Kpop reviews by your favorite black nonbinary mlm!! Weekly Review Roundups Every Wednesday at 6pm EST Full Length Reviews Every Monday at 6pm EST Feature Spotlights Last Friday of Every Month at 6pm EST Follow my Twitter @FelicityBrown93 for all the latest updates!!
Hello, loves!! My name is Jace (aka Felicty B), and this is your Review Roundup for week 2 of February 2018!!
And for week 3!!
*cricket cricket*
Um... I got some explaining to do.
Last week, on top of working a full five day work week (that's thirty 30 hours, for those of you so fortunate to have a Full Time job and don't know what it's like to have your hours fluctuate from week to week), I worked three double shifts. I barely had any time off, but the time I did have, I was dead in the water. I had literally gone from two to three days (if I was lucky) to five very rapidly.
I was not prepared.
So this week, I'm just gonna serve you guys both lists and my Fabulous Five with no reviews. I don't know if a depressive episode snuck up on my ass or I'm just overworked, but I don't have the energy to bang out two full Review Roundup segments. I'm very sorry, and I hope to be up to full strength for next week.
Week 2's List
Week 3's List
Week 2 Titacular Ten
Week 3 Titacular Ten
Week 2 Fabulous Five
Week 3 Fabulous Five
I'm really sorry this post is but a shell of what my RRUs usually are, guys. Like I said earlier, I'm gonna try to get a full length RRU out for you guys next week, but I'm not gonna make any promises. Things are getting busier at work, and so this blog is gonna have to take a backseat. I hate that it has to be that way, but I gotta work to eat!! Anyway, I hope you guys have a lovely rest of your night (or day if it's day for you)!!
Love you all. So much!!
Protip - if you're reading on mobile, your best bet is to open this post in your mobile browser rather than reading in the Tumblr mobile app, because for whatever reason, the mobile app blocks tables and YT embeds. In fact, I'd recommend viewing all future posts in a mobile browser, cause the mobile app is fishy as fuck all.
Hello loves!! My name is Jace (aka Felicity B), and welcome to my first album review!! And of fucking course, it's on Seventeen's repackage (sorry, Special Album™) - Director's Cut!! Anyone who knows me knows that I'm complete and total Svt trash (I might have cried watching Thank You for the first time), so I am *very* excited to be doing Seventeen for my first ever album review.
I might have had plans to do a Teen.Age review as my first post on Felicity B Reviews. No one can prove that, but it might have been a thing!!
1. Thinkin' About You
Thinkin' About You is Classic Svt™, kids.
You can expect three different types of tracks to be present on most (if not all) Seventeen albums
Gay up Straight up, balls to the wall Funk that has a ridiculous ass routine and looks amazing performed live (Boom Boom, Very Nice, Clap).
A soft Radio Ballad type song that would make the perfect intro track at a concert (Beautiful, Without You).
An acoustic(-sque) ballad that makes your heart go pitter patter (Smile Flower, Campfire).
I told y'all I was complete and total Svt Trash.
Thinkin' About You is a Funky Disco Pop number that combines the first and second Svt archetypes (tropes, if you will), and I fuckin' love it. In fact, I'm pretty sure there's no way I could ever *not* like this type song from any group, much less Seventeen. There's just something so Right™ about Seventeen doing high energy, pure pop numbers. Most boy bands outchea are trynna act like they're all badass and what not (not that Seventeen isn't), but Seventeen know what the fans want.
I know I said above that these type of songs would be perfect for opening a concert, but I actually think Thinkin' About You would be great to close out one?!?! Or for an ~encore~ stage. It's interesting that they chose Thinkin' About to open the repackage (*ahem* Special Album), because there's an element of finality to it. It does its job well enough, but it'd be interesting to hear how it'd sound if they had placed this at the end.
2. Thank You *title*
The ugly tears I bawled watching the video for the first time, y'all...
Firstly, whomstever leaked the original draft of my Teen.Age review??!? Yeah, ya mama's a heaux. I (very jokingly) complained about Clap not having enough Jisoo, and only did they come out with that ~remix~ of Clap that's literally WonSoo looking hot to a trap beat, but Thank You has an explosion of Jisoo.
It's too much.
Thank You is an EDM track that I'd usually expect from Performance Unit. And that's not shade, cause I fucking love Thank You. But sis, y'all could put ha next to Dance of the 13th Month and HIGHLIGHT, and it'd be a trilogy of slayery.
I don't actually recommend doing that unless your edge control is blessed by God, cause you will look a hot ass mess afterwards.
The best way to describe my thoughts on Thank You is "When will your faves?". All of my feelings on this song boil down to that question. Jisoo told us to be ready, but once the teasers hit, I had accepted my fate. My edges will never be the same, just like consequences. I will never stan another like I do Seventeen. How could I when they deliver such high quality, forward thinking songs that are still true to their brand of public friendly pop bops like Thank You??!?!?!
Dramatics aside, Thank You is just a really nice, really healing type of song. This song feels like renewed hope in a jar. Thank You doesn't make me feel like I can conquer the world, it makes me feel like I can live for another day. It makes me feel like I haven't struggled and fought in vain. And as someone who has had many a depressive episode that's left her feeling like complete and total trash, that feeling is not to underestimated.
3. Run To You
Sis, tell me how Seventeen delivered a J-Pop style track, while also making the song sound distinctly theirs?!?!?! I'm very sure if another group performed this, it'd still have that patented Svt feel to it.
Legends only.
Let's get the obvious out of the way - Run To You sounds like an anime theme song. A very nice anime theme song, but an anime theme song nonetheless. I'm a little confused as to why they'd include a song like this on a Korean album, because this style is very hit or miss when done in Korea. My thoughts on Run To You tie very heavily into how I feel about Director's Cut as a whole, but I'll get into those later.
Run To You has a grit to it's severely dulled by the mixing and mastering process, and it makes me wanna hear it live. This is exacerbated by the Svt's very clean, very pop style mixing, but to be fair, it is a complaint I've had about pretty much every Korean rock song with high production values.
I really would not mind if Seventeen ever decided to do a punk/pop sub-unit. Yes, I do realize Run To You isn't punk/pop, but that could easily be fixed. Seventeen gave us MCR inspired aesthetics with the Teen.Age teasers, and I was A Fan™. And several of the members play instruments (I'm having war flashbacks to their KBS Song Festival stage). It wouldn't be hard for them to pull off. It'd be a super cool foil to their power pop/Boys Just Wanna Have Fun™ group concept.
PLEDIS!! MAKE IT HAPPEN!!
4. Falling For U (Jeonghan and Jisoo)
In case anyone is interested, I prefer to use Jisoo's Korean name over his American one (even though he uses that as a stage name), because Joshua is my deadname. And it's really uncomfortable to call one of your biases a name that has the potential to make you extremely dysphoric.
Moving on.
Falling For U is Svt archetype number three. And even though I have love for every song on Director's Cut, Falling For U is my clear favorite. Outside of featuring 2/3 of my Svt biases (I am a gay trash can, leave me be), it's an Acoustic Coffee Shop RnB Midtempo.
And y'all know how much my gay ass loves those.
It's missing the RnB overtones you typically hear in this type of song, but it's still pretty rad.
Falling For U is another really nice, really healing song. She sounds like springtime dates with bae. Like you're in that Honeymoon phase and you just wanna be all gross and sappy all the time. Falling For U also gives me the feel of a couple that's been in love for a while now. Everything feels easy in that moment, because you're just so in love. It's a nice feeling.
I frequently talk about how K-Pop fans need to unplug every once in a while because they be sippin' the Kool Aid a lil bit too much, but sometimes, I just wanna listen to a cute love song by a cute boy (or cute boys #GayTrashCan).
And speaking of cute things by cute boys, HanSoo's cute rap during the bridge. Sis, my heart exploded with feels. Jisoo has such a nice lower range (you wouldn't know it by how high his vocal parts are, but he's got a lil oomph to his voice for a lyric tenor) and Jeonghan has rasp for D A Y S.
I wanted it to be longer, you guys.
Overall And Final Thoughts
Director's Cut does what a repackage/special album is supposed to do - extend the life of an previously released album cycle with a new look and some new music. I liked that three/four of the songs featured here are group tracks as opposed to unit ones; Teen.Age was a great showcase of Seventeen as individuals, but it felt more like a singles collection than an album because of it. The tracklisting was a hot mess that exacerbated the problem, but the root was how varied the sound of the album was. Adding in the group tracks definitely helps make the album feel more cohesive.
I mean, there's the task of actually integrating the tracks into the body of the album, but that's the beauty of the Digital Revolution.
At the same time, I almost wish they'd waited to release these songs?!!
I've heard that Seventeen are planning a Japanese debut soon, so why not save these songs for that album. Most groups release a remake of a Korean song as a debut single in Japan, but Seventeen could have released Run To You. If there's a few thing sI've learned about successful Japanese campaigns for K-Pop groups are, it's that groups a) need to be proficient (at the very least) in the language and b) you gotta tailor your sound to the market. And what do ya know, Run To You would have Perfect™.
Idk, I'm very happy with this comeback because it breathed new life into an already amazing album, but at the same time, I think Seventeen's first release in 2018 should not have been a repackage. Especially one with a tracklisting this poorly thought out. Seventeen's albums have always had iffy tracklistings, but Director's Cut takes the cake, sis.
It doesn't take away from the quality of the music, but it makes you wonder where their management's priorities lies.
Hello, my loves!! My name is Jace (aka Felicity B), and this is your Review Roundup for Week 1 of February 2018!!
So... Last Friday, I mentioned making some changes to my Review Roundup format. The reasoning being that as I've expanded my network of Korean music channels, It's become very clear to me that it's too difficult for me to write a substantial review of 25+ videos every week without each review mixing into the last. I've also come to realize that I can't include *every* song I find that happens to be in Korean, and that's fine!! Most songs are either ballads or OST ballads (which are even worse), and it's just not worth my time to flog those at you guys.
So, I'm gonna try to explain this to y'all as best as I can. It sounds more complicated than it is in practice, but I wanna give y'all an idea of what's going on.
I'm gonna present to you all the playlist of songs for the week. From there, you'll see a new segment called the Titacular Ten. Yes, I am aware "titacular" is not a word, but catch me not givin' a fuck in these streets. These guys are songs I enjoyed, but didn't like enough to put in the Fabulous Five. They'll be rated (*not* reviewed) according to my replayability scale.
And speaking of my rating scale, I've decided to add a new category called KoKoNotABop (because nothing brings me joy more than pissing off the stans of my favorite K-Pop group). This sits in between Conditional Replay and Trash Bomb with Shuffle Bait. I decided to add KoKoNotABop, because there wasn't really anything for those songs that weren't complete Trash Bombs, but fell short. I could enjoy these songs from time to time, but I wouldn't intentionally put them in a playlist, so I didn't want to call them Shuffle Bait. In short, I just wanted to expand the range of my extraness.
Moving on, you'll see the Honorable Mentions/Trash Bombs of the week after the Titacular Ten. The Honorable Mentions are tracks that didn't make it into the week's Fab Five, but I still wanted to speak on. And if you've seen my previous RRUs, you know what Trash Bombs are.
I haven't had to rated many songs as Trash Bombs, but that should be considered a small mercy. Y'all know how I get when I don't like a song
So!!
Let's get started!!
This Weeks' List
The Titacular Ten
Saturn (Nevada51 featuring Gayoung Seo of Spy Girls)
Rating - Heavy Rotation
Perfectly Perfect (MxM of BRANDNEWBOYS)
Rating - Heavy Rotation
BLOCKED (Ash-B featuring Cherry Coke)
Rating - Heavy Rotation
Ballad of Full Speed (Evolution of Sound)
Rating - Conditional Rotation
Grayish (JUNA)
Rating - Conditional Rotation
Run Away (Mona)
Rating - Heavy Rotation
To the sky (CLC)
Rating - Heavy Rotation
If (Day6)
Rating - Heavy Rotation
Mi Amor (CoCoSori)
Mi Amori Dance Practice
Rating - Heavy Rotation
Good Bye (Hong Jin Young)
Rating - Heavy Rotation
Honorable Mentions
You Have a Crush On Me (No Brain)
If you guys can believe it, this was the type of song I loved during my J-Pop days. Oh boy, does this take me back.
And yes, I do realize this song is literally a decade old. There are idols active in the industry that this song is older than. But I'm gonna need y'all to bring me some freshly prepared fucks to care.
The children deserve to know about No Brain!!
Crush On Me (sorry, that title is too long to be typing over and over) is a punk track that is fun, personified. Every time I queue up the song to play, I just wanna dance the night away~ have my own little party, dancing and singing along. And don't think that you can get away from this song unscathed, cause the hook (neon naege banhaesseo) will stick itself in your brain and torment you till you're singing along like a good little Baby Borgie.
No Brain is a band that I want every single NuGen K-Pop (2014/2015) fan to get into. Every single one of you. Cause while this band is hella talented (they've literally been in the game for twenty years), they don't write music to show it off. They write music because they fucking love it. And that's the best kind, sis. I could clock this song for a lot of things I'd clock a modern K-Pop song for, but I won't because this song is entirely too fun to be picked apart like a science experiment.
My main reason for including Crush On You was that I love how fun this song is, BUT!! I also wanted an excuse to include No Brain's collab stage with Lovelyz from the 2017 MBC Year End Song Festival.
Now *that* was a oollab stage, ladies.
Rating - Heavy Rotation
No Gravity (Yoon Mi Rae)
Yoon MiRae is the OG Korean Female Rapper.
That's not my bias speaking (although it's definitely showing), I've never heard anyone speak ill of Mirae. NEVAH!! And I mean, why would they want to!?!?! She's magical. I literally can't say enough nice things about her.
I literally zone in on her and don't pay anyone else any mind when she's in a song. Whenever she's gracious enough to give us a solo, my wigs bow in reverence to her. I just love this woman so much. She can do no wrong in my book.
Gravity is a pre-release track from Mirae's upcoming Korean album. We have no word on what it's called or when it's dropping, but I already know it's amazing. Gravity is a midtempo rap ballad, and I usually find these cheesy af, but I really like Mirae's take on it. For those of you who've been YMR stans for a while, the vocals are arranged in Mirae's typical fashion - hard hitting rap verses, brackted in by Smoove™ vocals.
Yes, Mirae is the one who has your rap fave givin' Soulful Vocals™.
THANK!! HER!!
Gravity is just so nice, you guys. I don't know what it is about these Korean acts dropping really hopeful and healing tracks this year, but I want it to continue. These types of midtempos are usually reserved for Bad Days™, but I lowkey wanna listen to Gravity all the time. There's enough groove that it doesn't drag my mood down if I'm feelin' good, but at the same time, the uplifting vibe is great for everything kinda sucks.
Off Topic, but if y'all haven't heard Mirae's Black Happiness, I urge you!! It's S U C H a good song!! That's a song that's for the worst of days, sis.
Rating - Heavy Rotation
Free Somebody (Luna of f(x) x HEDA)
I really do not understand what the point of this release was. Can someone from SM DM me on Twitter and explain. Cause sis, this shit made no sense to me.
Firstly, congratulations to Ms HEDA are in order!! If you weren't aware (like me), everysing (a Korean karaoke company) and Genie Music (SM Entertainment's distributor) ran a contest called Battle Singer to select a new feature vocalist for an upcoming Station release. Why SM didn't give her her own Station track, I'm not sure, but I rather liked the way she sounded here. So, I can't be too mad.
Wha I *am* mad at, however, is why SM decided to have Luna and HEDA do karaoke on one of the unused sets of Younha's Parade video, and releasing that shit as a single. Y'all couldn't call in nobody to produce these vocals?!?!?! Every single one of y'all vocal producers were busy?!?!?!
K...
I'm just so over SMSTATION releases varying in quality and effort spent. Some weeks, SM puts in the time and effort to rock that shit out, but then we also get lazy as fuck all releases like these. And I get it, there was a contest attached to this and we don't know if SM is gonna pull Ms HEDA back in for a round 2. I'm hoping they do, but SM is fickle. I just wish this release was up to the standard as Luna and Amber's Lower. Some of y'all thought that song was dry af, but at least the video was dynamic.
Rating - KoKoNotABop
The Fabulous Five
5. Mystery (Jalhyejun)
Mystery sounds like Lim Kim and Neon Bunny decided to team up for a song. They didn't, but if they ever did, I'd need at least three albums worth of material from it.
Mystery is a very cutesy synthrock song. It lowkey reminds me of something Puffy AmiYumi would do 2003/2004, but it mostly sounds like a bonus track on Neon Bunny's Seoulite. Not a bad thing; Puffy AmiYumi were literally my gateway into J-Pop fifteen years ago (I still listen to them), and Seoulite is one of the best Korean albums of 2011.
Mystery sounds like it belongs in a kids' show, and that's exactly why I like it. It's not anything crazy energetic, but it's really fun and every time I listen to it, it puts the biggest smile on my face. And because it isn't super in your face, you could also use it very peppy background music.
We love a versatile queen, sis.
Rating - Heavy Rotation
4. To Do List (Kim Hyorin)
Okay, sis... I was a lil nervous when I heard the teasers for this. Too many of my faves been droppin' ballads as digital singles, and then disappearing into the ether. Hyorin is my girl, but I will *always* put the music first.
Fortunately,I had nothing to worry about; Hyorin did with To Do List what Henry couldn't do with Monster. Give me an engaging ballad.
Hyorin's To Do List is the same flavor of stripped back ballad as Henry's Monster; it's just Hyorin's sweet vocals layered over a clean electric guitar. It's just that she can emote with her voice and is an overall better vocalist.
I'm finding that I really enjoying this style of ballad. There's just an unexpected element to having a song be just electric guitar and vocals, ya know?!?! Like I mentioned above, I was very unsure about Hyorin making her solo debut under her own agency with a song like this, but I can see why she did it. Ballads do stupidly well in Korea, so Hyorin was catering to that market. BUT ALSO!! There's enough spunk here to keep the more adventurous crowd happy.
Of course, Hyorin could also sing me the dictionary, and I'd be like, "YASSS KWEEN!! BUILD THE CHILDREN'S VOCABULARY!! TAKE EVERY SINGLE OF MY WIGS, GODDESS!!".
So what do I know?!?!
Rating - Heavy Rotation
3. Unstoppable (The Night Of Seokyo x Minju)
I normally don't include covers on this list, and I definitely wouldn't put them in the Fab Five. But y'all, this fucking cover. I really wish they covered the entire song, because it's fucking M A G I C A L
Which only makes sense, because the original is even more magical, but still...
Minju and the Night of Seokyo's Unstoppable is a cover of Lianne La Havas's 2015 song Unstoppable. I have no idea why I don't know this song or artist, because they're both magical. I already said Unstoppable was magical, but I'm gonna say it again!! This song is so good!! Can I live in the feeling this song creates?!?! I'd enjoy that a lot, sis. It's just so calm and healing, and I need that to be my energy for all of 2018.
And Ms Lianne, y'all. My wig toppled off my head the first 30 seconds of the song, because ma'am looks like a Black goddess. Can I be her when I grow up?!?!?! She looks so cool, and her music is just so nice. God, I love just Black women, you guys. They're so amazing, and they never get credit for always being ahead of the curve (as mentioned in my Nega Dola review). But I love Black women. I wouldn't be who I am today without Black women. None of us would. And I think it's time that we acknowledge that!!
So now that I've gotten that out of my system (we are unapologetically stanning Black women in 2018 and beyond, sis), let's discuss the Night of Seokyo and Minju's cover of Unstoppable. Absolutely beautiful. Breathtaking. I felt like I was floating. I usually don't care for covers, because 90% of them fall into two categories - a) indistinct from the original because they do everything the original does and b) complete and total trash because they did Too Much™ when reinterpretting it. But Minju and the Night of Seokyo strike the perfect balance - the rearrangement for piano and vocal does Just Enough™ to stand out on it's own without feeling like it's fucked up the vibe of the song.
