Category: KPOP

Farewell Wonder Girls

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Towards the end of last month, it was officially announced by JYP Entertainment, that the Wonder Girls would be disbanding. Another major girl group a few years back would be leaving us. The girls had decided to go their separate ways, despite reports of the girls searching for a new company. Ye-Eun and Sunmi both left JYP Entertainment, while Yubin and Hyelim decided to go on with the company.

This is another farewell post for another amazing girl group. We said goodbye to 2NE1 just last month. We said goodbye to 4Minute last year and now we have to say goodbye to Wonder Girls. It is no doubt that their presence within the industry is large and that they will not be forgotten.

Wonder Girls made their debut on the 13th of February 2007 with Irony. The lineup then included: YeEun, Sunye, Sohee, Hyuna (now former 4Minute member) and Sunmi. After their debut, Hyuna was withdrawn from the group and their company added Yubin to the lineup. The group went on to release Tell Me and So Hot (alongside some other songs).

It wasn’t until Nobody in 2008 that the group rose to the top and became the hottest thing in Korea. In 2009, the group embarked on a world tour and it was decided that JYP would debut the girls in the U.S.A. The girl returned in 2010 after Sunmi left the group and Hyelim was added as a new member. The girls released 2 Different Tears. The girls returned overseas and spent more time releasing English songs and starring in their own TV show. 2011 came and the group returned at the end of the year with my favourite Wonder Girls song, Be My Baby. The girls returned to South Korea in 2012 to promote Like This.

Sadly, the group went on hiatus after 2012. Sunye withdrew from the group to get married and now she is a mother of two children. Sohee also withdrew from the group to focus on her acting career. The group reimaged themselves into a girl band and went on to release I Feel You in 2015.  Sunmi returned to the group and the final lineup now includes: YeEun, Sunmi, Yubin and Hyelim). They later returned in 2016 with Why So Lonely. The girls (with the support on Sunye and Sohee) made the announcement in Jan 2017 of the disbandment and have gone on to release their final song today (10th of February), Draw Me, for their 10th anniversary.

Wonder Girls have a long history and to me, they have released some of the most iconic songs in KPOP to date. Their influence (along with 2NE1 from YG Entertainment and SNSD for SM Entertainment) has shaped and grown KPOP to what it is today. I will also remember the catchy tune of Nobody and will always remember the super addictive dance that accompanied it. I will remember how big of a fanboy I came when it Be My Baby or Like This came on. And I will always feel awestruck watching the girls form themselves into a band.

Like 2NE1’s final song, I choose not to review it. Instead, I choose to look back at their time in the industry. Writing both posts made me sad, as I now know how far they have come, how far KPOP has gone and how much they will be missed. The majority of this post looks at their history as a group, with a few personal comments, but hopefully, it is enough to say goodbye.

Maybe this goodbye is not forever. But nonetheless, I wish all members of the group success and luck for all future endeavours. Given some of their solo careers, I think we can expect great things.

If you have not yet heard Wonder Girls’ final song (which was released today), you can listen to it below.

[Review] Yesterday – Block B

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Block B has dropped a surprise release, in the form of a single, titled as Yesterday. I have no idea if this is going to be a pre-release for a future album or is just a single. I have been trying to find out but I have come up with no answer. This is the first Block B release since Toy last year. Since their last comeback, the members have each embarked on solo and subunit promotions.

Listening to Yesterday for the first time, I thought it had a Winner feel to it, more specifically Winner’s more pop centred songs such as Don’t Flirt. That thought still sticks with me but I have noticed that the song still has that Block B feel. I thought it sounded similar to Jackpot as well, just a lot lighter. Maybe it is the rock-based instrumental that gets me thinking like that. This time around, the group seemed to have inserted a bit of pop influence into the song. Overall, I thought the vocals were good. P.O’s raspy vocals and raps shined the best in this song. I like the way Zico raps, but I feel like he needs to show more variety, as like in his solo, when he is with the group. I felt like this was too similar to many of his past raps within Block B songs. While as simple as it sounds and as cliché as it sounds, I really like the “la, la, la” part of the song. To me, the song isn’t necessarily repeat-worthy, but it still nice to listen to once in a while.

With a more cheerful song, the music video is expectantly more colourful and vibrant. The group also went with a sitcom-like theme but that concept seemed lost just before the 1st chorus, which then returned to a normal non-themed KPOP video. To make it seem more like a sitcom, they should have added the member’s name during the start because the start of the video seemed like a sitcom introduction. Moving along, the guys couldn’t contact their lover (who happened to be the same girl). They do their best to figure out where she was and what she was doing “yesterday”. But instead, they find out they are all following the same girl. They join hands in trying to figure out what she did “yesterday”. But they ended up failing at the end. The video was fun to watch, matching the song very nicely. You could probably not imagine another way to present the video or another concept to go with the song.

