Tag: 4Minute

Rewind: February 2016

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Welcome back to another monthly rewind. February is officially gone and it went super fast (despite it having an extra day, as this is a leap year). Before we all know it, March is gone and April passed us like the wind. Let’s get started shall we?

Major News

I think there are two major news that we need to cover. One that talks good about one band, and the other isn’t that good. But bad publicity is good publicity right?

GFriend made their comeback at the end of January 2016, but managed to sweep the charts with their newest mini album and title track, Rough. And when I mean “sweep the charts”, the girls stayed at the top  of the digital for over hundreds of hours, a proportion of those hundreds of hours were actually perfect all kills (which are apparently extremely hard to get, but the girls did it somehow). This led them to win their first music show trophy since debut and they managed to do pretty well. And when I mean pretty well: Triple Crown on Show Champion, MCountDown and Inkigayo, 4 trophies on Music Bank and 2 on SBS The Show. That is a lot. Their hard work has finally paid off, with the help of their fanclub and fans.

In other news, Beast is in the limelight for the wrong reasons. Hyunseung was caught falling asleep during an interview, which disappointed fans and garnered a lot of criticisms. Falling asleep in an interview seems a little too much my opinion, but it just shows how tired they artists are with multiple schedules in one day, concerts, comebacks, practice, interviews, the lot. Junhyung also saw some criticism when he failed to attend a fanmeet due to sickness, but somehow managed to attend his friend’s (Jung Joon Young) birthday party. While it was cleared up with Junhyung, Cube Entertainment and Jung Joon Young each making a statement saying how he came for only a few moments, just to drop off a present. Honestly, some people need to give these guys a break. Sometimes, you need to take a sickie (or sick day) just to go somewhere or to relax and take it slowly. So why are these people so annoyed with that, when they probably do it too, when everything becomes too overwhelming?

Major Comebacks

Number of groups made their comeback this month. 4Minute, Winner, Mamamoo, B.A.P, Taemin (SHINee), NU’EST, Rainbow (even though some are speculating this will be their final release) and many other smaller, rookie bands.

Major Debuts

Astro is the first group that comes to mind with their debut this month. Actually, it is probably the only group that debuted in February that I have reviewed thus far. Their title track is Hide & Seek.

AOA has been around since 2012, but they recently debuted a brand new subunit called AOA Cream. Odd name for a subunit though. Chanmi, Hyejeong and Yuna make up this group. They made their debut with I’m Jelly Baby.

Polls

I am skipping polls this month as I am a little busy. I will be able to write about one of the polls that I have made in next month’s review.

Top 5 Songs of The Month

  1. You’re The Best – Mamamoo (reviewing coming soon)
  2. Feel So Good – B.A.P
  3. Whoo – Rainbow
  4. Hate – 4Minute
  5. Galaxy – Ladies Code

Just a small note: I have started university again, so the rate at which reviews come out will decrease dramatically. And I have to go in everyday, so it is going to be hard to make some time.

Hate – 4Minute

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4Minute has returned to the stage after nearly a whole year’s absence from the stage. Last time they were on the stage together, they were promoting Crazy. Still continuing their hip hop concept, the girls have gone for a more edgier concept with Hate.

This song was produced with Shrillex, which had me wondering how he would go about producing a song in Korean for these girls, and he does a fine job. The song sounded odd at first, but the song does really grow on you. The song starts off with Gayoon’s ballad like part (which had an eerie sound with it), and then starts moving into Hyuna’s, Jihyun’s and Sohyun’s part. But as we progress through the song, it starts building up and gets us to the edge of the our seat. Jiyoon’s part was after the main chorus, but the way the song flowed between the chorus and her part was flawless. I am happy with the better line distribution in this song. Everyone had an even spread of the lines. The chorus sounds really funky and honestly has a nice ring to it. Though it does seem like the type get annoying after a few weeks (check back on me for that one), I feel like the chorus expresses their anger and power quite well. Put the song together, it just does not have the same level of rhythm as Crazy did. The song seemed a little disjointed at some parts, but manage to still come together pretty well.

The music video did a pretty good job. I described Gayoon’s part as eerie and ballad like, and in the video we got just that. As the parts started to build up, we got more parts in the video that matched the build up. From Gayoon’s mysterious wedding dress part, to Sohyun’s hip movement part. I think the video does a great portrayal of the song’s part. As for Jiyoon’s part, she looks good in leather but reminds me of bondage for some reason. Hmmm… The redness in the video gives the video that really bold look and as we go through the video, more emphasis was placed on the colour. Just the chorus parts in the video, they were quite underwhelming. Love how artistic everything looked around the chorus, but the chorus where they were wearing trackies and jeans really disappointed me. The chorus could have been done like in Crazy, but instead, what we got looked like a low budget video. It just was not up to par with the rest of the video.

