Category: KPOP

2015 BOBs (Best Of the Best) – Part 2

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015 is at its end, and with days away from the new year, we must reflect on 2015. And per usual: excellent songs, videos and dances have gracefully entered our lives and probably have not yet left us. From comebacks from big name acts to debuts of new rookie bands, 2015 has been a splendid year in my opinion. This year I decided to do the BOBs differently. Usually, I post a list of nominees and categories, but I don’t get you guys to vote for them (nor do I have the capabilities and time to allow you guys to vote for them, but maybe in the future), so I thought I should change it up this year, but posting both nominees and winners in the same post. This is part 2 of the BOBs and part1 was released yesterday (Click Here). Also, the traditional End of Year Charts will be released on the 31st of December, at 11:55 pm, so please wait around for that. Let’s get the post on the road!!!

These awards do not reflect any review score that I gave out this year. My personal preferences will always change (i.e. an 8 review score can currently be a 10 OR a 10 review score can currently by an 8).

RED FONT – Winners, BLUE FONT – Honourable Mention

BEST MALE ROOKIE

Once again, 2015 saw many debuting groups enter the KPOP scene. And this category obviously allows me to pick who i saw as the best new male artist of 2015. And boy were the standards high this year. The nominees are:

bestmalerookie

I have to give it to Seventeen. They were the only new boy group on the block that left a massive long impression on me since their debut at the start of the year til now. At first 13 members may have sounded a little too much, but the songs they were releasing proved otherwise. Honourable mentions goes to Monsta X who only popped on my radar in the past few weeks. Yeah, their debut did not do much, but what they released after did a lot.

BEST FEMALE ROOKIE

Same as the above category, many new girl group emerged from the shadows and wowed a lot of people. Most not if all female rookies managed to amaze me and picking the nominees for this category had been one of the hardest things to do this year. The nominees are:

bestfemalerookie

Hands down, it automatically goes to GFriend. As soon as they started, they had the press all over them and their comeback proved to be highly successful, ranking high on the charts. As for honourable mention… I am literally torn between Oh My Girl and Twice. Yeah, Oh My Girl did not do as well for this debut, but their comeback exceed my expectations so much (why? Find out later) but I am going to give it to Twice, as they have only released one song and also ranked incredibly high on the charts.

BEST DANCE/PERFORMANCE

One of the things that make KPOP so unique is obviously the choreography and performances. And this year saw an amazing variety of performances and dances that made fans all for certain groups harder than ever. Each of the nominees that made it onto the list truly deserve to be the winner as they were all equally unique and amazing. I nominated:

bestdanceperformance

Screw the MAMA awards. The male category was a mess for Best Male Dance Performance. However, I am here to fix it. I am putting BTS – Dope as the best dance of the year. Yes. BTS was not nominated at all and that is so disappointing. Dope was such as “dope” dance that was in sync and perfectly executed. As for honourable mention, GOT7 – If You Do takes it away. Though it was nominated, but it did not win. And I was incredibly disappointed. Anyway, I can say this: all of the nominated dances deserve an award.

BEST ALBUM

Albums. Not my favourite thing to talk about. Mainly because there are songs on some albums that disappoint me, and hence I sometimes stay away from albums because of that. Each album is looked at as a whole and also each individual song is looked at in detail. I don’t listen to entire albums a lot, but here is a list of just some albums I did manage to listen to as a whole. The nominees are:

bestalbum

At of all of those albums above, there were two stands out. The winner was F(x) – 4Walls, their 4th album. I have to say each and every song on this album I adore to the point where all the songs on there have become more memorable than certain comebacks of big name artists. Honourable mentions goes to Brown Eyed Girls – Basic, their 6th full length album. The album came extremely closely to being the winner, but I do not personally feel the same level of excitement when I listen to the album.

BEST MUSIC VIDEO

Music videos per usual is an artists main form of promotion. And this year, the music videos released were to of an extremely high standard. Each of these music videos have some unique about them and that is what stood out to me. I chose these based on plot, cinematography, sets or scenery, acting (if applicable) and editing. The nominees I saw fit these categories were:

bestmusicvideo

I think the simplicity was the key for me this year. G.Soul – You won Best Music Video in my point of view. There is essentially nothing in this video beside the singer himself and some lights. But yet it managed to become such an amazing video. Honourable mentions goes to FT Island – Pray. Their concept was so amazing that it was incredibly hard to pass up this video.

 

BEST FEMALE GROUP

Now let’s get down to business. I like to call this and the next category “the best artist of the year”. But since KPOP is highly populated with groups, I split them up into genders and call the categories “group”. The female groups this year have successfully wowed me (and probably everyone else this year), with many people being able to pick a favourite. The nominees for Best Female Group are:

bestfemalegroup

I think I am going to agree with the ongoing trend and give it to EXID. From Up and Down, released last year, EXID shot into the limelight with a fancam of Hani and have since re-promoted Up and Down, came back with Ah Yeah and more recently Hot Pink. Each time they make a comeback, they go on to prove their popularity. As for Honourable Mention: Red Velvet. Their successful year yet, and I am 100% sure that better years will come. Ice Cream Cake and Dumb Dumb will remain as favourites for me.

