Tag: Seulgi (Red Velvet)

[Review] Stamp On It – GOT the beat

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As mentioned last week in my long overdue review for Step Back, GOT the beat will be making their official comeback this week with their newest single and first mini-album, both of which are titled Stamp On It. The group previously performed Stamp On It at SM Town Live 2023: SMCU Palace at Kwangya on the first day of this year. Today, the music video and album officially dropped, which now calls for a review.

Truthfully, I hadn’t checked out Stamp On It when the performance was first uploaded onto YouTube. So everything I say today is actually my first impression (or so). Spoiler alert: things don’t look too good for Stamp On It. For Stamp On It, I found the song to be very incohesive. Each part of the song was distinct and stayed distinct. In no way did I feel Stamp On It attempt to blend or meld together the different parts to make it feel like one whole song, rather than three separate songs mashed together. The first part (i.e. verses and choruses) did work with one another, but there was the recurring obnoxious and annoying vocal synth (“Goo Ooo“) in the background that really gave me a headache. It was overwhelming, and just distracted me from the the vocal work. And that is saying quite a bit, given that Stamp On It continues the powerful vocals that GOT the best also put on display through their Step Back release. To even be able to distract me from that is quite alarming! Following the first and final choruses, we get this “Baby Baby Baby” sequence that I don’t feel add much substance to the song. The synths here, whilst not as annoying, do head in that direction. The bridge was probably the most promising and likeable aspect of Stamp On It, as it didn’t feature any loop of synths. It brought a bit of smoothness via the vocals to the song, which I also really appreciated. It was then followed up with an instrumental break and powerful rap sequence. Said instrumental break could not escape from that same recurring synth, but that rap sequence showed promise. Overall, Stamp On It is not my cup of tea. I do like my mashes, but Stamp On It is too much. But my biggest issue with Stamp On It is that the unit has such a strong lineup, but yet the song choices for promotions have been a total letdown.

I believe the music video gears towards a heist concept. I am not entirely sure, but that was the impression I was getting with the museum type of setting and the presence of the diamond and expensive art around them. Other than that, it was a strong video in terms of style and visuals. Each member looked amazing. But the standout moment from the video has to be when Seulgi brushes her hair backwards at the 2:30 mark of the music video. That definitely left a strong impression in my memory bank.

I am a bit disappointed with the choreography for this comeback. I feel like the moves were all ‘soft around the edges’, which was a mismatch towards the harsher and heavy synths. I wished there was more boldness to the performance and the moves appeared to be sharper.

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

[Review] Step Back – GOT the Beat

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Needless to say, this review is very overdue. But as the saying goes – better late than never. Got the Beat is due to make their comeback on Monday with their first mini-album, Stamp It Out. So in preparation for that, I have decided to finally write me review for Step Back, their debut single that officially dropped early 2022. For those who may not have tuned for Got the Beat’s debut, the lineup of this super female group hails from SM Entertainment’s female artists and consist of a legendary lineup, including BoA, Taeyeon and Hyoyeon (from SNSD), Seulgi and Wendy (from Red Velvet) and Karina and Winter (from aespa).

My impression of Step Back from a year ago is exactly the same today. And it isn’t any good news, unfortunately. While I commend the lineup for their powerful energy and vocals (however, this does become an issue – more later on) that will definitely wakes you up no matter what state you are in, my biggest gripe about Step Back is that it is overly repetitive. Aside from the bridge, which features a very smooth slow down in momentum and an really cool yet unhurried ramp back up towards the final chorus through the use of raps and high notes, everything else in the Step Back‘s instrumental just felt like it was on a loop. The same synths was just on repeat and there was never any new offering (until we got to the bridge). And even the final chorus, which was an opportunity for Step Back to concentrate or offer something new (or do anything more than feature the same loop), just featured the same synths we heard earlier on in the song. The melodies have a nice ring to them, but they do feel slightly monotonous. A major help to Step Back were the vocals, which I have already described as powerful. Standalone, each member really had their moment to shine in Step Back, with the many high notes flooring me. But as I mentioned at the start of this paragraph, the powerful vocals do become a bit of an issue when it comes to the chorus which all (if not most) members of this super female group contribute to. I just felt all of them singing at once created an overwhelming effect, which felt slightly uncomfortable in my opinion. Had the vocals been toned back, just by a slight amount, this effect would not have been apparent and Step Back would have just have repetitive issue as its Achilles’ heels.