I really should have just done a standalone review of this cover, since I *clearly* have so much so say on it, but it's just so good. A very big thank you to my girl sunnysidae who found the original version for Unstoppable for me. You're the best, sis!!
Rating - Heavy Rotation
2. Baby Funk (Yoo Naul of Brown Eyed Soul)
Y'all.
Everything about this song n video is so Black!! I'm Shook™!!
I don't know Brown Eyed Soul that well, so I really thought Naul was the Black dude in the video. Thought BES had a whole ass (well, half ass) nigga in the group!!
Baby Funk's name is a little misleading - the only thing Funky about her is that guitar line (and the beatswitch that happens towards the end). But that's fine!! We love a good throwback to the Soul tracks of the '90s!!
I really don't know what to say, but tbh I really shouldn't have to - y'all *know* I L I V E for a good RnB/Soul track. And Baby Funk definitely delivers, babies!! I'm not gonna lie, the video did put me a off little, at first; I can't help but be suspect of the dynamic here. But you know, I'm just gonna receive this blessing, and keep it pushing. Naul made a love letter to Black culture with Baby Funk, and I Appreciate™.
Rating - Heavy Rotation
1. Blind (Planetarium Records)
Trigger Warning - intense strobe lighting effects are used in the live showcase video
One of these days, I'm gonna need to learn these dudes' names. Especially since they refuse to stop terrorizing my wig collection with their group albums.
Sidenote - whoever decided to bait n switch my Black ass with them teasers, ya mama's a heaux. And I expect a full version of T.M.N.T with vocals on Case#3!! That shit is too good to just be an intro!!
*ahem*
When I first saw the teasers for Planetarium's CASE#1, I didn't think much of it. I thought they were an EDM label, number 1. And number 2, teasers didn't really give me anything to be excited about. But they blasted onto the scene with Blah, which had me eatin' my words a lil. I didn't include ha in my Fab Five for that week, but I was definitely paying attention to them Planetarium boys. And then came a live video of Glue (which I did put in my Fab Five), and now Blind.
Blind is a very clear 180 from the very fun, very tropical themed Blah. But catch these niggas drivin' off into the sunset with my wig, because I am B A L D T.
Blind is an intense synthpop track with a slight RnB tilt. Which is to be expect, because Planetarium is an RnB/Hip Hop label. But guys, this song is just S O G O O D. If every idol boy band in K-Pop *has* to do overly series tracks because They're Super Serious Boys Who Very Serious All The Time Seriously™, I'm gonna need them deliver tracks on this level.
Show me you have soul, not that you have abs. I've seen enough shirt lifts to last me a lifetime, kids.
On top of giving us a music video that's a continuation of Blah, the Planetarium boys have also provided us with a live showcase video that you can watch here. Be mindful that there is intense strobing effects during the chorus bits.
Rating - Heavy Rotation
Alright loves, that's all I've got for you guys this week!! I hope the change in format isn't jarring, but I needed to do something to alleviate some of the work that goes into these lists. Cause pretty soon, I'm not gonna have the gobs and gobs of free time that I have now to do them, on top of my standalone reviews. My SHINee Feature Spotlight series has been halted, for now, but tune in on Friday at 12pm and 6pm EST for a special surprise. And be sure to tune in on Monday at 6pm EST for me full length review of the week.
Hello, loves!! My name is Jace (aka Felicity B), and this is my review for BoA's Nega Dola!! I was so excited for this song, guys!! The teasers had me side eyin' BoA for her Lewks™, but the song sounded really cool. I wasn't sure how it'd go, but I was sure BoA was gonna come through like a thief in the night and torch my wig closet.
Sis, BoA couldn't heat a plate of pizza rolls with this lackluster foolishness.
~The Song~
*sigh*
I really don't wanna give this song a negative review, but I'm not about to compromise the little bit of integrity I have just because I worship the ground BoA walks on. I frequently say that my taste in music is trash, but my taste in music is actually pretty rad; I can tell when a song is poorly written, but I care more about how the song makes me feel. Which is how I end up with so much trash in my favorites lists.
Nega Dola makes me angry. Not because this song is badly written, but because this song is terribly mismatched to BoA. I don't know where she got this TVXQ leftover, but she clearly needs to return it and get her money back.
I mean... She could also give it to TVXQ, and leave me a thirsty mess. I'm cool with that, too!!
The more I listen to Nega Dola, the more I dislike it. Which is quite unusual for me; I usually find myself liking songs I don't vibe with at first after repeat exposure (for the most part). But every time I listen to Nega Dola, I just wanna bust somebody's window in. Which is a shame, because in the right hands (*cough*TVXQ's) and a little tinkering with the arrangement, this could have been an absolute banger.
Nega Dola is a Latin-pop track that's driven by a very catchy electric guitar riff. The writers of Nega Dola were very shameless with the Flamenco influences, which gives the song major sass. And guys, credit where it's due - BoA tries. She tries so hard.
She raps the prechorus, for God's sake!!
Which is why Nega Dola makes me angry, kids. BoA tries, but all the presence and charisma in the world is not enough for one person to carry this song. Nega Dola is the type of track that's better off when done by a group. Especially a group with strong vocalists (*cough*TVXQ). Nega Dola's chorus is super relaxed, which means you have to B R I N G I T (like the movie) with the vocals, and bring it hard. But BoA just does not have the vocal chops to elevate this chorus the way it needs to be.
I really had high hopes for this song, because the teaser had my wig trembling in anticipation. But sis, this is not the move.
~The Video~
*crackles knuckles*
Are you ready, Mr Krabs?!?!?! Cause I'm ready, Mr Krabs!!
Let's have a Chat™ about BoA's Lewks™ in Nega Dola, sis.
BoA is not the first idol to wear space buns or bantu knots. She might be the first one stupid enough to curl her hair first so the buns have texture to them, but she's not the first to wear space buns. And normally, I wouldn't blink twice at someone wearing them.
Before we continue, I need y'all to be on the same page as me - the trend was popularized by black girls. You can say that space buns were inspired by a cacophony of things (which you're entitled to because that's your opinion, even though I think its bullshit and isn't supported by reality), but they're On n Poppin'™ at this moment in time because black girls put y'all on.
Thank you for listening to my TED Talk!!
But sis. Y'all really want us to believe those space buns were inspired by Pucca?!?!?! Those *textured* space buns?!!?!? Inspired by Pucca?!?!?!
Were the gelled down baby hairs also inspired by Pucca?!?!?!
How about the matching separates with the fur coat, sis?!?!?! I mean, *I've* never seen Pucca dressed like a pimp, but you know... I guess it could have happened!!
In an alternate universe.
Because if you ask me, BoA looks like she was ~inspired~ by Lil Kim if Ms Kimberly Denise Jones shot Crush on You in 2017.
BoA also looks like she has 10 million followers on Instagram and promotes Fashion Nova for extra coint.
But y'all can continue believing she was ~inspired~ by Pucca. I mean, I thought we were gonna cut the bullshit and call cultural appropriation by ha name in 2018, but I guess some of y'all still got some work to do.
And btw, Hispanic women wearing gelled down baby hairs doesn't diminish the fact that they're a part of Black Culture. The lack of nuance that so many of you all have truly blows my fucking mind, sometimes. Y'all really thought y'all was doin' something!!
I mean, you proved that you were trash and that you don't care about Black feelings, but you know... Something good.
And because I know some of y'all need to have this spelled out for you -
Hispanic people have thicker, coarser hair just like your average negro. Ergo, they need just as much help as we do getting their edges to lay flat and look nice.
Something can be a part of multiple culture and still be appropriated from just one of them. It's not just the space buns and babyhairs we're calling out, it's the entire look.
Black American culture and Hispanic American culture intersect, because Hispanic PoC are marginalized in similar ways to Black people in America. Hispanic PoC end up in the same neighborhoods as we do, go to the same schools as we do, live very similar lives to ours, have S O M A N Y of the same stereotypes applied to them as we do (in different ways, but it's the same shit at the core).
So the next time you try to use that for an excuse to say gelled down baby hairs are a General American PoC of Color People Thing™, just sit and think about why you feel the need to stomp all over a marginalized group's hurt feelings like that.
USING ANOTHER MARGINALIZED GROUP, AT THAT!!
Trash. Unequivocal T R A S H.
And for those wondering about the bantu knots, my stance on them is the same as dreads - unless you have type 4 hair, you look ugly af. Moving on.
Outside of BoA trying to be a Cool Kid™ (and looking like Regina George's mother in the process), Nega Dola is a standard SM affair. Which, if this was 2013, I'd be mad at. But SM has come a long way since the days of their Dance In A Box™ formula reigned supreme.
The "BoA on a gun range" motif is a really cool metaphor for BoA tellin' these ain't shit fools to back the fuck up.
~The Choreography~
I'm bored.
This routine is cute, and in the hands of one of SM's group, it'd cool af. BoA definitely looks like she's having a lil fun.
But sis, I'm bored.
BoA, sweetie, you can do better than this. You *have* done better than this!!
This is a routine for Red Velvet, sis. And sweetie, that's no shade!! Cause Red Velvet would have me B A L D T with how they'd swagger to this. But sis, I watch the live performances of this and I'm bored!! There's literally nothing for BoA to sink her teeth into with this routine. The most interesting bit is the Naruto run her backup dancers do in the first prechorus.
Get it together, sis!!
~Overall And Final Thoughts~
I'm not sure why BoA is promoting in Korea right now. She's got a new album out in Japan in a few days; she should be *there* promoting (as well as preparing for the tour that's gonna be announced in a month's time, because a bitch is A L W A Y S touring when they have Japanese promo), but no. Mama is in Korea, acting like she don't got a care in the world.
Flagrant.
I honestly didn't want to review this comeback, because I knew I'd be dragging BoA. And y'all, I don't like dragging BoA. I don't like dragging my faves, in general, but BoA is That Bitch™ for me. I want a full length BoA review to be me crying about how she surgically removed my edges from my scalp. I want a full length BoA review to be me talking about how amazing the comeback is.
I don't want a full length BoA review to me dragging her for her carelessness on top of a lackluster release. It's exhausting.
Nega Dola could have been a great comeback if SM had the sense to give this track to a group (like TVXQ), and not BoA. BoA oozes personality n charisma, and there are several songs from the woman that I would not like as much if they weren't hers because of that. But like I said, all the personality and presence couldn't save this comeback.
Let's look at the bright side, tho - at least I'll have BoA's Japanese album. And if that turns out to Who's Back Pt 2 ~The Whackening~, at least I have Kiss My Lips.
Tfw yo bundles come out the perfect shade the first time you dye them
Hello, my darlings!! My name is Jace (aka Felicity B), and it's another LOONA review!! WOOT WOOT WOOT FIRETRUCK!! Today we have the Princess of Bundles Lovin' Yo'self, the One and Only™ Go Won with... Err, One and Only!! I was quite sad that I wasn't able to review Chuu's Heart Attack (I had plenty to say about that), so I made doubly sure to throw this in the queue to review.
Let's get started, shall we?!?!?!!
~The Song~
Last we heard from LOONA, Chuu was terrorizing our scalps with the loud and bombastic Heart Attack. Heart Attack really stuck out to me, because we hadn't had a brass heavy, attitude heavy release from a LOONA girl. Add in one Miss Jiwoo (aka the mysterious Chuu), and you've got a banger of a release.
Well, Go Won decided to take a page from Chuu's book and borrow that bombastic percussion for One and Only.
This last ~era~ (if you had to call it something) of LOONA's predebut campaign has been the most interesting for me, because you really don't know what to expect. These last three girls have all been wild cards, and I find that really refreshing. Not to say that LOONA's content was getting boring (they're literally the most cutting edge group in the industry right now), but it was getting kind of predictable. 1/3's era was girly. Odd Eye Circle's was bold (before they announced the OEC unit, I joked that that era was Grown n Sexy Hours at LOONA HQ). But the sound and feel of this last era has been one twist and turn after the other.
My wig has permanently been in shambles.
How much you like One and Only largely depends on how much you're willing to tolerate Go Won's nasally vocal tone. I, personally, am not bothered by it, but I know a lot who were. If the song quality wasn't up to LOONA's usual standards, I'd have beef. But One and Only is just as carefully crafted as previous LOONA efforts.
One and Only sees this era of LOONA girls (whomst I've dubbed the Angels of LOONA till we get an official unit name) continuing the trend of mixing the pop sensibilities of LOONA 1/3 with the RnB bombast of Odd Eye Circle. The piano chords that form the main backbone of the song, along with the thumping rhythm track, give One and Only a mid '00s RnB feel. But the tinkly synths sprinkled throughout the track (along with Go Won's vocal performance) keep this song firmly in the pop lane.
I'm not gonna lie, I was kind of bored by One and Only, at first. This song is very cute, but I had gotten very used to the in your face element that's been present in the monthly LOONA songs since Kim Lip blasted onto the scene with Eclipse. But I've grown to like how scaled back One and Only is. I mean, Miss Go Won is all up in your grill, babies; that much hasn't changed. But there's a sense of gentleness to the urgency of One and Only. Go Won wants you to hear what she has to say, but she's a patient gal. She's not trying to bash you in the face with the message of her song like Chuu was.
Even though Heart Attack was a W H O L E ass mood.
Go Won's One and Only is all about learning to love and cherish yourself. Which is the mood for 2018, so cheers for Go Won and BBC for starting out the year right!! Despite how dark Go Won's concept is, there's something very pure about her. BBC has Go Won outchea lookin' like she's gonna eat your soul if you get too close, but there's an innocence to One and Only. The child-like quality of Go Won's delivery enhances the mood of One and Only, and it's really neat how there's that juxtaposition with her aesthetic.
Speaking of Go Won's delivery, tho...
Baby girl's vocals are an acquired taste. As in, if you haven't acquired the taste (more like tolerance, but work with me), you are not gonna like her or this song. I've seen people objecting to so called antis calling her a visual, and I get it - people say that word like it's a fucking insult (as if your favorite group would be anywhere without their visuals).
But sis, Go Won is a visual. She was not accepted into Polaris/BBC for her vocal talent.
And that's fine!!
I need these NuGen stans to start consuming K-Pop in a more self-aware and critical manner (aka, stop going on and on about fucking talent as if y'all know the first damn thing about it), because the way they do it now drives me up a fucking wall!!
We're not getting into that rant right now, tho.
Like I mentioned above, Go Won has a nasally quality to her voice that has turned a lot of people off of One and Only. Which is understandable, because the writers of One and Only has her singing in her upper register, which exacerbates the nasality more than necessary. *I* don't really care; I've heard plenty of vocalists in K-Pop that have a nasal tone and/or delivery. It's not so bad that it takes away from the song for me, but I hope whoever writes/produces the AoL unit music takes that into consideration.
I'd also like to know who pushed her to force out that high note at the end, because that sounded like it hurt.
It hurt my soul (and my ear drums), but it hurt her vocal chords more.
~The Video~
The video for Go Won's One and Only is an interesting juxtaposition of dark and light. You have a mixture of shots that are well lit, but also covered in shadows. And then you have a bunch of really dark scenes where you can't really see what's going on.
One and Only's video looks like a giant game of hide and seek. Go Won is hiding from someone (or something), but in the end, she's ~caught~. And with a song about loving yourself (along with Go Won going from Princess of Nightmares to the Golden Queen after eating her fruit), it's plain to see that she's hiding from a facet of herself that she hasn't quite accepted.
Go Won's fruit is the pineapple, and after a little research, I found that the pineapple is typically used to represent hospitality. You put pineapples on things to represent that you're accepting someone into your space. So Go Won eating the pineapple shows that she's finally accepting herself, and it's beautiful, kids!!
One thing that stuck out to my Nerd Brain™ about One and Only is the way the video was shot and edited. One and Only is a mixture of pillarboxed (borders on the left and right) and letterboxed (borders on the top and bottom) shots. This isn't very unusual, because it's typically a way of making your video look more visually and aesthetically interesting; the different perspectives keep the eye interested. But what got me thinking is the what's in each shot. The pillarboxed shots are the story, along with solo shots of Go Won; meanwhile, the letterboxed shots are choreo scenes (with a few exceptions).
This really stuck out to me, because the choreo shots before Go Won eats her fruit are really tight; the borders at the top and bottom are larger than the actual footage. Once again, nothing too unusual. But after Go Won eats the fruit, the size of those shots nearly doubles. I wonder if that was just a stylistic choice (cause it looks cool af, sis), or if there's some kind of meaning behind how tight shots like those are.
And speaking of perspectives, did anyone catch that we never saw Go Won's face when she was being chased by Yves and Chuu?!?!?! It's very interesting how these zoomed out shots gave a sense of terror cause we couldn't tell exactly what was going on except that Go Won was being persued. But then, when we actually see that she's smiling, it completely changes the feelings of the scenes.
With last month's Heart Attack being about Chuu having a very blatant schoolgirl crush on Yves, I'm wondering if part of what Go Won was running from was being LGBT. If there's one thing I know about the LOONAverse, it's that there's no such thing as coincidences. If it happened, there's a reason behind it and there are no accidents. So I'm wondering if there might be some correlation there, especially with Holland's Neverland dropping the week before.
~The Choreography~
One and Only doesn't feature many choreo shots, but of the few we see, it seems like standard fare for a LOONA routine. I will definitely object to people saying Go Won can't dance very well, because a) you really should not be judging someone's dance ability from one video and b) none of the LOONA girls' routines have been particularly difficult.
BBC's choreographers have always prioritized moves that express feelings and emotions, along with visually complex formations, over technical complexity. In fact, I'm pretty sure Kim Lip's Eclipse is the most complex routine that's been given to a LOONA girl. And even then, it was still a typical LOONA routine.
And honestly, I don't really care about any of that, because the routine matches the song. If any of the AoL girls was gonna have a more technically complex routine, it'd be Chuu, because Heart Attack could support that. And once again, we've barely seen any of the choreo!! Go Won could have rocked that shit, and we wouldn't know because digipedi and BBC wanted more of the story scenes in the video.
So like... Can y'all hush?!?!?!
The A-Ko/B-Ko (a cookie for anyone who catches that reference) style shadow dancing scenes were a very nice touch. I hope BBC drops a choreography version that features more of those bits.
~Overall And Final Thoughts~
Go Won's One and Only has been a very polarizing release for a lot of people, but I couldn't be happier with it. I like that sound, I like the lyrics, I like the video, and I think BBC did a great job matching Go Won's concept to her solo. There's just something so healing about One and Only, you guys. There's a ton of songs in K-Pop about love, but One and Only could truly be the first one to be about self-love.
I mentioned in my review for Yves' new that I was pumped for the future of LOONA, and with Chuu n Go Won's solos, I've only grown more excited!! I can't wait for girl #12 and the AoL to be complete. I also can't wait for the LOONA storyline to be realized in full.
Between Dreamcatcher's Nightmare Witch storyline and the LOONAverse, my wig has been limbo. When will your male faves ever?!?!
So I’m gonna skip my usual intro, and get right to the point - when I revamped the format of this blog last month, I had no idea how much work it’d be. Don’t get me wrong, I don’t regret it (and this isn’t me saying I’m closing up shop, either), but it’s not really sustainable.
Last week, I made a whole big deal about having the next part of my SHINee Feature Spotlight series out today, and I’m sorry to announce that I’m shelving that series. For now, at least. I definitely want to finish it, but it won’t be this month.
When I started the series in January, my only thought was that I had to do something to keep the memory of Jonghyun alive. He meant a lot to me, and I felt like I needed to do something, because I have this platform.
What I didn’t anticipate was how being all up in SHINee’s discography would make me feel in the long term.
After Shinin’ and Poet|Artist came out, it really started to hit me that he wasn’t coming back. And sis, that hurts. A lot. And so being all up in SHINee’s discography was just making it all worse. I need a break.
This is hella unprofessional (when did I ever convince anyone I was ~professional~, tho), but I gotta do what I gotta do to take care of my mental health. I’m so insanely sorry to those who actually liked the series, but don’t fret - this isn’t the end. It’ll be back when I can listen to SHINee’s music without feeling hopeless.
