[Review] Why – Kim Hyun Joong

It has been almost 5 years since we last saw Kim Hyun Joong on the stage in Korea. But due to Japanese promotions and a number of scandals, he put his solo career on hold. On top of that, he also enlisted in the military and completed his duty in 2017. And now, he has returned with his new mini-album, New Way and the title track, Why. This is his first comeback since Beauty Beauty was released in 2014.

Why is a completely different sound to what Kim Hyun Joong used to release as a solo artist in the earlier in the decade. It is a vocally driven ballad. I personally did not expect this vocal style from him. Sure, I knew he could sing but not in this manner. The song gives off Roy Kim or John Park vibes, which I thought was a very interesting approach. I also liken his vocals to those artists. He doesn’t nail it perfectly but he is in that vicinity if we were to put all vocalists onto a spectrum of some sort. I liked the soothing nature of the ballad but I felt like the instrumental could have been a little bolder. I wanted a stronger orchestral touch to the song, which I think could have helped the song to sound more emotionally driven. Overall, Why is a nice song. It could have been more but it was still good nonetheless.

The music video was also quite interesting. We see Kim Hyun Joong and a female break up and they part ways. He spends a lot of his time walking in his chosen direction and this continues until the final chorus, to which he turns back and starts running in the direction of his former companion. But he lost her in the crowd and it comes until then that their relationship is no longer possible. The music video also features French (correct me if I am wrong) subtitles for all of the Korean that he sings but English subtitles when he sings words or phrases in English. Don’t really understand the point of that but thought it was intriguing. Another thing I noticed is that a lot of the people in the background are staring at him throughout the video. That has never bothered me before but I guess it is a lot noticeable due to the slow nature of the video.

Song – 7/10
Music Video – 8/10
Overall Rating – 7.4/10

Rewind: February 2015

Through this new segment (Finally got to use that one word), we will be looking back at the second month of 2015. I get to rank my top 10 songs. But we also get to look back at other events that happened in the Korean music industry. This way, I can talk about big events in the KPOP industry and rely my thoughts to you all.

YG says comeback for Big Bang will happen in April

This month, YG “promised” us that the first artist to make their comeback would be Big Bang, who has been scheduled for April. Yes, I put “promised” in quotation marks because half the time, we really cannot take his words as the final story. Hopefully, this time Big Bang will make their very long awaited comeback in April and for once Yang Hyun Suk say something we can actually could have relied on. iKON will always be make their debut this year, just we don’t have a clear time frame yet.

Comeback announcement for April?

About 343425946 bands in the KPOP industry have announced their comeback in April. Yes, there have been so many already that I can’t remember. As mentioned above, Big Bang is. Joining them is Girl’s Day, Miss A and Dal Shabet. B1A4‘s sister group will be making their debut in April as well. FT Island is also due to make a comeback in April as well. iKon is also another band rumoured to make their debut in April. As we look further into the future, SNSD and Infinite are both aiming for May comebacks. April is going to be one hell of a month with all the bands coming back for me. And April is going to be one busy month for me already…

Kim Hyun Joong’s Domestic Violence Scandal + Pregnancy rumours

Another turn for the worse for Kim Hyun Joong. Late last year, it was reported that his former girlfriend was a victim to domestic violence attacks from the KPOP star. She sued him for what she had alleged that he has done to her. Now, it was revealed that the former girlfriend had withdrawn the lawsuit and the two proceeded to meet up with each other. Now the ex girlfriend is claiming to be pregnant with Kim’s child as he prepares for military enlistment.  His side has been asking for the girlfriend to come out and do pregnancy tests, which from what I read, she refused (but she ended up,  through her lawyer,  giving out “her” test results). I am going to be honest, this sounds very suspicious on her part. Since she had sued and withdrew the lawsuit basically means she has a free ticket to get away from Kim Hyun Joong. Unless she is that crazy in love for him, this progression in their relationship is putting both parties in a bad light.

Top 10 Songs Of The Month

1. Black Swan – Rainbow

2. Crazy – 4Minute

3. Shake That Brass – Amber (f(x)) ft. SNSD Taeyeon

4. Love Equation – VIXX

5. 너무 Very 막 – MYNAME

6. Just – ZionT ft. Crush

7. Always – A.Kor

8. Because Of You – Berry Good

9. Beautiful – KXIS (DMTN)

10. Sniper – Shinhwa

Your Story – Kim Hyun Joong ft. DOK2

Source: http://i1.wp.com/24-7kpop.COM/wp-content/uploads/2013/07/khj-your-story1.png?resize=770%2C472

Kim Hyun Joong recently made his comeback with his pre released single, Unbreakable, and his title song from his third mini album, Your Story. The hip hop sensation, DOK2, also featured in this song and also did feature in his previous single, Break Down. This song is completely different to Unbreakable, this one being a more emotional song and the other a more powerful song. The song reconnects the audience with the RnB feel, a style that Kim Hyun Joong has yet gone for. Now, I have something to say, but is another song from this mini album charting higher than this particular song or am I just misreading stuff? I think I am misreading, because it makes no sense. I checked MNet online charts, and Kim Hyun Joong’s Let’s Party was voted on top of all songs, not Your Story or Unbreakable.

Anyway, I really did not like the song. I enjoyed Lucky Guy, Kiss Kiss, Please, but this song was just so boring for me. I really do prefer Unbreakable, if I had to choose between the two songs, and I did not like Unbreakable that much either. This seems to be a different side of the singer that is not that appealing. Well, the girls are all swooning over him, squealing on top of their lungs when they hear him, but as a guy and not a fangirl (or boy) of Kim Hyun Joong, I found the song lacking in colour and emotion, The song is meant to be emotional and all of that, but it did not appeal to me as I thought it would. The song was quite too slow for me and there was no impact to the song. It is not catchy. I found the “Your Story, Your Story” part really annoying and the chorus felt really dead. Basically the song was black and white for me and the vocals really did not fit the feel of the song. Overall, really disappointed.

