did you forget about the MAMA awards held by MNET in 2015? Or are we all trying to forget it for its bias and unfair system? Well, don’t fret, I am here to remind you of the disappointment or joy that you felt.
The MNET Asian Music Awards (or MAMA) was held on the 2nd of December in… Hong Kong. Again. Voting for the awards began in October of the same year and I thought there was a fair range of nominees and the committee selected a variety if talents for each award.
The following artists attended and performed at the awards ceremony: Taeyeon (SNSD), GOT7, BTS, Hyuna (4 minute), Park Ji Young, Seventeen, Monsta X, F(x), SHINEE, EXO, Big Bang, iKON, Zion.T, Crush, Sane. 2NE1 & Psy. Pet Shop Boys were invited as special guest performers on the night. Red Velvet, Twice, Tiffany and Seohyun from SNSD also attended by did not perform.
I have recapped the winners below. I shall give some comments afterwards regarding the winners. Best New Male Artist – iKON. Best New Female Artist – Twice. Best Male Vocal Performance – Zion.T (Eat) Best Female Vocal Performance – Ailee (Mind Your Business) Best Male Dance Performance – SHINee (View). Best Female Dance Performance – Red Velvet (Ice Cream Cake) Best Solo Dance Performance – Hyuna (Roll Deep). Best Collaboration / Subunit – Zion.T & Crush (Just) Best Rap Performance – Sane (Me You)
Best Band Performance – CN BLUE (Cinderella)
Best Male Group – EXO
Best Female Group – SNSD
Best Male Artist – Park Jin Young
Best Female Artist – Taeyeon
Best Music Video – Bang Bang Bang
Best Album (Album of the Year) – EXODUS
Best Song (Song Of The Year) – Bang Bang Bang
Best Artist (Artist Of The Year) – Big Bang
Best New Male Artist is probably the category that has me shaking my head the most. iKON is slowly showing their capability, but I feel like Seventeen is already two steps ahead of them and deserve the award more. Best Female Vocal Performance should have gone to Taeyeon and Taeyeon should have received 2 awards that night. Not dissing Ailee, but it wasn’t her best song or vocal performance. Best Music Video should have also gone to F(x). Best Male Dance Performance is an iffy category for me. SHINee did have a great dance, but sadly, I felt that BTS was missing out due to the lack of nomination in that category. Big Bang took out most of the awards, but I don’t think it matters. Big Bang dominated summer in South Korea last year with their continuous releases and had one of the most popular songs of the year (according to download and streaming charts). JYP’s award caught me a little off guard but I guess out of all the nominees, he had a good song. Besides the categories I mentioned, I think the awards were “fair”. Okay maybe not, but who MAMA awarded that night, I mostly agree with (given the nominees).
But wait, there were a few more awards that were given out that night: Worldwide Favourite Artist – Big Bang Global Fan’s Choice Male Artist – EXO Global Fan’s Choice Female Artist – F(x) Best World Performers – BTS Next Generation Asian Artist – Monsta X Best Asian Style – EXO
Worldwide Inspiration Award – Pet Shop Boys There were also other awards which were awarded to artists from other countries as Best Asian Artist. Best Engineer, Best Live Entertainment and Best Producer awards were also given to 3 people for each award from different countries.
Out of these awards, I am a little confused with the Best Asian Style award. Out of all that walked the red carpet, I was shocked when EXO came along. Also, Pet Shop Boys. I am with majority of people who have never heard of the band before.
Per usual, there were many different performances on the night. The show opened up with Taeyeon’s I, which I thought was a really beautiful stage. She sounded flawlessly on the stage. BTS made their comeback on the night and collaborated with GOT7, who also performed If You Do. JYP had a special stage which probably scarred both GOT7 and Twice and he went a little wild towards the end of his performance. iKON performed a medley of their songs. Monsta X and Seventeen collaborated, while F(x) and Pet Shop Boys joined hands together. We also saw Sane perform with Hyuna and Jessi. Also a stage with both Show Me The Money contestants and Unpretty Rapstar. EXO, SHINee, Big Bang each had their stages with multiple songs and got the audience really hyped up. Psy also made his comeback and performed alongside with his new songs, Gangnam Style. Probably the most talk that night was 2NE1’s performance which caught everyone off guard. It was nice to see them, but whether it was appropriate is just another topic all together.