We only see a few brief seconds of the choreography in the video. Not too entirely sure if there is even a full choreography for this song. So I am not going to even try to rate this part.

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

[Review] You Were Beautiful – DAY6

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If you have not yet heard, DAY6 will be making monthly releases this year. They released I Wait as their main track for their January release. You Were Beautiful is now their latest track, released exactly one month after I Wait.

Once again, DAY6 does not disappoint with their song. I think the first thing every noticed was the past tense in the title. It does make a funny joke, but I rather not insult anyone. They went with a rock-ballad song, keeping true to themselves with the rock element, but showing off with a new side to the group with the ballad sounds. The track is much slower this time and you can feel more emotions in their vocals and lyrics in this song. Each member sings wonderfully in this song. I personally like the song a lot. The main issue is that some parts did feel like it was dragged out a bit. While I can overlook it, as everything else was sounded perfect for me, the thought does hang in the back of my head. But still, you all should check out the song. Given this track and I Wait, I am eagerly waiting for next month to come around to see what else the band has up their sleeve.

The video is quite simple. A female office worker finds (or is sent) videos of her past relationship with this guy. While all the memories are happy and she spends the majority of the video smiling, she ends up crying after remembering her break-up with him. The video is very clear cut. The band members are thrown into the video, scattered amongst the memories. Their presence in this video was underwhelming and honestly, not needed at all. The video would have been fine with just the memories and the female crying. Their presence through the song is more than enough here. An interesting theory seems to be that this is the continuation from their Congratulation video. In this video, the girl reflects on the past relationship she had with the guy, while in Congratulations, they meet unexpectedly in the future. While the actor does look familiar, the actress doesn’t. Nonetheless, it would still make for an amazing plotline and an awesome connection between the videos.

Song – 9/10
Music Video – 8/10
Overall Rating – 8.5/10

[Review] Tina – MASC

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MASC has finally returned with their first ever comeback. If you have forgotten about them, they made their debut last year with Strange.

I am not entirely sure of my thoughts in regards to this song, but I think it is a pretty good song at the moment. The song has a nice rock sound, fitting with their debut single. This song, however, is more upbeat and vibrant. There is a lot more elements in this song that make it interesting, such as the trumpets blaring after the chorus. Even though what I described doesn’t necessarily sound classy, the song overall felt very classy but tough at the same time. The vocals were good. But like the previous review for SF9’s Roar, I thought the rap segments were the highlights of the song. But nonetheless, everyone stands out in the song. There is a part of me that feels that the song is borderline “typical” in South Korea though. Beside my compliments and highlights that I have pointed out, I felt the song just didn’t stand out that much when it is compared to with other songs. Sure, the song had class and a tough vibe, but they need something to set them apart and be different. To me, they have moved into the spotlight with this song, but they just need a push (aka. a unique song that suits them) to be the main star of the show.

The video is very boring. Reading the comments, apparently, the video has been uploaded 3 different times due to sound issues. At least it sounds like their company is committed to bringing the highest quality for their group and fans. I really like the classy and edgy concept the video was going for. It was very fitting for the song. The only problem is that there isn’t much going on in the video. There are scenes where the members act alongside the female lead, but you can’t really tell what is going on in those scenes. That made the video boring and uninteresting to watch.

The choreography was pretty good. Probably the most memorable part of the whole choreography was the rap segments after the choruses. They looked cool and with the song, it packed a punch, giving the stage something worth looking forward to.

Song – 7/10
Music Video – 5/10
Performance – 8/10
Overall Rating – 6.5/10

[Review] Roar – SF9

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SF9 has returned with their first mini album, Burning Sensation, and their newest title track, Roar. The group made their official debut last October with Fanfare.

Fanfare, til this day, has not left an impression on me and thus became a forgettable track. Roar takes one step in the opposite direction, as I do remember this song for a number of reasons. The instrumental was interesting. That boing-boing sound (how do you explain the sound???) really catches your attention from the very start. They don’t overuse it because it could easily annoy the crap out of everyone and ruin the song. The verses needed some sort of foundation or backing to give the song more of an impact, in my opinion. The vocals are okay. The adlibs at the end don’t really seem to fit the song that well. The clear standout goes to the rapping. Each the rappers sounded amazing in this song. The buildup that the rappers contribute to the choruses sounded rough yet very fitting to the song. Though, their part in the bridge could have gone for something else rather than cowbells. I don’t know why, but I thought it was a little odd. While I did think the buildup to the choruses was pretty good, the immediate launch into the chorus is done perfectly. It packs a punch and leaves an impression in your mind.

