Tag: B.I (iKON)

I previously reviewed iKON’s Bling Bling, which you can view by clicking the link. But this is the review for iKON’s second title track for this promotional run, titled as B-Day.

To me, B-Day is a more dynamic track that sounds a lot better than Bling Bling. Maybe it is because I enjoy the more upbeat feel. But I personally think iKON sounds a lot better with the more upbeat and hyped up songs, which I touched upon in my last review. The instrumental isn’t that amazing but it provides a more fresher and vibrant sound to the group’s portfolio. There is also something familiar about the instrumental, which I can’t really figure out. The vocal work and rapping in this song is a lot better in this song. The raspy voices fit the song quite nicely, giving it a rougher side. But to me, the vocals were at the forefront and not at the back of the song (which I also touched on). Doing that, it gives the song a more active sound and definitely a better push to a more powerful sound. The track itself is pretty catchy. The “Waeng Waeng Waeng” chant catches on pretty quick and it definitely drew my attention to the song straight away. Now, I just cannot get it out of my head. And that goes for the song as well.

I thought the concept of the music video was a little odd this time around. Little being an understatement, as I discover the scenes of bees. Not saying the video is terrible, because it was actually quite nice to watch. Actually (not considering the lyrics in anyway) but the video maybe looking at discovering an ancient civilization (and then they moved into it as well). Just a theory.  It was just the concept that had me second guessing things. Minus the thoughts regarding the concept, the scenes in the video were quite good. Once again, YG has done it again with their music videos. While this one may not be better than Bling Bling‘s, it definitely suits the song and intensity.

Talking about intensity, I felt the choreography was a little lacking. It might have been the editing of the music video, but when the “Waeng Waeng Waeng” started, the dance was great. But towards the end of the line, the energy just plummeted and that disappointed me. But it still looked cool. I may update this part once a full performance is uploaded somewhere.

Song – 8/10
Music Video – 7/10
Performance – 6.5/10
Overall Rating – 7.5/10

iKON has officially made their first comeback since their debut in 2015. The group, since 2015, have had toured across Asia and made their official debut in Japan. They also previously released #WYD last year. Some of the members have also changed their stage names since debut, which surprised some fans. Jinhwan changed to Jay, Chanwoo changed to Chan, Donghyuk changed to DK and Yunhyeong changed to Song. Bling Bling is also promoted alongside B-Day (and a review for that will be published sometime today or tomorrow morning).

If there is one word that I can think of when it comes to Bling Bling, it has to be ‘swag’. While I am not an everyday user of the word, the song embodies the word quite accurately. From the very first listen, it is an extremely intense track. The instrumental of the track is very interesting, despite it being slow at some parts, which overall made it feel quite dull. The use of brass provides the song something more, which accompanied the drawn out ‘Bling Bling’ repetition. The song remains the same from start to about the bridge. Starting at the bridge of the song, the song turns into a much more upbeat track/anthem style track, which I think sounds a lot cooler. However the contrast between the two segments and tempo is pretty cool. As for the raps and vocals, I am not really into that aspect of the song. They seemed to be on the back burner rather than the forefront of the song. It just didn’t seem to capture my attention. Only the ‘Bling Bling’ does. While I did say it was intense and tough, I think the dullness is probably the main aspect that turns me away from this song. I don’t mind it, but if there was a more hyped up sound, I think I would have enjoyed it more.

The music video is another video that is okay, at best. YG Entertainment have always put out great videos. And they are great for a specific reason. Here, I thought the great aspect are the sets and the backgrounds. It looked pretty cool and provided support to that toughness and intensity in a more subtle way. But I am not too sure why I think this, but they felt awkward in front of the camera. The interactions with the camera didn’t seem to feel natural and more like they were thrown in front of the camera with no guidance. Maybe it was the song style that didn’t allow them to be as natural or the editing just didn’t make it seem right, I don’t know. And that is essentially the video. The choreography shots with the amazing backgrounds but awkwardness for the solo shots.