Out of all the stages, I thought Taeyeon had the most beautiful stage. For the dance aspect, Seventeen and Monsta X’s performance was really well polished and amazing.
Overall, I thought the night was worth it. It may seem like YG has a lot of influence over the MAMA awards and that is probably true. But whether it is right or not, is another discussion in its self. Just regarding the invitations to the awards, it did seem like someone did forget to invite people. Some stages seem like they could have used a little more attention to give it that grand feel that the MAMA awards is meant to uphold, like in previous years. But overall, I thought the night was pretty good. Wait… Did I just repeat the first sentence of this paragraph? Guess I am going to call it a day now. Hope you enjoyed my recap!
2016 has started and we are already one month into the year. Damn time flies. And by the time you are reading this, we already be 1 and a half month in. Is that Christmas bells I hear in the far distant? Hahahaha… This is my revamped Rewind post for the month of January of the year 2016. Let’s go!
Major News
Probably the biggest news of the month is in regards to Tyuzu’s controversy in China. Now, while most of this is political, here is just a brief run down of what I know is going on. Tyuzu was seen on a broadcast holding a Taiwan flag and saying proudly that she is Taiwanese. China (and I say its people) did not like the idea and decided to censor her. She issued an apology, but some people think JYP forced her to do so, as now all his artists (GOT7 and 2PM were reported in the news) have been “shut out the country”. It has gone far as Twice’s stage being left out of the Golden Disk Awards when it was broadcast live in China, which for who do not know, is a Korean award show that was supposed to be held in China, but due to certain circumstances was moved back to South Korea. All I have to say is that she is probably now scarred for life. Everyone always talk about equality and to be proud of who you are. And sadly this is a reflection of how hypocritical the world is.
Major Comebacks
GFriend made their slaying comeback in January with Rough and have since been stealing all the music show’s trophies this week (which happens to be February, but since they officially made their comeback stages in January…). They have proven to be a powerful force and given that they only made their debut last year, makes this an amazing feat. Congrats 여자친구.
Other artists that made their comeback in January are: Teen Top, Dal Shabet, Zico (Block B), Stellar, Cross Gene , The Legend, Shin Hye Sung (Shinhwa) and many other artists.
Major Debuts
Ryeowook from Super Junior made his official solo debut this past month (28th of January) with The Little Prince, a ballad. While quite popular, he is currently competing with GFriend on the music shows and unfortunately been placing second.
IMFACT is also another rookie group that made their debut on the 27th of January. Their song, Lollipop, is currently one of my most played songs and I am actually listening to this song while I am writing this. Hahaha..
Other debuts in the past month include: Yezi (Fiestar), SUS4, & CocoSori
Polls
I did ask you all which iKON song you guys liked the most since their debut. The results are in and the most liked iKON song is: Airplane and Dumb & Dumber. Both scored 25% of the votes. My Type, Rhythm Ta, Anthem and Apology all scored 13%. What’s Wrong did not receive any votes.
Zico, the main rapper from Block B, has been releasing solo songs after songs for quite some time. And sadly, for certain reasons, his songs have been falling through the gap. But now, Zico’s newest release shall be reviewed. I make it sound like an honour, it just a song that I have time to review.
This is the first time that Zico has released a ballad for one of his solo releases. And out of his numerous releases, I think this one has to be one of the best. Now I am not saying that because I feel like I feel bad for not reviewing his songs, but I am saying that because it was genuinely amazing. The song still maintains its hip hop roots with the music getting you to head bop along to it. The chorus to the song is really catchy and I think makes the song that much more addictive. To be honest, I don’t pay attention to Zico that much, but this song caught my attention from the very start. I love how he manipulated his mostly powerful and skilful raps into a softer sound to fit the ballad feel. Not once did he go back to powerful and kept it at that soft level for the whole song.