Like the song, the video is quite fast-paced. You blink and you may have missed 30 seconds of the video. The sets and the solo shots don’t look as impressive as you think they will be. Honestly, the sets for the solo shots looked like they have been used elsewhere in the KPOP realm. Maybe it is the camera shots that make the sets seemed overused. The video also lacks colour. That one colour lighting seems to be trendy in South Korea, but I think it makes videos look dull and boring. The editing for the video is quite good as well, especially during the choreography shots.

The choreography is pretty good. I would have liked more moves that packed a punch and felt more strong. There were parts that did feel quite slow (even though they were made to fit with the speed of the song at that part) and they did weaken the overall look and feel of the choreography. The one thing I did like was how they broke themselves into smaller groups at the start and smoothly combined the two to make one group.

Song – 6/10
Music Video – 6/10
Performance – 7/10
Overall Rating – 6/10

[Review] You Seem Busy – MelodyDay ft. Jung Ilhoon (BTOB)

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MelodyDay has returned with a brand new single. The last time we saw them on stage was through the promotions of Colour, last year. Unfortunately, I didn’t get time to review their comeback last year. As you can tell from the title of this review, their newest track is titled as You Seem Busy and it features Ilhoon from BTOB.

The girls came back with a much slower song, compared to that last few releases. I love the ballad instrumental in the song. To me, it sounds very calming and soothing. Throw in their vocals, along with Ilhoon’s rap, and the song pretty much makes you sway along with it. Not technically fond of the first verse, as it felt quite dry. But those final moments leading up to the first chorus really builds the song up from out of nothing, launching straight into the chorus quite well. The rest of the song doesn’t really repeat that same sort of impact and that does leave the song hanging a bit. The only other flaw with the song is that it can fall into the more “generic ballad” catergory.  It did take a few listens to shake that feeling off. It wasn’t until I unexpectedly listened to the song (through YouTube automatic recommedantions) did I actually notice the impact and the song itself.

The music video tells the story of a waiter who seems to just be pushing through with work to just pass the day (or make a living). The same thing happens every single day, which makes his life dull and boring. On this paritcular day, the customers (the two comedians) give him a hard time. One of them notices him and starts a conversation, while the other one becomes jealous and tells the waiter to essentially get lost. He takes some time out and notices the girls on stage, who are in fact MelodyDay themselves. They perform their song, which also lifts his spirits, which leaves a smile on his face. It isn’t a flashy video, but very fitting for the song, as both goes hand-in-hand with each other (just check the English lyrics in the video below). A nice video to watch.

Song – 8/10
Music Video – 10/10
Overall Rating – 9/10

[Review] The Song – Zion.T

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Zion.T is a RnB/hip-hop artist who has a very extensive resume when it comes to the South Korean industry. Many of his songs go on to top the South Korean charts. For example, his album is beating out the OST of the trendiest dramas at the moment. That is quite an incredible feat, considering how the OST have such a big influence on the industry. Zion.T recently left Amoeba Culture and is now officially a part of the YG Family.

Not exactly my cup of tea, but it is a good track to listen to. I don’t really listen to Zion.T that much when he sings in songs by himself but I do like listening to his collaborations with other artists. While you can hear the RnB roots in this song, there is a  definite pop influence. The instrumental for this song is quite simple (from what I can hear – I am no expert in composing) and I think this suits the lyrics of the song, which involves him singing about how he wrote this song for his girl (but releases it for everyone to hear – which I guess indirectly references composers who put their life-story into songs). His vocals are very sweet in the song and quite smooth as well. His rapping was quite limited in the song. I would have liked to hear more of his rapping in the song because it compliments the song quite nicely. Honestly, the song felt quite short and while it was three minutes, it felt like it was 2 minutes. Not exactly sure if that is a good or bad thing yet. Overall, do listen to it if you like your RnB. Just expect a little more happiness to the song, especially if you are used to a more emotional sounding Zion.T song (like me).

The video is a little unconventional if I were to put “crazy” into a formal way of writing. Some parts make sense. Others don’t really make that much sense to me. I get the slide scene at the start, where he slides to what seems to be his really long, ball-filled bathtub. Mainly because it was a part of the lyrics. But not too sure about the submarine or the “under-the-sea” scenes. I don’t I was meant to get too in depth with the scenes though as the video goes for a more fun concept, which goes hand in hand with the happiness I pointed out. Some of the sets had that typical YG feel, but overall, the video doesn’t feel like it came from YG Entertainment. Many of their artists who don’t really follow the KPOP route (such as Akdong Musician and now Zion.T) seem to have videos that fit their songs and image more. While that it is expected, it is fresh coming from YG Entertainment. Overall, it is a nice video to watch.