Another reason to why I had not reviewed Step Back earlier on was that I was waiting around for an actual music video to drop. But that never happened. Instead, the performance video that was first release stands in as the main promotional video. It looks cool and all. But I felt a proper music video would have helped made everything feel more dynamic and interesting, rather than seeing the same set and outfits for almost four minutes. The performance video does make do, however. I liked how the lighting in the background helps transform the same set into what felt like a few different sets. The performance itself was pretty amazing. I did like the sassy attitude that the performance featured, which is miles away from the disappointing lyrics. They really put all of their energy and power into making the performance a strong one, and it delivered.

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

[Album Review] 28 Reasons (1st Mini Album) – SEULGI (Red Velvet)

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SEULGI is nominated for Best New Female Soloist and Best Solo Choreography (Female) in the 2022 KPOPREVIEWED Awards. Support SEULGI and your other favourite artists, songs and performance by clicking here to vote today.

SEULGI made her solo debut weeks ago with 28 Reasons, the title of both her title track and her debut mini-album. Today, I will be reviewing her mini-album, which features an additional five tracks alongside 28 Reasons (the title track). More recently, SEULGI has returned with Red Velvet for their latest release, Birthday. But this particular review is for SEULGI and her high calibre solo debut mini-album, so let’s go!

28 Reasons Album Cover

1. 28 Reasons (Title Track) – Click here to read the full review for 28 Reasons. (8/10)

2. Dead Man Runnin’ – Dead Man Runnin’ is the track that sticks in my mind the most from this mini-album. It is haunting to R&B listen to, but it just remains with you. It might be the due to the soaring chorus that inclines out of nowhere but manages to do so in a stylish manner. It might be due to the lyrics, which expresses the vengeance one intends for the person who caused them pain. But I think it is because of SEULGI’s vocals, which leaves my jaw hanging open and complete floored each time I listen to the song. (10/10)

3. Bad Boy, Sad Girl (ft. Be’O) – In a completely different style, SEULGI brings to the album a hint of cutesy vocals in this otherwise R&B number. For the most part, Bad Boy, Sad Girl was a fine song. But the issue for me comes about when BE’O starts. I felt the way he started his featuring was a bit too overpowering for my liking. While his featuring does settle down and does allow SEULGI to come back into the song, I am still not keen with that shock. But we do get some good harmonies from the pair. (7/10)

4. Anywhere But Home – Anywhere But Home is a pleasant track to my ears, featuring an upbeat and funky backdrop (thanks to the bassline). There is also an atmospheric undertone to the single, which helps the single come off as dreamy. And SEULGI’s smooth vocals complement this dreamy aspect so well. The melodies were catchy and memorable. The electric guitar riffs at the very end of the song were really cool. My only question is regarding the start, which didn’t add much value to Anywhere But Home in my opinion, aside from reiterating the title. (8/10)

5. Los Angeles – I really enjoyed the suspense the verses of Los Angeles had going on. It brought a clubbing beat to the track that felt sensual and flirty in a way. I like how the song gears towards the chorus, before the beat drops into EDM territory. The whole journey was really exciting and cool. It does repeat and the rest of Los Angeles doesn’t offer anything new in the lead up or during second or third rounds at the EDM drop. But it is still a blast that I would gladly put on my playlist. (9/10)

6. Crown – Crown returns us back to the haunting vibes that we got at the start of the mini-album (and also ends the album). There is also a regal vibe and tone to Crown, which is just so fitting for the song and SEULGI herself. SEULGI again wows me with her vocals, especially during the chorus, where she serves us with upfront and backing vocals. As the song progresses, the instrumental gets heavier and heavier, and I feel like SEULGI follows through with her vocals. Altogether, it is an amazing end to the album. (9/10)

Overall Album Rating – 8.5/10

28 Reasons Teaser Image

[Review] 28 Reasons – Seulgi (Red Velvet)

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From the final comeback of the week to one of the first. This post focuses on Red Velvet’s Seulgi, who made her solo debut on Monday was 28 Reasons – the title of both the lead single and debut mini-album. This is the first major release from a member of Red Velvet, since their Feel My Rhythm promotions from earlier in the year.