BEST MALE GROUP

Now let’s move onto the guys. The competition was so tough this year. At first, I managed to list around 20 different male groups that I think deserve this award, but I only ended up choosing 10 nominees. It was so hard. But here are my choices:

bestmalegroup

I am going to choose GOT7 as the best boy group of the year. GOT7 released three songs: Just Right, If You Do and Winter’s Confession. Put together, GOT7 had one busy year and I saw a very large amount of growth in terms of the boys’ talents and sound. As for honourable mention, it would got to BTS. For this year, BTS has definitely matured and showed an ever fiercer and more powerful side of the group.

BEST SONG

This category, each year proves to be my worst enemy. It is so hard to choose my most favourite song. This particular category is not influenced (in any way) by the charts that I am releasing tomorrow. The “best song of the year” chosen here are like my subconscious mind speaking, whom I really want to see be given the title. The charts tomorrow are more calculated and take into account my reviews during the year and what my current thoughts about them are. But as I said choosing this category is the hardest. So many songs deserve this title and if I could choose to give out multiple “Best Song” awards I can. The nominees are:

bestsong

Let’s start with the honourable mentions: GOT7 – If You Do, Oh My Girl – Closer, EXID – Hot Pink & Seventeen – Mansae.

And finally, I give to you, 2015’s Best Song of the Year, which you can probably tell already by the video linked below.

EXID – Ah Yeah

Congratulations, EXID. 2015 has been proven to be your year. You can watch the music video for this year’s Best Song below!

 

And that is it for Part 2 of the BOBs. Check back tomorrow, for the End Of Year Charts. And then, lets all wait for the New Year to come rolling through? Got your New Year’s Resolution yet?

*All images and gifs belong to their owners/creators. Only those tables are mine.

2015 BOBs (Best Of the Best) – Part 1

Posted in JPOP, KPOP, KPOPREVIEWED AwardsTagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , 1 Comment

2015 is at its end, and with days away from the new year, we must reflect on 2015. And per usual: excellent songs, videos and dances have gracefully entered our lives and probably have not yet left us. From comebacks from big name acts to debuts of new rookie bands, 2015 has been a splendid year in my opinion. This year I decided to do the BOBs differently. Usually, I post a list of nominees and categories, but I don’t get you guys to vote for them (nor do I have the capabilities and time to allow you guys to vote for them, but maybe in the future), so I thought I should change it up this year, but posting both nominees and winners in the same post. This is part 1 of the BOBs and part 2 will be released tomorrow with the rest of the categories. Also, the traditional End of Year Charts will be released on the 31st of December, at 11:55 pm, so please wait around for that. Let’s get the post on the road!!!

These awards do not reflect any review score that I gave out this year. My personal preferences will always change (i.e. an 8 review score can currently be a 10 OR a 10 review score can currently by an 8).

RED FONT – Winners, BLUE FONT – Honourable Mention

RISING STAR

Each year, artists see a rise in popularity. May that be due to great songs or great publicity (after all: any publicity is good publicity), this year was no difference.  Each of these artists, I have personally seen, some sort of boost in popularity this year. And I get to choose two winners (one male and one female) for this certain category. For this year, I have nominated:

risingstar

My pick is: EXID and BTOB. Both teams saw a rise in popularity due to one particular member, and slowly each member in each group is become well known in the industry. Keep up the good work, EXID and BTOB!!!

BEST INSTRUMENTAL

A song is not a song without an instrumental. And in KPOP, the instrumental plays a massive part in hooking us in and getting us addicted to the music. Especially for foreign and international fans who don’t understand the Korean language 100%. So many great instrumentals this year, here are the nominees:

bestinstrumental

Out of all the nominees, there can be only one winner: Wonder Girls – I Feel You. The girls returned to the stage with a brand new band concept, which totally wowed me. This instrumental has its own retro vibe and I personally enjoyed it a lot. From the drums to the keyboard and guitars, the girls totally deserve this. By far one of the most underrated songs, that definitely deserve an award! Honourable Mentions: F(x) – 4Walls

BEST JAPANESE SONG

I also do some Japanese songs on this site. Hahaha… Yeah, I review some Japanese songs from time to time. The variety of singers that I listen to for Japanese songs is usually limited to only the Japanese songs released by Korean artists. This year, the category has been dominated by Korean artists and I hope next year, I can start to review more Japanese artists! Here are the nominees:

bestjapsong

I think, I was most addicted to Beast – Can’t Wait To Love You. And that was my pick for Best Japanese Song. It was song that I felt did not fall into the typical Korean Pop or Japanese Pop genres and was pretty unique on its own. As for honourable mentions: BTS – For You.