Song – 9/10
Music Video – 8.5/10 
Overall Review – 9/10

Recap of 31st Golden Disk Awards + Thoughts

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The 31st Golden Disk Awards was held on the 13th and 14th of January 2017, for the artists who the best and most successful acts of 2016. The award ceremony is split into two nights. The 13th of January was dedicated to the digital charts and the 14th of January focused on the album charts.

The first night was hosted by Hwang Chi Yeol, Seohyun and Jung Yong Hwa, while the second night was hosted by Kang Sora and Sung Si Kyung. Mostly everyone who won an award on those nights performed on stage with the exception of Lim Chang Jung, Bang Shi Hyuk and Jaejoong (JYJ). Uhm Jung Hwa, Gain (Brown Eyed Girls) and Rain was invited to perform as special guests.

Here is a recap of the awards:
Disk Daesang (Album Of The Year) – EX’ACT (EXO)
Digital Daesang (Song Of The Year) – Cheer Up (Twice)
Disk Bonsang (Best Artist) – Monsta X, Seventeen, GOT7, Infinite, VIXX, BTS, EXO, Taemin (SHINee), SHINee.
Digital Bonsang (Best Artist) – Twice, Mamamoo, GFriend, Urban Kakapa, Suzy & Baekhyun, Lee Hi, Zico (Block B), Taeyeon (SNSD), Lim Chang Jung.
Best New Artist – BlackPink, Bolbbalgan4, NCT 127, I.O.I
Popularity Award – SHINee
Best R&B / Soul – Crush
Best Band – CN Blue
Best OST – Gummy (You Are My Everything)
Asian Choice Award – Jaejoong (JYJ)
Ceci Asian Icon Award – Red Velvet, EXO
Global KPOP Artist Award – BTS
Best Performance Male Group – Sechs Kies
Best Performance Female Group – Sistar
Best Producer Award – Bang Shi Hyuk

The awards were fair. The artists for both digital and physical album awards did make a lot of sense. I am amazed at how little girl groups were present for the physical album night (second night). The only group there was Red Velvet and I am equally surprised that they didn’t win a bonsang for last year’s releases.

With regards to the performances, I was quite disappointed with the first night. Everything felt plain and very typical. The only standout was Zico’s medley performance. Not a major hip-hop or RnB fan when it comes to Korean music, but his performance was the only one I grooved along that night. I feel like Taeyeon’s performance would have been amazing (as it is an awesome song) but it was unfortunately riddled with audio and microphone issues.

The second night was much more promising. I guess the first night failed to do it for me because there were different genres, so of which I don’t really listen to. The second night was more KPOP centred. Seventeen’s performance was good, but why did they do their 2015 songs as well? They should have done rearrangements of Very Nice and Boom Boom as well. The hypocrite within is resurfacing because while I say that about Seventeen’s performance, I thought BTS’s medley of songs (from their debut to Fire) was amazing. Even if the Blood Sweat and Tears part was for transition, I need a full remix because it sounded amazing as well.  Infinite had a freaking bomb-ass stage with their dance breaks in the song. Finally, I really liked the For Life song (it grew even more on me) and when I heard they were going to perform, I was quite overjoyed. It was the one performance I waited for and they performed the track perfectly (luckily, no audio problems).

I think that will be it for this segment. I intended for this one to be up the weekend after the two nights, but I kept pushing it back. WordPress kept reminding me about it and at one point, I actually trashed it. But I ended reviving it and here it is. So just to notify you, I will not be doing for SMA 2017 and the Gaon Chart Awards.

 

[Album Review] Rookie (4th Mini Album) – Red Velvet

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Welcome to the first ever album review. I asked many of you to complete a survey at the end of 2016. Guess what was most voted for! Album Reviews! Honestly, I wanted to do the first album review for another group, who releases their newest album later this month. But after listening to Red Velvet’s latest album, I couldn’t pass the chance of reviewing it!