A little more torn about the dance. It could have been a better dance, but I feel like it kind of does fit in. It has that hip hop vibe going through it and even if I disagree with the dance, I can’t think of anything better to fill in the gaps that I disagree with. But that level of power I have been going on about in this review is there in the dance.

Overall, I think it is a very bold comeback. I don’t think any other words could describe it except for “bold”. 7.5/10

End Of Year Chart 2015 + Happy New Year!

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Welcome to the end of the year! Each year, I do this “End Of The Year Chart” where I properly rank songs via a personalised ranking system, which shows which songs I liked the most (and which songs I did not like at all – but I won’t name and shame). How do I rank the songs? Simply taking the score that I gave them in the review published earlier in the year, adding it to new review scores for the music, video and performance. Then I add those to other scores from “Songs of the Month” in my Rewind posts and to ensure that I can properly order them, I turn to my iTunes play count. And when I say “add”, there is a mixture of mathematical operations (and I am going to stop here, before I can bore you). In no way is this chart influenced by my choice of best song in the BOBs. But I do highlight them here :).

1 Ah Yeah EXID
2 Paradise Lost Gain (Brown Eyed Girls)
3 If You Do  GOT7
4 Closer Oh My Girl
5 You G.Soul
6 Love Me Right EXO
7 I Need U BTS
8 Sing For You EXO
9 Shake It Sistar
10 4 Walls F(x)
11 Dumb Dumb Red Velvet
12 I Taeyeon (SNSD) ft. Verbal Jint
13 Like OOH AHH Twice
14 Oh Um Ah Yeah Mamamoo
15 Mansae Seventeen
16 Just Right GOT7
17 Crazy 4Minute
18 Insensible Lee Hong Ki (FT Island)
19 Run BTS
20 Yey Beast
21 Between Night n Music B.I.G
22 Shake That Brass Amber (f(x)) ft. Taeyeon (SNSD)
23 Hot Pink EXID
24 Beautiful Liar VIXX LR (VIXX)
25 Brand New World Brown Eyed Girls
26 Ring My Bell Girls Day
27 Hurt Locker Nine Muses
28 Growing Pains Donghae & Eunhyuk
29 Run Away Royal Pirates
30 Black Swan Rainbow
31 Congratulations DAY6
32 Catch Me If You Can SNSD
33 Me Gustas Tu Gfriend
34 The Answer Kim Sung Gyu (Infinite)
35 Dope BTS
36 Pray FT Island
37 Cinderella CN Blue
38 You’re Pitiful Fiestar
39 Hopeless Love Jimin (15&)
40 Bad Infinite
41 Might Just Die History
42 We Like 2 Party Big Bang
43 Chained Up VIXX
44 Fire Mad Clown ft. Jamsil (Mad Child Soul)
45 Bell Bottoms PSY
46 Ice Cream Cake Red Velvet
47 Break Ya LU:KUS
48 Kontrol Kim Sung Gyu (Infinite)
49 I Feel You Wonder Girls
50 Wow Wow Wow Junjin (Shinhwa) ft. Eric (Shinhwa)

And here are some interesting facts about this year and the chart itself!

  • A total of 180 songs were ranked on this chart, but a total of 195 songs were reviewed this year (which I believe is a personal best).
  • The first song reviewed and included in the chart is BTOB’s The Winter Tale (released at the end of last year). The last song reviewed and included in the chart was EXO’s Sing For You
  • A total of 16 girl groups, 17 boy groups and 9 soloists are featured on the chart.
  • There is a better mix of boys and girl groups this year, compared to last year, where the first boy group did not feature on the charts until after 16th place.
  • BTS had the most songs on the chart (I Need U, Dope & Run). followed by: EXID (Ah Yeah & Hot Pink), GOT7 (If You Do, Just Right), EXO (Love Me Right, Sing For You), Kim Sung Gyu (The Answer, Kontrol) & Red Velvet (Dumb Dumb & Ice Cream Cake).
  • Rookies were actually a strong force this year with Oh My Girl, Seventeen and Twice ranking quite high up in the charts.
  • The following ranked after 50th place: IU, B.I.G, Crayon Pop, VIXX, Seventeen, Changmin, Big Bang, Brown Eyed Girls and CLC.
  • And finally, this year chart was actually reflected on the BOBs this year. I crowned EXID’s Ah Yeah as best song for both segments.

AND THAT IS IT!! 2015 will be ending shortly. 6 Hours To Go (for me at least)!!! Hope 2015 has been a great year for you all. I thank you all once again for another year of KPOPreviewed. Your support has been amazing. Every comment and like (heck even every view) makes me happy!! Nearly 5 years and still going strong!! Thank you 2015 and I wish you all a Happy New Year wherever and whenever it is time. Let’s make 2016 our year!!! (First review: 2nd of Jan).