BEST COMEBACK

Big name comebacks this occurred and they all managed to rock our socks off. Hahaha… I take into account: song, concept, promotions, looks, impact and a few more categories and suprisngly, the biggest artists that emerge from the Golden Age of KPOP were nominated:

bestcomebackOut of all the comebacks nominated, the one that fitted the criteria the most would have been Big Bang. 2015 was one big year for the band, and they had such an unique concept in terms of promotion. SNSD takes away honourable mention for this category.

BEST SUBUNIT

Unfortunately, 2015 did not continue the 2014 trend of subunits. However, some new subunits formed from popular bands and some old favourite returned. Here is who I think should be nominated as best subunit:

bestsubunit

This one was a little close for me. But I am going to say Donghae and Eunhyuk, which is a subunit belonging to Super Junior. Their song was by far an amazing and left a more long lasting impact on me than the others. The other subunit that gets honourable mention is VIXX LR, which is a duo made up of Leo and Ravi.

BEST RAPPER

2015 saw a new wave of contestant based TV shows around rapping and hence many artists have seen a boost in popularity after appearing on these shows. Other rappers also remained on stage as part of their groups and amazed the audience continuously during each comeback. Here are the nominees:

bestrapper

Out of all the rappers on the light, I picked Mad Clown as a winner. His song was a hit, it was a great song (now) and while he is not part of some group, he still managed to be placed ahead of everyone this year. Zico (Block B) took out Honourable Mention for his active year. Interestingly enough, both selected artists had someone featuring in their song.

BEST VOCALIST

When there are rappers, there are also singers. 2015 also saw new programs (and our old favourites) made specifically for the vocalists of all groups. Some vocalists we know have always amazed us, but others have just emerged and became trends for 2015. Based purely on what they sound like, here are the nominees:

bestvocalist

I think this category has the most obvious winner, Taeyeon (SNSD). Yeah, she was quite active as an artist, but her debut for I blew everyone away. As for honourable mention, it goes to Solji (EXID). Her performance of Maria still replays in my head. Her powerful vocals in EXID’s performance are also quite amazing.

BEST MALE SOLOIST

While the above category looked like at vocal performance, the Best Male Soloist looks at their vocal performance, song, impact and dance (if applicable) – i.e. their comeback or debut as a collective. To be nominated, the artists must have been active as a solo artist this year (while the above also included group vocalists). The nominees are:

bestmalesoloist

There is only one artist on this list that managed to wow me the very moment I listened to the song and that artist is Kim Sung Gyu (Infinite). His whole album did wonders and is an album that I am continuously going back to. As for honourable mentions, Lee Hong Ki (FT Island) wins that. His solo debut song was well received and I reviewed it as an amazing ballad.

BEST FEMALE SOLOIST

While the above category(Best Vocalist) looked like at vocal performance, the Best Female Soloist looks at their vocal performance, song, impact and dance (if applicable) – i.e. their comeback or debut as a collective. To be nominated, the artists must have been active as a solo artist this year (while the above also included group vocalists). The nominees are:

bestfemalesoloist

Once again, I am going to give it to Taeyeon (SNSD). Vocally, stunning. It was memorable and lovely to listen to. Honourable Mention was a close call, but Amber (F(x)) stole it from Gain (Brown Eyed Girls). So catchy and bright.

And that is it for Part 1 of the BOBs. Check back tomorrow, where I will post the second part of the BOBs, with Best Song, Best Male and Female Rookie; and Best Male and Female groups (plus a few more categories).

*All images and gifs belong to their owners/creators. Only those tables are mine.

 

 

 

Du Du Du – Kim Dong Wan (Shinhwa)

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Just a little while back, Kim Dong Wan made his solo comeback with I’m Fine and Piece. Having promised back to to back mini album promotions, he was due to release his comeback last month. But I am assuming something along the lines of preparations affected the potential “back to back” promotions. However, he made his solo comeback with Du Du Du earlier this month, fulfilling the promise he made.

Like I’m Fine, Kim Dong Wan brings out his guitar for the song. The other song has that more emotional aspect to it and has sad lyrics to it. This song, however, is much more cheerful and includes the lovingly sounds of his vocals. Honestly, it is a really nice song that suits the season of snow. I would imagine myself listening to this song to just cheer myself up. Lately, I have been saying that the sound “Du Du Du” has to be one sound that makes any song pretty catchy. And well, it makes the song really vibrant and happy. The chorus is quite high pitch but at the same time is quite simple to listen to. Probably be an ideal song to catch any girl’s feeling. His English is quite nice as well.