The music video is a little interesting to watch. We have this store that sells almost nothing (but that is just another story). In the store, there is this girl who tends to the cash register and probably is the only employee (maybe she is the boss of the place?) of the store. There is also one customer the whole time at the start, which is Zico. He goes to the store at the same time, each day. The two start to notice each other and realize that they wear the same thing. The same shirt (maybe different colour), similar colours, even their show laces were untied. I find Zico quite handsome in some parts of the video, but it is clear that there is quite a lot of make up. It is an interesting way to say “I am You, You are Me”, but is makes most sense. The set seemed quite nice and did a good protrayal as if the two are the only people on the planet (might explain why the place is dead for all of the video). The ending also looked like they were flirting (see above), but more like it was used to represent the title. It is a good video with a nice idea.
if Zico keeps puting out songs like this (and Eukra), then I am game to revieiwing all his songs. I just did not have the time at the end of the year to review all these songs he put out. But might start doing all of them now! 9/10
I promised you guys I would review this particular video and song and here it is. This is a song off Winner’s newest album, “Exit:E”. This song only features Taehyun, one of the vocalists of the band. I previously reviewed Baby Baby and Sentimental, just a few days ago.
This is such a great ballad. I do say it is a little bland for my taste, but I think it is still a great song. Taehyun did a great job with the lyrics of the song. Actually, just from listening to the song, I can feel the heartbroken-ness and emotions that Taehyun poured into the song when he both wrote and sang the song. This is why love (both sides) is always an ongoing topic that can produce such great songs. The lyrics were also quite good in my opinion, well the English translation which I found. His vocals were quite soft in this song, and I think that complimented the piano instrumental quite well. It almost has this jazzy sound to the song, in some parts. Overall, I think this was a great song to listen to. Just take a few minutes out of your day and listen to the song.
This music video is like a mini drama and it is the one thing about the whole song/video package that I wanted to talk about. Taehyun gets out of his car with a bouquet of flowers. He goes into a building and meets his former girlfriend. We cut to scenes of him lying in bed with her and we can safely assume that both had an awesome time (hmm… where am I going with this) back when they were a couple. In other words, their romance was heated and going smoothly. Until, they break up from fighting too much. We get these scenes now and again in the video. The video cuts back to the present time and I feel like I am writing the review for this one part. I FREAKING LOVE HER COMMENT. Okay, she says “You look good. The hair’s still stupid.” That one freaking line made my day. Why? Because I agree with it. But is that the one thing you really have to say to him after meeting up for who knows how long? Taehyun does not say anything throughout the video (probably because he was reviewed as one of the worst idol actors to date), but I personally think he did a good job in the video. While in the bathroom, he gets a sort of flashback where, and I don’t know, but either she is cheating on him or (more likely) moving on. Taehyun goes back to confront her about this, but she ends up crying. While crying, I guess she realize that she still misses him. But at the moment, her fiance comes to her apartment and almost walks in on them. Taehyun is hiding in her closet. The fiance notices something is off when she is staring at the wardrobe, but (since the girl really wants Taehyun to live and go on), she holds her fiance back and kind of declare that they are “in love” and also expecting a child together. I guess this suggests to Taehyun that there is no going back. Taehyun, expectedly cries and leaves. I feel like this such a great story line. Probably one we see too many times, but still, the way the video was shot and edited made this a really good story. That line though, made me laugh.
That is one long paragraph. But not the longest review. Great song and prefect music video. 9.5/10
After her success with I, vocalist Taeyeon from SNSD has made her first solo comeback and is the first artist of the new SM plan, where a new song is released each week.
Rain is a very nice song that you would listen to on a rainy day. Hmm… I wonder why? The lyrics of the song, along with the overall sound of the song was written and produced with the whole idea of a rainy day in mind. Once again, her vocals was totally smashing in this song. Her vocals matched the style so nicely and you can feel the emotions in her voice quite well. The song builds up quite nicely and I think the chorus can be described as the highlight of the song. The song is quite catchy and also quite calming. I am just always in awe with her voice. It can manipulated to fit almost an genre and still make me drop my jaws. If I was to be critical, I would have nothing to say. I think this is a perfect track.