This doesn’t affect any of my other segments or features, btw; full length reviews will still be on Mondays and Review Roundups will still be on Wednesdays!! I will be making some format changes to the RRUs, but more on that later.
Hello babies!! My name is Jace (aka Felicity B) and this your stupidly late Review Roundup for Week 5 of January 2018!! So, I couldn't keep my promise of less than 20 videos, it's less videos than last week?!??! Whatevs...
Beautiful (iKON)
I'm torn.
As much as I love this sound from iKON (RIP Junhoe's vocal chords), I can't help but feel like this is Love Me Love Me Pt 2.
We've come full circle, kids!! Double B gave WINNER one of the better songs on their debut album (cause that album was stacked with bops, and we didn't treat ha right), and now WINNER have given iKON the best song on their second album.
Beautiful is a Funky Disco number that I am very much a fan of. Even B.I's nasally rapping couldn't ruin this song for this song for me. And I wasn't joking about it being the best song on Return, sis; I might have said Taeyang was furious that Return was longer than White Night, but a nigga must have cooled it once he actually listened to Return. That album, while not as painfully middle of the road as Welcome Back, was overly long and should have been cut down to a crisp six tracks.
But let's save *that* for a later date.
Beautiful is pretty awesome, but I can't help but think it'd have been better if this song ended up with WINNER. The track feels like Love Me Love Me's more upbeat cousin, and Junhoe's chorus is a dead ringer for Seung Yoon. Yes, I do realize that Block Head Jr is a baritone just like Seung Yoon, but he sounds like he's pushing hardcore to obtain that sound. I'm calling the cops on YG.
I almost wish this was the title track, instead of Love Scenario. Despite it's shortcomings, it highlights what's there to like about iKON.
Rating - Heavy Rotation
Farewell Song (Kim Areum featuring 11eleven)
Miss Kim Areum and rapper 11eleven heard Soyou's Grown Up, and decided to give their take on it.
I must say this gives Miss Soyou's song a run for it's money.
Farewell Song is an Acoustic Coffee Shop RnB Midtempo with some Gospel influences thrown in to add some flavor. I have to say that I wasn't too sure about 11eleven at first, but he turned out to help the track more than drag it down. I kinda wish they did more to amp up the track a lil bit, cause this is definitely a song that's easy to forget in the shuffle of new comebacks and what not. But for what it is, Farewell Song is pretty nice for a quiet day we aren't looking for anything too intense.
Rating - Shuffle Bait
Holiday (Bae Suzy featuring DPR Live)
JYP and Suzy can kiss my ass. I fuckin' love this song, but those fools really had my ass thinkin' they were about to let that dry ass ballad she released last week be the title track for her second mini.
Flagrant.
Holiday is a soft RnB song. The kind of soft RnB song that only JYP and Starship ever seem to get right. As much as I miss miss A, I'm also glad that Suzy was able to branch off and do her own thing. Because I'll say it once, I'll say it a million times - that girl was terribly mismatched to that group. This type of music fits her cutesy, girl next door style way better.
It's just a shame that Fei's Fantasy flopped as hard as it did. Granted, she should have been promoting that in China, and not Korea, but I'm convinced none of the Big 3 actually know how to promote their idols correctly.
But sis, this is a pre-release track. Holiday has the sound and feel like its opening act before the main event. Looking at how poorly Yes/No/Maybe charted after how wildly successful Pretend was spells out exactly why we got Dry Crackers the Musical as the pre-release and this as the feature track, but it really sucks. Yes/No/Maybe kinda turned me into a stan. I'd never seen Suzy actually swagger like that before. So, it sucks to see her confined to this safe as fuck all track when we know she's capable of way more.
Rating - Heavy Rotation
It's U (Golden Child)
So, um... Is anyone else confused as to where the spunky pop/rock sound of DamDaBi went?!?!?!
If you like Sweetune's bright '80s production style, it's not hard to get into Golden Child's It's U. It's a pretty standard Sweetune track, laced with Golden Child's very cute, very playful vocals. But this reminds me far too much of INFINITE. If INFINITE did cutesy music, I could totally see them doing a song similar to It's U. It doesn't take away from the song, but it's just really hard to ignore.
Rating - Conditional Rotation
Spotlight (VAV)
Bitch... Now *this* is the kind of song I wish EXO had promoted after Call Me Baby. Fuck a Love Me Right or Monster; a track like Spotlight would have been H O T N E S S incarnate.
Not saying that this sounds like an EXO song, but that I wish EXO's producers would have taken them this direction, rather than SHINee Lite^TM and Overdose 2.0.
VAV's Spotlight is a stark turn around from the group's very bright and poppy comeback singles from 2017. There's a sultriness here that hooks you in, and makes you wanna stay for lunch. And dinner. And dessert.
I'd love to have Ayno for dessert. He's pretty~
The chorus explodes into that poppy sound that you got from last years' ABC and Flower, but there's still that thread of sexiness present beneath the brightness. Like I mentioned above, Spotlight sounds like something EXO should have done after releasing Call Me Baby/EXODUS, instead of Monster/Lucky Ones.
And babies, that's high praise. I've been stannin' EXO since their debut, because their musical output has always been A1.
Rating - Heavy Rotation
instagram (Dean)
Dean finally got around to releasing the video for his monster hit instagram, ladies!! This is a song that's been floating around for about a month now, but I'm including it today, because I wanted to chat about it.
So, let's chat!!
Instagram is a very raw and haunting song. The intro is about as stripped back and bare as I've ever heard Dean, and the result is Very Effective^TM. Instagram's subject matter, the perils of social media addiction, is nothing new understand, but it's an important topic to spotlight.
Many people find themselves lost in this pit of despair, because of the deceptive nature of social media. When you're on IG, it's so easy to cut out the less than savory parts of your life (in fact, IG all but encourages that shit). And because we all use social media as a form of escapism (no matter how aware of the fact), that shit weighs on you after a while. So I'm glad that Dean decided to be very frank about how these issues are plaguing him through his music.
Unlike the lyrical content, instagram is nothing we haven't heard from Dean. But that's fine!! My favorite thing about producers like Dean and Primary is that they know to stay in their lanes but give you something different, at the same time. Dean knows what kind of music he likes to make (and has found an audience who enjoys that music), so he's gonna stick to that. If you aren't a fan of his flavor of RnB, that's okay. There's plenty of artists in Korean music for you to check out.
Rating - Heavy Rotation
Forget About Tomorrow (Jay Park x YULTRON)
Tropical Pop has seen it's glory days, ladies and gents. 2017 was the peak and death of the trend in K-Pop, but YULTRON (with Jay Park on vocal duties) has decided to remind us why we enjoyed the genre in the first place.
Forget About Tomorrow is more Moombahton than actual Tropical Pop (think BTS's Blood Sweat and Tears, Major Lazer and MO's Lean On, and PLAYBACK's Want You To Say), but to most people, this is straight up Tropical Pop. And very well crafted Tropical Pop, at that.
YULTRON starts off Forget About Tomorrow with a chopped and screwed version of the "chorus" melody (which intrigues), and teases the unmodified version underneath the first verse to keep the listening hooked in. And because God loves the Gays, Jay Park has acquired the alloted amount of fucks to actually sing (don't look at me like that, this nigga really be outchea actin' like he didn't get his start singin' sex jams that had panties across Korea drenched like they were plucked from the rinse cycle), which is like cat nip for the ears.
The thing that irritated me about the Tropical Pop craze of last year is that everyone forgot what makes a Tropical Pop song - fun. Literally half the songs were either more dead than my ability to have healthy emotional reactions, or so fucking serious you were literally choking on that shit. But YULTON n Jay Park get it right here - I wouldn't exactly call Forget About Tomorrow ~fun~, but it's catchy and I wanna shake my thighs to this.
Rating - Heavy Rotation
In A Long Dream (CHEEZE)
I might have staged an unofficial embargo on ballads here, but there's just something about In A Long Dream that has me hooked.
It's the video. I like the song, but the video was too cute to leave out!!
In A Long Dream is an acoustic ballad that features some very interesting musical choices to liven up the mix. And I mean, I love acoustic ballads, but I love the modal mixture (I think) that livens up what I assume is the chorus.
In A Long Dream is a soft song for soft days. Those days when I just wanna lay in bed and snuggle with a very cute n soft bear boy. Or maybe rainy days when it's too much trouble to get out of bed. Idk, I like this song, but I can't see myself listening to it all the time.
Rating - Conditional Rotation
L.I.E (PENOMECO)
Well, kids... This solves the mystery of where Zico's been keeping his good beats at.
PENOMECO's L.I.E is, unfortunately, not a cover of EXID's L.I.E, but she's a pretty rad RnB song that's hella on trend. I wasn't aware that PENOMECO could sing this well (which, to be fair, I don't really pay attention to K-Hip Hop like that), but I'm glad he decided to sing the majority of this song rather than rap it. The rap bits aren't bad, but there's the perfect amount of them.
All in all, a very excellent song.
Rating - Heavy Rotation
Day and Night (M&G featuring COTA and CherryBerry)
Day and Night sounds like it was tailor made for the encore of a concert. Or like an OST for a K-Drama.
Day and Night is an RnB love song with a hip hop beat. It kinda reminds me of something I'd hear in 2008. Which I like, so cudos to M&G n co.
But even with a thudding hip hop beat like this, Day and Night is Shuffle Bait on the best of days. Day and Night plays it a little too safe, and as a result, it gets lost in the kerfluffle of more ear catching songs on this list. There's not a damn thing wrong about staying in your lane, but sometimes you be crusin' in that b like you a boss. But you're really just boring.
Rating - Shuffle Bait
Leave (Knave)
Y'all, Knave outchea tellin' Crush he better watch his back. There's only space for one man in K-RnB with a sharp chin, and Knave is comin' for the crown!!
Leave is an on trend K-RnB track, ladies and gents. Which I'm not mad at, because Knave also gives me plenty of vocal to keep my ears entertained. This song could have used a rap break, tho. It gets a little monotonous after a while, and a tastefully placed rap break would have broken that up a bit.
Still a pretty good song, tho.
Rating - Shuffle Bait
CRAZY (OFA)
Y'all... This man could sing me the dictionary, and I'd still be making heart eyes at his ass. His voice is so fuckin' pretty, and hell, so is he.
He's so cute with his guitar, sis!!
Crazy is an acoustic RnB ballad that I wanna immerse myself in, and never leave. OFA must know my Kryptonite is 7th chords cause this song is loaded with them, especially in the chorus. It makes for a very pleasing aural experience.
I like that even though Crazy is studio recorded, it still has that ~live~ feel to it. Idk, I've clocked other songs for this kind of low production value, but the different elements of Crazy blend in together in a way other songs haven't despite having similar production values. This song is just so pleasing on the ears, sis.
Rating - Conditional Rotation
Willow Forest (Uhm Jung Hwa)
Yes, this song is a year old.
No, I don't care that you think I'm being ridiculous.
Just be glad it's not in the Fabulous Five, kids.
Willow Forest is a b-side from the first half of Goddess Uhm Jung Hwa's The Cloud Dreamer of the Nine album. I'm including it because a) I love Uhm Jung Hwa and b) y'all need to know who a *true* legend of K-Pop is. Ms Junghwa is turning 50 this year, and she still has more swagger than all your male faves combined.
Willow Forest is a House song with Symphonic elements. Think Clean Bandit, but dark and sultry. Truth be told, I didn't like Willow Forest at first. Idk, something about the symphonic elements did not mix well with the EDM ones. I guess I was just being Musically Cranky^TM that day (as one of my friends would say), because this is one of the best songs of 2016.
Today's video of Willow Forrest is brought to us by a dance practice posted by Mystic Entertainment. If you'd like to hear the studio version, you may do so .
Face (CRACKER featuring Yoon Hyun Sang and EZ Kim)
Face is a soft RnB duet about the impending end of a relationship. The really neat thing about Face is that not only do the lyrics change based on perspective, the song also modulates to a different key. This isn't anything we haven't seen before, but it is a very effective songwriting technique for songs with multiple perspectives/voices.
Face, musically, is also nothing we haven't heard before, but you like these kinds of RnB songs, you'll really like this one. I really like these types of songs, but I gotta be in a certain mood to really enjoy them, ya know?!?!?! Still, a very beautiful song.
Rating - Conditional Rotation
Walkin' in Time (The Boyz)
The Boyz scalped your male faves last December with gay winter bop BOY, proving that they are That^TM rookie boy band to watch in 2018. And with Walkin' in Time, they've decided to team up with 1theK to remind us all that even their b sides will have our male faves lookin' ratchet.
We Have Decided To Stan For Life.jpg
Walkin' in Time is a Sad Song^TM.
This song is about the residual emotions of a bad breakup (any breakup, tbh, but reading the lyrics makes me think this was a bad split) still plaguing your mind/mood. But Walkin' in Time is sad with an EDM breakdown and sub bass, which I appreciate. The track starts out sounding kind of RnBish, but quickly descends into an '80s style/New Wave breakdown. The rest of the song follows suit for one of the best ballads I've heard all month.
To be fair, it isn't hard to say that when 90% of the ballads I've heard this month are more dry than a scale rice cracker, but lemme boost my fave, sis!!
Walkin' in Time's subject matter and sound make this a song for a particular mood. I, personally, have never had to deal with a breakup like this, but that's the thing about good music - it makes you feel the emotion behind the songwriting. But this is not a song I can put on Heavy Rotation. Doesn't diminish the quality of the songwriting and performance.
Rating - Conditional Rotation
LALALA (Bumkey featuring SURAN and Loco)
Bumkey, along with SURAN and Loco, have decided to deliver us a spring love song in the form of LALALA. Jace appreciates!!
LALALA is very on trend for a K-RnB song. There are a quite a few songs on this week's list with tihs type of electroRnB sound, but Bumkey and SURAN's very unique vocal styles help set her apart. LALALA is cheese central, babies. Bumkey was up in the studio with SURAN and Loco making sure these lyrics would clog arteries with how cutesy they are. But I'm not mad!!
I don't know if y'all are, but I'm not.
This is the type of song you serenade bae with on V Day. This is the type of song you sing softly to them when you're wrapped up in each other, being all lovey dovey.
This is the type of song you sing to bae after they done annihilated ya guts just right #RomanticHeauxeryIn2k18
If I wasn't absolutely in love with the songs I had in my Fab Five, this would definitely have made an appearance. But the ladies of K-Music dropped a gauntlet of bops on my ass, so me and LALALA are just gonna have to love each other from afar.
Rating - Heavy Rotation
SSUL (2000WON)
2000WON's SSUL is a pretty song, but after all the RnB tracks I've heard this week (especially after hearing LALALA), it doesn't leave much of an impression. Which is a shame, because it's really pretty. The instrumentation is very aurally pleasing, 2000WON is as good a singer as he is a rapper (if that's him singing, that is), and SSUL uses its runtime very efficiently.
But my only impression of it is "I liked it, it was good".
Rating - Shuffle Bait
Rendezvous (Z.NU x Feel Good)
Z.NU and Feel Good heard that Jay Park was still on that Tropical Pop, so they decided "Why The Fuck Not".
Jace is Pleased^TM.
How you like Rendezvous depends on how tired you are of Tropical Pop. Because this song is straight up Tropical Pop, sis. Which *I'm* not mad at, but y'all know my West Indian ass is gonna be 90 years old and still twerkin' to Little Mix's Touch.
Outside of the fact that this is Tropical Pop in 2018, there's not much to say about this song, kiddios. This is the type of song I'd expect to hear in an H&M, or something. It's not bad, but it's painfully middle of the road.
Rating - Shuffle Bait
Riverside (Tommy Song)
Tommy Song's Riverside is a soft RnB confession song, kids.
Riverside is *almost* an Acoustic Coffee Shop RnB Midtempo!! Almost!! The pulse is a little too weak, but that's okay. Riverside is just fine as it is. Tommy's slight rasp complements the very soft RnB backdrop he lays out in the song. Riverside, like SSUL, is another song that I'd probably throw on a playlist and forget about, unfortunately. Which is a shame, because I like the way Tommy Song sounds. But this song stays a wee bit too far in it's lane.
Rating - Shuffle Bait
Monster (Henry Lau)
The petty part of me wanted to skip Monster, because I don't like Henry. But the teasers intrigued me, so I decided to give it a chance.
For a straightforward ballad, Monster confuses the absolute fuck outta me.
Monster continues the trend of balladeers skipping the pianos and acoustic guitars, and singing over a languidly strummed electric guitar. It's a very interesting sound that I'm very much into, but idk, sis. Something abou the songwriting or production in this song confuses tf outta me.
I also really don't think this kind of stripped back atmosphere fits Henry's voice that well, either. The bareness of the instrumentation highlights qualities of his voice that are very pleasant, and his voice never just melds into music like it should. It sits on top of the track, and it's just weird.
Rating - Shuffle Bait
Cactus (Cha Hakyeon of ViXX)
I saw a man so beautiful, I started cryin'!?!?!?!
One of my friends said that my type is cuddly n soft boys, or bears, and boys too pretty to be real. Cha Hakyeon is literally both, and I can't breathe anytime I look at him.
Hakyeon's Cactus is an acoustic midtempo, and y'all already know how I feel about those. Cactus is pretty standard fare for an acoustic midtempo, but the brightness in Hakyeon's tone really gives it some oomph. Idk, this song is really pretty and I'd play it on days I'm not feelin' so hot. It would make a really nice pick me up.
One complaint I do have is that I'd have liked more to have been done with the vocal arrangements. Hakyeon sounds great, but he'd have sounded even better if he had some harmonies surrounding him.
Rating - Conditional Rotation
Thank You (Soul One featuring Paloalto)
Soul One peeped all the straightforward RnB tracks comin' out this week and decided to deliver a spacey trip hop track, instead.
Thank the Lordt!!
Y'all, I love RnB, but literally 90% of the RnB tracks on this list blend in to each other like a mindless drone of averageness.
Thank You has a sample heavy, old school Hip Hop sound mixed with that jazzy vibe Korean rappers decided to ditch, en masse, two years ago in factor for trap. Can you tell I'm still bitter?!?!
Soul One has a pretty interesting voice on him (I'd assume Tiger JK would sound like if Yoon Mi Rae ever got him to sing, sans autotune), but the real star of the show here is Paloalto. Soul One's vocals were processed in a way were they just kind of blended into the beat, and while that's a really cool effect I was into, the stark clarity of Paloalot's rap helped break up the monotony of it.
Cause sis, no matter how much my brain Happy Tingles^TM at the beat, there was no way I was gonna be able to deal with *that* noise for 4 minutes straight.
Rating - Conditional Rotation
SUN (Northpole725)
Whenever I hear rock music pop up in my Korean music feed, it's always an interesting experience. We don't get a lot of that around here, folks!!
Read - can someone tell Korean indie bands to make their music easier to find on Youtube, because my ass is R E A D Y, sis!! I will gladly review your music!!
Northpole725's SUN is a punk/rock song that I need to hear live. I talked about this last week when I reviewed 6 by MDSZ; rock songs never sound as hype as they do studio recorded as they do live, because of the amount of processing you have to do to the instrumentation to get it to sit well in the mix. I was bored by SUN the first go around, because this mix is not dynamic at all. This song is saved by how catchy the chorus is, tbh. It kept me listening, which got me really thinking about how great this song would go live. Especially with a hype ass crowd, sis.
One of these days, someone needs to fly me to Korea so I can do a Live Concert RRU and talk about how great these tracks are live.
Rating - Heavy Rotation
Adam & Eve (JUB x FatCat)
Adam & Even is the intersection of two flops. Let's not mince words, kids. Sunny Hill haven't had a hit since their 2012 single The Grasshopper Song, and I hadn't even heard from FatCat since 2012. I thought baby girl left the industry!! But they strike gold with Adam & Even.
Adam & Even is an electroRnB song that feels almost like Future Bass. The instrumentation is far more EDMish than any of the RnB songs on this week's list, but FatCat and JUB's voices anchor this song, firmly, in RnB territory.