The music video has this story line to it, which confused everybody the first time they watched the video. Essentially, the video starts off with Kim Dong Wan hanging out with Girl #1. But then, Girl #2 starts to come along and ruin Kim Dong Wan and Girl #1’s happy date. We see Girl #1 disappointed and sad, while it is revealed that Girl #2 and Kim Dong Wan are joking around and wren’t actually a couple. But it was later revealed in the video, that in fact Girl #1 was in on the whole thing and Girl #2 was actually the girl that Kim Dong Wan likes (shown when Girl #1 joins in on in the dancing and Girl #2 was the one he was pointing at). Plot twist much? Yeah it is a little confusing but it makes more sense when you watch the video. That or the bunny was his one true love. Don’t you love it when you read YouTube comments? They clear everything up but at the same time still have that playful side to them. Beside the story line, the video was quite fun to watch. Once again, it was a bright and cheerful video that matched the song’s sound.

Overall, a perfect song and video in my opinion. Little confusing on the video, but hey, it is part of the charm. 10/10

Lean On Me – Soyu (Sistar) & Kwon Jeong Yeol (10cm)

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Let’s back track for a few months and review a song. Before Soyu went on a break (if you didn’t know, she has been having back problems and has gone on a break, hence Sistar has been focusing a lot on solo promotions), she released a few songs and per usual I think they were mostly collaborations with other artists. This time around she has gone with a member of 10cm, Kwon Jeong Yeol, whose group is known for ballads. And honestly, Soyu’s collaboration has done it again and slayed me. I put a lot of emphasis on Soyu when i review her songs, but somehow don’t manage to put the same level of emphasis on the other singer, who also plays an important part in the collaboration. So let’s do it.

Once again, the vocals from both artists have been superb. Soyu and Jeong Yeol voices go hand in hand in this song. Both artists have the same level of huskiness to their voices, which compliments each other really well. Everything about this song fits in with the Autumn season really well. From the vocals, to the instrumental just gives off that feel. The song is also quite catchy for a ballad. The chorus just sucks me in and reels me in. I feel like the song ended off perfectly. Sometimes, the ending of songs are dragged out or abruptly, but this ending was perfect. I don’t have much to say about the song beside how great it is.

As for the music video, it is quite nice. The same feel in the music video is in the song, hence they go hand in hand. The screen splits into two and we see to different lives. One of them is the of the guy’s and the other is Soyu’s. And we see them lounge around and act as if they they were recently heart broken. But when we assume they get into different taxis, well, they don’t. Instead, they seemed to be in each lives and enjoy each other company. Another ongoing trend I see in KPOP nowadays (and actually life in general), but someone is bringing out the cameras from the late 1990’s, where the camera quality isn’t that grand and crystal clear. I don’t know why it is a trend but it is. Interesting concept for a video, which looked quite nice and well polished.

Overall, another amazing song from Soyu and her collaborations with great male vocalists! 9/10

 

 

Q&A – Seventeen (S.Coups, Woozi & Vernon) & Ailee

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First of the last four reviews of the year. Q&A is a collaboration between Ailee, the vocal queen of KPOP and Seventeen, the rising KPOP rookie group. And honestly, it is a really nice song to listen to. It’s bright and vibrant to listen to. There is a strong American influence throughout the whole song, I think. Every time I listen to the song, I know that there is some sort of foreign influence to the song. The song flows quite well and is extremely pleasant to listen to. I love the pairing of vocals. Both Ailee’s and Woozi’s voice go really well together, and top of that, the member’s deep sounding raps really bring the song together. Some of you may be wondering about the title. Essentially, the song’s lyrics are like two people sharing their feelings, but through asking questions and seeking answers, hence Q&A. They are not asking literal questions, just the lyrics (when translated) seem like they’re having a conversation (asking questions and seeking answers). Very interesting concept and equally unique. The instrumental is a little bland, but overall, the song is great to listen to and chill.

As for the music video, the concept is a little clearer. Essentially the girl is making the boys sit through a test to probably determine who would be the most suitable to be her next boyfriend. The boys are studying extremely hard (or too busy posing for the camera). And then we see the boys take the test (but I don’t think they got that far). They even had to result to cheating (with very obvious means). Honestly, the concept of the video weaves into the song a lot more better than the song and I like that about it. Apparently, you get blood noses when you study in South Korea. Seen it in the video and also in many dramas. Funny, cause the only time I get blood noses is when I get I hit in the face with a ball. There also the guys represents different students. Woozi is the one that actually studies, Vernon is the one that looks like they are studying and S.Coups is the one that gives no crap about what he is doing (I am personally a mixture of Woozi and S.Coups. Who are you?). Disappointed Ailee was not in the video.

Overall, great collaboration. 9/10 

Crazy Dog – Yezi (Fiestar) ft. San E

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Time to finally review something that is directly hip hop related. Hahaha… And another song without a freaking music video… WHY?? But, we must go on. We probably all know who San E is, but who is Yezi? Well, Yezi is the rapper of the female group Fiestar. She recently participated in Unpretty Rapstar, which is a show for female rappers. Now Yezi has received a lot of support and gained a lot of popularity with her appearance on the show, which leads to her very first solo, Crazy Dog, featuring San E.