 

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Rookie’s Album Cover

 

Rookie (title track) – check out the review published for the song yesterday. (6/10)

Little Little – The track is a really nice and slow RnB track. The track shows off the group’s vocals quite nicely, with that being the main point of the whole song. From the member’s individual parts to their amazing harmony during the chorus, the girls do stand out with this song. The entire song has a nice rhythm that is easy to the ears and is a nice track to listen to when you want to relax. (10/10)

Happily Ever After – I think this track could have been the title track. It has that fun and vibrant sound that I liked with Red Velvet’s past title tracks. It suits the group a lot. I love the wacky sounds here, from the use of xylophones to the “beep beep” sound that your car makes when you lock it. Once again, their vocals are great here. I just feel the chorus could have been a little catchier and less traditional. It would have made the track wackier, suiting the girls even more. (8/10)

Talk To Me – While I don’t think this track would have been successful if it was the title track, I would love to see a performance of this song. The instrumental sounds very interesting and promising for a good choreography routine. While Little Little was slow and Rookie/Happily Ever After was more colourful in terms of sound, Talk To Me is a mixture of both. It is a lot slower, but there are sounds that make it colourful, as well. (9/10)

Body Talk – Hands down everyone because this has to be the best track on the whole mini album. It blew me away when I first heard the song. It may be slow, but it packs a punch, especially when you reach the chorus (especially the last one). The song has a more serious tone than any other track on the album. While it is a lot different, this track does remind me a lot of Heartbreak Hotel by Tiffany from SNSD (ft. SanE). (10/10)

Last Love – This track is actually not by Red Velvet but Wendy’s solo. It’s a ballad and it is honestly a nice way to finish off the album. It sounds very nice, with some people agreeing that this could possibly be in a Disney movie. And I agree with that comment. She has a very nice voice. The song makes you sway along with it. What more do you want from a ballad? (9/10)

Overall Rating of Album – 8.5/10

 

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Red Velvet’s Teaser Image

 

So how do you like Red Velvet’s latest album? Any favourite tracks? Comment below!!

 

 

 

 

[Review] Rookie – Red Velvet

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Red Velvet has returned with a new mini album, which shares the same title as the title track, Rookie. 2016 was another big year for the girl group with countless solo work and two successful comebacks. This review will a part of my first album review for their mini album – Rookie.

From what I am reading, some people think this is their worst track to date. I personally wouldn’t go to that extent. I wouldn’t say it is their worst track, but rather it is not their best. I liked the instrumental. It fits Red Velvet’s sound really nicely. It has a vibrant sound that matches with Red Velvet’s past hits like Dumb Dumb and Russian Roulette. It sounds similar to Hey Mikey by Toni Basil (just with modern processing and more upbeat). Some of the vocals I liked, especially when they are singing. Joy and Irene’s part in the first verse was, by far, big no-no’s. Would you consider it rapping? Because I would and if it is actually them rapping, maybe they should stay away from it for a while (or start practising a little more). Just by listening to the song only a few times, I can already hear the annoying ring with the chorus. The constant repetition of the word Rookie just sounds annoying here. It isn’t flashy or appealing. There isn’t any tone to it, expect for that one tone. Dumb Dumb had repetition in it, but the repetition was sung. This just sounds like more like shouting. To be honest, it does turn me away from the track a bit. They mispronounce the world Rookie all throughout the chorus. And while that is frustrating for an English speaker (like myself), we can’t really blame them for that (Note: Asians tend to mix up their R and L’s). Honestly, I think if they redid the chorus to something like in Russian Roulette, I think the song would have been better. The song isn’t terrible, but as I said, not their best.

Once again, Red Velvet has gone with a vibrant and colourful video, which does fit the song quite nicely. I have no idea what is going on in the video. It’s wacky and crazy, something that Red Velvet has been doing for some time. It seems like whatever they were smelling at the start, got them into Narnia, which leads them to an alternative universe, with a flower man running about. Besides that, the rest doesn’t make any sense. Watching the video over and over again doesn’t help to decipher the video, but it adds to the confusion. For a while, it seems like SM threw together some colourful sets and just hoped that the video would solve itself. Some of the sets were stunning, some of them were very plain and boring. That scene where Seulgi walks out of the closet and then joins into the choreography straight away was meant to look cool. But instead, it just looks really staged. Like the song, I would watch the video, but I wouldn’t say this is their best.

Only saw small snippets of the choreography, but what I saw looked good. I have a feeling (and this is from what I saw) but the dance could be a lot simpler. I hope that isn’t the case. I have grown to love Red Velvet’s dances for its complexity and its own flare. Let’s hope they continue with it. I will add more once the stages start.

Song – 5.5/10
Music Video – 6/10
Dance – 7/10 (may change)
Overall Rating – 6/10

 

[Review] Love Affair – Niel (Teen Top)

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Niel from Teen Top has returned with his first comeback and second solo mini album, which is also titled as Love Affair… It has been a while since I last heard from Teen Top. Though, they have been in the news lately, as their contract with their current company is to be renewed this year. From what I could tell, it seems a renewal is most likely and a March comeback is also on the books.