I wasn't sure if I was gonna like this song from the teasers, but I do, you guys!! I've always lowkey/downtempo tracks that have electronic instrumentation just a little bit more than ones with acoustic/more natural sounding instrumentation. Sometimes it tires the ears, but idk; it's just easier for me to get lost in. Which is definitely what I want to do when I listen to Adam & Eve.
Rating - Heavy Rotation
The Fabulous Five
5. SOBeR (Bae Suzy)
Last week, I left Suzy's I'm In Love With Somebody Else off the RRU playlist because the name is stupid as fuck all in protest, because we do not support ballad!Suzy in this household. Mama is cute and fly or whutevahs, but she does not have the vocal chops or the presence to carry a ballad as a feature track.
So imagine how Shook^TM my ass was when ma'am had the N E R V E (THE UNMITIGATED G A L L /Kat Blaque Voice) to upload a teaser for her *actual* feature track, Holiday.
I was P R E S S E D.
But we've already discussed that today.
I really wish Suzy n JYP had released this as the title track over Holiday. Don't get me wrong, I fucking love Holiday; a bitch will N E V A H tire of that soft RnB style. But it feels more like a pre-release (what last year's Pretend was to Yes/No/Maybe) or a gift to fans type track. SOBeR isn't quite as bold n brash as Yes/No/Maybe, but there's some personality peaking through here. SOBeR is very fun and playful; there's a flirtatious element here that suits Suzy's girl next door image. Because even if you stanned Suzy in miss A, you knew that girl was terribly mismatched to that group. I have to say, this is most presence I've ever seen out of Suzy, and it almost makes me wanna stan.
SOBeR is brought to us today by Ms Suzy's Music Bank performance that she did alongside Holiday. You can find a studio recording of SOBeR here.
Rating - Heavy Rotation
4. Allergy (Risso)
Ms Risso decided to give the kids a futuristic slice of RnB (that sounds like something Humming Urban Stereo would cook up in his Laboratory of Musical Madness), and snatch my wig off in the process. Turn Up!!
Okay, but for my Negroids^TM out there - did y'all catch how that intro almost gave us Jersey Club realness, or am I just trippin'?!?!?!
Allergy gives Jace the Happy Brain Tingles^TM, babies. It's just so fun!! There's a '90s edge to this (music from the '80s/'90s have a kind of nostalgic feel mixed in the futuristic vibe they give off), and as I've mentioned many a time, ya girl loves music from this era. Risso has a voice that I'd never expect to work with a song like this, but I should really know better by now; these '90s-esque style beats are always complimented well by higher, raspier tones.
Rating - Heavy Rotation
So Long, Baby (Kate Kim)
YASSSSS!!! QUEEN OF AWKWARDLY DANCING TO FUTURE BASS BREAKS AND TURNING SOLFEGE INTO A KILLER HOOK!!!
T A K E E V E R Y O N E O F M Y W I G S!!!
Okay, I know that was hella shady of me, but Miss Kate Kim really had me wildin' the first time I heard this song. I was hollerin' at the Audacity^TM of her turning Solfege into a hook for a song about leavin' ain't shit men.
*ahem*
Kate Kim's So Long, Baby doesn't start out like its gonna be as hype as it is. But I really should have known better by now. The second I saw ma'am posted up on that couch with her fly ass entourage, I should have K N O W N she was gonna do magic tricks with my wig.
AND SHE DID!!
So Long, Baby is a sultry as fuck all RnB track with a Future Bass beat switch for a chorus. Y'all know my stance on Future Bass, but between Ms Kim and Seventeen, I really can't act like I'm not a fan anymore. And honestly, did I even give the genre a fair chance?!??! 90% of the Future Bass I've heard is by the Chainsmokers (aka white men making EDM that's about as interesting as their personalities), so... Maybe, I just need to go #Reflect and come back with a better image.
Anyway, this song is a banger. Ms Kate Kim is fly af, and mama can S A N G. I hope to see more from her soon.
Rating - Heavy Rotation
2. The Boots (gugudan)
If you had told me that Nugudan gugudan, during their debut era, were gonna end up one of my favorite 5th generation/Produce 101 girl groups, I'd laughed in ya face. I'd have cussed you out. I'd have dragged you like Taylor Swift thought she was dragging Kim n Kanye with Look What You Made Me Do.
But between A Girl Like Me and The Boots, looks like Nugudan gugudan are one of my favorite 5th generation/Produce 101 girl groups.
Who'd have thought?!?!?!
I'd like to say that the Boots was a departure for Nugudan gugudan, but they've literally had a difference concept for each of their comebacks, excluding their OGUOGU sub-unit. Chococo was literally Part 2 of Ice Chuu~. BUT!! Besides their God awful debut (that I won't be linking or naming anytime soon), Nugudan gugudan have bodied every concept they've ever done. And that's pretty awesome for a rookie(-esque) girl group.
The Boots has two main sections (a very sassy and flirtatious verse and a power pop chorus that's mo catchier than a rash), bridged by a syncopated prechorus. She's more A Girl Like Me than Chococo, which I was glad to hear from the teasers because we love and cherish A Girl Like Me in this house. The Boots is just really fun and playful, and we can never have too much of that in my corner.
Don't ask me why, but The Boots sounds like a cross between Jung Hyosung's Into You and Find Me. Very vaguely, but I'm reminded of both of these songs anytime I listen to her. And mind you, that's not a bad thing; both songs are pretty great. They're not my favorite from Hyosung (that honor belongs to Goodnight Kiss), but they're both exceptional releases. The only thing I could clock The Boots for is the fact that the first and second choruses feel like they're ending prematurely. It doesn't take away from how amazing this song is, but they really should have had a refrain like the third chorus.
In addition to the main music video, Nugudan gugudan have provided a dance practice that you can view here.
We stan such gracious, benevolent queens.
Rating - Heavy Rotation
1. Bad Boy (Red Velvet)
EVERYTHING ABOUT THIS COMEBACK IS SO HOOD, I'M SCREAMING!!
No seriously, this is the kind of music Fourth Harmony would be making if they were around in 2002. Bet.
Red Velvet's Bad Boy took me by surprise, sis. I knew these girls had swagger from those Peak a Boo and Look performances (hell, the entirety of Perfect Velvet showed that these girls have swagger in S P A D E S), but the way they ride the beat here is R I D I C U L O U S!! Bad Boy is a sexy and sultry RnB midtempo, but the pulse is more than fast enough for you to groove to, babies. SM is, lowkey, here for late '90s/early '00s Black Culture, but Bad Boy takes the fucking cake. I had no clue they were *this* down For the Culture^TM.
I wasn't prepared for Red Velvet to come for me like this. I wasn't even expecting a repackage for Perfect Velvet (PaB was a bit of a flop, so I was expecting RV's first release of the year to be Rookie 2.0), but I guess the girls figured they hadn't extracted enough of my wig closet from my posession with Perfect Velvet. I will say that I wish these girls had laced that chorus with a ridiculous amount of harmonies (because you *know* a '90s girl group would have had us B A L D T like Irene was Red Summer era with the harmonies), but I mean... That's just me being picky!! Bad Boy is still amazing!!
Rating - Heavy Rotation
Alright guys, that's it for this week's list!! Don't forget to tune in on Friday at 6pm EST (or so) for the next entry in our SHINee Feature Spotlight series and Monday for a new full length review!! Or two~.
Tfw your mans gets lines when you weren't expecting him to
Hi guys!! My name is Jace (aka Felicity B), and iKON released something I didn't gay up straight up despise?!?! Sorcery...
*ahem*
Welcome to my review for Love Scenario!! I'm not gonna lie, I'm not in a love scenario for Love Scenario (hell, not even a like scenario), BUT!! It's a major improvement over previous title tracks. Specifically that it's not a four year old demo B.I made in 2.592 seconds, and YG made them release because it reminded him of M.A.D.E era BIGBANG.
~The Song~
*sigh*
I said this in my Neverland review, and I'm gonna say it here - I review music, not people. Granted, I don't actually like iKON (I might have caused some trouble a year and a half ago by calling them iKEA on Tumblr, but that's nothing y'all can prove), but I'm mature enough of an adult to not outright trash them unless they deserve it. To be honest, I pity iKON more than I actually dislike them; YG put a ridiculous amount of pressure on iKON to outsell WINNER be his most successful boy band since BIGBANG, but it didn't happen, so he exiled them to Japan. He also doesn't give Double B as much creative control over iKON's music as he acts like he does (if the company lets you make your own music but then tells you what kind of songs they want, that's not creative control). So, unless I address Double B or the other members of iKON by name, I'm not critiquing them.
I don't know why I put these disclaimers in my reviews, because I know someone is gonna see some random ass blurb, take it out of context, and then cry to their five followings that the Mean Black Gay™ dragged them when I call them out on it. It always fucking happens.
Love Scenario is not a bad song. It's not a particularly good song, but it's not straight up trash like Bling Bling. There are elements here that could make this song great, but they're overpowered by all the problems of the track.
Look, I wholly understand that YG wants iKON to be his Hood Fabulous™ NuGen boy band, but this song suffers because of the trap elements. Or rather, it suffers from Double B and MILLENIUM randomly throwing the trap beats into the song and then dropping them without warning. It gives Love Scenario a really stuttered start/stop pace, and that makes the song feel like it never actually gets off the ground.
I mean, there's the full time section at the end that reminds me of Black Pink's Whistle, but it's at the end, sis. Why these niggas always puttin' the best parts of the song at the end?!?!?! They did this same shit with Dumb and Dumber, and I'm still mad about that.
Two Years Later.
Moving on, I also found the excessive use of cowbells and claps on every beat in the prechorus and chorus sections to be annoying as fuck. Especially when it would have made a lot more sense to have dropped out all the percussion for the prechorus (except a snare roll to lead it into the chorus), and then pull the trap beats in at the start of the actual chorus. I'm really not trynna be shady (okay, maybe a lil bit), but it sounds like they forgot to turn off the click track in those bits, and when they did their first play though, they thought it sounded cool or somethin'.
Another problem I have with Love Scenario is that it suffers from crap line distribution. To be fair, it's not as bad as some previous iKON feature tracks (Dumb and Dumber *ahem*), but sis. What is the point of having a seven member group when only four of the members consistently get lines?!?!?! I'm so tired of iKON songs being 85% Double B, 10% Jinhwan/Junhoe, and the other three scrap over the last 5%. Y'all, I was whole ass Shook™ when I watched the Inkigayo comeback stage, and it was Yunhyeong who sang the bridge, not Jinhwan. That should not be A Thing™ for a group I've been following since their debut.
And while I'm asking the Big Man™ questions - why are Double B, iKON's rappers, singing more than Chanwoo and Yunhyeong?!?! E S P E C I A L L Y when the two of them rap the entirety of the verses?!?!?!
YG!!
SIS!!
I
DON'T
UNDERSTAND!!
~The Video~
The video for Love Scenario is directed by VM Project, and it shows. She's got a theme, every shot is deliberate (nothing seems like it was thrown in there just to fluff out the video), and the editing is tight. But while there were some really cool shots (like the 360 cam in the circle room, showing off the different stages of the relationship described in the song), this video it really fucking boring.
And before y'all flame my ass, I do realize that that's partially because this group doesn't do much for me. But it's also because this video is so painfully standard, it's boring. In fact, this video is probably the most boring video I've ever watched that was directed by VM Project.
Why?!?!!
Because, instead of focusing on the theme of the video (the comparison of a relationship to a film), the video is 90% choreography shots and iKON just bein' bros. In fact, I'm pretty sure YG blew most of the budget on those album teasers (that VM Project also directed), and that's a major contribution as to why this video is so lackluster.
I think this video could have been far more interesting, because of the metaphorical nature of the lyrics, but the Management™. She wasn't being particularly smart that day.
A Shame™.
Of course, when is Mistress YG ever being smart?!?!?
~The Choreography~
Love Scenario's routine works the same angle that many of iKON's previous routines (hell YGe routines, in general) have, and I'm bored. Granted, this one has a lil bit more creativity put into the formations.
But I'm still bored.
For those of you who've been here since BC (Before Chanwoo), YG would not shut his trap about iKON's dance skill. In every one of his frou frou ass press releases (sorry, personal letters to Da Fans™) about iKON/Team B, he would mention that they were a strong dance unit. And credit where it's due; they turned it out with the dance routines on their survival shows in a way that WINNER never did (which is to be expected when only two of the five members of WINNER actually liked to dance). But ever since their debut, iKON haven't given us anything close to what they're capable of.
And that's as much a critique against iKON as it is at YG's choreographers, because Black Pink's routines are just as whack. But catch me stannin' Black Pink, cause they actually give me something on stage.
In fact, one could easily frame why boy band stans who say that girl groups don't do as much on stage are speaking out of their ass with a comparison between Black Pink and iKON's performance abilities, but this isn't that kind of post. I'm just saying that iKON and YG's choreographers need to get it together, because a group of this caliber should not be outchea dancin' like 2016 EXO. It's not a cute look.
~Overall And Final Thoughts~
Quite frankly, I'm tired of YG Entertainment's bullshit, and iKON's output is a great example of why. This group has so much fucking potential (just like all their acts do), but this abominable agency has no fucking idea to carry that shit through. YG, himself, is a misogynist creep who literally does the most to do the fuckin' least, and I'm over it.
Y'all, it's been almost two and a half years, and I'm still waiting on this group to do S O M E T H I N G out of the box. And Love Scenario came so close, sis. SO CLOSE!! Those album teasers had me a lil hype. The music sounded like GroovyRoom phoning it in like they did for ONE's debut, but it was S O M E T H I N G. Hell, even the song teasers had me loosening the drawstrap on my wig!! But the final product missed mark.
And yes, as I've consistently pointed out throughout this review, it's not entirely fair for me to put so much of the blame on iKON. But sis, I don't know what I'm supposed to say!! I've given this group S O M A N Y chances to really nail my wig to wall (like I do all of YG's acts), but they continue to just be so damn lackluster.
Also, YG does the same bullshit to all his other acts!! But why is it that WINNER and AKMU and Lee Hi (who doesn't even write any of her own music) are able to release decent music, despite YG's bullshit, but not iKON!?!?! Why, sis?!?!!?
I just don't understand!!
Bottom line is that I'm tired of trying to like this group. They've shown some potential here, but it's not enough. Love Scenario would have a cute release back in 2015, but it's not 2015 anymore. iKON should be past this by now.
Tfw you're a Petty Gay™ and are told making kissy faces at another man is gonna get your video slapped with a 19+ rating
Hi guys!! My name is Jace (aka Felicity B), and this is my review of Holland's Neverland!! Neverland is a fairy tail I never want to wake up from. Regardless of how we feel about the song, it's awe inspiring that in the Lord's Year of 2018, we have our first openly gay idol. And while a video as pedestrian and utterly normal as Neverland's really shouldn't be as groundbreaking as it is (she's a Bitter Gay™, sis), I'm gonna take what I can get.
~The Song~
Neverland is pretty on trend for a K-RnB midtempo. And usually, I'd be jumping on that like ARMY jump on people who call out BTS's bullshit, but this song is como se dice... Not Good™.
*sigh*
Before I get into my thoughts on why I think Neverland is not a good song and ways it could have been improved (as someone who's composed and produced her own music), I just want to preface this by saying I review music, not people. Just because I'm about to put this song on blast (and y'all have truly seen me go off on bad music) doesn't mean that I don't support Holland. I just think his debut song could have better. That's literally it.
Firstly, dem vocals. To be frank, Holland's voice does fit this song; the texture and tone of his voice was highlighted by how stripped back and bare the instrumentation is in a way that you don't want your voice to be. Does that mean that I think he can't sing?!?!? Absolutely not. I'm not gonna be That Person™ to judge his voice after just one song. Especially with how mismatched he sounds with the beat. Do I think he could use some more vocal training?!?!?! Yes, I do. In fact, I think a lot of beloved idol vocalists could use some more vocal training. But I'd put the blame on why his voice sounds so at odds with the beat with the fact that his vocals are improperly mixed into the track.
Neverland, as a whole, is poorly mixed and mastered, but Holland's vocals are the real victim here. Sometimes, they're too loud. Sometimes, they're too soft. Sometimes, he's out of time with the beat (which suggests, to me, that he's not used to singing to tracks like these). Sometimes his voice sounds too rough/raw. This is all the result of poor mixing. It's akin to putting too much sugar or not enough water in KoolAid, sis; if the elements aren't balanced Just Right™, then everything is gonna be thrown off.
And to whomstever produced this beat for Holland?!?!?!? You needs your ass beat. Like, you really need to be served five (5) different kinds of hands, cause you R E A L L Y dropped the ball here.
Neverland had a lot of potential, okay?!?! The instrumental sets up this calm and tranquil atmosphere... And then proceeds to do fuck all else for the next three minutes. I'm offended. I didn't even pay for this beat, and I want my money back!!
The least y'all could have done was give my mans some killer harmonies and have him ad lib some, but nope!! Eror 404, not found. There were some harmonies in the chorus and second verse, but not nearly enough to really give this song the oomph it needed.
~The Video~
Neverland's video is literally two gay dudes just existing. And it's the best fuckin' shit I've seen in my entire life.
I need straight people who wanna concern troll about Holland's sexuality being used as a gimmick to understand something - your faves' presumed heterosexuality is used as a ~gimmick~ as much as Holland's gayness, and nobody fucking blinks. They produce music about being straight, they make videos about being straight, they give very straight answers when asked about their ideal types; so on and so forth. They literally sell straightness, as a concept, to the general public (especially boy bands), because that's what makes them money.
And that's assuming if they're actually straight. Yes, I fucking said it; your fave might not be as straight as you think they are, because Statistically, it's very possible that there are far more LGBT idols than we assume. I'm gonna say this because none of you cowards want to acknowledge it, but the entertainment industry draws a shit ton of LGBT people because they can hide in plain sight. Sure, that's a simplification if I'd ever seen one, but I can guarantee you that Jo Kwon would not be able to be so openly flamboyant working as an accountant as he is on stage.
And I'm not even gonna get into the amount of music videos I've seen in K-Pop that are supposedly ~gay rep~, but are either a) pure angst or b) have the LGBT storyline hidden under hella subtext. I could certainly blast a lot of beloved gay MVs in K-Pop for this foolery (along with the people who produced them), but I don't wanna talk about that right now.
What I want to talk about is why Holland's Neverland is the Best Music Video Every Made™, because it's certainly better than your faves!!
Firstly, this video is beautifully filmed and edited. It's a shame that the song was so roughly made, because this is just so aesthetically pleasing.
Secondly, NO SUBTEXT!! /Edna Mode voice. Holland and his boo very clearly have feelings for each other. It's not being covered up by or made into 249028 metaphors. The storyline is very simple here - boy and boy like each other, boy and boy not sure how other feel, boy and boy feel Bad™, boy and boy kiss, boy and boy are Happy™. They End!!
And lastly, the kiss!! T H E F U C K I N G K I S S, B!!! I was shook because of that kiss. You were shook because of that kiss. YOUR FAVE WAS S H O O K E T H BECAUSE OF THAT KISS, SIS!! I thought it was gonna be a barely there, peck on the lips. But no!! Holland and his mans went IN!! No wonder some of y'all don't like this video; That's the best kiss I have E V E R seen in a K-Pop music video. My mans snatched your mans with ten a second kiss scene in his debut. He literally walked up to that fool and peeled up his edges like like they were a frontal.
Tragique™.
I could keep going, but I think y'all get the gist of what I'm saying. Holland showed with Neverland just how human gay people are. I've never seen an LGBT couple be shown this way in a K-Pop music video. Not ever. Holland and his boo are literally just existing, and it hurts so much that that this is so groundbreaking for LGBT people. But once again, I'm gonna take what I can get. The Happy Brain Tingles™ this video gives me is more than worth the bitter aftertaste.
~Final And Overall Thoughts~
Holland's career has gotten off to a bumpy start, but he's on his way, babies. At this time of writing, Neverland had 5.5 million views (nice to see K-Pop Standom's weird obsession with numbers being used for the greater good) on Youtube. And while I've seen so many fucking creeps using Neverland's video as a way to live out their disgusting yaoi/shipper fantasies, I've seen way more gay kids feel what it's like to see adequate on-screen representation.