Roll Deep – Hyuna (4Minute) ft. Jung Ilhoon (BTOB)

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Hyuna’s back. Now sing it like how she sings it in Red. Hahaha… The sexy soloist is back with a brand new mini album. This time she has enlisted more people to help her with their mini album. Her title track features Jung Ilhoon, the rapper from BTOB. Now her group is rumoured to be having a comeback sometime towards the end of the year. They made their last comeback in February, with the really popular and successful Crazy. But let’s focus on the rapper of the group. She has taken sexy to a whole new level this time around.

There are always a few things that annoys me when I listen to Hyuna’s song. The first is that she is a rapper and her singing is not the best. To be honest, it is whiny and really disappointing to listen to. However, this track seems to prove me wrong. Her voice, to me, has been manipulated in a way that allows her to take advantage of it. I don’t think her vocals in this song is at all whiny nor terrible. Sure they can use some work, but damn, her vocals fit in this song really well. Would people described this as “dirty” dubstep or electro? Cause that is what I think I would catergorise it. Is it even a genre? I don’t even know. Her English needs a little bit of work. Sometime I hear “You Can Touch Me” instead of “You can’t touch me”. Ilhoon’s rap is pretty good in this song. It is quite short, but after all he is featuring in this track and not forming some kind of subunit. The song is catchy and addictive. It is a pity that it is not ranking high on the charts.

As for the music video, wow. Hyuna has gotten a little… kinky. Whips and different outfits (even the leashes) all point to some sort of kinky concept. Though I do think it suits her, maybe for this video, it is going a little over board. There is one outfit/scene that need to be removed from this video.  Hyuna’s money bathing suit. It looks bad. It doesn’t suit her. Nor does the set of money decorating the table. As for Ilhoon, I want to talk to the stylist or director. If you need tattoos like that to look cool and sexy, there is obviously something wrong. I don’t mind one or two tattoos. But as soon as I see them over the body, there is some rethinking that needs to occur. The rest of Ilhoon’s appearance though, they can be removed. While I don’t mind him, the things he do draws attention way from Hyuna.  But beside all of those minor complaints, I think this video is pretty good. The lighting and sets highlight the concept further and brings a lot of attention to her.

I do hope 4Minute is not recycling their dance moves. There is one dance move that I saw in Crazy, that occurs here. Not saying she or 4Minute owns the dance move, but really? I’m talking about her “head down, butt in the air” shaking move. Actually, while the dance break fits the song, I think it would draw more criticisms than compliments for this video. But the dance, once again, does a pretty good job at highlighting the extent that the “sexy concept” has been brought up for this comeback.

Sexy enough? I probably think so. It is a solid comeback. Minor complaints here and there, but I just want to know why it is doing poorly on the charts! 7.5/10.

Crazy – 4Minute

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4Minute is officially back with their sixth mini album, titled as Crazy. Their title song, which happens to have the same title as their mini album. They released their other song, Cold Rain, back in late January and will be launching their promotions this week for the new mini album. This time around, the group has gone for a hip hop concept, rather than their past retro or pop sounding songs.

Okay, part of me likes the song. Another part of me thinks this song is not so good. I just love it how they have gone for that hip hop concept with this song. It has this fierce feel to it which sounds really empowering and strong. The vocals and rap by the members do just that. I can definitely imagine this song at a club. Actually, it will be a really big club song. But as I said, what happened to the 4Minute we know of? The one with disco feels and poppish roots? Even though the chorus sounds amazing, I really can’t help but point out the odd instrumental. Though, it probably some country’s national instrument, it really feels disconnect to the rest of the song. I guess this song has a better line distribution overall, compared to Cold Rain. Just Jihyun gets only one part, but that part seems quite long, so I guess that makes up for it.

I freaking love this music video. It just ticks off the check box for best music video. I really love the set. Well, the main one is the one I am talking about. But when they do the 360 camera (kind of), to show that it is just one big, white room, just blew my mind. The black room feels more compact and suffocating compared to the white room. The close up of butts and private parts were really not needed in this video. I love how they used the black and white filter once again, but on top of that isolated one colour from the whole screen, like Jiyoon’s hair and Sohyun’s red socks. Talking about hair, Jiyoon rocks the green hair.

As for the dance, I thought it matched the song very well. It seems powerful and also “straight to the point”. Twerking nowadays seems quite cliché.

Overall, this is a really big change for the band. But either way, it is still good (even though I have some doubts). 9/10

Cold Rain – 4Minute

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4Minute is making their comeback in a few more days. But to kick off promotions and to get fans wanting more, the band released a pre-release. The pre-release comes in a form of a ballad, which is a first for the band, who are known for their pop songs. They have been releasing teasers for their upcoming release, which actually looks like the girls are not going to be holding back and will be attempting something along the lines of a hip hop track and showing off their fierce women vibes. Until then, this is their newest release.