Once again, I am not really falling into Niel’s solo title track as I want to. His solo debut was good, but it didn’t really leave much of an impression on me after a while. It’s not because I dislike the artist, but rather, his solos don’t captivate me, as other artists do. This time around, Niel has gone for an acoustic prominent song, which the guitar being the primary instrument in the song. You can also hear hints of synths throughout the song. As the song progresses, it starts to become faster and more upbeat, but still keeping that mellow sound as heard in the slower parts of the song. His vocals seem more polished and emotional to me, in this song. That is one of the strong points in this song. While he does draw out some notes in the song, it doesn’t really sound that way. The song doesn’t sound like extra seconds are added to it because of the drawn out notes. The rapper, Giant Pink, whom I have never heard of before, does a really splendid job in the song. The rap segment flowed very nicely and complimented both the song and Niel as well.

The video can be split into two segments. The first is all the choreography scenes. The second are the interactions with the female lead. His acting in this video is pretty good. Watching the video, you can feel the emotions. You can tell how desperate he is to be with the girl, especially at the end. You could also feel the emotions in the choreography. I will touch on them later on. But they really compliment the emotions in the acting. The sets for the choreography is wonderful, especially the one with all the mirrors. That looked amazing. I don’t understand why they had to slo-mo some of the dance moves (such as the crotch rubbing one). Maybe to appeal to a particular fan base, but I thought it looked really stupid, given the emotions that I keep on mentioning in this part of the review.

His dancing is really impressive and it definitely left an impression on me. As I mentioned above, emotions could be felt in this dance when it is paired with the music video. On stage, it looks really cool and majestic. I personally don’t think the backup dancers add much to the performance, besides something else to look at. But my eyes are already preoccupied with following Niel across the stage. Hahaha…

Song – 6/10
Music Video – 7.5/10
Performance – 8.5/10
Overall Rating – 6.5/10

[Review] Don’t Say No – Seohyun (SNSD)

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After much anticipation and requests, Seohyun from SNSD or Girl’s Generation has finally made her solo debut. She joins Tiffany, Taeyeon, Yoona and Hyoyeon, who each have made their solo debut in the past. She makes her debut with a mini album, which also shares the same title as the title track, Don’t Say No. And her solo debut has proven to be a success with her song topping charts and winning awards!

I was expecting a ballad from Seohyun, not a dance song. So this song caught me off guard. But it is an amazing song to listen to. As soon as you hear the song, you notice her vocals. They sound spectacular and really suit the song. Her adlibs, at the end, really pack a punch. The instrumental is your typical pop, but with a nice touch of retro to it. This may sound like I am looking down on the song, but I would also describe as the sound as snappy and almost sassy. I mean all of that in a good way. There might be a better way to put it, but that is what I got from the song and lyrics. The chorus did an amazing job at giving the song a lift. The bridge changed the song up, giving it an edgier vibe, but still keeping to the sound of the song.Saying all of that, the verses felt a little empty and needed more of a punch to make it perfect. But even though I have written that the song still sounds amazing. That punch in the chorus and at the end does make up for it (but the differences between the parts were apparent).

The music video is okay. SM is going back to their box days with this comeback, not something I was expecting since SM have been bringing out a few good videos in the past year. While the box set wasn’t as apparent (they used an open plan for this video), it did still feel restricting. In the video, Seohyun is cooking up a storm for her partner. Just she is serving chains and bolts, not spaghetti and mushrooms. She ends up killing him (I can see why. I don’t think that meal was edible. My guess for the cause of death was lead poisoning – a lot of it). We then see his body in a coffin, by a fridge, in a graveyard. I guess she stored the body for disposal later on? Talking about the graveyard, Seohyun managed to pull off one of the wackiest outfits I have seen in KPOP in a long time (talking about her massive, floppy hat). While I debate the point of a floppy hat, I think the use of it was intentional, to give her that dark and mysterious look, telling you what she is capable of.

Thank God her clothing on the stage is tamer and less wild. Imagine dancing in that hat! She did an amazing job with the choreography. While it doesn’t technically wow you, I always felt that she was overshadowed when she performed with SNSD. It shows her off and gives you a look into her style and moves.

Song – 9/10
Music Video – 6/10
Performance – 8/10
Overall Rating – 8/10

[Review] Hobglobin – CLC

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With the help of Hyuna (former member of 4Minute), CLC has returned with an 180-degree change in concepts. The bright and bubbly girls are gone. Instead, the girls have gone down the hip-hop route, with a tougher and bolder image. And with the change in concept, the girls have been receiving a lot of attention for it. The last time the girls were reviewed on the site was with their track, Oh No No.