The music video was quite nice to watch. But sadly, it really does not appeal to me. I’ve watched it a few times and kind of forgot about it. That is the only bad thing about the video. Otherwise, I would have considered this to be the perfect video to accompany the song. Anyway, the video does a great depiction of the rain. When she mentions rainy days, it is raining outside. The rest of the video is quite abstract, but it makes sense. The rain starts leaking inside (to the point where it kind of looks like it is raining inside. It turns everything into water and starts to cause a mini flood of water to appear in the room, isolating Taeyeon, hence making her lonely. It looks like memories are submerged in the rain. Great use of computer graphics, to be honest.
Overall, I am quite satisfied with this sudden and surprising comeback. not really sure about this ongoing weekly release from SM, but if the songs are this good, then I am quite happy to sit down and review all of them. 9.5/10
4Minute has returned to the stage after nearly a whole year’s absence from the stage. Last time they were on the stage together, they were promoting Crazy. Still continuing their hip hop concept, the girls have gone for a more edgier concept with Hate.
This song was produced with Shrillex, which had me wondering how he would go about producing a song in Korean for these girls, and he does a fine job. The song sounded odd at first, but the song does really grow on you. The song starts off with Gayoon’s ballad like part (which had an eerie sound with it), and then starts moving into Hyuna’s, Jihyun’s and Sohyun’s part. But as we progress through the song, it starts building up and gets us to the edge of the our seat. Jiyoon’s part was after the main chorus, but the way the song flowed between the chorus and her part was flawless. I am happy with the better line distribution in this song. Everyone had an even spread of the lines. The chorus sounds really funky and honestly has a nice ring to it. Though it does seem like the type get annoying after a few weeks (check back on me for that one), I feel like the chorus expresses their anger and power quite well. Put the song together, it just does not have the same level of rhythm as Crazy did. The song seemed a little disjointed at some parts, but manage to still come together pretty well.
The music video did a pretty good job. I described Gayoon’s part as eerie and ballad like, and in the video we got just that. As the parts started to build up, we got more parts in the video that matched the build up. From Gayoon’s mysterious wedding dress part, to Sohyun’s hip movement part. I think the video does a great portrayal of the song’s part. As for Jiyoon’s part, she looks good in leather but reminds me of bondage for some reason. Hmmm… The redness in the video gives the video that really bold look and as we go through the video, more emphasis was placed on the colour. Just the chorus parts in the video, they were quite underwhelming. Love how artistic everything looked around the chorus, but the chorus where they were wearing trackies and jeans really disappointed me. The chorus could have been done like in Crazy, but instead, what we got looked like a low budget video. It just was not up to par with the rest of the video.
A little more torn about the dance. It could have been a better dance, but I feel like it kind of does fit in. It has that hip hop vibe going through it and even if I disagree with the dance, I can’t think of anything better to fill in the gaps that I disagree with. But that level of power I have been going on about in this review is there in the dance.
Overall, I think it is a very bold comeback. I don’t think any other words could describe it except for “bold”. 7.5/10
Winner has finally ended their long 1 year and 6 months hiatus with their first ever comeback. Winner has released Exit:E on the 1st of Feb and have plans to promote with double title tracks. While on their hiatus, the members have been promoting as solo artists or actors. Taehyun, Kang Seung Yoon and Jinwoo have been acting on different dramas. Mino have been particpating in Show Me The Money and released the song Fear as a solo artist. This review consist of both Baby Baby and Sentimental.
Baby Baby is a very soulful RnB ballad track that gets you swaying from side to side. It really does not appeal to me though. I don’t feel like listening to this song and I am not drawn to click on it when I see it on YouTube or my phone. It has this nice jazzy sound to it though. I personally feel their vocals in this song is lacking. I expected something a little more complicated to listen to. It just feels like a more upbeat version of their debut song, which to date I still do not like. While it does get me swaying, I think the song is pretty boring and I get this dull feeling every time I listen to it.
Sentimental is a different song altogether. This song can be described as more pop based, but still keeps that vocal side of the group that they debuted with. This song had a lot more colour and was much more upbeat then Baby Baby. I much prefer the instrumental to this song. The drums (which make up most of the instrumental) is pretty good. The vocals in this song isn’t that much different to the ones in Baby Baby, but they fit with the song more and the vocals fit in really well with the upbeat sound. I think it is safe to say with my comments above, which song I liked a lot more.