This is a nice ballad. Though, I honestly don’t think this is something that the band should re-attempt. It is not bad. Don’t misunderstand me. But honestly, this feels very disconnected to the 4Minute that we know of. Even though they are attempting something different, I feel like they won’t be as successful with such a song. Another thing we must address, this song is so focused on Gayoon and Jiyoon, that I feel like the other members had no parts at the start, so the writers just wrote something up and added it to the song. Maybe I am exaggerating it, but I get that feel when Sohyun comes on. The line distribution is basically 60% Gayoon, 20% Jiyoon, 5% Jihyun, 10% Hyuna and 5% Sohyun. It just frustrates me. But anyway, this song was nice. It did have that really sad emotion pouring out of it. I liked Gayoon’s vocals at the very start. The way she sang gave the song a very nice kick to it.

Once again, people are going off at how a band is copying another band. “4Minute is copying 2NE1 this time around for their music video“. Seriously? There are a few things that I want to say to these fans. a) 2NE1 did not MAKE this idea. Why don’t we start asking why 2NE1 copied over ballad singers for Missing You? Look 2NE1 sat down on a chair, why don’t we say that 2NE1 copied Davichi who also sat on a chair to sing their ballad? b) 4Minute videos actually has very a sadder touch to it. 2NE1’s video had a dancer dancing to the song, while in this video we don’t have a dancer at all. In this 4Minute video, we see the girls stand behind a glass window and have water come down it. Why are some fans so stupid? I Just… urghhhh…

Okay, recap. I think this music video is much sadder. I love the use of “rain” in this music video. It made the song have more emotion and gave a deeper meaning to the song. The fact that the environment seems cold and distant from warmth, really brings out the sad nature of the song. I love the use of the “water down the window”. It gave the girls a more dramatic look. The start where Gayoon rips the letter, gives it some sort of eerie feel when I first watched it. Overall, I thought the video did a good job at channelling the emotion of the song.

Nice ballad (could work a lot more on line distribution for any future song), nice video (fans should not be too sensitive. Cause it makes me frustrated to know that there are such people in the wordld). Not 100% sure if 4Minute should do this style again though. 8/10

End Of Year Charts 2014

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Welcome to the end of the 2014 charts. This chart has every single song that was released from the 1st of January 2014 to the 1st of December. I left the nitty gritty stuff out (aka. the numbers I used for the ranking) and made sure that everything was fair. So that means for songs that were released towards the end of the year would have received some extra increment to make sure that they were levelled out with the songs released in January. Other numbers used included whether songs were on the YouTube Playlist of The Month and each song was re-reviewed in categories of “song, music video and dance”. Below are just some interesting facts that you may enjoy in regards to this chart.

  • The very first song released to be included on the charts are Rain’s 30 Sexy and La Song. The last song released before the cut off date was Infinite F’s Heartbeat.
  • T-Ara’s Sugar Free (2) was the only song throughout the whole chart to score the maximum of 40 for the song re-review.
  • VIXX is the first boy group to appear in the charts at 14th place with Eternity.
  • As touched on above, this year the charts are dominated by the girl groups, with 13 boy groups versus 37 girl groups (repeated groups not excluded).
  • Heavily promoted songs tend to rank higher than songs that were released as a single and not promoted.
  • The following artists achieved the next few positions after 50th place: SPEED, Crayon Pop, Z:EA, Zhou Mi (Super Junior), BTOB, Infinite, UKISS, AOA and Gain (Brown Eyed Girls)
1 Something Girl’s Day
2 Sugar Free T-Ara
3 Up & Down EXID
4 Monday Blues Sunny Hill
5 Piano Man Mamamoo
6 Darling Girl’s Day
7 I’m In Love Secret
8 Mr. Chu A Pink
9 Yasisi NS Yoon G
10 Red Light F(x)
11 One More Fiestar
12 Good Night Kiss Hyosung (Secret)
13 Ain’t Nobody HA:TFELT (Yenny – Wonder Girls)
14 Eternity VIXX
15 You Don’t Love Me Spica
16 So Wonderful Ladies Code
17 This Is Love Super Junior
18 Luv APINK
19 Like A Cat AOA
20 B.B.B (Big Baby Baby) Dal Shabet
21 Good Luck Beast
22 Cha Cha Rainbow BLAXX
23 Full Moon Sunmi ft. Lena
24 Error VIXX
25 Catallena Orange Caramel
26 My Copy Cat Orange Caramel
27 Don’t Look At Me Like That Song Ji Eun (Secret)
28 Back Infinite
29 8Dayz Megan Lee
30 What About You? Laboum
31 Dont Touch Me Ailee
32 I Swear Sistar
33 Singing Got Better Ailee
34 1004 (Angel) B.A.P
35 Danger BTS
36 12:30 Beast
37 Mr. Ambigious Mamamoo
38 Lonely B1A4
39 Beep Beep BTOB
40 Mamma Mia Kara
41 I Need You Bestie
42 Solo Day B1A4
43 Whatcha Doing Today? 4Minute
44 Pretty Age 25 Song Ji Eun (Secret)
45 1 Minute 1 Second Jiyeon (T-Ara)
46 Peppermint Chocolate Mamamoo ft. K.Will & Wheesung
47 FxxK U Gain (Brown Eyed Girls)
48 Touch My Body Sistar
49 Evanesce Super Junior
50 Not Spring, Love, or Cherry Blossoms HIGH4 ft. IU