If you don’t know, I don’t really like listening to K-Hip Hop songs, but this one is an exception. I have always been a fan of Yezi’s raps in her song and while I do not follow Unpretty Rapstar, I saw small snippets of her on the show and she sounded really cool and tough. She is definitely a top notch rapper that should be looked out for in 2016.  This particular song is pretty catchy and has really addictive yet repetitive beat to this. I love how she repeats “Crazy Dog” in both Korean and English. It is hella tough and quite sexy to hear. A bit torn with San E’s part. He sounds great and fit in with the track, but I felt like maybe Yezi had a little more toughness and sounded much more powerful in her delivery. The trumpet sounds in the instrumental gave an unique sound to the song, one that I would not have associated with a hip hop track. I just don’t associate that instrument with the genre, but hey, it worked really well. It had me head bopping all the way through, so I guess it is a pretty good track.

Overall, a solid track. I really want to see her perform this one stage one day and show the world who is boss. 7/10

I can confirm to you that this is the final review without a music video. 2015 is slowly wrapping up and I will be writing up 4 more reviews before the end of the year (Final review will be released on the 24th). The the BOBs will be released starting on the 29th, and the year ends with the End Of Year Chart for 2015 on the 31st. ANY major group/solo comebacks (i.e. iKON, ChoA (AOA) etc.) that is released from now on to the end of the year will be reviewed next year (and included in next year’s charts).

It’s Christmas Time – B1A4

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Jingle Bells Jingle Bells…. Christmas is really taking a toll on me. Too many sleigh bells ringing and Ho Ho Ho’s heheheh… I am only joking, but it seems like B1A4 has jumped on the Christmas song bandwagon with their very first Christmas Single. And it is a pretty good song. Just there were some things that I was kind of iffy on. For example, B1A4’s English isn’t that great. I mistook “I just want to be your good friend” as “I just want to be your girl friend”. Their voices were very husky in this song and I liked it. Honestly, it is the only Christmas song so far that is quite upbeat and it really brings the “cheer” and joy to the table. I, for some reason, have this big smile on my face when I listen to the song. Some of the vocals in the verses could have been a little louder, but beside it is a pretty much solid track. The rapping by Baro is also pretty good. I know he isn’t an underground rapper and whatnot, but sometimes he has pretty good raps. Upbeat Christmas track that I would be playing for the next week? This is it.

And then I realized that there is no music video to this song. Nor is there any performance. Song wise, since it the only thing I can review it on, 7/10. 

Sing For You – EXO

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EXO has returned to the stage with a special Winter album, with the title track Sing For You. This time around they featured all the members, plus made their comeback with a ballad, which is quite different. Their last promoted ballad was Miracles in December, sung by D.O, Baekhyun, Chen and Luhan. Anyway, on to this ballad. The vocals just blow me away in this song. I know EXO is highly capable of singing ballads as there are amazing vocalists. But even the rappers (Chanyeol, Sehun, Kai) all singing a part of the song. And everyone sounds as if they were blessed with amazing vocals from the very start of time. This ballad is quite slow, and while I am not a big fan of those extremely slow ballads, this one is pretty good. It is just a free flowing song that really gets to you. The guitar instrumental that played throughout the song was blissful. There is one thing that would take the ballad to a whole new level and that is harmony. I feel like if the boys harmonise a little more the song would become 100% perfect. There is a little harmonising going on, but it definitely not enough and feels quite limited.

And let’s go onto a brand new corner of some reviews: The Question. For this review, the question is: What in the freaking effing world is a massive whale doing in space? While it probably does symbolise something that many people just don’t get (including me), it just seems a little too far fetched. But this is one beautiful music video. We see all the members hang out, but in reality they are just memories of some members, and some are just lonely. Sehun in space, Kai reflecting in space while he could be out drinking with the other members, Suho and Chanyeol fighting, D.O driving the car by himself. Some people say this is a way to represent the whole members leaving the band news, and I am going to agree with some band, I don’t think that is it. Yeah, some people do manage to point out a lot of evidence from the video, but I feel like the video is much more than former members, but the friends, family and lovers that we all truly miss. Or maybe I am missing the whole point, but I feel like the acting in this was really good. Kai’s dancing was solid and very interpretive. Honestly, beautiful video. But do share what your thoughts on the video are? Or any “confirmed” story lines. But what I have put is my interpretation. Oh and the video matches the song, but I think you all got that from the above.

10/10. Yeah, something could have been added to the song to make it much better, but what we have here is pretty much perfection.

 

Feels So Good – HALO

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[NOTE: As there is no music video to the following song, I decided to use their last comeback as the featured image]

Not exactly a normal review today. I know I don’t review many songs without a music video, but I am going to make a few exceptions for a few more reviews to finish up 2015. The first of which is Halo’s new song. Halo is a new band that made their debut last year with Fever. They made numerous comebacks since with Come On Now, Surprise and While You’re Sleeping. The group is made up of 6 members: Dino, In Haeng, Ooon, Jae Yong, Hee Cheon and Yoon Dong. I was planning on reviewing their debut song, but cancelled the review because of time constraints.