I think there is enough in the video to write about the dance and possible performance. I don’t really talk about stage sets, but YG always seem to have an amazing idea which makes the stages for their artists look stunning. I particular enjoyed the more faster parts of the song, hence I am more drawn to the dance at those parts. However, the slowness in their choreography matches the song really well!

Song – 7/10
Music Video – 4/10
Performance – 7/10
Overall Rating – 6/10

iKON has returned with a brand new song. And then they disappeared. Like, where are they at the moment? Isn’t a pre-release? Where is the actual release then? Why am I asking these questions, when I know they are from YG Entertainment? But honestly, this was released in May and it is the start of July. And all these teasers were released in between for Bobby’s solo debut, so what is really happening?

It sounds a lot like a sadder version of My Type, which they debuted with last year. Didn’t like My Type, but I dig this song. It has a better beat and flows a lot better. The vocals here are a lot smoother and the rapping is pretty nice. The only problem I see with the track is the bridge of the song. It isn’t bad, but it sounds completely different from the song. It does contribute to the flow, but every time I hear it, it takes me by surprise, as if it comes from another song. The ending of the song was nice. The title is what you would commonly use in a text message and the ending of the song makes it sound like the whole song was part of a text message. Bobby signs off with “Good Night” and I think that is a pretty smart thing to do. I also noticed, but finally an iKON song, where the rappers aren’t singing and they just stick to rapping. It is one of the things I pointed out with My Type and I am glad that there is a change in their song.

For the music video, it just compromises of shots of the guys playing around with their love. Damn, it makes me want to be in a relationship. Can’t really complain about anything in the video. The only thing I will complain about is Bobby’s 70s style shirt and his hair. I have to be honest, though, I personally think B.I look hot in this video. Fanboy in the making? But then again, Korea has a lot of hot men (and ladies… you can never talk KPOP without the ladies) and if you are a dude into KPOP, there is probably a guy out there in the KPOP industry that you have felt some sort of attraction towards. I’ll end it there.

Wow, I wrote started this review yesterday and I was meant to spend a good amount of time on the music video part today. But, guess who wrote the music video part in less than 10 minutes? 7/10

This is iKON’s second song for their full debut album. Check out their other release: Dumb & Dumber, which was has been reviewed. But on with the review.

I really don’t know how to start off this review and I tried my best to avoid starting it this way. But, I just can’t think of any other way to start off the review. So, compared to Dumb & Dumber, this song was a let down. “If you ever loved somebody, say yeah” sounds like an awkward start to an awkward song. I don’t know, but there are more creative ways to get the audience into the song and have them participate. The song has the rock and hip hop vibe to it, which sounds nice, but sounds so generic. There really is nothing that sets this song a part from the other songs that you get throughout KPOP. It seems boring and quite unappealing to me. Beside Junhoe’s vocals, I feel like everyone else had to strain their voices to get it into the way the vocals are presented in the song. Once again, that complete halt in the song is back to haunt us. Only once, but damn, it ruined the flow of the song for me. But other good points of the song: it is great head banging music.

The people in the video, looked so scary with their colourful socks on top of their head. I know YG has a habit of covering their dancer’s faces and all, but this just looks so low budget and slapped together at the last minute. The video fits in well with the song. The boys are singing what happened to us and the video showed the boys and girls (or their partners) battling out. In what seemed to nearly escalate into a food fight, a massive fist fight and also a little bit of dodge-ball. Ahhh dodge-ball. It has been years since I last played that game. All them painful memories of always having the ball slammed into my nose/face. The video was nice and reflected the song pretty well.

I am glad they got rid of those socks for the live performance. Much cringe worthy. Beside that, I could not see much of the dance. The camera work manage to avoid most of the dance and filmed all the parts where they are avoiding the girls and running around. I don’t have much to say about the dance until I see more.