THAT’S IT!!! 2014 IS OVER AND 2015 IS APPROACHING. WISHING YOU ALL (IN YOUR RESPECTIVE TIME ZONES) A HAPPY NEW YEAR. I only have 6 hours to go and I am excited. Party hard (but not too hard) and I will see you next year!! aka. in the next few days ^^

Red – Hyuna (4Minute)

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Hyuna, the rapper from 4Minute, who has been known for her many solo songs and being a part of the sexy duo Trouble Maker. Songs such as Ice Cream and Bubble Pop have illustrated that Hyuna is able to cope and also be a very successful solo artist ( that is if she ever decides to part ways with her group, which she stated that she liked to be a part of more than being solo).  Her band, itself recently made their comeback with Whatcha Doing Today? and now she is back to prove she got what it takes. She has already earned her first award for her new song Red and probably be able to grab even more.

This song is okay. It is not memorable or is it the best song out there to listen to, but it really feels quite personalised and well polished. For those who don’t know, I am not a fan of Hyuna’s rapping, which I describe as whiny sounding and just not my “cup of tea”. However, despite all of that, I like the catchiness of the song. It is very unique and quite different to other songs. Her voice when she is singing sounds really amazing. The irony is: I don’t think her rapping is that great. Sure she can rap, but it just not that much powerful compared to other rappers who do a really good job. I did like the catchy bits such as her vocal parts and the instrumental of the song is quite good. I think the chorus was pretty good as well. Though I can’t really tell whether she is singing or rapping. One more thing before we move on, but I really don’t like how the song changes from fast pace to a very slow pace in a matter of seconds for the bridge. Surely, she could have eased, but the transition seemed so rush, I was very disappointed. It is an okay song to listen to, just to me, it is not that great.

The music video is going to be quite interesting. Need to be my immature self and say “BOOOOOBS”. For the girls though, you can stare at boobs or abs. You have a choice. Cause I am strangely distracted by that big banana and why Hyuna is sitting on it (no pun intended). The amount of sexual references in this music video is just really extraordinary. being the immature self, I decided to count how many times I thought dirty. Here we go. 21 different times. Wow. Well. I think that shows you a lot about me. Anyway. At least this video did something right and included numerous objects and clothing and styles that involved with the colour red. Another thing, but why is she not getting sued? Like seriously? Not that I want her to get sued, just is very obvious she is making very obvious references in the music video. Gorilla on a disco ball – Miley Cyrus on her Wrecking Ball. Hyuna in bunny ears – quite similar (more like identical) to the Play Boy symbol.

The dance is pretty cool. She flaunts her body (which is why she is so popular. Please don’t say you don’t find her body attractive and that you only listen to her voice only. You lie. I can tell. All people (especially guys) ends up staring at her body). But I think is a good mashup of that tribal concept that she is going for and also a modern twist (with the twerking. I cannot believed I approved of twerking).

6/10. Think I am being too nice here, but hey, she has a good body and she managed to get me hooked. Usually I am not a fan of Hyuna myself, but something about this comeback is pretty good.

Whatcha Doin’ Today? – 4Minute

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4Minute is back with a brand new song, this time asking a different question. Last year, 4Minute made their comeback with “What’s Your Name?” and then followed up with “Is It Popping?“. This year they are asking “Whatcha Doing Today?”.  A little obsessive of the girls, but hey, who wouldn’t mind these girls. This song is already a chart topper ranking first on MCountdown and Inkigayo over the pass week and probably can do a little more. What other questions will the girls be asking next (maybe “Why are you going around with that girl because I am your girlfriend and she has no right to touch you and you have no right to go out with her as you must be loyal to your girlfriend?” I think I just upset some grammar nazis out there and as well, I don’t think that is a question. But plot twist: you guys don’t even know each other. On with the review 😀

This song has that disco beat to it, which I enjoyed. It is catchy and I think I approve of everything. Expect for that rap sequence from Hyuna and JiYoon. I feel that the rap could have been better OR left out for the good of humanity. The chorus is really catchy and the instrumental beat enhances the song. Jihyun needs to improve a lot. They slow the song down for her, which I don’t have a problem with because I know that she does not sound as good as the others, but her live performance sound like she is breathing each sound of each word out as if it hurted her. It also seems that Hyuna has been given less parts. Which was great, because I really don’t like her voice when she vocally sings. She is a nice rapper. But all over that, I enjoyed the song.