The song is really good, there is no doubt about it. I could never have imagined CLC doing a song with heavy hip-hop roots. But who knows, it may have been the change the group is looking for. The song itself also delves into EDM for its instrumental. Everything sounds great, ranging from the vocals to the rapping, which proves the move to an edgier sound worthwhile. I honestly cannot wait to see what else the girls have up their sleeves. But the more I listen to it, the more I can hear the similarities between this song and 4Minute’s Crazy. From the structure to the delivery of the song, the similarities are quite prominent. And I think this is intentional but at the same time, I feel uneasy with this idea. With 4Minute (the company’s most profitable girl group) now gone, the company has pushed CLC to where 4Minute once stood. Essentially, they tried to keep CLC’s fans happy with a comeback but also appeal to the taste of 4Minute fans who wanted more. The tactic is (so far) working, with the extra attention on the girls, but we don’t know how far into the future will this continue to work. I just hope that, in the future, the company can let the girls can bring their own colour and twist to their songs, rather than market the girls as 4 Minute 2.0. While it is too early to tell, the next release will allow us to draw a conclusion.

The 4Minute influence is very strong in the video. Even some of the members are dressed like you would expect Hyuna to, in a more edgier video. It isn’t necessarily bad but like what I said above, ‘hopefully they don’t market the girls as 4Minute 2.0’. The 360 camera shot looked really cool. While 4Minute’s Crazy did utilise a 360 camera, I liked how the girls also turned around with the camera. I liked the sets that were filmed for the first part of the video (the black staircase, the abandoned garage room, the purple background room) more than the house set with pink lights. The lighting for the latter was really horrible and the set just didn’t have the right appeal to match the concept and the song. Overall, I like bits of the video, while other bits I did not enjoy.

The choreography is really bold and tough, which is really fitting for the song. It is so weird to see the difference between this choreography and a past routine, such as Like. I think the dance is really cool. The chorus was amazing. Seunghee and Sorn’s dance segment during the first verse looked amazing, even without the 360 cameras.

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

 

[Review] The Best Present – Rain

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Rain has returned to the music scene after 3  years. The last time he was on the stage he released 30 Sexy and La Song in 2014. Since then, Rain has been busy with a world tour, setting up his own company and getting married to Kim Tae Hee. This track marks his return to the industry with promises of more music promotions in the future. The track, The Best Present, was produced by Psy.

I wasn’t much of a fan of his previously two releases, so I fussed about the hype that much. But I didn’t anticipate the release of such a great track. The track is literally smooth. His husky vocals just slide along with the song. The song can be described as a slow, rnb dance track, suiting his message in the song. It’s either thanking his fans for their support or he is singing how his new wife is “The Best Present” in the world. The instrumental isn’t that memorable, but like I said before, it is very smooth. The song just lacked one thing. It needed a peak. It’s not monotone but it felt too consistent. The song tries to reach the peak with the dance instrumental break but falls short of its goal. Maybe the instrumental should have had a few extra instruments to give it that extra push, but what we have presently is good enough. To be honest, I am more impressed with his vocals and the smoothness that I heard (sorry for repetition of the one word), so I am not exactly too bothered with the lack of a peak.

There are two things that make this video: simplicity and choreography. So I will be joining the performance review with the video review. I do like simple videos from time to time. This one does it well. While there isn’t anything in the video besides a white and black background, the way the background was used was pretty smart. Different coloured filters and lighting were used to change the colour. However, the background can only captivate you so much, especially by the second time you play the video, so that is where the dance comes into play. Now the dance aspect of the video. It isn’t boring to watch. Rain’s dance has been iconic from day 1 and while this one isn’t necessarily memorable as his past routines, it is still pretty amazing. His movements are fluid and smooth, which suits the track. When I watched this video, I couldn’t help but hold my breath, especially at the dance break. It truly did look amazing.

Song – 8/10
Music Video – 9/10
Performance – 10/10
Overall Rating – 8.5/10

 

 

[Review] Oh Na Na – K.A.R.D ft. Heo Youngji

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Yes, another release from 2016 that I will be reviewing in 2017. And it is going to be the final one so far. K.A.R.D is a co-ed group under DSP Media that consist of J.Seph, BM, Somin (former member of April) and Jiwoo. This song and the few others that will follow will feature a hidden artist. For Oh Na Na, the Hidden member is Youngji, a former member of Kara. The group uses playing cards as a way to represent themselves, an interesting concept.