Feels Good, Mate.
I'm a major anti of Angst City™ anything in reference to LGBT people, because my people already know we're suffering. And quite frankly, I've seen more than enough media of how badly society treats us. After a while, it just starts to feel like a giant pit of hopelessness. I'm not saying that that kind of rep doesn't need to happen, because we need to raise awareness of the problems to change them. But there's more given to ~realistic~ gay rep being produced than more fantastic, idealistic gay rep, and I need y'all to realize that that isn't a mistake.
Too many people get their dirty and disgusting kicks focusing on how badly marginalized groups are fucked over by society. LGBT people (especially LGBT kids and teenagers) need to see more media featuring positive representation. We need to see more media featuring gay couples, and trans couples, and fuckin' gay AND trans couples (lest y'all forget my gay ass is nonbinary) being happy. Media affects the way we perceive reality (all of you MOGAI/pedo apologist nasties can shut the fuck up, there's literally a million studies backing that claim), and if all we see are LGBT being treated like trash, what's the point of going on!?!?!
*That* becomes our reality.
Because a ~lovely~ byproduct of overly negative media representation of a marginalized group is that majority groups become more comfortable in their bigotry. The same way that negative media feeds into us feeling like garbage for being part of a marginalized group is the same way it feeds into the normalization of our mistreatment by majority groups.
So babies... Be a part of the solution, not the problem!!
And if you weirdos still think Holland being openly gay is a fucking gimmick, I'm here to tell that it's only a gimmick if the person is straight. It's literally that fucking simple.
Hello, loves!! My name is Jace (aka Felicity B), and I owe you guys an explanation. Not only is this late, but it's not the FSL I promised y'all. If you saw my Twitter Thread last night, then you'd know that this week was just Bad Timing™ (along with the poorest of time management) personified. I started feelin' my oats a little *too* much, and decided that I should two reviews for next week (which are done, they just need to be edited and have gifs added), not grasping that I had about 30 videos sitting in the playlist for the last RRU to review. And on top of that, I picked out the songs for the Contemporary ver.2 FSL that was supposed to happen today (well, yesterday), but just didn't have the energy to arrange them in a playlist. And because the universe loves to fuck with me, I had work on Thursday and Friday, so by the time I got home, I just did not feel like doing anything.
Suffice to say that this week was some Grade A Bullshit™.
But today is a new day, and this is not my usual Feature Spotlight!! This was something I was gonna put out after I finished the SHINee Era Spotlights series (not immediately, but sometime in the next couple of months), but since I needed something for this week, I guess we're doing it now.
Today, we'll be counting down my top ten favorite SHINee feature tracks!! And I use "top ten" very loosely here; this ordering, outside of the top three, changes around based on my musical mood of the moment. But I did want to spotlight my favorite SHINee feature tracks, so here they are!!
10. Ring Ding Dong
Ring Ding Dong is the type of song that you either love, or can't listen to without laughing your ass off. I know the first time I listened to it, I cackled like a banshee.
Am still prone to cackle as I listen, but that's because this song just makes me so happy.
But Ring Ding Dong, like much of the K-Pop songs that were trending at the time, grows on you. There's an element of seriousness here that makes this song come of as ridiculous, but that's part of the fun. Ring Ding Dong is fairly self-aware, sis; it knows it's being way more serious and over the top than it truly needs to be, but she's a lil shameless (like me!!). And let's be real - we all need a song like this in our lives. Something that's Really Freaking Good™, but also Really Freaking Silly™.
9. Married to the Music
SHE'S FUNKY!!
Married to the Music came after a period of SHINee's career where they did some very serious experimentation with their sound. SHINee has never really stuck to one particular sound in career, but we all know that don't nobody do RnB n Funk in K-Pop quite like the SHINee Five™. Your faves wished they could lace a RnB beat with the hot fire that SHINee does, but that's neither here nor there. My point is that Married to the Music was a reassurance; it was SHINee letting us know that even though they've driven farther left field than they've ever gone with Odd (they drove right off a damn cliff, girl), that they haven't lost their magic touch.
They can still have us all bald and crying to a Funk soundtrack like it's nothing.
Simply put, Married to the Music is just SHINee doing SHINee, sis. This is SHINee on autopilot, and I'd be saying that with derision if this was any other group, but SHINee has never given less than 100%. It's beautiful.
8. 1of1
I really need to know why SM took so long to come through with the New Jack Swing. SHINee have all our faves habitually pressed that they'll never do RnB n Funk as well as the SHINee Five™ since debut, Odd showed that these boys do Deep House amazing, and there's honestly something so fucking '90s about SHINee. About all of SM's boy bands, tbh. But I just need to know why I had to wait almost four years for a New Jack Swing track, and how much I'll be paid in emotional damages. Thank you!!
1of1 is magical, folks. 1of1 is Unapologetic Joy™ in a song, ladies. 1of1 is backed by a 100% money back guarantee!! You'll definitely feel better after listening to this song, and if you don't, its because you don't like New Jack Swing.
Which is fine!! I don't know what it's like to hate everything good in this world, but do you, boo!!
Joking aside, I knew SHINee weren't gonna let me down with 1of1. I knew, in my soul, that they were gonna give me hotness. And they DELIVERT!! I don't know what else to say, guys. SHINee fucking delivered with 1of1. This song makes me wanna cry with how good it is, sometimes.
I might even be bold enough to play 1of1 at the cookout one good time. Now that's true love, folks.
7. View
I don't know why SHINee doing Deep House was such a strange concept to me. Like I said above, SHINee practically embody the '90s, and Deep House (along with New Jack Swing) encompass '90s music to a T. There was just something so alien about the idea, because it was just so new. Deep House isn't a genre I'd heard in K-Pop before View (still isn't something I hear a lot of), so I suppose I just didn't have any basis for it.
But chile... Never let a bitch doubt that SHINee will deliver hotness. They'll snatch your whole ass family as restitution.
View was very new for SHINee, but these niggas really dropped that shit on us like they'd been doin' Deep House their entire career. What's an RnB?!?!!? Who is Funk?!?!?! Ain't that the name of a dish detergent!?!?!?! That was SHINee unleashing View on our asses.
Girl, I half expected Kibum to start voguing on my ass!! That's how well they bodied View. And that's what I love the most about SHINee - their commitment to their craft. They don't E V A H deliver anything less than 100%. It's just not in their blood. They are physically incapable. If post-2014 K-Pop wasn't all about them production values, I'm sure I'd fool people into thinking View was made in 1996. She's that powerful, sis.
6. Why So Serious
Somebody's going to mad this is on this list. But their wig is dusty, so a bitch doesn't give a fuck.
Why So Serious divided Shawols right down the middle, babies. 2013 must have been the Year of the Troll, because SM did this shit to EXO with Wolf and to SNSD with I Got A Boy, too. Had everybody's fandoms mad as hell at this foolery!! Why So Serious didn't just take the cake, tho; she bought the cake, and then stole it from ha own house. So many people outright H A T E D this song, and I really can't blame them. To this day, there are still parts of this song that make me go ???.
But guess who's triflin' ass still plays this shit like she'd die if she didn't?!?!?!
Why So Serious takes SHINee's Funk sensibilities and marries them to a musical theater backdrop. And that's exactly why I love ha. The song does too fuckin' much with all the electric guitars, MIDI horns, and random as fuck all key changes, but I would absolutely love to see this performed as a big opening number in a Broadway show. I don't even know what this hypothetical musical would be about, I know just I want SHINee, surrounded by 50 chorus members and backup dancers, performing the absolute shit out of Why So Serious. Y'all can't tell me that wouldn't be epic.
5. Dream Girl
2013, along with being Year of the Troll, was also Year of the Bop. A lot of people hated K-Pop that year because of the rampant musical experimentation, but 2013 yielded quite a few of my favorite K-Pop songs. One of which is Dream Girl.
Dream Girl was interesting, because it took SHINee's Funk sensibilities and married them to an EDM backdrop (quite like what Why So Serious did, except more mainstream). And granted, that's a sound we've heard quite a bit in western pop around 2009-2011, but a bitch does not care!! She don't!! Dream Girl is musical crack!!
Dream Girl is the type of song you play to get a party jump started. Dream Girl is the type of song people go crazy watching live, because the energy is just amazing. Dream Girl is an example of taking a formula that works, and improving upon on it. You're staying in your lane, but you upgraded from a Honda to a Lexus, boo boo!! We appreciate!!
Especially the fucking bridge. What is it about 7th chords that make them produce the Happy Brain Tingles™?!?!?! I'd write whole ass songs with chord progressions that consist of the just 7th chords, because they sound so freaking good!! And y'all can talk crap about my mans, Choi Minho, all you want, but his voice is Magical™.
#AppreciateAllBaritones
4. Lucifer
Oh Lucifer...
See, we knew SHINee was That Group™ before Lucifer, because they blasted onto the scene with amazing sync and nothin' but Bops™. But Lucifer was the confirmation, sis. Lucifer was SHINee tellin' our faves to bow down. Lucifer was the beginning of The SHINee Takeover™.
Lucifer, like Ring Ding Dong, is an electro song takes itself very seriously. But that's where the similarities end. Lucifer is all business, but that's okay - you and your wig are still blown away. This song must be ridiculously fun to perform, because a) absolutely N O O N E was ready for that choreography and b) the chorus harmonies makes a bitch feel like she's flying.
Said harmonies are covered in so much autotune, a bitch feels like she's choking on that shit, but Lord knows that foolery is just a style choice. No one could escape being autotuned to death in K-Pop circa 2009 - 2012, but SHINee don't need no autotune for no damn harmonies!!
Lucifer is just a damn good song, y'all. I wouldn't describe this as fun, like I would Ring Ding Dong or Dream Girl, but catch me playin' this right after Ring Ding Dong at my next party.
3. Love Like Oxygen
Gurl... The first time I heard Love Like Oxygen, I whole ass screamed. I knew SHINee were no stranger to some MJ style Funk, but they whole ass snatched that man's weave right out his grave!!
Disrespectful!!
Love Like Oxygen is the second half of SHINee's origin story, kids. I'm always talmbout how they're the K-Pop Kings of Funk, and Love Like Oxygen is how the title was bestowed upon them. There's nothing else for me say. Love Like Oxygen, like Replay and RnB, is the first of many Funk songs in SHINee's discography that me shakin' and cryin' for more.
2. Sherlock (Clue+Note)
Oh look, it's my first SHINee song!! Well, first SHINee song as a K-Pop fan.
BUT THAT'S IRRELEVANT!! SHERLOCK IS MY FIRST ~OFFICIAL~ SHINEE SONG!!
Sherlock is that MJ style Funk, again. Y'all can be mad as hell at me for always bringing it up, but sis... She's a '90s Gay!! MJ (and Funk, in general) were a major part of my childhood; Funk and RnB songs are always gonna stand out to me. Hell, there were the reason I stayed bein' a K-Pop fan. But anyway, Sherlock is that MJ style Funk, but with a far more aggressive pulse. She's another song for the party playlists, babies. She's not gonna get your party hoppin' like Lucifer or Ring Ding Dong would, but she'll keep the dance floor busy.
At release, SM described Sherlock as a ~hybrid remix~ (basically their fancy way of saying a mashup) of the songs Clue and Note (Hence the Clue+Note in the title). And while Sherlock is indeed a mashup, neither Clue nor Note stand on their own. I definitely commend SM for attempting something new, but this mashup (sorry, hybrid remix) business definitely fell flat for me.
1. Replay
Yes babies, she's gonna be That Bitch™, today.
Replay, the first half of SHINee's origin story (aka debut), is *my* favorite SHINee feature track, because I just really love this style of RnB. That's it, sis. I mean, SHINee's swagger also makes the song (along with their harmonies, albeit a little underdeveloped at that point), but it all comes back to the song. Replay is a fuckin' bop. Replay isn't gonna be lightin' up anybody's party, but she's fun and that's all I need her to be.
Replay also reminds me of the era of K-Pop when everyone wasn't always focused on doing a shit ton of variety and reality shows. Because sis, I swear fandom cares more about that than the actual musical output of faves these days. And I mean, there's nothing wrong with liking content from your faves, but... Why are they a K-Pop group if they don't release music?!?!? Or rather, their focus isn't to release music.
Alright babies, that's it for this week's Feature Spotlight!! I will most definitely have the Contemporary ver.2 Era Feature Spotlight up for you guys next Friday at 6pm EST, along with my double review on Monday, and my Review Roundup on Wednesday at 6pm!! Once again, I'm so so S O sorry that this was not only delayed but also not what I promised, but I will do better next week.
Hello, my lovely baby boos!! My name is Jace (aka Felicity B), and welcome to your Weekly Roundup for Week 4 of January 2018!! This week was something else, sis. I must have listened to 40 or 50 different songs for this week's list. It was cray!! For these kinds of lists, the last thing I wanna do is leave off songs because I don't like them, but that's what I ended up having to do. This week's list was getting excessively long (is still excessively long), but the last thing we need here is an RRU with 20 ballads.
That being said, there's a lot of songs here with "I liked it, it was good" reviews. There's not much I can do about that. A lot of the music that came out this week was very middle of the road. They're good songs, don't get me wrong; I'd throw very few of them into the Shuffle Bait. But there's just not much to say about them.
Turn It Up (RAINZ)
*sigh*
I really wanted to like this song, you guys. That chorus is Rave Excellence™ (if EDM tracks from rookie boy bands sounded like this, I wouldn't hate them so much). It's fucking everything, sis. And you know, I can excuse RAINZ for conjuring the spirit of 4minute with that New and Improved™ Hate breakdown. Everything leading up to it was bomb af, so I can get over myself with how annoyed I was by it.
But what I refuse to get over is DUBSTEP IN 2018!! ABSOLUTELY NOT!!
NO MA'AM!!
I don't know what makes Turn It Up pop so much more than tracks we've heard from groups like UP10TION or SF9 or ViCTON, because like I mentioned before, it's all in the same lane. Sure, that chorus makes my inner gay wanna come charging out and kiss five boys before rolling around in body paint (and then proceed to kiss five more boys), but this isn't anything we haven't heard before, musically. There's nothing inherently fun about this song (just extremely gay, which... RAINZ is a Broduce 101 project group, so of course), I just really freaking like it.
I just can't get over dubstep in 2018. If I had the means to cut it out of the track, I would be featuring that version in the official playlist.
#PettyBitch
Rating - Conditional Rotation
NO MORE (LIMZY featuring Huckleberry P)
No More is an exercise in RnB influenced Trip Hop/EDM that I wasn't sure I was gonna like, at first. This weirdly disjointed flavor of electroRnB is really not my taste, and the fact that LIMZY pushed it more left field than I've heard before really didn't help matters.
But No More is charming in its own way. The more I listened to it, the more it grew on me. LIMZY's smooth vocals are a nice foil to the weirdness of the beat, and Huckleberry P's rap didn't irritate me as much as I thought it would. I gotta be in a certain mood to really enjoy a song like this, but when I'm in said mood, catch me dissociating to No More.
Rating - Conditional Rotation
A luminous cat (Evolution of Sound)
A luminous cat is kind of basic, but it's also kind of fun. It's hella catchy, too.
Would you say that the luminous cat is also a lucky cat?!?!?!
I've always found it interesting how the farther away from K-Pop you get, the lower everyone's voices get. Ballad singers live in the low baritone/mezzo soprano range (although some of them think they live in soprano/tenor land, and they need to Stop Stop It™), and EoS's vocalist is the same. He's got a voice on him like WINNER's Kang Seung Yoon, but not quite as raspy. It's really nice to listen to.
A luminous cat is a synth driven pop/rock song. The first time I listened to it, I was bored as fuck all. The teaser had a lil somethin' somethin' goin' on, but the song fell flat in full. Upon repeat listens, A luminous cat hooks you in, but this is not a track I really wanna play all of the time. Which is a shame, cause I don't hear this type of sound a lot in Korean music.
Rating - Shuffle Bait
Ttongkku (Park Jongchul)
This is the cutest fucking thing I've ever seen in my life. And I stan Kim Jongin, okay?!?!? Do y'all know how cute my mans is?!!? But this video is even cuter than him!!!
#Shook
Ttongkku is a very whimsical acoustic ballad (for lack of a better descriptor). With the way Ttongkku is written, I'd expect this to be from something for children. The majority of the song follows the same strum pattern, just with different chord progressions swapped in, so Ttongkku is perhaps one of the most simple songs I've reviewed. That doesn't take away from how great this song is, tho. It's a really nice break from all the flashiness of K-Pop, which can easily wear on the ears.
Rating - Conditional Rotation
To Heart (fromis_9)
To Heart sounds like the theme song from a 2008 shoujo anime. I shouldn't be surprised considering their pre-release track, Glass Shoes, also sounded like that, and the inspiration behind Idol School is definitely Japanese idol groups. It's just not a sound you hear a lot in K-Pop.
fromis_9 (pronounced Promise 9, even though I still pronounce it like it's written without meaning to) is the group that resulted from last year's survival show Idol School. You know, when everyone was suddenly concerned about the ethnics of all these survival shows, because it wasn't under the Produce banner.
#ShadyBitch
While I liked Glass Shoes (and appreciated K-Pop's modern production techniques being applied to a song like it), it was definitely nothing to write home about. It was easy to lose it in the craziness that is end of the shows and what not. To Heart is, unfortunately, more of the same, but it definitely holds its own.
To Heart is an upbeat, happy go lucky pop/rock track with a really catchy violin riff layered on top of the intro and chorus bits. The verses are rather lowkey, but the chorus puts the pedal to the metal with the energy. You don't really hear a lot of lighter pop/rock tracks in K-Pop, so this is definitely a sound I'd like for fromis_9 to explore more, because it could easily give them a leg up on all the other cutesy girl groups. Tis a good comeback, but that's literally it for me, sis.
Rating - Conditional Rotation
Jazzclub (BoA)
Current Dancing Queen of K-Pop, Kwon BoA, has set her sights on Japan with a new album, set to release in February of 2018 (and it was about fuckin' time, because Who's Back was an abominable Mess™)!! Jazzclub is a song that's been floating around since December, but I'm including it in today's list per request since the single actually dropped last week.
Um... Whom tf just calls their ex out of the blue to tell them they got married?! Every time I watch the video for Jazzclub, I'm so confused by why this bit is included (they literally could've just started with BoA in the club with the song playing).
To the surprise of quite a few people (myself included), Jazzclub is an electroswing track with one of the catchiest horn riffs I've heard in K-Pop. If you're over horn riffs in K-Pop, you'll be happy to know that while it is played at the intro and after every chorus, those sections don't last for long. The most surprising bit about this song is definitely when BoA starts scat singing. Never in my life would I ever expect Kwon Boah to start scat singing in one of her songs, but I guess that just goes to show why she's the Queen.
I'm not quite sure how I feel about Jazzclub, babies. I obviously don't hate it, but there's just something keeping me from falling in love with this song completely. I definitely enjoy the chorus, that horn riff doesn't really bother me (I been listening to all kinds of horns in my music since I was a baby), and I was scalpedt by BoA's scat singing. But this song just doesn't come together the way I need it to, sis. BoA seems like she's phoning it in here, and that's the opposite of what someone in her stature should be doing.
Rating - Conditional Rotation
Don't Stop (TheEastLight.)
TheFetusLight. TheEastLight. weren't content with shaving our edges off with the Funky Fresh™ A Real Man last week, so they decided to drop a lyric video for their song Don't Stop to finish the job.
Of shaving us baldt, that is.
Don't Stop is a pop/punk number that I immediately latched onto. It simply suits TheFetusLight. TheEastLight. far more than A Real Man did. Not to say that they did MJ wrong with A Real Man, but Don't Stop feels more like their style. TheFetusLight. TheEastLight. do more youthful n fun tracks like this (and I Got You) far better than they do songs like A Real Man and You're My Love, because these types of songs suit their voices more.
