Tag: 24K

24K is making their first comeback in a very long time with their 4th mini-album and the title track, both titled as Bonnie & Clyde. This is their first comeback since the release of Only One last year. Once again, there were lineup changes with the addition of Kiyong. Kisu is currently on hiatus due to military enlistment, while Hui and Daeil left the group at the end of 2017.

Bonnie & Clyde takes a step back into familiar terrain with the use of heavy synths and the song falling nicely into the dubstep genre of music. At first glance, the song does seem overloaded with the instrumental and it does become a little hard to hear the individual members. They do lower the intensity when it comes to the vocalists, which was pretty good. But I felt the rappers got the short end of the stick when it comes to the instrumental. Pretty much, they had to put more force into their voices in order to be heard. There is this catchy effect, which pretty makes me hang around for some more. For those who don’t know, Bonnie & Clyde is an infamous criminal couple in American history, whom people associate to bank robberies. The song does a good job of portraying the dangerous love life the couple had through its lyrics. The intensity of the song does a pretty good job of complimenting this as well. I thought the song was decent and ended up being quite listenable when you overlook the heaviness.

While Bonnie & Clyde was known to approach banks as part of their dangerous lifestyle, a bank robbery portrayed in the video wouldn’t really go hand-in-hand with the music style. So the option for the more modern racing scene was definitely the perfect arena for a song like this yet still keeping that dangerous lifestyle in check. Also matching the song style was the flashy nature of the video, which I usually would not really enjoy. However, it works perfectly with the song. I am a little confused with the addition of the female model. Yes, she was hot. But her interaction with the members doesn’t really add anything to the video, which is why I am slightly confused. But other than that, it was a good video.

The performance does a really good job of fitting into the intensity levels. I did expect something a little more in that short instrumental sequence just prior to the end of the song. But it was still decent to watch.

Song – 8/10
Music Video – 8/10
Performance – 7/10
Overall Rating – 7.8/10

 

Boy group 24K is officially back with their brand new single, Only You. Last year, the group returned with two songs, Still 24K and Bingo, that were both EDM based and shared one story split between two music videos. This is their first comeback since October of last year.

Once again, the group has returned with an EDM-based song. But compared to their last songs, which seemed to use more of the heavier EDM synths, this one is a lot easier on the ears. While I don’t necessarily find the song catchy, I can see why some people would say otherwise. Their instrumental is interesting and adds to the song’s catchy vibes. The beat doesn’t seem to drop, but their vocals act as that drop. Not too sure if I feel okay with this, but I have to admit the vocal work for this song is pretty good. What I did notice though was the level of energy the song gives. Not only does the energy seem to ooze from the instrumental, but their vocals seem to also contribute to the energy as well. So the sound appears to be impactful and punchy. I just find the verses boring, and the chorus felt too repetitive. But everything else makes this one fine song.

The music video is pretty good. I thought the group would have been dealt with a terrible video since their company went all out for their past two music videos and the group doesn’t seem to have big returns. So the video caught me off guard. Watching the video, I have no idea what every single member is doing in the video. But the choreography scenes look quite cool, even though it isn’t as flashy as the song sounds. Furthermore, the ending where the guys are peering a hole in the coloured walls looked very cool and stylish. What the video did need was some colour to match the song, and those final scenes, along with the changing light backdrop for the choreography scenes do just that.

The choreography is quite good. Nothing that amazed me (once again) but it is fitting for the music. The energy can be felt throughout the performance, which is also a plus.  I thought the footwork was pretty cool. And now, I am just going to body roll my way out of this section. Hahahaha….

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

[This review was written and scheduled a few months back in preparation for my absence in December. The standard posts for the end of the year (comebacks I have missed in November & December, the end of year charts + KPOPreviewed awards will be written and posted after my return. No weekly charts will be uploaded for the last week of November and all of December.]

This is my first time reviewing 24K , so let me give you a rundown of the band. 24K is a boy band under Choeun Entertainment, who debuted in 2012. The group has had lineup changes since debut and currently, the seven members of the band are: Cory, Kisu, Jeonguk, Hui, Changsun, Jihong and Hongseob. The band debuted with Hurry Up and went on to release songs such as Secret Love, SuperFly & Hey You.

Still 24K is a pretty cool EDM track. The instrumental is hard-hitting, upbeat and given you are listening to the song with surround sounds, it would  sound amazing. I like the vocals of the song. The rapping sounds rough, suiting the song, but sounds very staged and manipulated. The chorus is quite simple: ‘Still 24K, Still 24K”, but the instrumentals here are definitely the peak of the song. Bingo is another EDM track that has a much deeper and serious tone to it. It sounds like a little bit of rock is also infused into the song. The vocals and rap in this song are okay. Like Still 24K, Bingo doesn’t have much of a chorus but this time around the instrumental where the chorus should be isn’t that good. It is quite underwhelming and doesn’t sound smooth as the instrumental chorus in Still 24K. I like the ending of Bingo, because it is quite like an adrenaline rush. But that feeling should have been much earlier to make it even better. Just by reading this part of the review, I think you can tell which track I like better (Still 24K).

The two music videos join together to form one large story arc. 24K is a gang that, in the video, conducts heist to steal money and jewlery. Previously, they had visited one of these places to check it out and they find out that it is the jackpot. They start planning for the heist. It seems like the girl, who is in a relationship with the guy with greyhair, doesn’t agree that he should be doing this and they get into an argument. He kisses her, but she doesn’t seem too pleased. As they leave, she makes eye contact with brown hair guy and he nods towards her. They successfully pull of the heist, however the two guys I mentioned get into a fight. As they are celebrating the success, grey hair guy gets a message that says his girlfriend has been kidnapped and that the mysterious kidnappers demand more money. Hence the guys go back. However, the police gets tipped off and a massive gun battle proceeds. The gang barely makes it out. However, they end up facing the kidnappers. The gang end up trading the stuff they stole in exchange for the girl. However, plot twist. She starts laughing, which confuses the gang. It turns out that the brown hair guy from earlier is also in love with her and they both decide to trick the others to get more money. That shocks the gang (like really eye bulging shock). The two opposing sides get into a gun battle and the gang is severely killed. The girl and the brown hair guy leaves and live on. Overall, it is a pretty good story to watch. Another one that is almost movie quality. My main complaint falls onto the second video, Bingo. I don’t mind the flashbacks, but since the first music video  focused on the almost unsuccessful heist already, most of the scenes in the second music video were not needed. Maybe one scene for a refresher. I felt the music video became a little too repetitive because the events were later revisited. But that’s just my small complaint.

Both dances are really cool. I just felt Still 24K’s dance was a little weak for the song (i.e. it was performed quite strongly, but the dance moves themselves didn’t seem strong). Bingo’s dance was perfect for the song and revisited the whip a few times.

Still 24K – 8.5/10

Bingo – 7.5/10