28 Reasons explore some dark and mature sounds, going further from even Red Velvet’s darkest releases. The song is described as a bass-heavy pop dance track. There isn’t much else to the instrumental aside from some whistling and crunchy gurgles effects during the chorus, so the background acts more of a blank canvas due to its minimalistic vibes. Though, it definitely sets the dark tone of the release. This idea of a ‘blank canvas’ enables Seulgi to really take reign in 28 Reasons, showcasing her powerful and stunning vocals that aren’t usually shown off in her group releases as it is done so here. I liked how she offsets the heavy bass with her vocals, which draws you in and doesn’t make 28 Reasons too heavy to digest. I also really enjoyed it when Seulgi amped up her vocals during the chorus, which instantly adds additional oomph and body to 28 Reasons. It does get slightly dry in the second verse, with no further build up occurs and begins the idea of the the song drying out as it progresses. You have to wait for 28 Reasons to reach the mid-point of the bridge to hear it briefly change momentum with a complete stripping of the background, replacing it even with a more vibrating synth and Seulgi rap-speaking in the bridge. This is soon followed with an amazing high note, before reverting back to the same chorus but with extra oomph through what seemed liked an additional layer of vocals on top of what we heard earlier on in the song and ad-libs that follow on nicely from that high note. I do feel that 28 Reasons could have used something more within the background, particularly in that second verse region, just to give it that different feel and give the song more momentum. But overall, 28 Reasons is a good solo debut track that highlights Seulgi’s strengths.

Just like the song, the music video explores dark and mature territory with a very moody, edgy and haunting concept. The moody and edgy sides comes in abundance throughout the video, through the choreography shots and solo moments. I liked how they also share a minimalistic vibe (just like the song) with a very spacious backgrounds and sets with not much going on. The haunting imagery comes during those scenes where Seulgi stands in the grass between transmission towers. In particular, that scene at the very of the video where she stares into the camera. The video, overall, pretty much sums up the song in a visual manner.

I read somewhere recently that the hand actions in the choreography of 28 Reasons was inspired by the Scarlet Witch’s hand motions in Wandavision. That is pretty cool and a nice little crossover for someone who enjoys both KPOP and Marvel Cinematic Universe. I really enjoyed how smooth her movements were. Her charisma and charms were also on full display throughout the performance, making it a captivating stage to watch.

Song – 8/10
Music Video – 9/10
Performance – 9/10
Overall Rating – 8.5/10

[Review] Who Are You – BamBam (GOT7) ft. Seulgi (Red Velvet)

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As mentioned yesterday, I will be reviewing solo releases over the last few months which I had not reviewed yet. To start, I will be looking at the solo pre-releases that I should have reviewed before I reviewed the official main title tracks. BamBam (member of GOT7) is one of the solo members that come to mind. He recently came back with the single Slow Mo and second mini-album, B. Also off the B mini-album is the single Who Are You, which features Red Velvet member Seulgi, and was first revealed to listeners at the end of 2021. Who Are You is the focus on this review post.

While it has been over a month ago since both news of and the actual release, I could remember thinking that a collaboration between BamBam and Seulgi was unexpected and surprising, but also exciting and refreshing. And both BamBam and Seulgi proved with Who Are You that the latter points were the most correct. Who Are You is a very light and smooth R&B track that felt just right. While I don’t listen to the song every single day, I thoroughly enjoy its presence every time I do come across Who Are You. There is so much to enjoy in this song, despite there being so little to the track. Who Are You has a minimal atmospheric instrumental, kicking off with a low hum, before bringing in the simple strumming of guitar and then the later addition of a slow soft piano melody in the verses. For the chorus, the piano element is relatively heavier, and we also get some simple percussion, to help kick the song up a notch. But everything from start to end can be described as light, simple and minimalistic, as described initially. What also makes Who Are You so good are the vocals from both artists. The set up of them echoing each other is so impactful and added a profound colour to the song. It made the song so interesting. Individually, BamBam really surprised me with his softer and gentle vocals in this song. It suits him so well, and the textures that his raspy vocals brought to the table helped made Who Are You so good. As for Seulgi, her light and higher tone balanced out the song, making the entire track more pleasant and smoother. Overall, Who Are You is an amazing single, and BamBam and Seulgi pairing is perfect.

For the music video, I liked it. I felt the different scenes were aesthetic and artistic. I liked the idea of both set and outdoor scenes. The video didn’t feel confined or restricted in anyway as a result, which gave a lot of breathing space to me as a viewer. I am sure there are meaning behind some of the individual scenes, but I don’t have the intelligence to break it down and decipher it this time around. My main gripe about the music video is some of the scenes appeared too dark and it was hard to see what as going on. It was probably done for an aesthetic or artistic reason, but it distracted me and hindered the process of me trying to take everything in.