Rating - Heavy Rotation
Winter Sleep (Lee Junhoe of 2PM)
Two questions -
How many of these 2PM fools can rap?!?!
What is up with these 2PM boys having whack ass vocal production on their songs!?!?!
Junhoe's Winter Sleep sounds like he got Day6's Young K to write him a song and then pulled in some random producer to arrange it into an RnB track. While I am cross about the weird effects on Junhoe's voice (they contrast very Wrongly™ with the sample that sounds like a digital clock ticking), he sounds leagues better than Wooyoung did on two of the four songs I reviewed for in previous Review Roundups, so I'm not too mad.
I don't like this song. It's not a Trash Bomb like Wooyoung's Party Shots, but I wouldn't even download this for Shuffle Bait. The weird beeping contrasting with the vocal effects is one thing, but the entire song just sounds way too loud. None of the elements meld together in a pretty manner, and if I were Young K, I'd demand reparations for Junhoe doin' my song like this.
Rating - Trash Bomb
Radio 199.3 (SBGB)
SBGB decided to go left field with their acoustic midtempo, and the results are a very pleasing aural experience.
Radio 199.3 is your typical acoustic midtempo, but with some very creative chord choices to make the song stand out above all the other acoustic midtempos we've heard this month. I'm typical a sucker for these types of songs (and their RnB cousins), so even if SBGB didn't include the ear catching chord progressions, I'd still be a fan of this song.
This is a song for soft days. For rainy afternoons that make you wanna curl up in bed with someone special. Or those days when things are just kind of blue, and you wanna listen to something simple.
Rating - Conditional Rotation
Thank You, Goodbye (BoA)
BoA, once again proving that she is indeed That Bitch™ (as in, That Bitch™ who loves to spread ha'self too thin), has released the the title track from her new Japanese album two days before she drops her new Korean album.
Because why scalp ya fandom once, when you can do it twice?!?! IN TWO DIFFERENT COUNTRIES!!
Thank You, Goodbye is a Japanese Ballad. If you've been a J-Pop fan for any period of time, you've decided if you like these types of songs or hate them (song quality notwithstanding). I happen to really like the way they sound, and I absolutely adore Thank You, Goodbye. BoA has a very shrill, nasal voice, so anytime she records a song like this, it's a risk that it could turn out Very Bad™. But the production in Thank You, Goodbye compliments BoA's voice well. And speaking of her voice, whomstever was on vocal production duties was on their A game, cause these arrangements are A1. You deserve a raise, babe!!
BoA's Thank You, Goodbye album is due for release in Japan on February 14, while Nega Dola is due for release in Korea on January 31.
Rating - Heavy Rotation
Shall We Dance (SBGB)
Shall We Dance is a very different song than what I was expecting. I thought she was gonna be an upbeat acoustic number, but what I got was a melancholy piano driven midtempo.
I'm not upset, tho. On the contrary, I'm very content.
Shall We Dance sees SBGB sprinkling in unusual sonic choices (including an uptick in tempo at the end of the track) to make their acoustic midtempos pop just like in Radio 199.3. This is all tied together with the very bright (but restrained) soprano of their vocalist.
I like Shall We Dance more than I do Radio 199.3, simply because I like piano driven tracks more than acoustic guitar ones, but I don't see myself listening to it as much as Radio 199.3. Radio 199.3 is a song for a specific mood, but the mood of Shall We Dance is quite darker than the one in Radio 199.3, That's not something I really want in my space all the time. Still, this song makes my Musician Brain™ very happy.
Rating - Conditional Rotation
Cherry On Top (10:45 from The Unit G)
Y'all, I was so so S O sure that Cherry On Top was gonna make the Fabulous Five for this week!! I don't know what name I'd put on songs with this kind of synth bass that also acts like a melodic element and a percussive one, but I fucking L O V E them. I loved it in SNSD's All Night (All Night should have been all the chorus bits, imo), and I loved it in the Cherry On Top preview.
But Cherry On Top is Como se dice... Not Good™.
Now, I listen to Cherry On Top like crazy, because I'm a fan of all of the different elements. But I listen to a lot of songs that I'd rate very poorly, because a) my taste in music is trash and b) I like fun music. If you're song isn't made well, but is a fun aural experience, I can excuse that.
I'm not gonna put you in a top faves list, because I have *some* integrity. But I mean...
The problem with Cherry On Top is that the verses and the choruses are too different, and the transition from the verse to the chorus is whack af. I mean, they *tried* (once), but it's still too jarring of a change. And I don't understand why they jumped right from the verse to the chorus after the rap in the second verse. That always throws me off. This bridge is also trash. It's literally just the prechorus, copy and pasted after the second refrain section. Blegh.
Today's video of Cherry On Top is brought to you by the ladies of The UNIT G's 10:45 unit winning second place in the digital single challenge. There is also a performance version of the video (that I wish was the original) that you can view here. And be sure to watch the ladies of 10:45 making your fave boy band look redundant on Music Bank here!!
Rating - Heavy Rotation
Always (Blooming of The Unit G)
I'm not gonna lie, the first time I heard Always, I turned my tv off because I couldn't find my phone to change the video. I really had that visceral of a reaction to the song.
Always is every cutesy K-Pop song you've ever heard. And I usually love these kinds of songs; they're fun, even if they aren't the most imaginative thing in the world. But Always is just ridiculously saccharine. It's a little too much, sis. It did end of growing on me, but this is not a song I want in my face all the time.
Today's video of Always is brought to you by the ladies of The UNIT G's Blooming unit winning first place in the digital single challenge. There is also a performance version of the video that you can view here. And be sure to check out Blooming perform Always on Music Bank here!!
Rating - Shuffle Bait
I Wanna Become a Celeb (Celeb Five)
Whoever said trot music was boring has clearly never heard of Celeb 5.
Granted, I'm pretty sure this is a project group, because *I've* never heard of them before this song. Either way, I Wanna Become a Celeb is a really fun trot song that's perfect if you need something over the top to jam to.
The best part of I Wanna Become a Celeb is how it refuses to take itself seriously. There's a random ass break in the middle of the track where it totally changes vibes twice, and then goes back to the original. The vocals are done in a tongue in cheek manner. The entire thing is just a really fun mess, and I love everything about it.
Rating - Heavy Rotation
The Perks Of Breaking Up (Cho Jung Chi featuring Fromm)
The Perks of Breaking Up is a sad song. But not too sad, if that makes sense.
The Perks of Breaking Up is a soft synthrock ballad. I really like the way it builds from a simple acoustic guitar all the way up to a rousing orchestration of guitars and synths. A song like this could have easily turn dreary and overly sad, but the arrangement and composition uplifts it. Yes, this is a song about a breakup, but it isn't the end of the world. Take what you need to be sad, and live. That's the feeling I get from this song. Tis nice.
Rating - Conditional Rotation
Propose (Younha)
Miss Younha, not content with the pile of wigs she procurred with last month's Hello and Parade, has blessed us with an Acoustic Coffee Shop RnB Midtempo in the form of Propose.
We love a benevolent queen, babies.
Propose, like I mentioned above, is an Acoustic Coffee Shop RnB Midtempo. Ms Younha's voice is complimented well by a soft guitar and electric keyboard, which are all laid over a soft n simple drum machine. A song like this is Shuffle Bait in the best of ways, imo. I'd put this on on my own accord, mind you, but this is the kind of song I'd look forward to playing if I put my phone on shuffle.
Rating - Heavy Rotation
Always Find You (Kwon Yuri x RAIDEN)
I see Future Bass is the mood of #TwentyGayTeen. Not sure how I feel about that, but considering how much I like Always Find You (and how I can't wait for Seventeen to ruin my life with Thank You), I guess I don't mind.
The problem that I have with most Future Bass songs is that they lack any type of punch or originality. And I mean, most styles of EDM really do not have any room for originality, but Future Bass just seems to have this problem where producers and DJs just churn out the most generic sounding beats they can. Always Find You, thankfully, doesn't have that issue.
Always Find You has a breakdown that washes over you and makes you feel like you're floating. There's a depth of sound/feeling here that I don't get with most Future Bass tracks. Yuri isn't the best vocalist, but she does her best to stand head and shoulders above the instrumentation (and has a producer that wants those Big Man Monies™). There are also vocoded bits that serve as a hook interjected into the prechorus that make it pop, and it's just... *clenches fist* So Good!!
Always find you is a collaboration between Yuri and English based producer/DJ Raiden for SMSTATION. There is an English version that features on Protocol Records' Youtube channel that you can watch here.
Rating - Heavy Rotation
Hometown (Ryan)
Ryan's Hometown sounds like someone decided to take acid, and turn the experience into a song. It's... I'm not quite sure if I like the way it turned out.
Hometown starts out nice and easy, folks. She's not gonna hurt you. Yet. Ryan creates a beautifully tranquil atmosphere with just his voice and a piano, but it doesn't stay that way for long. Hometown very quickly builds and crests into a drop that I would lovingly describe as Dissociation At It's Finest™.
Cause a bitch feels like she's flying!! YEEHAW, MOTHERFUCKERS!!
After the second verse is when Hometown takes a turn into Bad Trip™ land. This section takes the gentle and almost euphoric feeling of the first drop, and inverts them into something nightmareish. If you're not prepared for this section, it can scare the absolute shit outta you. I don't know why Ryan decided to add it, because the lazy bitch couldn't be fucked to properly transition out of it when he goes into the second prechorus. Either way, if you can get past how odd that shit is, Hometown is pretty great.
Rating - Conditional Rotation
Beautiful Life (Six Bomb)
Six Bomb is a group that keeps cropping up out of nowhere and surprising my ass, and you'd think I'd be used to this shit by now. At least they left the gimmicky concepts at home, and decided to just deliver a nice song this time around.
Beautiful Life is really not much to write home around. It's just a really simple pop song, accented by a sax riff that honestly makes the song. If you're sick to the back of ya teef of sax riffs in your pop music, then skip to the next song, this one is not for you. But if you don't mind them, Beautiful Life is nice.
Rating - Shuffle Bait
Baby Boo (High Soul featuring KissN and Mint)
You know that feeling when you stan a rookie from a small company that you aren't sure is gonna make it?!!?! That's me with High Soul. She showed up last year on a random episode of Music Core with a song I couldn't find a video for, and besides a few more sporadic daily music show appearances, I haven't heard from her since.
Baby Boo is a very cutesy swing song that I have to be in a cutesy mood to listen to. If the entire track was just KissN (except for Lime's rap break), I'd probably like this way more, but High Soul's nasally tone is a bit too much with the brightness of the instrumentation. I'm glad that she's still making music, but sis... This ain't the move.
Rating - Conditional Rotation
Miss You (Jang Sooa)
Miss You is a very smooth and straight forward RnB song. This is the type of song I wanna play after listening to a song like CHASY's Memories:Snow, because it helps me anchor my soul back to reality.
Cause shit, a bitch really be visitin' four dimensions in the Higher Realm™ while listening to tracks like Memories:Snow.
Miss You is your typical Acoustic Coffee Shop RnB Midtempo to the T. But that's okay, sis!! We love those around these parts!! People these days are really scared to do shit that's considered ~typical~, but sometimes it's just best to stay in your lane. And that's what Ms Sooa does with Miss You.
Ms Sooa has a really pretty voice that compliments the instrumentation of Miss You very well. More intricate vocal production/arrangement would've been appreciated, tho. And mayhaps a rap break?!?! I feel like this needs a rap break. Nonetheless, a really nice song.
Rating - Shuffle Bait
vague (Ha Un)
Vague is a song you'd hear playing in an upscale bar. Pleasantly funky, but in a manner you can ignore if you wanted to.
There's not really much for me to say about vague other than "I liked it, it was good". A song like this is a textbook Shuffle Bait track, sis. I like the funkiness of the guitars and bass, and the way Ha Un's voice sis on top of the track is Very Nice™, but everything from the arrangement to the chord progressions used here are things I've heard in other songs. And not only that, but used more creatively.
Vague isn't a bad song, it just isn't that creative. And honestly, while I did just say that sometimes it's better to just stay in your lane, sometimes you stay a little *too* far in your lane.
Rating - Shuffle Bait
FLY (Heera featuring PDAY)
FLY is a song I was looking forward to, because the teasers gave me a nice instrumental. But sis... Heera's vocals were whack. They did the thing where they had the hook play out over silence, and... It wasn't cute. BUT!! I've been fooled by teasers before, so I figured I should hear FLY in full before condemning it.
My initial reaction was correct. This instrumentation is amazing, but Miss Heera's voice gets hella screechy. It's not pleasant. And while I like that this is an experimental electroRnB track that isn't too left field, I don't like it enough to purposefully play the song more than twice.
Rating - Shuffle Bait
6 (Six) (MDSZ)
6 sounds like it should be the opener for a Shounen Jump anime. That extended intro at the beginning would lend itself very well to a Bleach or Black Cat type of show.
6 is a synth driven pop/punk track. I wasn't sure what to make of this song at first, but it grew on me. Like, a fuckin' weed. This type of track would be great to work out to. I mean, I don't really work out, but I'd assume the energy here would hype you up like you're the baddest bitch in that gym.
If I ever find myself in Korea, I'd love to hear this song live. The studio version packs quite the punch, but it feels a little restrained. And that's very common with songs like these, because mixing them requires you to EQ a lot of the different elements quite aggressively to get them to sound nice together in a recording. But still, live show. I wanna be there.
Rating - Heavy Rotation
The Fabulous Five
5. NIRVANA (Ravi)
Can someone please find me what that melody being played by the xylophone at the beginning of this song is from?!?!! It sounds so annoying familiar, but I can't place it and it's gonna drive me nuts.
Not as nuts as Ravi's Sik-k imitations, but close.
Nirvana starts out sounding very on trend for a K-HipHop song. I'm not gonna lie, I was debating if I should leave Nirvana off the list, because Ravi's intro was just... So Bad™. But since we're being better people in 2018, I decided to give the whole song a chance, and I was very surprised. The verse had me boppin' a lil, cause Ravi ditches the autotune and starts rapping like he means it.
But nothing could have prepared for the Rave Realness™ of the chorus, ladies.
The autotune is back with a vengeance, but it fits the Rave backdrop better, so I'm not mad. And I will admit (grudgingly), that the hook is catchy as fuck all. This combination, lowkey, reminds me of Azealia Banks' Ice Princess (the verse bits on Nirvana are more RnB than trap, but same concept). This kind of combo really shouldn't work, but the transition into the Rave sections from the verses is clean af.
Jimin's bits are a nice break from Ravi (he's learned to stop embellishing his voice, but he can still be annoying at times), but I feel like they could have utilized her more in the track. The brightness of her voice contrasts the depth of Ravi's, plus she elevates the Rave sections very nicely. But we literally hear her for 10 seconds twice and dassit, boo!!
For whatever reason, Nirvana gets mixed into one of the b-sides on Ravi's mixtape called Alcohol in the official video. You can listen to both tracks separately here.
Rating - Heavy Rotation
4. Sunset Dream (Kriesha Chu)
Miss Kriesha Chu got bored with that Future Bass mess Hui (of Pentagon) gave her and decided to take a swipe at Ariana's ponytail. Turn up!!
Sunset Dream swaggerjacks Problem down to the horn riffs and trap breakdowns, sis. Fortunately, it does so in a way that improves upon the original, and isn't reductive. Kriesha Chu doesn't particularly care that we know she stole Problem out from underneath Ariana Grande's nose. She just wants us to know that she's a better dancer.
And has more stage presence, but let's not get *too shady*.
I don't really understand why Like Paradise was chosen to be the title track from Kriesha Chu's first glorified single album mini album when Sunset Dream was right there. This song makes Like Paradise look dusty af, and I'm salty as hell now. Either way, I'm glad she decided to perform it on MCD One Good Time™. If you'd like to hear the studio version, you may do so here.
Rating - Heavy Rotation
3. Memories:Snow (CHASY featuring Yeonhee)
If I ever lucked out and got cast in a movie, I'd want this song to play during the first makeout scene with my character's boyfriend. These types of really intense breakdowns are perfect for those types of scenes, sis.
CHASY's Memories:Snow is what I wanted from Ryan's Hometown - a straightforward EDM track to dissociate to. There are no surprise breakdowns or beat switches here, baby. Memories:Snow is 100% chillstep. And I fucking love it. These types of songs are great for bad days, because they either make me cry or feel like I'm floating.
Obviously, I like the floaty feel feels better, because that doesn't make physically exhausted, but sometimes a bitch just has to cry.
Rating - Heavy Rotation
2. Glue (Planetarium Records)
Last we saw the boys of Planetarium Records, they were ruining my life with tropical flavored RnB. Glue sees them trading in the tropical synths and drum beats for more conventional, Gospel inspired RnB sounds and hip hop beats.
And to the utter surprise and shock of absolutely no one, I fucking loved it.
While Blah was a "winin' on the beach, dancin' by the sand castles" type of track that would make any misc. group of niggas party go crazy, Glue is slow n sultry. Glue is a "slow dancing with bae" type track. Glue is a "I'm gon' romance you if it's the L A S T thing I do" track. Glue is the type of song you sing to bae when you wanna get in dem guts (or have bae blunder yours #InclusivityInOurSexJams). Glue is a song of many moods, sis.
Glue is brought to us today via a special showcase live video. The Planetarium boys were kind enough to also post their performance of Blah, which you may view here.
Rating - Heavy Rotation
1. On or Off (Nick & Sammy)
So like... Y'all just gon' snatch up Eric Nam like that!?!? Y'all really gon' steal my mans' song, and do it better than him!?!?!? I'm not mad (#SorryBae :3), I'm just curious, sis!!
On or Off is 90% a funky ass bassline, and y'all K N O W how I feel about Funk in my K-Pop!! It's also 90% Sammy rapping (and a lil singing), but I'm absolutely not mad at that, either. Nick comes in with his smooth n bright tenor just enough that it doesn't feel like On or Off is Sammy featuring Nick (in fact, I probably wouldn't like this song as much if it was just Sammy), so it's all good.
On or Off, like I mentioned above, is Funky af. Nick & Sammy have snatched their own little slice of the '90s with track, and it works so ridiculously well. On or Off is also lowkey af; this is a song you play when the party's winding down, sis. It's a lil hype, but you not trynna have nobody be buckwild.
Btw, am I just imagining things or does it sound like the na na na's were quoted from Will Smith's Gettin' Jiggy Wit It?!?!?! They didn't lift the actual audio from the song, but it sounds like they recorded their own version of that bit.
1theK continues to do the Lord's work by providing a Special Clip of On or Off (it's basically a live studio recording with) that you can watch here. Nick & Sammy also posted a dance practice video to their channel that you can view here. And be sure to check out the other videos on their Youtube channel; their covers and mashups are fucking amazing.
Rating - Heavy Rotation
Alright guys, that's it for today's list!! Be sure to tune in this time next for my next Review Roundup featuring songs from this week (I'll try to keep it under 20 songs this time, but no promises)!! And don't forget to keep your eyes open on Friday for the next entry in my SHINee Feature Spotlight series, where we're gonna be looking at some of SHINee's more contemporary tracks!!
I'm also starting up full length reviews again, pending my work schedule. I've got two lined up for next Monday, one at 12pm EST and the other at 6pm EST. Be sure to show them some love, guys!!
Ending Credit is a bop, sis. A lowkey, melancholy bop.
But a bop, nonetheless.
Ms Junghwa might have played racketball with my wig with Ending Credit.
She might have run up on my ass with a razor and faded me with Ending Credit.
I might need surgery cause I'm missing the first layer of my skull cause of Ending Credit.
But, you know… A bitch isn't mad!!!
Uhm Junghwa has a voice that you don't really hear a lot of in K-Pop. Her tone is very airy, but she lacks any of the brightness that the typical vocalist has in spades. She has a thinner tone than makes her voice easy to layer and stack, but you know it's her singing. Overall, she has a very distinct voice and after 25 years in the game, she's definitely learned how to harness it to great effect.