Wow, what a steamy music video. Yeah, beside that, the music video consisted of a guy walking down a beach and singing on a random stage on the beach. Nothing great from the video. Another black and white, plain feeling that lacks a lot of detail. I honestly agree with the others. The presence of the girl adds nothing to the video and only keeps perverts watching the music video. They are either appealing to the pervert population of the KPOP world, with the overused “scene” and fangirls, with the overused shirtless Kim Hyun Joong. Oh why do I feel like I am going to die and a bunch of ‘Henecias’ are going to be at my door tomorrow. Must keep my profile low.

There is no dance as far as I am concerned. Well, there are some parts of the dance, but it is not overally that great, He does dance the most when it is not his turn to sing, but really, he spends most of the time at the microphone.

1/10. Sorry. I really tried to be fair, but really was disappointed. Here is my question for you all. Which song did you like better: Unbreakable or Your Story? Or maybe another song off his new mini album? I prefer Let’s Party than these two songs. I have linked both songs down below in the playlist. Enjoy.

Unbreakable – Kim Hyun Joong ft. Jay Park

Source: http://www.hallyusmash.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/07/kim-hyun-joong-unbreakable-badass-11.png
Source: http://www.hallyusmash.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/07/kim-hyun-joong-unbreakable-badass-11.png

Kim Hyun Joong recently made his comeback after consecutive Japanese promotions and releases, without a song in Korea, leaving fans swooning for him. According to my friends, they have been dying to hear a new song from the artist himself and was overcome with joy when he released this song, featuring the one and only Jay park. Woo! Anyway, the song was pre released ahead of his mini album on the 18th of July. Since then, and after his mini album was released, he has reached the top of so many charts, including Billboard. Wow! That is one big achievement there. Let’s continue shall we?

Okay, I am really torn about the song. I do like it, but it is not as great as his previous singles. Same go for “Your Story” which is his other title track. I expected some kind of hardcore party song, not something fierce and dominate. It is a great song, but I find it not for me. Yeah, crazy right? The song has its RnB roots and the vocals are pretty good. It is powerful and hits you across the face. The only thing I like about the song is the “Unbreakable, Unbreakable” part at the end of each chorus. I do also like Jay park’s part in the song. I don’t know, I did not like Break Down and this song is quite similar to that other song, in terms of style. Yeah, I am not impressed. The vocals of the verse are lacking the proper appeal which I found in Please and Lucky Guy. That “Woahh~” part at the end was really annoying and kind of came out of nowhere for me. I am not big on the whole instrumental of the song as well.

The music video is quite artistic. I do like the addition of the tradition Korean parts to the video, which seems really foreign in my mind. I think the last artist to do that was in B.A.P’s No Mercy, with the traditional fusion dance part. It was dark which really fitted the song’s style and I actually prefer the music video to the song itself. I like the large scale set of the music video and those ninjas were pretty cool. I think this is the first time I am going to say this, but I have this thing with a car turning into something else. That car just turned into a freaking cow. Yeah, I have not searched up the lyrics but a cow? Also, given tops for the addition of the drums, they add something new to the video that is quite different from the Lamborghini and the cow. Jay Park’s addition was pretty cool as well. And Kim Hyun Joong shirtless, yeah, I don’t what to say. Disappointed? Satisfied? Don’t care? But I hate that red filter and the raindrops and those slow motion parts. Sadly the only movie or video that should attempt slow motion is The Matrix, nothing else.

The dance is really so and so. Nothing great about the dance. It matches the dominate feel of the song and pretty much matched the style of the song as well. There was power and a lot of abs on the MCountdown stage on Thursday. What? It is the video I chose to add to the playlist anyway.

3.5/10. Not that great for me. I am sure others will love and like it But this comeback overall was not for me. That also includes Your Story. I think the only song which I liked was “Let’s Party”, mainly because I liked it on the Japanese album and now it was remade to Korean.

Lucky Guy – Kim Hyun Joong

Song

Based on my liking & point of view, this song was a very big letdown. I preferred Please & Break Down (Which I actually did not like). However the chorus is very catchy & I quite enjoyed it. Yeah however I really don’t anything else about the song.

Music Video

Arrggh!!! I DISLIKE THIS MUSIC VIDEO. At first I thought of a James Bond kind of theme. The closest the music video got according to my theory is the picking up girls and casino playing. The teasers did not get me into the flow of the song. The teasers did not suit the music video or song in my point of view even though they are small sections of the video. Maybe that is just me. Now I have to ask, since when did girls would start stripping out in public especially when there is a guy nearby? Sick way of getting guys. Do not listen to this girls.  The music video is a bad teacher. But it also teaches never to date guys who suck at gambling. That’s right. If he loses money, you can be up for betting. *Shivers*. Anyway, i do like the concept that the girl is actually a spy and she looked very cunning and smart when she left Kim Hyun Joong. Very smart, very very smart.

Live Performance

Yeah, I don’t like the full red suit. I particularly like the performance from the MAMA 2011. Yeah, even though I know the whole thing was rehearsed by the performance was pretty good. Suzy was really good looking. The dance is pretty cool and not to complicated. Well, expect for the start, because the dance at the start looked complicated and well time.

And The Rating?

I would give this a 7/10. Also, you may notice, I rewrote this review for some particular reason.

Have Fun Watching. 😀 Troy.