Tag: iKon

iKON is back with two digital singles. Apology (this review) and Anthem (the other review released later today) form part of their debut album, which to date, only half of it has been revealed. The other half is said to come out next month, forming a full album. This particular song features the entire group, while the other song only features Bobby and B.I as the artist. But let’s review Apology right now.

It is a hip hop infused ballad where the song is quite upbeat. The lyrics are not that upbeat though. This upbeat sound that they have gives the song that more rhythmic side of the song, which in turn makes the song more catchy to listen to. The “mian, mian” that we hear in the chorus is repetitively stuck in my mind. The vocals and rapping in this song is top notch. The vocals are very dominated and I just really love that about the song. Sometimes the vocals are covered up with the instrumentals, but there is a really nice balance in this song.  I just love their songs when it comes to these ballad types. To me, it suits them a lot. BUT I personally find the song a little dull. Not too much to deter me away from the song, but I feel like if a little more something was added to the song, I believe it would take the song to a whole new level. But what we have here is satisfying in my point of view already and to the many perspective of other fans.

As for the music video, a lot of tears and a lot of hearts were probably broken in the making and watching of this video. It is a pretty simple video when you think about. Just seeing couples fight and everyone getting angry. Their acting is pretty good (compared to other videos that I have made acting centred comments about). The black and white filter on the video gives it that really rustic feel and makes me zone into the emotions in which the group and the actresses are pouring out onto the screen for us to watch. But beside that, there really is not much else to say.

To hear that there is a dance to this song is really disappointing. This is the type of song where I expected no dance.  So I am just watching the dance practice to this with an unimpressed face on and nothing changed it.

Overall, an amazing song (compared to their first round of promotions), the music video was great, but the dance… yeah… 7/10

iKON has offically made their debut with their “half album”. If you managed to miss out on their pre-release and my review of it, click here!!! Finally getting around to these reviews. Now that I have finished university for the year (yes, it is nearly December), I should have more time for reviews. Exams soon. But it shouldn’t effect the reviews. Hopefully.

Rhythm Ta is like a hip-hop dance infused track that sounds a whole heap catchier than their pre-release. But it faces the same problem as their pre-release. Not a great start to their careers though. While I think it is a good song, it really doesn’t do much as a debut song. It doesn’t represent the guys or show something new. It is something that is quite standard and ordinary. The bridge was a complete mismatch to the rest of the song. I don’t think the vocals in this song matched with the song and Bobby’s rap sounds over the top in terms of power and toughness. B.I suited a lot more in this song than any of the other members. But the chorus is catchy and I digged it more than My Type. As for Airplane,  I think it s a hip-hop infused ballad. It sounds nicer and I much prefer this than My Type. At first I thought it would a song that Winner would release, but there is much more of that hip hop and upbeat feel to it. The vocals here matched the song much more and everything matched itself. Unlike Rhythm Ta, this song is by far a much better song in terms of, well, everything.

The music video for both I don’t much to say. Both seem okay. Both of the videos matched the style and the sounding of the song. Rhythm Ta was a more badass type of video, a lot of focus was on the dance, while Airplane was more a ballad and fitting plot was in it. For Airplane, the dude is clearly in love with the girl, but his friend continues to cock block them and also I don’t think the girl realised his emotions for her. It was an ordinary plot, and their acting is pretty good. Something that got to me was the parts where the members sing in Airplane. It just looks cliche and boring to watch them. Sounds like a particular video from last year. In terms of video, I think Rhythm Ta had a more visually appealing video. The colours were bolder and much more stronger compared too Airplane.

As for the dance, there was really only a dance for Rhythm Ta. And it was pretty good. The live performance for Airplane was boring to watch. But then again, there was not much to it.

Mixed feelings about the whole package. Airplane had a much better song, but Rhythm Ta had a much better video and dance. I feel like the boys still have not brought their A game out yet. I am 100% sure they can take everything they released and make it more amazing.

Rhythm Ta – 7/10

Airplane – 8/10

iKON, by far, is probably the most hyped group to debut in 2015. Fans have been waiting for a very long time for the group to make their debut. They have gone through 2 different survival shows to get to the current lineup. Win was the first show, but Team B (which is iKON now) failed to beat Team A (otherwise known as WINNER). They went to to compete in Mix & Match last year to get to the hype that they have today. The current members are: Bobby, B.I, Jinhwan, Yunhyeong, Donghyuk, Ju-ne and Chanwoo. This is also their pre-release song. They made their official debut just today (1st of October) with a “Debut Half Album” and a “Debut Full Album” in November. Reviews for those songs and videos will be out later in the month (no promises).

This is a pretty ordinary song. There really was nothing that stood out to me, to get me back. I am disappointed since I know this band can put out good songs. It was pretty dull and not that catchy. It does get me swaying a long to the song though everytime I hear it, which is kind of weird. The style of the song seems a little too innocent for the group though. It is nice for them to explore different styles and genres, but the rapping was a little too forceful and powerful in this song. I feel like they can really do powerful song and stronger songs knowing their rapping and vocals. Another thing I want to talk about, why are the rappers the main point of song. Only Bobby and B.I got a good chunk of the song with the chorus and their individual raps. What the song showed me was that the other members can sing, so why are the rappers singing the chorus? Not saying they were awful but they could have been replaced with much smoothier vocals by the other members.

As for the music video, it was pretty dull as well. It looks pretty boring and the filter or whatever they put over the video made it so boring to watching. This song called for colour and everything in this video was anything but colour. It did seem to have scenes of the members down to earth, but it seems a little too over the top in some bits. Actually their acting should use some improvements. As for the quality of the music video… Maybe more of the music video budget was allocated to their debut songs.  I have absolutely nothing more to say beside it was boring.

To save myself from fans, I am going to say this: their debut songs are much better than this song. That hopefully can save my life. Hahaha.. Only joking. Not the best song to start off with, but it is just their pre-release. They have probably so many other songs up their sleeves. 4/10