This song is surprisingly good. Their debut song was really good, but their comebacks lately had been lacking quite a bit. This was something that the band needed, but it did sound quite ordinary. While their songs are dance centred and have a more modern electronic feel, this one has more of a retro feel to it (like While You’re Sleeping) and involves a strong disco feel to the video. Some of the vocals had been auto-tuned to fit the song, and I guess I like it. The rapping did not match the song at all and really felt like it was just placed over the instrument. I wouldn’t call the song catchy but the chorus manages to work its magic. As I said in a review recently, any song with the “du du du” sound manage to become catchy and I think that was the hook in my point of the view in the song. Beside all of that, it is a solid song that really caught my attention. It felt so ordinary that it was screaming at me to look at a band that I had planned on paying attention to.

Yeah, their previous dances were much better than this. Their last few had been more suited for more dance centred songs, but this suited the ordinary feel of the song and is that side of KPOP boy bands that somehow must go through. And I referring to the fact that this comeback once again is a boy group doing a cute concept.

This is an example of a good song in my point of view. I like it, but yeah, I see it as a pretty standard song. 6.5/10

For You – Lovelyz

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Within a little over a month, Lovelyz has returned with a brand new song. They made their comeback with Ah Choo at the end of October, and surprisingly made their comeback at the start of December. This song just throws me back to the early SNSD days and Kara days. This is a song that honestly feels like it came out during the Golden Ages of KPOP. They went for a more upbeat song this time around. I say that, because it is a lot more upbeat than Ah Choo (which was already upbeat itself). The vocals in this song are pretty nice and fit into that realm of cute concept. As for the instrumental, it is pretty typical, but like the bass sounds in the song. It gave the song more depth and allowed the girls to sound more like from the 2008-2010 era. I think this is a better song that Ah Choo. It has that really addictive beat and the “du du du” sounds. It is a hidden fact that the “du du du” sounds make all songs sound really nice and catchy. But really, it seems like the girls did a really nice job with the song.

As for the video, kind of thankful they are not in a place that is fake. All their music videos have been (sadly) in a box, so to see them embrace the real world makes it oddly satisfying. Maybe I should not have worded it in that way. Not exactly sure what is happening in the video, but it seems like they are all friends and are all meeting up once again. Or that the girl in the snow is holding a box full of memories. While I am not too sure about the plot of the video, I have to admit it was beautifully shot. The scenes were all very bright and matched the tone of the song. The close-up shots of them were spectacular and it highlights each of them individual beauties. Also, what is with this upbeat trend during the season that is commonly associated with slow and snow? Loving it, though so no complaints.

I have yet to see a live performance for this song, so yeah. No dance. [UPDATE: Just saw the dance, but there really wasn’t anything impressive. But the score stays as normal]

Overall, liking the song and the video. 8/10

Dear Santa – SNSD-TTS

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SNSD-TTS has returned with their very first Christmas album. Oh sigh… More songs to remind me that the year is about to end. But anyway, this song is okay. It seems to be a mess to my ears. I was perfectly okay with the track being the ballad. Yeah, would have been a slow song and that does not seem to be TTS’s style, but the start was amazing. However, it just suddenly changed and I am still trying to get used to it. But I can’t even say the song “dropped the beat” or whatever. The rest of the song was just blah to me. I still listen to it, just hoping it will catch on, but at the moment, I cringe when I listen to the song. And then the song attempts to end with a 3 second ballad part at the end, which has me confused. Why would you start off with an amazing ballad sound, change it into a Christmas pop song instantaneously, and the end it as a ballad. I don’t think that formula works that way, and who on earth thought it would work? The vocals are amazing (per usual), but honestly minus their vocals, everything else was a major let down. It just sounds like a complete mismatch. If the two were split up into two different songs, I think that would have been many times better than just the one. And Tiffany’s “Come On” parts. Wow.

The lion returns. He is still rejected by the girls after what happened in Lion Heart, so it was unexpected that he would make a return in this video. But beside the lion, it was an okay video to watch. Loving the start where the girls are in those beautiful red dresses. It matched the ballad feel the song had at the start. Then the girls get transported through a portal (in the form of an invitation) into a more playful world. Hmmm… I don’t know but that just screams desperate to me. Desperate to find some kind of way to put the girls into a fast and upbeat feel. And everything in between was okay. But honestly, them acting cute. I don’t see it in them anymore and they just looked so awkward acting surprised in a cute way. And then the ending where they all share a laugh. It looks so forced. It looked unnatural and looked cringe-worthy.