The music video was really flashy. Yeah, it was a distraction, but as much as Jiyoon sitting on the toilet with her pants down. How freaking amazing is that scene. No, I am not that type of person. but seriously, that scene probably has to be the most interesting scene out of all. The two guys kissing, I guess says that the girls are suspicious of them cheating with another person. Just the girls probably be really gullible if that is the case. I really love the toilet scenes, where everyone is just lying around or sitting in the toilet and moving their body to the music. It is like the Harlem Shake, but KPOP style. Hahahaha…. Not sure about the girls though with the pink wigs. It feels to awkward and out of place in the video. But beside all of that, cool music video.

Hyuna’s start really needs to go. I cannot believe they added that to the dance. Unsurprising disappointed. the dance overall was really catchy. I enjoyed it, minus Hyuna’s start. Like everytime I hear this song, I break into dance. Weird?

Overall, a pretty amazing comeback. 8/10.

MERRY CHRISTMAS EVERYBODY!!!!!

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It is finally Christmas and I am excited! And the year is already up. Sadly though. However, shall we continue with a more different review this time around? But before that, I just would like to wish everyone who will read this post a Merry Christmas. Enjoy your time, with family, friends or anyone else. Be thankful and be safe. Let’s enjoy the final few days of 2013 and ready to party with 2014. Anyway, today, it is really more of an impromptu review. Not score will be given for these reviews. I have review Lonely Christmas by Crayon Pop and Miracle Of December by EXO. There are however four more Christmas songs that I want to review and today will be three song reviews in one! Shall we get started???

Christmas Song – United Cube 

United Cube is back with a lovely slow Christmas song that showcases the groups under A Cube Entertainment and Cube Entertainment. The artists in this song include: Beast, 4Minute, APink, G.Na, Huh Gak, Roh Ji Hoon, BTOB and Oh Ye Ri. Wow that is a lot of artists. Also included is Kim Gi Ri, the comedian for Gag Concert. The song has this soft tune that reminds you of a warm Winter’s night, like Christmas Night. Though the song starts off really slow and it takes quite a while for it enter a more Christmas-like song, by the end, you are bound to remember those warm Christmas nights with your loved ones. I think the rap was handle really well in this song which is pretty good, considering how raps tend to ruin a good song. And the whole song, vocally, sounds amazing.

 Love Falls – Romantic J 

Now we are getting into the more festive songs. This song may sound like a love song, which it is. I really love the jingle bell feel of the instrumental and how the vocals in this song are not hard hitting as powerful vocals. Though Jonghyun from CNBlue does not have as much lines as Juniel, the song still sounds amazing. His husky voice fits the tone of Juniel’s voice which makes the song have this beautiful duet. The song is quite addictive and sounds really good. I have been lipsyncing to this song since it came out. Though the music video may seem more of a romantic story, the song still carries the Xmas cheer. Yay! Also, this is a duo that I would love to hear more from.

Winter Propose – Jellyfish Entertainment 

This song is the only song that is really close to those Christmas carols we here every year. Not exactly what I like, but it still does. It features all the artists of Jellyfish Entertainment including: VIXX, Seo In Guk, Sung Si Kyung, Park Hyo Shin and also a mysterious female singer (do I hear a singer debuting next year?). This song sounds amazing and really has that festive cheer to the song. It combines all of the artists of Jellyfish Entertainment and amazes me a lot. Though I was not much of a fan of their previous Christmas song and also their more experienced singers, this song gives you that warm feeling that makes you remember Christmas day and eve a lot.

Snow Candy – Starship Planet

The final song which gives off the happiest Christmas feeling of the year. It features Sistar, K.Will and Boyfriend and seems the most enjoyable song out there for memories of family and friends. Again, this song, along with the others vocally sounds amazing and the rap seemed to be handle really well by Bora and the Boyfriend rappers. Of course K.Will and Hyorin holds the main vocal part of this whole company venture, but with this song, I am going to let it slide. The music video also seems to be the most festive one out of the four. Pity that Dasom from Sistar was not a part of the filming, but probably have featured in the he song somewhere. Not sure where though.

Thank you for spending another year with me. Merry Christmas to all, wherever you are on this planet. Be happy and I will see you next time!!!!
Click here for the winners of the BOBs

Now There Is No Tomorrow – Trouble Maker

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Trouble Maker is back with a new song. It has been nearly 2 years since we have last seen these two singers together on stage promoting a new song. Can I just say wow? Like, they are quite successful and I can see why the company decided to put them together again, but I think many people know that their debut song, Trouble Maker, is their best song ever. Not hating or anything, but I have friends that agree with me on this topic. However, this does not indicate that this comeback was crap, because it was not. It was amazing. Also, they were hit with a little bit of controversy with their music video, which I will talk about later. Also, I have a lot to say about the music video. Most of focus will be on the music video itself in this video.

