I end the week of long of reviews focusing on solo comebacks and debuts with a focus on OnlyOneOf and the solo works that the group has been pumping out monthly since June of this year. For those who were not aware, OnlyOneOf embarked on a undergrOund idOl project, where each member releases a single each month. First up was YooJung with the single begin, followed by KB’s be free. In August, we saw the release of be mine by JunJi, which is then followed by Rie’s release. Mill and Nine’s releases will come out in November and December, and I will be reviewing those once they come out. Aside from solo work, we last saw OnlyOneOf through their skinz promotions earlier in the year and more recently their second Japanese single Zurui Onna.
This next release in the undergrOund idOl project takes on R&B, though for a brief second I thought be mine was going down a balladry route with the piano. But when the piano started to get jerky, I could tell that the producers and JunJi had other plans for be mine. I liked that each of the tracks we have heard thus far all have a different colour and genre, allowing each member to make their track their own. And so far, the tracks have been great. However, be mine is probably the most generic and the least appealing of the four (i.e. YooJung to Rie’s) released at the time of writing this review. I just don’t find it as compelling as the rest, and to be honest, the song got lost in the crowd at the time of its release. I actually had very little memory of this track before writing this review. While that probably doesn’t sell be mine, it is still a decent track. And if you like a standard nonchalant R&B track, then be mine might be for you. I quite like the rapid pulses of beats that we get in the instrumentation, in particular. It adds a bit of dynamic flair to the song, which keeps in line with the other undergrOund idOl tracks we have gotten thus far. But it isn’t really enough to bring it up to that bar set by begin and be free, for me. Vocally, it is probably one of the strongest tracks of the project thus far, which makes sense given that JunJi is one of the lead vocalists of the group. I also did like the rapping that was mixed into be mine, which gives the song a bit more appeal than a straight forward R&B track. be mine might not be the most compelling track, but it was still a fair effort for JunJi.
In my last music video breakdown for KB’s release, I mentioned that KB had been hurt previously and I feel like JunJi’s music video might give a hint to why that is the case. I believe that KB and JunJi were on a date at YooJung’s café (maybe this is where YooJung and KB first saw and fell for each other). A new member appears, Rie, who stops by to order something. Both JunJi and Rie share a smile exchange, before Rie leaves the store, going about the rest of his day. JunJi ditches KB (and probably hurts KB in the process, which leads to why he chooses not to be with YooJung in the be free music video) and runs after Rie. Don’t know if he confesses or just invites Rie to hang, but Rie pretty much agrees, much to JunJi’s excitement. And then the rest is history. The pair hang out and have some fun with each other. And at the end, they seem to go to the next level in their relationship by sharing a kiss at the café. Again, this video sets up the events in Rie’s music video, which follows the release of be mine. I quite liked the golden colour of the video, which matches well with the R&B side of the song. From the lighting in the café to the sunshine, it creates a warm atmosphere in the video.
Song – 7/10
Music Video – 8/10
Overall Rating – 7.4/10
KPOPREVIEWED 