As for the performance, I have no bad comments. Removing the song, the mime was an excellent way to make the stage more unique and suits the time of the year that they were singing. Somewhat disappointed that they are promoting for such a short amount of time though (1 week. They already finished)

Overall, highly disappointed. If only they decided to cut the song into two, I would have been happy. 2/10

Run Away – Royal Pirates

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Royal Pirates have finally returned after over a year’s break. And boy did they make this return a hella smashing one. This song is super duper amazing. Can I just say, that the instrumental break for this song is my favourite part of the song. The song was quite upbeat and fast already, but that instrumental break just took it to a whole new level. It is a mix of a rock genre and the electronic genre, and this mix goes hand in hand. The vocals are amazing but I do have one small complaint. Royal Pirates put out really nice song that are catchy (the word to describe the chorus) and appeal to me right away. The English in this song fits in with the Korean with the song. I just feel that the vocals could be a little louder. The instrumental is overpowering and I can’t make the vocals for some part for most of it. The other complaint is I personally feel the song is a little too quick. It sounds like the song was sung mostly in the first minute and 30 seconds. The guitar and drums in the sound brings the song back to the rock ages, but the electronic sound makes the song a lot more modern and I personally like that about the song. Great song.

As for the music video, I am totally fine with the seeing the band just rock out to the song. The bright scenes where the members in the sun, seem to show that they are currently running away or something. But they only made up like 20% of the video and could have been taken out. I see no one talking about those scenes, because everyone is in awe with the the dark band scenes. James hitting the metal shield with the guitar seemed a little funny to me. I blame it on the slo-mo. Beside making it look like he was hitting the shield super hard, it seemed like he only allowed the guitar and shield bump each other. And blindfold drummer boy. He is just showing off. Not exactly sure why there was a snow storm towards the end of the video, but it gave the song that fast element, as if they were running. I love the small screen they had to cover their mouths. That looked pretty cool. Honestly, beside the small snippets of light, I think the video was quite nice to watch. The darkness complimented the song’s emotions. And the rock theme travelled through the music video, with the head banging and seriousness the guys had on their faces (from what we could see).

Overall, totally digging this comeback. 9/10

Daddy – Psy ft. CL (2NE1)

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This is the second part of Psy’s comeback, with Daddy. This song, I think, is meant to embrace the international audience that fell in love with Gangnam Style and Gentlemen. Why I think that, well the song is a better mixture of English and Korean, compared to Napal Baji. CL also features in this track, and while her part is very limited, I actually liked her vocals in this song. More than Psy’s vocals in this song. Yeah, Daddy really did not appeal to me. It had that American feel, but overall the song fell quite short in comparison to Napal Baji. Call me hypocritical, but I feel like this song has a little too much electronic components and Psy’s vocals (in some parts) had excessive autotune. The very simple chorus, is once again the hook of the song, and it really did reel me in. Maybe because the sound of the song has been Americanized quite a bit, I am not feeling the song overall. However it is still a nice song to listen to.  Quite catchy as well.

The music video was interesting and I personally think I enjoyed it to a certain level. It is not that I am disappointed in it, but it felt too complex for Psy. If that makes sense. Yeah, it had that wild element and also the crazies, but it just felt that too much detail was placed into the video. Maybe I am going crazy with these reviews. Hahaha.. But seriously, baby Psy is ummm… creepy. I don’t want a baby winking at me. I absolutely love the school scenes where he is like the ultimate flower boy or hot school jock that everyone is blown away by. The girls acting in this make me laugh so hard. I also love the scenes where he attempts to woo the teacher. I don’t know why by Spanish dance teacher Psy suits his image a lot. The other scene I totally love was the tornado scene. Beside, the grandfather version of Psy was not that great, kind of looked creepy. The one thing I feel like this music video can do without though is CL’s appearance. I personally don’t understand the point of putting someone in the video or on the stage for around 5 seconds, and have them walk off right after.

I feel like the dance for this song suits it 100% and suits Psy 100%. It is simple and easy to follow and it matches the beat of the song. Per usual, Psy looks ridiculous dancing, but he genuinely looks happy about it. If I were to review the dance only, I personally give it a 10/10.

Daddy falls short a tiny bit. Napal Baji was my favourite this time around. 8/10

Which Psy song did you like this time around? Pick below!!!

Napal Baji (Bell Bottoms) – Psy

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Psy has returned and this is a comeback that I am willing to review. Hangover was a total mess in my opinion (and I don’t consider it as KPOP). This song, Napal Baji, is an amazing song. This channel the same feel as Gangnam Style, but probably will never reach the same standard as the latter song. Anyway, regarding the song. I like everything in this song. It is super catchy and quite addictive. It is also quite a fun song that I really enjoyed. It has me singing along, even though I don’t understand a single word he was singing about. I really like the intro. While his past songs have been all electronic based, this song had a really nice instrumental and the guitar at the beginning was pretty cool. The chorus, even though it was like “Woah, Napal Baji, eh heeeeeeeeeyy …”, it was pretty much the hook of the song and damn did it hook me.