The song is pretty cool. Not as great as Trouble Maker though. There was something in this song that did not yell out “Trouble Maker” to me. This song lacked the power and the energy which Trouble Maker has a lot. Even their dance was a little lighter than usual. The vocals were not as great and sounded very drawn out. Hyuna’s rap fitted the speed of the song and sounded really good. The chorus is pretty catchy and I have to admit, with the dance, the song would’ve been hard to pull off. I actually miss Hyuna singing. I don’t know why, but the song feels empty without her voice. She raps and have her own moments, but they tend to be covered up or layered with Hyunseung’s. Yeah, you can say I was disappointed with the song, but that latin salsa feel to the song and instrumental is quite different and sounds pretty cool. The lyrics are pretty cool and fit the music video quite well.

Three words that describe this video: Porn, porn and more porn. Like seriously 75% of this video is sex. Sex in caravan, sex in car, sex in public. But the video still also has a pretty cool music video. We see a couple, cheating on each other. The guy has sex with two other girls, while the girl is at a party (not sure if she is cheating, but if the guy is having sex with other girls and she is a party, I think it could be safe to say so). But needlessly to say that the girl was pretty  pissed off when she found the guy. Then they have sex, where they makeup, but she is pissed off as well and breaks it off. Then they get together again, and as a couple, they put their life at risk and stand around cars that are doing doughnuts around them. Hmmm… about that. Yes, you see that there are some similarities between this video and Rihanna’s, but we cannot really say that the director copied. It looks the same, but there are always its differences. Did I like the video? I am a guy. A normal freaking teenage guy. And then there was Hyuna. In a bra…. Having sex….. What do you think?

The dance is lacking as well, however it seems that it was choreographed to perfection. Like everything in this dance confuses me, but it looks amazing. Put that with the live performance and seriously, for pulling that off without gasping for air is something that I wonder. Like, I would be like dying when we get to the first chorus.

7.5/10. Disappointing, yes, But still a great comeback. And since this is my first day back in like 10 days, I would like to just say for the SHINee poll that was conducted in the review of Everybody,  Everybody was selected as the best song of the SHINee year!!! Hahaha!!! Congrats Everybody!!! I won’t be making a poll. but what is a much better Trouble Maker song? Trouble Maker or Now? Put your answer in the comments below. ^^

Mirror Mirror – 4Minute

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This is like the fourth review of the past hit songs, 2nd review of the consecutive three, G.Na’s Top Girl being the next song to be reviewed. Mirror Mirror was released as the title track for the band’s first album in April 2011. Earning them only one award, this song still managed to top charts and given skyrocket the girl’s fame even further. Okay, let’s get this straight. I absolutely disliked this song when it first came out. I felt it was not their mojo to come out with a song like this. However, 2 years on, I have finally lived to the point where the song has warmed upon. I really do like it and think it is an awesome song now, rather than when it first came out. That is just a bit of a heads up for this review.

The song has its good and bad points. The high notes were amazing, JiYoon’s parts before the chorus were superb etc. However, it seems like the bad points kind of weigh the song down. At the very start, I keep on hearing “4Minute Sluts” beside “4Minutes Left”. Seems like Hyuna agree with the slutty rumours then? The most annoying part would have to be the chorus. I do enjoy it now, but a part of me still does feel that the chorus is lacking something. It really does not get my mind in the right mood to hear the song. Also, the giggles has to go. They are useless and a total distraction to the song. Also JiYoon’s rap was too kind of useless. There was no feeling in the song and I found it really boring. It changed up the beat of the song so much, I just thought, why the last minute addition to the song? So as you can see, the song was overall okay. Not the best song, but not that bad to give it a really bad score.

As for the music video, a lot of mirrors were used in the making of the video. Like a lot. If mirrors were worth 100 dollars each, the whole set was really expensive. Okay, sarcasm over, this is the most boring video I have seen in KPOP. There is not one piece of fun or seriousness in this video. Some of the sets got me kind of, WTF?, like the road scene. What was that meant to mean anyway? Also, frizzled hair, out. I hate frizzled hair and it really does not suit JiHyun. Sorry guys. They also used a lot of reflective stuff. Even though the song is called Mirror Mirror, it seemed over the top to literally combine all the mirror that come from all over the world and make a 3 minute video about it. Also, I am not sure of the very last scene where the 4Minute emblem drops down and digs itself into the concrete. Kind of weird? It made no sense. So yeah, not that happy with the video.

As for the dance, wow. It can be sure deemed sluttly, particularly the one in the music video. It seems that the band toned it down for the stage, but it really was not good at all. JiYoon’s rap part, no. I do like the idea of the hands acting like mirrors. And those purple circle, what purpose do they have? What on earth are they on about? Cause, Mirror Mirror on the wall does not have purple lines go through it.

3.5/10. That is only the song though. The rest seemed crap. Not the standard that I personally would go for, for a great song.

Heart To Heart – 4Minute

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The third review of past hit songs by big name groups, and the first of three consecutive reviews of the same topic. Heads up, 4Minute’s Mirror Mirror and G.Na’s Top Girl will be reviewed next. May decide which “past” song I will review next by the end of G.Na’s review. Anyway, off topic. But on topic. Heart To Heart was chosen as the second promotional song for the groups back in 2011, when they released their first studio album. It must be noticed that the song itself was released in March, and was deemed as a digital single in March 2011. The songs were then re-released on the first album of the band. It was also used as the follow-up song for the band’s promotion.