The music videos were nice to watch though. Baby Baby seemed like a drama in such a short video. The video starts off with the members making their return on the stage at the MMAs (article regarding that coming soon). And then it cuts to the members being lonely. And it seems like Mino cannot get rid of that singlet. It just reminds me of their fashion in their Empty days. Shivers. We see them being lonely or trying to find ways to get rid of their problem (i.e. sleeping around, go out partying and drinking etc). But I guess nothing will make up for good time they had in the past.
For Sentimental, the sets for this music video are, first of all, amazing. Secondly, I think it is quite smart at how they filmed the whole thing. It gives it a whole different perspective, while they are just on the ground. Seunghoon got the short end of the stick with the way his acting with his instrument. Made me laugh though, how everyone is focused on their instrument, and the poor fellow behind them is just doing his own thing. It would be interesting to see a dance to this. We get a small glimpse of what I assume to be a dance, but not exactly sure.
Overall, I am kind of torn on their comeback. Yeah, they have great voices which some songs capture, but other songs just don’t do it for me. Also, Taehyun also released a song on the mini album, with a music video. I may have left it out of this review, because, well, I want to do a separate review on it. I have lots to say. Review for it will come soon.
Baby Baby – 5/10
Sentimental – 7/10
Which Winner song did you like more for this comeback?
2016 has officially began in KPOP with the debut of IMFACT (This is the first group from a major company to make their debut this year). Yeah, it would be a boring year if there were no new debuts. IMFACT is a 5 member boy group, that is under Star Empire Entertainment, the home of Nine Muses & Z:EA. Let’s hope their company can do a better job with the promotions of this band than certain others. Anyway, the band is made up of Lee Ji An, Kim Tae Ho, Lee Sang, Park Jae Up and Na Ung Jae. They officially made their debut on 27th of January, with the release of their mini album Lollipop.
I had my suspicions with the song and I guess what I had in mind was kind of right. Like the song title suggest, the song has a very bright sound and the boys would attempt a bright concept. The song kind of irked me a little bit when I first listened to ti, but damn, it grew on me. First off, the song, from start to end, had powerful vocals and that rapper was such a deep and husky voice. That high note at the end really made my jaw drop and saying that, I am quite sure that this debut song showed the member’s talents really well. The song itself has this funky sound to it and I thought the song sounded very modern and cool. Even with the funky sound, the song has the dance element sound to it. The trumpets really fit in well with the song. The chorus was really addictive and catchy to my ears. To the point, where I am listening to this song constantly. A little disappointed with the “Come On, Yeah, I Like Lollipop, Okay, Leggo” part in the song (just before the bridge). That is the only part of the song that I would love to get rid of, but beside that small 5 second part, I think this is a solid debut song!
As for the music video, I’m a little torn. Overall, I think it is a good video, but there were some scenes that had me doubting the whole concept. For example, the scene that consisted of just the girl’s ass and they were all staring at it. Ummm… You do know that you are attempting a high school concept, and I don’t staring at a girls ass and saying that she is your “lollipop” is appropriate. Further more, why were they stripping the poor dude and making him run out into the arms of another shirtless member and then capturing right at the nipple area. Yeah, call me dirty mind, but I personally did not think it was needed to go to all that length for the video. I am sure someone could have thought something a little more appropriate for the setting and concept. Sure it fits in with the fun concept of the video, but not the school boy. However, I would only consider them as minor problems with the video. The video was very bright and the amount of fun that they were having coincided with the song. Nothing felt like it was forced (i.e. their expressions all seemed genuine and that they were having way too much fun filming the video). Maybe some of the video (especially with the teacher dancing) could be described as cliche, but I think overall, it was an excellent video to introduce the band with.
The dance is what I want to speak more. Too much Nae Nae in my opinion, but overall, I think the dance looked really cool and fitted in with the song. Even on stage, their expressions don’t seemed to be forced. I think the dance was really well done and highlighted the boys capabilities even more.