The choreography routine, performed by both BamBam and Seulgi, is a contemporary piece that is both smooth and captivating to watch. It definitely highlights both BamBam and Seulgi’s skill set as performers and shows them off in such a mature lighting. They also perform in a very harmonious manner, which boosts up the routine to the next level.

Song – 9/10
Music Video – 8.5/10
Performance – 10/10
Overall Rating – 9.1/10

[Special] 2018 KPOPREVIEWED Awards – Song Categories Results

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Welcome back to the 2018 KPOPREVIEWED Awards! On the 1st of December 2018, I presented my readers with many categories filled with talented and deserving nominees for the 2018 KPORPEVIEWED Awards. For the month of December, all of you voted for your favourite artists and songs from January 2018 to November 2018. And today, I present to you who the winners of each category were.

This is the second section, which will look at the categories surrounding the artists including Best Male and Female Choreography, Best Album and Best Song of 2018.

In addition to the fan-voted categories, I have also included 5 categories that were not fan voted and I had personally selected the winners (or were determined throughout the year). They include Best Special Performance, Best Concept, Best Non-Title Track, Most Wins on Weekly KPOP Charts segment and Most Viewed Review of 2018. They are labelled clearly.

Each category (with the exception of the non-fan-voted categories) will have a WINNER (the artist that received the highest amount of fan votes), Honourable Mention (the artist/group that received the second highest amount of fan votes) and KPOPREVIEWED Choice (who I voted for).

So, drum roll please, for the winners of the 2018 KPOPREVIEWED Artist categories.

Best Male Choreography

Nominees – Fake Love (BTS), Tempo (EXO), Lullaby (GOT7), Thanks (Seventeen), Now or Never (SF9), Black Heart (UNB)

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WINNER – Thanks (Seventeen)
Honourable Mention – Fake Love (BTS)
KPOPREVIEWED Choice – Lullaby (GOT7)

Best Female Choreography

Nominees – Bingle Bangle (AOA), Woman (BoA), I Love You (EXID), Time For The Moon Night (GFriend), Siren (Sunmi), Dance The Night Away (TWICE)

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WINNER – Woman (BoA)
Honourable Mentions – Siren (Sunmi) & Dance The Night Away (TWICE)
KPOPREVIEWED Choice – I Love You (EXID)

Best Special Performance

This is not a fan-voted category.

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WINNER – Dreams Come True (WJSN) at KCON 2018 Japan

Best Music Video

Nominees – Bingle Bangle (AOA), DDU-DU DDU DU (BLACKPINK), Fake Love (BTS), Love Bomb (fromis.9), Really Bad Boy (Red Velvet), Now or Never (SF9), District 9 (Stray Kids), The Chance of Love (TVXQ), Yes or Yes (TWICE), Spring Breeze (Wanna One)

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WINNER – Fake Love (BTS)
Honourable Mention – DDU-DU DDU-DU (BLACKPINK)
KPOPREVIEWED Choice – Fake Love (BTS)

Best Japanese Song Released by a Korean Artist

Nominees – Electric Kiss (EXO), Memoria (GFriend), Chain (NCT 127), Call Call Call (Seventeen), BDZ (TWICE)

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WINNER – Electric Kiss (EXO)
Honourable Mention – Call Call Call (Seventeen)
KPOPREVIEWED Choice – Call Call Call (Seventeen)

Best Collaboration

Nominees – Still In Love (Lee Hong Ki & Yoo Hwe Sung), Wow Thing! (Seulgi, SinB, Kim Chungha, Kim Soyeon), Dinner (Suho & Jang Jae In), Page 0 (Taeyeon & Melomance), Love It Like It (YDPP)

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WINNER – Wow Thing! (Seulgi, SinB, Kim Chungha, Kim Soyeon)
Honourable Mention – Still In Love (Lee Hong Ki & Yoo Hwe Sung)
KPOPREVIEWED Choice – Love It Like It (YDPP)

Song With Most Wins on Weekly KPOP Charts segment

This is not a fan-voted category

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WINNER – Heroine (Sunmi) & Bingle Bangle (AOA)
[3 Weeks Each]

Most Viewed Review of 2018

This was not a fan-voted category

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WINNER – Boom Boom (Momoland)

Best Concept

This was not a fan-voted category

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WINNER – Love Bomb (fromis.9)

Best Non-Title Track

This is not a fan-voted category.