This song is really addictive. It was a change for the girls to be seen in this way, particularly their last releases and the level of seriousness of Hyuna when she makes her “comebacks”. Hyuna, JiYoon & Gayoon have been dominate a lot of the songs that the band has released. This, however, gives the last two members Jihyun and Sohyun more lines in which they usually have. This song has that extra sweet sound to it, which makes the song much different. Many were not happy with this particular song as it did not fit the girls image. This song is more of the aegyo type, which I agree, does fit the band. However, the song is really catchy and has that addictiveness that many KPOP songs have that I enjoy. The song talks about how a weak some men are when fessing up to cheating to their girlfriends. Interesting and different.

The music video, yeah, it is a bit extreme. I guess they are either pro prankers or really really stupid amateurs. It starts off with a couple, who are perfectly in sync with each other. But as time passes, they grow apart. Or just the guy. She is suspicious that something is up, so she investigates and that proves her idea of a cheating boyfriend. Or really she just happened to stumble upon the cheating boyfriend when she is partying with friends at a club. She confronts him at the club, but he plays it cool and does not know her. He however, it quite suprised. Then, they do a lot of pranks on the boyfriend. Spraying food to make it hard,  substituting whipping cream for shaving cream (which he really does not need, as he does not need to shave at all), putting glue into his toothpaste (the scene where they are laughing is hilarious). Then they decide to manipulate his car. Hey loser. How on earth do you not notice a group of girls laughing in the background? It is not like they are laughing silently or anything. They also go to lengths of making him sit on a cardboard box and giving him lingerie at a workplace. Original. However, the last prank kind of ruined the long run of perfect pranks. He make him faint so laming-ly, so they can take a picture of him and photoshop him, making him a criminal.  What a really bad piece of art they made there. That was badly photoshop.

The dance is quite okay. It bounces to the music and the girl’s intention behind the song fit the softness of the dance.

7/10. Pretty cool. Seems pretty good overall. Would definitely recommend the music video, just for laughs (or threatening your boyfriend for whatever action they may have committed). Hey not giving any ideas here. Linked in the playlist below, is the Korean version and the Japanese version of the song. Enjoy~

Is It Poppin’? – 4Minute

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4Minute recently returned to the stage with a brand new single. It has been a very long time since we last saw the girls (sarcasm) in May and now they are back at what they do best. They had their comeback in May with What’s My Name? At least not they have recovered from their memory loss and now have gone for something that I think is a bit outdated. No one ask “Is It Poppin’?” anymore. Was it even a phrase back in the day? I don’t even know. Maybe a phrase like B1a4’s What’s Happening? This song was released June 28th, a month since promotions for What’s My Name ceased.

Oh boy, this song has very little to talk about. I don’t like this song. It is not 4Minute-ish. 4Minute is not into that bubblegum pop stuff that I find really hard to listen to. Even they aegyo phase of Heart To Heart was much better than this. I have to admit this is the worst song by the band by far. Not only was a disappointed, I was totally weirded out by the tune of the song. The song does have its good part, being catchy and all of that common stuff, like Justin Bieber’s Baby, but for the wrong reasons, like Justin Bieber’s Baby. Yeah, I think that is the first time I used Baby twice in a sentence. Only a few more and I can beat the world record. Hahaha. The song talks about how a girl is suspicious of her boyfriend. I have to say the song is original, but it just does not yell out “Major Hit” to me. Again, I was totally disappointed.

I really like the water theme of the song. It matches the song’s previous title of “How’s the Water?” I think. And beside that, the music video was totally low budget. Talk about a month for preparation. I totally thought that the whole thing was quite rushed and yet again disappointed. Basically there are three different scene. Dance scene, which is the most empitest part. Party scene, where everyone was partying hard, in slo-mo. And the pond scene, where the girls stand in the pond and sing. Well, that escalated quickly. And here is where I am going to defend the girls. No, they do not look like sluts. Go home, your drunk. These girls are not sluts in this video, just because they dance. Also, how the fire starts and the water comes down. Shouldn’t that be your cue to actually like evacuate the building? Cause something tells me that you dancing won’t put out the fire. Wait a minute, there was a recent fire at a party in Australia. Yeah, there is no fire at a party here. I lied. Sorry. Here is me going weird now.

The dance… seen better. Again, the whole thing was rushed. It has that cute thing to it, but I am not exactly impressed. What’s My Name had a much better dance. However, I do like the casual feel of the dance. It’s feel is much better than other more complex dances.

2/10. It could’ve been loads better. I was really disappointed. A bit more time could not have hurt. Or the company should’ve just waited for beast to comeback and than 4Minute. Give the girls a break. Hyuna just recently got out of hospital. Let them rest.