Tag: H1-KEY

Today, I will finally get around to reviewing one of the earliest releases of 2023 – Rose Blossom by H1-KEY. For those who might not recognise the group’s name, H1-KEY is a four-member female group (currently consisting of Seoi, Riina, Hwiseo, and Yel) who made their debut in 2022 with ATHELTIC GIRL. I did review their debut song, but did not review their later release of RUN, which dropped in July 2022.

Honestly, I didn’t know if I was ever going to return to review Rose Blossom. It has been five months (nearing six months) since its release and all I can remember was passing on it when I had a chance to review the song. I don’t even remember my first impression of the song. But a few repeat listens recently of the song caught my attention and traction to review Rose Blossom has snowballed from there. There are a few reasons to why Rose Blossom has caught my attention now. Firstly, there is a nostalgic factor to the song. Rose Blossom reminds me of past 2NE1 releases, which is one of the groups that I grew up on. Secondly, the members did a really good job with their vocals and rapping. Rose Blossom really benefited when the members had definition behind their vocals (i.e., during the chorus), which gives off a strong impression. Furthermore, the nasally approach to their vocals felt unique. Thirdly, the chorus has a neat ring to it. Nothing amazing or ground-breaking here, but it added to the appeal of the song. Fourthly (and finally) was how chilled and easy-going the instrumentation ended up being. The synths and trap beats combination in Rose Blossom isn’t the catchiest, powerful or innovative piece ever. But with everything else, it was surprisingly pleasant and complementary to the rest of the elements of Rose Blossom. More could have been done with Rose Blossom. But as it stands, it is a satisfying listen that I recently got into.

I feel like the music video is a literal take on the lyrics. In Rose Blossom’s chorus, there are lines that say “I’m a rose among the concrete, until this bleak city becomes filled with colour, I’ll keep my head up, stand my ground until the very end…”. For the most part, the entire music video can be described as bleak. There isn’t too much colour going on in the video, until the members stumble upon the hallway that is spewing roses onto the outside. The red colour that comes from this scene is quite bold, in comparison to everything else in the video. We did have a tinge of red throughout the video, which probably hinted at the fact the members are red roses waiting to blossom, but it was fairly muted and fitted into the bleakness of the video. Following that red rose hallway, the members returning to the current bleak world, waiting for their time to blossom. I kind of wished there was a heavier red presence, just to represent that realization for aesthetic and completeness purposes.  

I liked their all-smile approach to their performance, which gives this comeback a more uplifting presence. Choreography-wise, it was fairly standard. But it was enjoyable to watch.

Song – 7.5/10
Music Video – 7/10
Performance – 7/10
Overall Rating – 7.3/10

The next group and rookie on the reviewing block is H1-KEY, who debuted on January 5 with the single ATHLETIC GIRL. H1-KEY is a four member female group under Grandline Group, with their lineup consisting of Seoi, Sitala, Riina (Produce 48 participant) and Yel. What has drawn my attention to this female rookie group is that just under a month after their debut, the new group has amassed over 10 million views for their music video on YouTube, which is an uncommon feat for a rookie group. So let’s check out what ATHLETIC GIRL has to offer.

ATHLETIC GIRL is another decent debut track. But unlike the song I reviewed earlier today, ATHLETIC GIRL fairs a lot better and has a lot more reasons that enables it to stand out. One of these reasons has to be the confident attitude and vibe that the song exudes, which goes hand-in-hand with ATHLETIC GIRL‘s self-confidence and self-pride messaging that the lyrics have and their delivery through in some parts of the song. Other reasons include both the vocals and rapping. On the rapping front, I liked the boost of energy the rappers gave the song. On top of that, I felt momentum and dynamism were well delivered and presented, which shows me huge promises and potential for this group. The rap-speak parts of the song were quite captivating and was a subtle yet powerful manner of showing that self-confidence and self-pride messaging from the lyrics. On the vocal front, there was some strong showing of their vocal capabilities, particularly in the post-chorus sequence that followed the second and final choruses. This post-chorus sequence also doubles up as a mechanism to prevent ATHLETIC GIRL from going down the repetitive path, which I was thankful for. Elsewhere, stronger melodies would have made the song memorable, but what we got was pretty good already. Now, I have to admit that ATHLETIC GIRL does fall in one aspect – the hip-hop instrumentation. I felt the background for ATHLETIC GIRL was lackluster and not innovative. I felt it could have been more dynamic and amped up. If this was the case, I think (in conjunction with everything I have mentioned already) would have made ATHLETIC GIRL more compelling.

The common stereotype in KPOP when it comes to music videos is that if you come from a small company, your music video isn’t going to be high quality. H1-KEY comes from a company that I have never even heard of, but this music video nowhere near the low end of the quality spectrum. I was astounded by the crisp quality of the video. I really liked the changing background of that concrete room. It was a subtle detail that I almost missed, but it definitely made the music video appear more dynamic. The sets were definitely well constructed, and looked really modern and cool on screen. The closeups for this music video showcases the members visuals, which is no doubt a great selling point for a debut music video. Great jobs to the members and the producers of this video!

I quite like the inclusion of the various exercise moves they had in the performance, even though I felt it was a tad too heavy handed (made the performance feel a bit repetitive). A few stretching, crouching and lunge poses and the showing of biceps (probably the most global way of showing how fit you are to the world!). I also enjoyed the confidence the members brought to the stage – quite refreshing. But the rest of the performance was a bit ordinary.

Song – 7.5/10
Music Video – 9/10
Performance – 7/10
Overall Rating – 7.9/10