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WINNER – Dystopia (Cross Gene)

Best Album

Nominees – Love Yourself: Answer (BTS), Don’t Mess With My Tempo (EXO), The Story of Light – Epilogue (SHINee), Something New (Taeyeon (SNSD)), 1÷x = 1 (Undivided) (Wanna One)

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WINNER – The Story of Light – Epilogue (SHINee)
Honourable Mention – Love Yourself: Answer (BTS)
KPOPREVIEWED Choice – Love Yourself: Answer (BTS)

Best Song of 2018

Nominees – All title tracks released from January 2018 to November 2018.
The following song had the highest fan votes in the Best Song of 2018 category. The fan votes in this category will also contribute to 50% of the End Of The Year charts.

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WINNER – Good Evening (SHINee)

And that completes the Song Categories for the 2018 KPOPREVIEWED Awards. The Artist Categories were previously posted so you can access it by clicking here!

And for the End of Year Charts – they will be out tomorrow. I will update this post with the link once it is out.

Thank you for all voting and checking out who you all selected to be the winners! I hope to do this again for 2019!

[Review] Wow Thing – Seulgi (Red Velvet) x SinB (GFriend) x Kim Chungha x Soyeon ((G)I-DLE)

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I am going to take deviate away from ROOKIE WEEK a little more and publish a review for a brand new release. It is the next song in the Station x 0 project which boasts collaborations such as Taeyeon & Melomance, Baekhyun & Loco and Chanyeol & Sehun. But this new release, Wow Thing, probably has the most powerful female lineup any collaboration has ever had. We have Seulgi from Red Velvet, SinB from GFriend, Kim Chungha and Soyeon from (G)I-DLE coming together, so be prepared!

I really like the feel of the song and its presentation. But it is one of those songs that I can’t really gather many thoughts for. The instrumental does set the scene up for the song but it doesn’t really drive the song. Instead, the song uses vocals. Very powerful vocals to drive the song forward and deliver us a very strong track. When they sing together for the chorus, I thought the atmosphere was amazing and very attitude-heavy. Before we go any further, let’s us to take a moment to appreciate Kim Chungha’s vocal abilities. Like how come I don’t know of this? Her solo work doesn’t let her vocals shine, as compared to this song. Soyeon’s rap was also equally as powerful. The is quite catchy and memorable for a number of reasons, some of which I have specified above.

The music video is your standard music video. Nothing too special about it. All four members are present for this collaboration music video, which I guess is a plus. I feel like they could have made this louder if I was int he director chair. I think that would have been more interesting and fun. Though I would have to keep it from going overboard, in order to fit the message of the song, which is about making a strong and confident first impression. The music video did feature some choreography during the chorus and bridge. All looked good and I felt like the attitude was channelled well through their dancing.

Song – 9/10
Music Video – 7/10
Overall Rating – 8.2/10

[Review] Doll – Kangta, Seulgi & Wendy

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This is the second track that I have picked to do a review for. As mentioned yesterday, I am taking some time to catch up on the SM Station releases which I have missed out on in the past few weeks. Today’s pick is Kangta, Seulgi and Wendy’s collaboration, Doll, which is actually a remake of another track of the same name.

For those who don’t know, Doll was previously released in 2001 by Hyseung (from Shinhwa) and Lee Ji Hoon. Interestingly enough, Kangta actually wrote the lyrics to the track as well. The 2017 version is performed by Kangta, Seulgi and Wendy, who all bring their vocals to the table for this song. I searched for the original track on YouTube and it seems like they used the same instrumental. But I felt the original was empty (but I don’t mean that in a bad way). That may be due to the original singers’ similar vocals, while the 2017 version had variations with the male and female combination.  And I like that a lot because it feels like the track has a lot more going through it. I will admit the song was a little dry, in my opinion, at the start. But once the song climaxed and each vocalist was belting their vocals out, everything seemed to click into place. Obviously, for the song to work, there has to be amazing vocals in the ballad and the trio delivered with that making it an amazing song to listen to.

The music video accompanying the release of the track is a recording of the live performance that Kangta, Seulgi and Wendy gave at the SMTOWN Live concerts. I don’t have much else to say regarding the video. Mainly because they can’t shoot a full music video at a concert.

Song – 10/10
Music Video – 7/10
Overall Rating – 9/10