Psy, bring back the bell bottoms since 2015. Honestly, everyone that wore the pants in the video managed to rock something that is quite outdated. The rest of the video looks like a day in Psy’s life. For example, when he wakes up, he goes to the salon and gets shaved (I wonder how much the nose cost as well), he then goes onto different late night shows and also award ceremonies, with awkward golden dancing statues. And then he comes home with a few girls, who ends up leaving because he is too busy dancing. And he goes back to sleep, on his stand up bed. Hahaha… Honestly, the video made me chuckle and I would say it made me laugh. Psy’s music video had a nice clean feel to it and it felt so fresh. My favourite part of the video would have to be when they transition from the verses into the chorus. Yeah, those scenes where the walls fall down and bring out dancing Psy. I really love that idea.

As for the dance, did Psy say he used T-Ara’s Roly Poly as an inspiration, like how he used Brown Eyed Girl’s dance for Gentlemen? I thought it was a really nice dance and there is something regarding Psy’s facial expression that makes the dance so much better. I actually think one part of what makes him so popular is that of his facial expressions. His funny dances really mismatch his serious expression, but hey, at least we can tell he put his heart and soul into the performance. As for the dance overall, loving it.

This particular song dives back into his Korean roots, but at the same time, deserves to be a hit single everywhere. In my point of view, Psy, you have done it again. 9/10

My review for Psy’s Daddy will come out tomorrrow or the day after, but I put forward this highly important question:

Run – BTS

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Run is the title track to the second half of BTS’s new album. They have a returned with another of their dance themed tracks. An ongoing trend I see this year is that the songs that have been released in Autumn (Fall) have been quite upbeat and sound much more for the Summer season. Not complaining though, because I see it as an interesting change (and I much prefer songs for the Summer season than the Winter season). This song is pretty cool. Honestly, I feel like the rappers only got a small part of the song, which may sound absurd to some people. I really do enjoy the chorus and it actually matches the title of the song, fast paced and intense. Is it the best BTS song out there, I am going to say no. There were some things in the track that had me a little iffy. The rapping wasn’t their best. Compared to I Need U, the rapping wasn’t up to par and felt disjointed. It was powerful and all, but it just did not sound right. The instrumental sounded ordinary. Its the type of instrumental feels completely empty without the vocals (hmmm… isn’t that the definition of an instrumental?). But nonetheless, it is still a great song and I enjoyed listening to it a lot. I love how the vocals by Jin and Taehyung were soft (just before the chorus), but the chorus gives it that punch.

For the love of whoever, why the hell are BTS music videos so hard to understand. I think I can conclude one thing: I Need U, Butterfly and Run are one complete packaged. However they each tell a different story from the one story. I Need U tells of the story before everything in Butterfly and Run clashes into each other, where they hang out and escape from their troubles. Butterfly shows that somehow Jin lived on and everyone else has either died or gone their separate ways. Run shows a completely different side and makes us doubt. What if Jin was the one who died and everyone else survived? My theory is that Jin was the first one to die (As Jimin burns a picture in I Need U, and Run reveals it was a picture of the group without Jin), and everyone ended up dying one way or another. V suicides in Butterfly, Jimin drowns himself in the bathtub in I Need U, Suga burns himself alive etc. But, it is probably not right. I think I am so deep into 3 particular scenes from the set (1 scene from each video), I am overlooking the other connections between them. Nonetheless, I think this was a beautifully shot video, and there was a lot of running to reflect that fast paced. I also love it when they open doors, there is some sort of party going on. And they managed to block an entire tunnel. #TeamGoals

The dance either focused on the shoulders, or the butts. Hahaha… Their clothing on stage was so tight at the MAMA awards that for some reason, my eyes drifted towards their butts…. Why am I telling you this? But I thought the dance was really cool (as well). The shoulder rolls and the “running” on stage fitted the intensity of the song.

Overall, it is an amazing comeback. 8/10

Hero – Monsta X

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While this is not a song that I would normally review, as there is no music video, I am still going to do it today. Monsta X has returned with a repackaged version of their second mini album. I am reviewing the broadcast version of the song Hero. This , by far, is their best song to date. It’s catchy hip hop vibe and dance sound really gives the song that appeal that I tend to talk about. While each song has a different form of appeal to it, this one ticks all the right boxes. The start of the song sounds like some kind of Vixx themed introduction (I hope I did not start anything), and while I associate the sound with Vixx, I think Monsta X did a pretty good job. The song is addictive and catchy. The dubstep “whoops” gave the song that really tough and powerful sound, but the random Mario  sounds really felt mismatched when I first heard the song. Now, the sound somewhat feels like it belongs to the song.  The vocals and rapping is pretty much on point. The chorus highlighted the group’s unique sound and talents. Their first two songs were not that great, but this was a song that showed a more powerful and talented side of the guys to me.

The music video that is only available is actually them dancing on a rooftop. And that video, isn’t the correct video for the broadcast version. So I am skipping the music video part of the review and going straight onto the dance. It is a pretty cool dance that brings out a more masculine side. They were in sync and their movements were pretty sharp. Not exactly keen on the dance for the chorus, but it matches the style the guys were going for.

Short review today. Was meant to come out yesterday, but was extremely busy to finish it off. 8.5/10