Quite disappointed with this particular song. To me Dumb & Dumber was much better. 5.5/10

Which iKON song did you like more? I have decided to include all of their promoted songs to in the below poll, so vote away.

Opening the 2016 year with fresh new reviews of acts that either made their comeback in the later half of December 2015. For those who don’t know, I stopped reviews for newly released songs after the 15th of December and went on to focus on End of Year charts, the BOBs and also finish the year off with some reviews that I managed to miss out. iKON is one of those groups that released their official full debut album after the 15th.

I think I can now safely say that iKON is a group that I think has improved greatly with each release. Their debut wasn’t that great in my standards, but every single song they have released so far has shown a new talented side of them to me. This song feels like a party anthem made specifically for the boys. Their rapping and vocals match the song really well. Not exactly fond of the complete halts that the song has throughout it. While they ahve their charm, I also think that something can be used to fill that void. Don’t take me the wrong way, there are some songs out there that need the halts or utilise the silence really well, but this isn’t one of them (at least that is what I think). The song is catchy and addictive. I have a feeling that this song can become trendy as it has that feel to it. The same feel I get when I listen to viral songs like Psy’s Gangnam Style. Like the title suggest, the song sounds wacky and for some reason, completely out of context for a YG group. But they manage to keep to their roots and style.

Every single time I watch the video, I get a feel of the weird and wacky side that Big Bang gave us in Bae Bae last year. Their previous releases have all been serious or light-hearted, but this. Only wacky and crazy can describe this video. The video was well shot and had a great concept to it. I just feel like for some reason, that the Dumb and Dumber duo style would have been a more well suited concept given the title of the song. But I did say that the song was like a party anthem and this video manages to channel in that feel as well. I personally like the ending of the video where the song drops its final beat. Everything becomes down to earth but at the same time still manage to have that wacky feel to it. The video as a whole, is great and suits the song exactly.

The dance for this song makes me think they had a bit to drink just before going onto the stage. Their stage presence is quite large when they performed the song for the first time. (I am watching the performance that performed at the 2015 SBS Gayo Festival). I like how tough they managed to showed themselves to the audience, but with use of fun and a very odd concept. There really isn’t a thing about the dance that sets it apart, but it something that goes well with the song.

Great comeback to start off the year. 7.5/10

 

Anthem is an okay song. It does not have me raving about it such as in Apology, the song has its good and bad points. What is good in the song: it is catchy (like an other anthem song), has a nice foreign sound/vibe to it and the rapping is on point. Bobby and B.I, as well all know, are talented rappers and they have proved themselves and probably pushed out their limits with this song. The song reminds me of the singles that T.O.P, G-Dragon and other famous rappers have put out in the past, but to me, this one has a much stronger hip hop vibe to it than those. The bad points: the catchiest part of the song has to be the most annoying part of the song. “iKON is coming to town” just bugs me everytime I listen to it. It is drawn out excessively and just sounds like a part that was smashed into the song for the other members to be included. Furthermore, I personally don’t like songs that is just full of raps. I personally like it when there is a bit of vocal work in the song, so I was already a little “biased” (in a way) regarding the style of song. So in conclusion (my personal thoughts only), not a fan of the song, but the song has its own good points.

The music video reminds me of the black and white videos that YG usually do for the rappers. And reminds me of videos of GD. T.O.P and GD&TOP released back in the day. Maybe it is because I am not a fan of the boys, but I don’t find anything interesting in the video. It has this grand feel to it and fits the style of the song, but beside that, I don’t really see what is great about it. Many fans and comments are like “omg, their facial expressions are amazing and funny” and here I am thinking “what is amusing?”, “what is funny?”. Though talking about comments, I love it how majority of the comments are about how the number of views are down. Ummm… Even I tried to watch the video (while not paying attention to the view count) and manage to appreciate what the channel put out (even though I am not linking it). Yeah, so… Not a fan of the video.

Overall, not a big fan of the song or video. 3/10. If you want to see the review of Apology, click here.