Definitely a band to look out for in the future. Looking forward to what songs and concept they will be going for next. Solid and amazing debut. 9/10
Late last year, I reviewed Crazy Dog, which I assumed to be Yezi’s solo debut. But apparently, I was completely wrong and that Cider would be her first official solo song, and hence her debut as a solo artist on the stage. For those who don’t know, Yezi is the rapper for the girl group Fiestar. Last year, she shot to fame with her appearance and participation on Unpretty Rapstar. With her new found popularity, it is said that Fiestar could potentially break out as a top group this year.
You all know that I am not into the rap or hip hop side of KPOP, but once again, Yezi does a pretty good job with making me enjoying this genre. When I first heard the song, for some reason, the start of the song (just before Yezi started rapping) sounded a lot like an intro to a boy group dance based song. I don’t wish to discriminate, but that was my first initial thought into the song. As soon as I heard her rap, I can say I was slayed. She sounded extremely powerful and badass. Throw away my thoughts of the intro to a boy group dance song, Yezi does an amazing job with the song. The chorus was extremely short for my liking, but damn, does the way she say ‘Cider’ sound so sexy? I am literally floored with the song. The “Let’s Do It, Just Do It” at the very end sounds so good to my ears. Totally digging this song. The song was extremely fast (what I tend to think with any song that has majority of it rap based) and seemed short at first glance, but it was an amazing solid 3 minutes, I just did not notice time flew by.
The music video was pretty cool. When I first watched the video, I was a little confused. She started off wearing white and they were in a pretty bright room. Too bright for genre. I mean, the colour that is associated with rap and hip hop is black, but the white threw me off. And then, it all started. Throw away that whiteness and supposed innocence, because she started to rebel and cause havoc on the set of whatever they were shooting. The directors seem to be fed up, but that poor assistant looked like he just crapped his pants when she pulled the pieces of paper out of his hands. I think the point of the video is show that the old concepts are out and the new concepts will be coming in. I am going to be honest, but I secretly like her when she is wearing black. It suits her more and also fits in with the rest of the concept. I really like the plot or idea around the video
The dance. Well, there really is not much of a dance. What I see Yezi do, seems to just be simple hand movements and there really isn’t anything that seems complex. Her hips though, in some performances, wow. The background dancers seem to have the more complex moves, and I think their presence behind Yezi seem to make the stage more complete and fill in the rest of the concept on the stage. And that red box that she rides on seem so cool. It gives off a very polished feel to it.
The first release from SM this year and this time, it is also a solo release of a member of a popular band. Ryeowook, one of the main vocalists from Super Junior, has officially made his solo debut, joining the ranks of band member Kyuhyun. Ryeowook is also the second member to make his solo debut from Super Junior.
The song, is what we all expected from Ryeowook, a ballad. For his vocals, I have never been a big fan. His voice seems ordinary and there really is nothing to celebrate every time I hear his voice. He also has a high pitch voice, which never seems to fit in with the rest of the band. But this song highlights his voice and damn does he sound good or what? The song captures his vocals and makes good use of them. As for the song itself, I feel fine listening to just the instrumental. As you can tell, totally digging the orchestral sound. The verses seem a little bland, but the rest of the song (chorus + bridge) sounds catchy and really nice. (Secretly enjoying the chorus) I love how the song starts off super slow and builds up as we listen to more of it. His vocals do a good job at handling and balancing that build up in the song, making it sound as nothing complex is going on. The lyrics of the song are based off that famous French book of the same title, The Little Prince. So, what can you conclude from this paragraph? His voice is too damn good. And his song is amazing as well.
The video was a little boring to watch in my point of view. I have to say, the sets of the video were beautiful artworks that were made to look like the real deal. We see him struggle against his problems in the video, and while his expression is a little dull (we could have seen a little more acting), the way he interacts with the objects around him make up for it and display the “man in pain” that we know from the book. The imagery of the video was amazing, such as the pouring of wine on the white rose and the small snippets of burning pages and pictures from the book made the video look artistic and very beautiful. The colours give off that really nice Autumn night feel, which I think looks fantastic. But as a whole, I am not drawn to the video as I am with the song. I may have yawned when I was watching the video a few times.
Overall, the song was amazing and the video was great. 8.5/10
KPOPREVIEWED 