Ending Credit, like I mentioned above, has a very sad, melancholic vibe to it. It's a rather upbeat song, but it's more "dancing with tears in my eyes" than PSY's New Face. This is partly due to the New Wave/NuDisco style production, courtesy of Primary and SURAN (who are the absolute last people on Earth I would have expected to be Behind The Music™) and the chord progressions that make up the song.
New Wave is a very bittersweet sounding genre of music. No matter how many major chords you use to write a New Wave song, that shit comes out with a sad, almost nostalgic undertone to it.
But that's okay, because that's clearly the vibe they were going for in Ending Credit. The chord progressions used here are usually used when they're either discussing change that's happened in the past, or a change that's about to happen. There's a "life will go on" feel to Ending Credit, and it makes me wonder if Mrs Junghwa is retiring soon. I mean, she did debut in 1993, so I couldn't be surprised.
Let me say that again - Uhm Jung Hwa debuted in 1993.
Ma'am is touching 50 years of age, and she still makes your faves look redundant.
I have to say that my absolute favorite part of Ending Credit is the bridge - when everything but the synth pad and Junghwa's voice drops out. I freaking tear up every time I listen to that part. It's just so powerful!!
A different kind of vocalist would have gone HAM with the high notes n ad libs on the final chorus, but Miss Junghwa decided to keep it cute n classy, which I appreciate. I do think she could have done a little bit more, but at the same time, it's always from one extreme to the next with these divas.
~The Video~
Ending Credit the video sees Uhm Junghwa at the premiere for what I assume is her final role. The video flits between Junghwa watching herself on screen, and Junghwa dancing about various locations of the theater, looking every bit the powerful diva she is. Ending Credit was shot, on location, at the Universal Arts Center in Seoul, which is super cool because they could have easily replicated all the various locations Junghwa filmed in at a studio. It just adds to the whole concept of the video, sis.
Junghwa's makeup in this video is very heavy (I'm pretty sure it breaks every ~rule~ for a Korean style beat), but it suits the video. It emphasizes her age, but not in a bad way (even though there's nothing wrong with looking your age); she looks like the distinguished actress that everyone aspires to be. Her styling, in general, in this video looks very '80s/'90s which only adds to the finality of the video.
Ending Credit the video is a really cool experience, because it shows off just how amazing of a performer Junghwa is. Most of the shots in this video are solo solo, and she keeps you enraptured. If there's one thing I know about this woman, it's that she O O Z E S stage presence. And even when she has dancers supporting her, your eyes stay glued to her (even though her dancers are all fine as F U C K).
Which, I mean, she's been K-Pop's Dancing Diva™ for 25 years now. You kinda have to know a thing or two about charisma, uniqueness, nerve, and talent to survive that long.
~The Choreography~
Lia Kim (Ending Credit's choreographer) is a fucking genius.
Uhm Junghwa is a competent dancer. She's not BoA level, but she can hold her own, okay?!?!?! And Ending Credit's routine is not overly hard or complex. The moves are somewhat physically demanding (ma'am is up, down, and all around in the first minute of the song; that shit was exhausting to watch live), but I wouldn't say this is the hardest routine I've seen in my six years of K-Pop standom.
Lia Kim is a genius, because Ending Credit's routine is straight up performance art. Ending Credit's routine emphasizes Junghwa's performance ability (like I said above, this woman oozes stage presence), and shows us exactly how she stayed on top of her peers during her peak. Junghwa looks like she's dancing for her life, but also like she's having the time of her life. If this is her "last" role, then she's gonna give it her all and more.
Ending Credit is Junghwa's second video in the Cloud Dreamer of the Nine series that uses all male backup dancers (the first being Dreamer), and idk if that's a Thing™ for her (it's hard to find older K-Pop videos), but it speaks volumes to me?!?!?! I'm so tired of this division in K-Pop where it's like, "boys dance this way, girls dance that way"; and if girls wanna be taken seriously as a dance group, they have to do more masculine styles of dance. Getting beyond the misogyny in that (which you know my nonbinary ass has a lot to speak on), it's just boring as fuck. So it's nice to see Junghwa telling the rules of K-Pop to fuck off.
~Overall and Final Thoughts~
Ending Credit scalped me bald.
Junghwa gives us a whole lot with Ending Credit, sis - the song is so so S O addicting (Primary is more powerful than we ever knew), the video is awe inspiring (and tugs on the heart strings a lil), and the routine is up there with one of the best of the year. Everything was on point. I'm really at a loss for words here, guys; if I was rating this the same way I songs in my Review Roundups, Ending.
Uhm Jung Hwa is fucking badass. She really didn't have to come back to music after she dropped her 2008 mini album D.I.S.C.O. I mean, that era was way before my time, but it's literally one of my favorite minis to just play when I want something fun. She didn't have to start doing music again, because her acting career is probably making her far more money than releasing music ever did. But she really just does not give a fuck about that shit, boo. You can tell this woman loves performing with her whole heart, and she has a team that loves pushing the boundaries of what acts like her ~should~ be doing at her age.
Junghwa is really That Bitch™, and you cannot tell me anything else. She's not overly well known in international K-Pop circles (but then again, not a lot of actual K-Pop legends are), but I highly recommend checking up on her stuff. She was playing hopscotch with her contemporaries' wigs back in the day day the way she's playing with your faves' hairlines now.
Author's Note - this is a review that I left half finished when I halted reviews last month, so I figured I'd go ahead and release it now. I had a much different review planned for today, but I think it'd do far more harm than good if I posted it now. That, and I can't really bring myself to look at it right now. I hope you enjoyed!!
Hello babies, and welcome to the next Feature Spotlight in the SHINee Spotlight series!! My name is Jace (aka Felicity B), and today we're gonna be taking a slow drive through SHINee's more experimental era. This era in SHINee's career actually features my first SHINee comeback (Dream Girl, dahlings), so I am The Most Excited™ for this FSL!! It feels like Dream Girl dropped ten years ago, rather than just five, but I guess that's what K-Pop does to you.
And in case anyone is wondering why I'm going in reverse chronological order, it's because 1of1 and Misconceptions of Me are my favorite SHINee albums.
Era Spotlight
So, I cheated. I really should have featured from DxDxD in this list instead of ones from FIVE, but I don't really like DxDxD!?!??! It's literally my least favorite SHINee album, sis. FIVE, to be frank with you all, fit more in line with the '90s 5HINee era, but it also fits in this experimental era pretty well.
The name of the game here is experimental, folks. SHINee must have gotten a little bored after they decided to go RnB again after LUCIFER. The bulk of the songs on this list were released in 2013, a year that SHINee really pushed the boundaries of who they were as a group, and I almost kind of miss it. Granted, I loved the maturity in sound they came back with on Odd and 1of1 (the former more than the latter, tbh), but this experimental phase was just a fun time to be a SHINee fan. This list includes songs from both Misconceptions albums, the Everybody mini album, and the previously mentioned Japanese album FIVE.
Spoiler (Misconceptions of You ~Dream Girl~)
Gurl... SHINee was not fuckin' around with us with Spoiler.
Spoiler is a song that Jonghyun wrote incorporating all the song titles from the Misconceptions series in the lyrics. And sis, I was like, "This is cute, or whatevahs!!" when he spoiled the tracklisting for Misconceptions of You, but when Misconceptions of Me dropped and we found out he spoiled that too?!?!?! My wig wasn't just lopsided, she was free floating in space.
SHINee really fucking Did That™ with Spoiler, sis.
Spoiler sounds like someone took Sherlock, and turned her into a vampire. Spoiler is Sherlock's darker and more seductive older sister. It's kind of interesting how they kicked off the Misconceptions series with Spoiler, a song that starts out like their previous title track, but with a dark twist. It's almost like they were making a statement, sis. This SHINee is New and Improved™ SHINee. This SHINee is Upgraded™ SHINee. SHINee 2.0, if you will. We snatched you with RnB/Funk, we snatched you with EDM, and now we're gonna snatch you with both. Enjoy!!
Symptoms (Everybody)
I imagine sex feels like what listening to this song feels like.
Symptoms is an eletro-RnB song that sounds like it was snatched right from the Billboard Top 40. Which doesn't surprise me, because it was produced by the Underdogs (who also produced EXO's Overdose, another song that's dripping in that Top 40 sound from the time). Symptoms is a song that starts out loud and proud; it gives you Drama™, and it gives zero fucks about it. She looks at you without a care in the world and says, "My name is Symptoms, what did you expect!?!?! A cutesy pop track?!?!?! Boi, if you don't get!!"
And mind you, that's what I love about ha.
I fucking love a SHINee song that gives us all the bells and whistles, because they really don't have to. Look at Odd Eye - she's as stripped back as it gets for RnB midtempos, but SHINee still Shine Bright Like A Diamond!! But here's the thing - these dramatic ass niggas love songs like these. You can't tell me these SHINee boys don't love a beat with all the bells and whistles; the way they always come correct on songs like these says it all.
Become Undone (FIVE)
Speaking of songs that lack bells and whistles, Become Undone is not one of them. You'd have to be a Fool™ to think a song titled Become Undone on a Japanese record could be a toned down track.
These types of songs are usually the most dramatic.
Become Undone is an angsty song. She's a song I can see playing during a scene where an anime protagonist has to make an extremely hard decision. Like, intentionally stepping into a trap to save your friends, or deciding between saving your loved ones or the world (don't look at me like that, you guys have seen Sailor Moon).
The main star of the show here is the chorus. That's true of most pop songs, but especially so for Become Undone. She features The SHINee Specialty™ (their ridiculous ability to blend their harmonies together like fuckin' buttah), the trap beats presented in the verse kicked up 10,000 for Maximum Drama™, and orchestral stabs that tie everything together. Become Undone has one of the most emotionally satisfying choruses I've heard in a pop song. Sis, I'm literally the INTENSIFIES meme listening to this song, it's just so good.
I'm really glad that groups like SHINee have had the pleasure of working with a Japanese team to release music in Japan, because it allows them to play with their sound in a way that they can't in Korea. And that's not to say that SHINee haven't played with their sound in Korea (this FSL is literally on the era they experimented with their sound the most), but there's certain sounds and textures that are specifically J-Pop in feel, and it's really cool to see a group like SHINee tap into that.
Orgel (Misconceptions of Me ~Why So Serious~)
Okay sis, now we're actually bringing it down a notch. Not for long, but I figured y'all could use a break, even if it's short lived.
Orgel is a song that's quite similar to Odd Eye in the fact that it's SHINee driving the song with their vocal performance, and the beat is going along for the ride. Orgel also features a melody that sounds like a something you'd hear in a music box, and while that motif is quite overused in pop music, it doesn't make Orgel feel played out. It's just a really pretty song from five really pretty boys.
Orgel is a really neat song, because even though SHINee are driving the song with their voice, they're really not doing a whole lot on the beat. Their vocal performance on Orgel is subtle in the same way the beat is (or rather, as subtle as these boys get), but they still stand out. It's an interesting experience, sis.
Queen of New York (Everybody)
Now this is A Song™, sis.
Queen of New York feels very lounge cafe, sis; she's very "let me sip my expensive coffee drink while I read the latest copy of Cosmo or OK! Magazine". Queen of New York is also very much something the drag queens are voguing to at the local gay club. Miss Queen of New York is a woman of many moods, okay?!?!?!
Queen of New York was a very fun surprise, because I don't think anyone was expecting a song quite like this on the Everbody mini album. She's very edgy, but in a way that you don't expect songs described as "edgy" to sound. Queen of New York has a very polished feel to her, but there's a dirtiness to her that you can't tame. She's a proper Upper Middle Side woman, but she's not afraid to take a walk on the wild side. She's not afraid to show you how to get down, and I just love that so much.
One Minute Back (Everybody)
This is also A Song™, babes.
One Minute Back is grungy, sis. She's not a proper Upper Middle Side woman, she's a punk rock/biker girl with a flair for the dramatic. Ain't nothin' polished here, ladies!! Well, SHINee's vocals are pretty polished, but that's a given. I've never heard a SHINee song where the vocals weren't produced to a T.
But despite that, Ms One Minute Back and Ms Queen of New York are happily married!!
One Minute Back, like Queen of New York, was a song I was pleasantly surprised to hear on Everybody. One Minute back has such grungy verses, but then the chorus and the bridge are so Funky and so SHINee. BUT THE TWO DIFFERENT VIBES BLEND TOGETHER LIKE IT'S NOTHING!! It's such an aurally pleasing experience, you guys!! The reason I compared One Minute Back to Queen of New Year is that they're both marry these two moods to amazing results. I mean, Queen of New York doesn't fully commit to the grunginess, but there's enough of it lying below the surface that it's worth mentioning.
ABOAB (FIVE)
Ms ABOAB is a Bad Bitch™. She's a Boss Bitch™. She has no time for your games, boo. Ms ABOAB is a brazen ElectroFunk number that makes no apologizes.
If SHINee wanted to make a record like Everybody for the Japanese market, ABOAB would have been the title track/lead single. Miss ABOAB is spicy. She's seductive. Miss ABOAB is full on club bounce, and I McFucking L O V E when SHINee do those kinds of songs. There's just something so sexy about them working that club vibe, sis. I lowkey wasn't ready for ABOAB, but she really didn't care. She mesmerizes with the way she flits between emphasizing her Funk and Electro elements.
And that damn drop with the horn line... BITCH!! My wig has been compromised.
Runaway (Misconceptions of You ~Dream Girl~)
Runaway is another ElectroFunk track, but brighter and poppier in a way that contrasts ABOAB quite nicely. It's no less fun and club ready, tho.
Runaway is mainly driven by a punchy synth stab and SHINee's very fun usage of their vocal harmonies. While Miss ABOAB would whip ha weave in ya face if you ever tried to talk to her, Miss Runaway would make silly faces at you and coax you into doing silly dances. I, always and forever, wanna see SHINee in concert, but I especially wanna see Runaway and ABOAB performed live, because they always do these types of club ready tracks Just Right™.
Hitchhiker (Misconceptions of You ~Dream Girl~)
Because God Knows^™ these boys can't not give us a track that channels the very essence of MJ and his weave.
If Spoiler was too gimmicky of a sequel to Sherlock for you, then Hitchhiker is your song. Hitchhiker, to me, sounds like the perfect representation of this era in SHINee's discography - let's take what we already do well and marry it to a whole new palette of song styles/textures, and see what sticks.
And lemme tell you somethin' - Hitchhiker sticks like fucking glue. Remember what I said about SHINee loving the bells and whistles that comes with doing over the top songs?!?!?! That's in full effect here, sis. Hitchhiker is anthemic as all fuck, and these boys ride that beat like they were made for it. And to be completely, I have no doubt in my mind that they were.
Nothing to Lose (FIVE)
So who else was expecting to get something hella grungy like Natalia Kills' Break You Hard or Seventeen's Clap with how hard that guitar was filtered?!?!?! I can't be the only one here.
Nothing to Lose bait and switches us with that dark n grungy guitar riff, because the majority of the song is rather bright n poppy. But I really can't be mad, because I rather liked the way they transitioned the darker sections into the brighter ones. And Nothing to Lose is pure octane fun. It's kind of a hard song to hate, because it gives zero fucks about how cutesy and cheesy it is.
There's also a rather nice helping of Funk thrown into the mix, but I'm gonna pretend that that had nothing to do with much I like this song. Even though it's what makes me like it the most.
Punch Drunk Love (Misconceptions of You ~Dream Girl~)
Punch Drunk Love channels Love Like Oxygen like SHINee's producers were in the studio intentionally trying to produce a sequel to the song. And if you know anything about me, you know that Love Like Oxygen is literal auditory C R A C K for my black ass. Punch Drunk Love also sounds like SHINee's writers held a seance and channeled MJ's spirit when they were writing the song for the boys.
And y'all already K N O W I'm here for that shit.
Punch Drunk Love is the SHINee Five™ on autopilot, sis. SHINee will never not know how to come correct with a Funk song, and it warms my heart. The attitude, the harmonies (THE BUMBACLOT HARMONIES), the overall feel of the song; SHINee gets it right. If you ever needed a pickmeup, then put on SHINee's Punch Drunk Love, and thank me later. This is another song that is unabashedly cheesy, but gives absolutely zero fucks about it.
Isn't it beautiful!?!?!?
Evil (Misconceptions of Me ~Why So Serious~)
Evil can be summed by in two words - Drama and Killer Harmonies.
That's technically three, but you know what the fuck I meant.
Evil is SHINee at their most dramatic. I remember Shawols losing their collective minds at the fancams from the concert performances where they wore blindfolds.
Yes, you read that correctly. These dramatic ass motherfuckers were performing on stage with blindfolds on. They were, more than likely, see through blindfolds, but never doubt SHINee's collective love of the Drama™. They absolutely would dance completely blindfolded.
Evil starts out slow, but I very much doubt that many of us thought the song was gonna stay that way; SHINee were just building the atmosphere (read - creating the perfect environment to torch our weaves). Evil has an almost musical theater vibe to it, except not nearly as cheesy. Evil is honestly a one of a kind experience that we all need in our lives at some point.
Especially because SHINee were on their harmonic A game the day they recorded Evil. When the drums drop out and it's just the orchestral stabs with their voices?!?!? Fuckin' magic, ladies.
Like A Fire (Misconceptions of Me ~Why So Serious~)
We all Know™ Like A Fire, because of that one performance where Jonghyun, Kibum, and Jinki were having a contest to see whom tf could be the most extra (to be honest, I'd say Kibum won, based purely on the fact that I didn't even know he could wail like that). But Like A Fire stands firm on her own by being a wickedly good Funk song.
(Sidenote - I'm about 90% this list has more Funk tracks than my '90s 5HINee FSL, and I want you all know that that was not on purpose. I wont be changing it, but I swear it wasn't done purposefully!!)
Like A Fire, like Punch Drunk Love, is SHINee on autopilot. I don't know what else to say about this song. It's just so Classic SHINee™, sis!! The verses have a more somber, minor tone to them, but the choruses transition (maybe that's a modulation, I'm not Musically Advanced™ enough to make that call) into a killer major groove that is just so beautiful to listen to. I don't know anyone who doesn't like this song. Liking Like A Fire is a requirement for being a Shawol (especially a Shawol of color). If you don't like Like A Fire, you're invalid.
I need to say something about these harmonies and ad libs, tho. Did the producer of Like A Fire tell the SHINee Boys™ to go HAM the day they were laying down tracks for Like A Fire?!?!?! Did they mean for the harmonies and ad libs to get this over the top!?!?! I'm not complaining, I just wanna know. Because the harmonies and ad libs, especially, are so ridiculous!! I love every second of it, but sometimes it K I L L S how extra this song is!!
Diamond Sky (FIVE)
The first time I ever listened to this song, I cackled like a banshee at how extra that intro was, because it's so SHINee. It's so dramatic, and it suits SHINee to a T. I was expecting the verses to be some Final Dragon type shit, or somethin'!!!
Diamond Sky is pretty standard fare for a J-Pop song, imo. It doesn't stop me from loving SHINee's take on it (and it shouldn't stop you), but it's worth mentioning; SHINee + J-Pop = Love. Like I mentioned above, I'm glad that SHINee were able to continue releasing music in Japan, because this is a style of music that suits them well, but would not do well in Korea at all.
Diamond Sky feels like the theme song for a magical girl anime. The twinkly pianos, complemented by the strings and electric guitar give it an air of grandiosity that would have made it a perfect theme or insert song for Sailor Moon. If they had added a modulation at the end for Maximum Drama™, I'd have lost my shit.
Close the Door (Everybody)
Firstly, if you haven't watched the SHINee World IV performance where Jinki tap dances to Close the Door, I'm judging you. Our sweet dubu leader did not bless us with such beauty and grace for you to ignore it!!
Secondly, Close the Door is the cheesiest love song I've ever encountered in K-Pop. It's got the romantic sounding keys, the strings, it's in 6/8 time (perfect for a waltz, babies), the lyrics are so sugary sweet, and the chord progressions utilize mostly major chords. And you know what, I absolutely fucking love it. I'm a cheesy Romantic Gay™, and I fucking love this cheesy ass love song. It's just so aurally pleasing, especially since these SHINee boys all have voices that blend together amazingly when they harmonize. Sue me.