The track is a modern mix between the EDM we hear constantly in music, with the re-emerging genres of hip-hop and RnB. And the track mixes up these genres perfectly. The instrumental is very striking, catching your attention with its bold sounds.The vocals and rapping by the members sound amazing. Each member compliments the song in their own. The chorus is very addictive to listen to. The “Oh Na Na” sounds fantastic and is the catchiest point of the song. I also thought the instrumental breaks after the choruses were really good as well. Youngji’s featuring doesn’t really do it for me, unfortunately. Her part is designed for her, but that part doesn’t really fit in well with the song. The whole song has this heavy beat beating throughout it. Youngji’s part took away that repetitive heavy beat, added some slowness to the song and forced the song to have a higher pitch (which didn’t suit the song as well as expected). It was a nice slowdown, but I preferred that repetitive heavy beat that we had in all the other parts of the song. Besides that, I liked this track a lot. When I was on holidays, it was the one track that I kept going back to.

Not as impressed with the video as I was with the song. The quality of the video just wasn’t up to par with the quality of the song. I would have been happy with just the choreography shots. The rest of the video just felt detached from each other. There wasn’t anything connecting them together. I did like the night city scenery in the background, though. My next complaint would have to be the lighting in this video. Some parts you could see the members. Other parts (including some of the dance segments) were just too dark and you could only see the outlines of the members. Finally, Youngji’s part made me laugh. I know she is the ‘hidden member’ for this song. But she didn’t have to put on a black hoodie. She looks either like the Grim Reaper or the guy from the new drama Introverted Boss (Guess who started to watch dramas now). While I am sure she was told to wear that to look mysterious, she looks ridiculous more than anything.

The dance looked amazing. There was a hint of sexiness in the dance, but nothing overpowering. It had the hip-hop vibe through it. I really loved the dance at the instrumental breaks and the body waves at the “Oh Na Na” parts.

Song – 10/10
Music Video – 3/10
Performance – 10/10
Overall Rating – 8/10

[Double Review] Pretend + Yes No Maybe – Suzy (Miss A)

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Suzy, from Miss A, is a South Korean treasure. While she does perform with her group, she is more known for her acting in dramas such as Dream High, Gu Family Book and Uncontrollably Fond. However, a solo album or release of some kind has been requested for the idol for quite a while now. She has featured in OSTs for dramas and in 2016, she collaborated with Baekhyun from EXO for Dream. At the end of 2016, a solo debut was confirmed for January 2017 and her solo album was released on the 24th of January.

Pretend was the pre-release track for Suzy’s debut. Pretend is a ballad with a soft jazz instrumental. Almost like elevator music, but not as bad! The vocals in the song are unique. Instead of being clear, they have been edited to sound as if she is singing straight from a microphone. The vocals for the verses are quite soft, while the chorus is where she is the loudest. I do prefer the chorus because you can hear more clearly. The ending was a little abrupt and I think the song should have eased into silence, to make it sound better. Have to mention the lyrics for Pretend because they are very meaningful and when she sings, you can hear the emotion that she pours into the song.

Overall Rating for Pretend – 8/10

Yes No Maybe is Suzy’s title track for her solo debut. Like in Pretend, Suzy did a great job with the emotions in Yes No Maybe. Vocally, I think this sound much better than Pretend, mainly because you hear her more clearly and her vocals are at a more appropriate volume level. Her vocals were very fitting for the song, as well. I am not exactly sure how I would describe the instrumental of this song. There is a retro sound to it, with what I believe is Latin influences. I really enjoyed the beat of the song. While it is not a party or modern type of dance song, I do want to get up and jam to it. It’s a really good song that was perfect for a solo debut.

I really liked the video for Yes No Maybe. It has an eerie look that for some reason matches the song pretty well. We see Suzy mainly under a red filter or in shaky shots, which represents the hazy memories that a person might have after a night out. The video also features a male actor, to whom Suzy is seeing. Most of the video shows her by herself, aimlessly wandering the streets but she ends up going back to the guy.  It’s the later part of the video that doesn’t make sense to me. She is seen fleeing the scene and in the foreground are two bodies. One body of the guy in the bathtub and one body of another female on the bathroom floor (that is what I am assuming since only legs are shown). So she killed him (but we don’t know why). My assumption is because he is seeing someone else on the side. That ending made me go back to the video a few times to try to understand the storyline, but as you can see, I didn’t get far. The cinematography for the video was actually quite good as well.

What the performance for Yes No Maybe needed was a sensual choreography without becoming overwhelming. And that is what Suzy delivered. It isn’t anything that impressive or memorable, but that expected sensual feeling (to the right extent) was there. I did like the use of the red strings at the start of the performance. Though, I feel like a red ribbon would have given a bolder look.

Song – 9/10
Music Video – 8.5/10
Performance – 7/10
Overall Rating for Yes No Maybe – 8.5/10