Sleepless Night (Misconceptions of Me ~Why So Serious~)
SHINee ballads are a wonderful, amazing thing, you know?!?!? Especially when they don't give us the typical classical ballad, but go a little left field into something jazzy or RnB. Which is what they do with Sleepless Night.
This week's playlist features a lot of songs that are extremely over the top, sis. And I mean, we've discussed this; these SHINee boys love the drama of it all. But they also love lowkey songs like Sleepless Night. You'd be able to tell if they didn't with a song this stripped back and bare. Sleepless Night is literally the SHINee boys (and their amazing harmonies), a piano, and some strings. And it's fucking amazing. There are quite a few songs from SHINee that I want to experience live, but I think Sleepless Night tops the list. Well, that and Wish Upon A Star, but I'm sure I'd cry my fucking eyes out listening to that. I mean, I might cry my eyes out to Sleepless Night, but there's less of a chance there.
I've accepted that I'm a boring bitch who lives for a good ballad (the amount of ballads I've had to listen to for my RRUs has definitely proven this), but there's nothing quite like a good SHINee ballad, sis. There ain't never been a SHINee ballad that I didn't like.
And that's all for this week's list, loves!! Please tune in next week for the next era in my SHINee Spotlight series, Contemporary SHINee ver.2!! And don't forget to tune in Wednesday for my next Review Roundup, featuring songs released this week!!
Hello babies!! My name is Jace (aka Felicity B), and this is your Review Roundup for week three of January 2018!! Um... My wig is is in tatters, sis. Idk who sent out the memo to all Korean entertainment companies to drop their Best™ this week, but this week definitely takes a steaming dump on previous ones, musically.
Speaking of!!
I'm changing up the way I do ratings. The number ratings were really just an arbitrary number I gave each release to measure how much I liked them, but I'm finding them to be more annoying than actually helpful. So!! I'm rating songs on replayability now. Because let's be honest, I have garbage taste in music, and just because a song is written well doesn't mean that I wanna listen to it all the time. The new ratings are as follows -
Heavy Rotation - Songs that I want to listen to all of time, no matter what, because they give me the happy brain tingles
Conditional Rotation - Songs that I like a lot, but have to be in a particular mood for
Shuffle Bait - Songs that I don't particularly like, but don't hate either; these types of songs are ones that I download, because they're great for when I put my music player on shuffle, hence the name
Trash Bomb - Utter Fucking Garbage
I've used "Heavy Rotation" and "Shuffle Bait" in my lists before, but now they're official metrics. WHOO!! Anyway...
Spread My Wings (Stray Kids)
Last week, I gave these boys a really harsh and unfavorable review for their song Beware (still not using the full title #NotSorryAtAll), and I really did not want to. When I said that JYP didn't like them, I wasn't making a joke; I really think that JYP the person does not like this group. But Beware was far too tryhard of an effort for me to really take seriously. And I get that that doesn't seem very fair of me to say, considering the fact that these are teenagers doing mostly everything themselves and JYP the company is not supporting them the way they should be (from what I can tell, anyway), but I review music, not companies. If the song isn't up to par, then I'm gonna say so.
But fear not!! For it is a new week with a new Stray Kids release!!
Initially, I was mad at it. Spread My Wings was almost a bop for me, but there were so many things distracting me from the good bits. The rapping is a lot more tolerable here, but it's drowned out by the flat production and their vocalists being mismatched to the more hype bits of the song (they sound very nice during the more downtempo sections, so credit where it's due). But when I take a step back and really look at the bigger picture here, I'm honestly more mad at the fact that this group isn't at a place where they should be releasing music.
I never quite got the point of pre-debut releases, sis. They just made no sense to me. But I'm not gonna act like I understand K-Pop Marketing Moves™ in 2018. I didn't understand them when I got acclimated to K-Pop five years ago, and I damn sure don't understand them now that everything I know about K-Pop has gone up in flames.
Upon repeat listens, Spread My Wings grows on you. Despite it's shortcomings, it's rather charming, in my opinion. Spread My Wings really reminds me of GOT7's Fly, except more RnB than DnB. I also quite like these lyrics, too. When you're a kid, you should enjoy being a kid; it makes for happier adults.
#PersonalExperience
Rating - Conditional Rotation
BUTTON (Jane Jang)
This is another song I was mad as hell at on impact.
Miss Jang comes to us with a bittersweet acoustic ballad. Button begins very simple with an acoustic guitar with a very sweet texture, contrasted by the melancholic note in Jane's voice. The first chorus adds in more elements that contrast the sweetness of the guitar, but I almost find myself listening for guitar in the mix.
Tis a nice song, if you're in the mood for it. Which, I guess I really wasn't when I first listened to it. I'm kind of at ballad overload here, guys. I know I could've skipped this release if I wanted to, but what's the fun in skipping *every* release that doesn't tickle your fancy?!?!?! And this song did eventually grow on me. I like the way it builds and flourishes. I just really have to be in the mood for it.
I'm kind of over 50 million ballads coming out in a week. Especially from artists like Jane Jang who've given me far more interesting songs than this.
Rating - Conditional Rotation
Party Shots (Jang Wooyoung)
This song is God Fucking Awful.
And the terrible thing is that it really didn't have to be. Sure, this isn't gonna be the pinnacle of artistic depth that ARMY swear BTS's DNA possesses, but damn!! This could have easily been a throwback to an era of K-Pop where we had more bangers than we knew what to do with!! But I guess JYP don't like Wooyoung much, neither.
Party Shots sounds like a PSY leftover. And that's high praise, sis; PSY blesses us plebeians with bops on bops on B O P S!! It's one big hindrance is the same shit I clocked Wooyoung for last week - this weak ass vocal production. The beat is fucking fire, but the vocal don't match, sis!! I don't understand!! These vocals is dryer than the Sahara desert!! Dryer than my hair in the dead of summer!!
Dryer than my pussy when I saw Wooyoung in the video. Him ugly af, b.
At the bare minimum, Wooyoung should have been autotuned to fuck all and there should have been W A Y more chanting. Songs like these are anthemic af and need a vocal performance to match. But Wooyung sounds like discount Jay Park, and I just... I don't understand why JYP really let this nigga go out like this.
Rating - Trash Bomb
Tok (Jang Wooyoung)
So like... Is Wooyung wearing a wig here?!?! Or did they have the sense to dye his hair blonde *after* shooting this video?!?!?!? The kids just wanna know, sis!!
And by the kids, I mean me.
I'd like to say that if Party Shots wasn't your style, then Tok is maybe more up your alley. But this song is boring as fuck all, sis. Tok is an acoustic campfire-style song with an anybody whistle hook that you've probably heard at least twenty times. Wooyoung definitely sounds better here than he did in Party Shots, but I mean... You gotta produce the vocals for a song like this, sis. Especially when you're working with someone like Wooyoung, whose vocal output is very Fresh™, if you know what I mean.
Rating - Shuffle Bait
Dreamer (Re:Flower 2018 Remaster) (Heo Solji of EXID)
MI CORAZÓN!!!
In case anyone has been living under a rock (not paying attention to girl groups is living under a rock, in case you didn't know), EXID announced the Re:Flower Project earlier this month. Each month, they'll be unveiling a newly remixed version of an old b-side all the way up till August (their debut month), and Dreamer was the first song to be remixed for the project.
Um... Tears. Lots and lots of fucking tears. I cried so much the first time I heard Dreamer, and I blubbered like a baby listening to this new arrangement. Not much has been changed - they added a pinch of electronic elements and changed up the drum machine patterns too add some dynamics. Some spots within the track are kind of awkward, but overall, this is a good remix. Solji has a very bright soprano, which has the potential to get pinched and screechy if she isn't careful, but ma'am was able to give us a very emotive performance while keeping her voice under control.
I would have liked if they changed up the song a little bit more, but at the same time, I also don't know how they could change up the song more without ruining it. My hope is that they give us more the next go round in February.
Rating - Heavy Rotation
Man in the Mirror (BoA x Siedah Garret)
I'm not gonna lie, this had Mess™ written all over it from the second SM announced this STATION collab. Miss BoA is the Dancing Queen™ of K-Pop, but them vocals... Sis, them vocals ain't all that great. Fortunately, Siedah is the one who takes lead on this cover, so it isn't the disaster we were all foreseeing.
It isn't really that good, either. This arrangement is beige as all fuck, and BoA n Siedah Garret do not have an ounce of chemistry between them. But I'd rather take a bland remake of a beloved song, than one that tried to reinvent the wheel and failed miserably.
Rating - Shuffle Bait
Winter Night (Samuel Kim)
So remember how I said Wooyoung needed more vocal production in Party Shots?!?!?!? Well, Samuel needs less.
Like... W A Y less!!
Winter Night is Brave Sound™'s take on a Acoustic Coffee Shop RnB Midtempo, and I must admit that I'm quite a fan. If you aren't a fan of subtle anything, you're not gonna like this song. This song is a very clear for those who love a lil Groove™ in their winter ballads.
But, sis.
In 2018, can we please let my son's voice live?!?!?!?! Is that too much to ask, Brave Brothers?!?!?! Kang Dongchul, can we stop with the over the top vocal filtering and editing on Samuel!?!?!?! He can't be that bad, man!! Even T-ARA's vocals on their Shinsadong Tiger produced tracks aren't this filtered. AND WE COULDN'T EVEN TELL WHO WAS SINGING WHAT PART IN THOSE SONGS!! THAT'S HOW BAD SAMUEL IS FILTERED HERE!!!
I JUST DON'T UNDERSTAND, SIS!!!
If you can deal with the vocal filtering and are a fan of Samuel's musical output, you'll like this song. He's not about to catch any new fans with this track, but that's kind of an impossible standard we shouldn't be setting, anyway.
Rating - Conditional Rotation
Don't Act (Jang Wooyoung)
Y'all, Wooyoung went and found himself a decent vocal producer for one (1) song on the EP. Turn Up!!!
He also found himself a bop in Don't Act. Color me a lil shocked. I mean, these 2PM boys always give me at least *one* song I don't hate every time they come around, but Don't Act really got me pussy poppin' in my room like I'm trynna get the D at least 10K from my sugar daddy.
Don't Act is a tropical tinged RnB midtempo. I wasn't sure what to make of this song, but once the beat kicked in, I was sold. I'm confused, tho. Wooyoung talmbout "don't act like that"; meanwhile, he's doing his best imitation of Jo Kwon's Animal in the video.
What's the truth, sis?!?!?!?!
Rating - Heavy Rotation
YeLowS GANG (Sik-k featuring Herr Nayne and Woodie GoChild)
*cracks knuckles*
I'm ready, Mr. Krabs!! Are you ready, Mr. Krabs?!?!?!
I really thought about leaving this off this week's list, because I fucking hate E V E R Y T H I N G about this song. But I figured that it'd be a good idea to get this off my chest now, rather than later. Because God knows I'm gonna be drowning in these types of songs during the summer.
Where does one even start with a song as terrible of this?!?!?!?!
I know GroovyRoom jumped on this shit like I'd jump Kim Jongin if he ever asked for the D my unconditional love and support, because this was easy as fuck all cash. I'm not gonna lie, trap beats are kind of hard to get Just Right™, but once you get it down, you just gotta copy and paste that shit with minimal tweaks. These niggas was like BoA, sis. They hit Ctrl+C for copy and Ctrl+V for paste for the paycheck of their desires!!
And what the fuck is this trash ass hook, sis?!?!?! "Fuck everybody in this fuckin' room, because we can't fuck with you". I'm not even gonna ask what that means, because I know some white kid from Cali is gonna try to lecture me on Deep Meanings™ in ~Real Hip Hop~, and I don't have the fuckin' time. But what I am gonna ask is who came up with it and how drunk was Sik-k when he recorded that shit, because his ass mumblespeaks that shit even worse than usual.
Dishonor!! Dishonor on you, dishonor on your cow!!
To my utter surprise and shock, Woodie GoChild is the actual highlight here. He's filtered just as obnoxiously as Sik-k and Herr Nayne (whoever the fuck that is), but he gives me all the energy those other two fools severely lacked. If Simon D (for Daddy) ever ventured into the HIGH1R Music building, I'm gonna wish upon a star that he finds Woodie GoChild, and adopts him. Because that boy is better than trash like Let's Get It.
I could keep going on and on about this song, but y'all get the point - I don't like it. I hate it. I despise it!! Songs like these are so fucking one note, and I'm so confused at who is listening to them, because I'm about 89% sure I'd hate this foolery drunk as much as I do sober. Man, y'all need to turn on some damn MFBTY, or some shit. And Jay Park, you need to fuckin' do betta.
Rating - Trash Bomb
FANCI (GIRLKIND)
So!! For all the folks who like to talk shit about cutesy and sexy girl groups (as if your male faves don't exploit that paradigm just as heavily), here's your chance to get a group that doesn't fit into either of those categories big. That is, if you're actually willing to remove your head from your male bias' ass long enough to watch the video.
FANCI is a very interesting song. The pacing is very stuttered with it's abrupt start/stop sections, but the pulse is definitely high energy. You might not be the biggest fan of it at first, but it'll grow on you. It definitely grew on my ass. Of course, with a *proper* hook like, "We the girls with the fancy what", on top of GIRLKIND looking like they stepped out of a time machine from 2011, it's kind of hard to forget them.
GIRLKIND were kind enough to post a performance version of FANCI that includes the dance break they've been performing on music shows that you can watch here. I have to say that I am quite impressed with these girls' performance prowess. I'm definitely rooting for them to make it out of Nugu Hell™.
Rating - Conditional Rotation
My Flower (JBJ)
2018 continues to be the year of groups with lackluster debuts redeeming themselves with superior comebacks. I'm here for it.
My Flower sees JBJ doing a total 180 from last year's Fantasy. My Flower's instrumentation is a lot more bright and upbeat, with the chorus being an explosion of cutesy tropical synths, not too unlike ASTRO's Baby. I definitely prefer this version of JBJ, because a) their name literally means "Just Be Joyful" and b) they're just a hell of a lot more likable here. It made absolutely no sense to give them such a dark and broody debut. And even though My Flower is pretty on trend like Fantasy, I'd rather listen to My Flower.
Yes, my favorite boyband is EXO, but I'll be damned if I only ever listened to songs like MAMA or Monster.
If you weren't a big fan of Chungha's Roller Coaster, I'd have loved to have recommended My Flower to you. But I guess someone at Fave Entertainment decided we needed to know that these boys are competent dancers, because there is a totally random post-chorus breakdown.
AND GUESS WHAT, GUYS?!?!?! Fetty Wap loved recording with JBJ for Fantasy, he decided to come back for My Flower!!
All jokes aside, I actually really like this song. I just found some of the arrangement choices to be odd, even though they don't lessen the song's impact for me. Just don't be mad if you catch me giggling to random parts of the song. Their name *is* Just Be Joyful!!
Rating - Heavy Rotation
A Real Man (TheEastLight.)
I was fully prepared to clown this (okay, maybe clown is a very strong word to be using in this context, but I might have had a few jokes about them not knowing who puberty was prepared), but not only is this song amazing, they look dapper af!! Turn Up!!
A Real Man is Funky Fresh™ as ALL FUCK, sis!! Jonghyun, the K-Pop King of Funk, would've been real proud of these boys. To be quite honest, TheFetusLight. TheEastLight. told ever Broduce 101 act to keep that extra strength edge control nearby, lest they feel like fuckin' their barber's edge game up. The only problems I have with this song are the excessive usage of the word noona in the lyrics (whomst is this noona and where can I find her; we need to have a Chat™) and their voices.
Yeah, I'm gonna be the bad guy here. There are parts of this song where they get shrieky, and I start to wonder for the health of their vocal chords. It doesn't kill the song for me, but I really have to be in a particular mood to enjoy it. If their company wants them to branch out into styles of music like this,then they need to get these boys a vocal coach who can teach them how to alter their technique for it. Cause this is not cuttin' it, sis.
Rating - Conditional Rotation
Wait a sec (Andup featuring hatts)
So, uh... This was a pleasant surprise. I've literally only ever heard one Andup song before, and it made me wanna roll my eyes into the back of my head.
Wait a sec would be an Acoustic Coffee Shop RnB Midtempo if it wasn't so melacholic and the groove wasn't as aggressive as it is. Wait a sec is very Chill™, but the pulse packs quite a punch. I'm not quite sure if that's Andup singing or his feature artist (who goes but the name of hatts, because whom tf wants people to research them?!?!?!), but either way, this song is just So Nice™.
Rating - Heavy Rotation
Arirang (SWYZII featuring Park Aeri)
Y'all.
When tell y'all I let out the gayest noise when Ms Park Aeri started singing?!?!? I thought that this was just gon' be a cute lil bop with some Traditional instrumentation layered in For The Culture™, but I guess SWYZII decided that wasn't enough to knock my wig sideways.
It was more than enough, but artists these days are gettin' greedy, babes!!
Arirang is a Deep House song features Pansori singer Park Aeri (who is no stranger to EDM, it seems), and that is not a combo I ever thought would work. I was a silly fool, because Arirang is made better by Ms Aeri's added vocal. It elevates it in a way that the traditional instrumentation alone does not.
I'm generally a fan of when artists fuse traditional sounds with modern music (Clean Bandit's musical output is like crack to me), so there was no way I was evah not gonna like this. If anyone could point me in the direction of more tracks like this, it'd be much obliged.
And is it took much to ask that I see a few videos of Korean drag queens dancing to this?!?!?! Yes?!?! No?!!??! Idk.
Rating - Heavy Rotation
Hey! (Music Beauty Film) (Shin Jimin of AoA)
Did anyone else snicker a little at the title, or was that just my immature ass?!?! Lore has it that the more times Jimin says "Hey!" in a song, the better it will be. Idk if that applies here, but I'm too busy boppin' to care.
Y'all can catch me if you can makin' IG videos to this song in a 24" purple weave!!
Hey! is your pretty standard hype gyal K-Pop track. We've heard this song before in Hyuna's How's This? and Cheetah's My Number, but Jimin knows how to work her magic on a track like this to make it her own. In fact, I'd say that Jimin took BTS's Dope and mixed it with How's This? to create a track suits her well.
Hey! can get a little screechy at points, because the pitched up saxophone riff (which sounds like a kazoo, at times) and Jimin's voice are the prominen parts of the song. Idk who decided to make Hey! a demonstration on how Loudness War has affected K-Pop production, but it's like a wall of mid to high end sounds comin' at you. It doesn't take away much, for me, but it is something you gotta get used to at first. Especially if you aren't used to songs like this. If you're not into it, I'd definitely recommend Hallelujah, the first entry in Jimin's solo project with W Korea. It's more sensual than hype (courtesy of the Flaminco flair of the Latin-pop beat), but we love a multidimensional/multicultural queen.
Rating - Heavy Rotation
The Fabulous Five
5. MOMOM (Oh Hyuk featuring CIFIKA)
I have no idea what's going on here, and I love every second of it.
MOMOM is not a song, it's an Experience™. It's fascinating how the song ends the way it starts, because there's so much that goes in-between. Beat and texture changes are the name of the game here, sis. But throughout it all, Oh Hyuk and CIFIKA are able to stand head and shoulders above it all, which is hella impressive.
MOMOM is not for everyone (least of all for those folks who like straightforward pop songs), but if you're feeling a little frisky, MOMOM is certainly an aurally pleasing experience.
Rating - Heavy Rotation
4. Ooh Ahh (Bizzy featuring BIBI)
With the way Ooh Ahh starts out, I was expecting a Funky lil thang like SHINee's Chocolate. I really wouldn't have been mad, considering how y'all know I live for a Funky beat. But Bizzy decided he'd rather knock my wig sideways with an RnB uptempo, instead.
Firstly, idk who Bibi is, but ma'am was the highlight here for me. I just loved her energy. She's got a tone suited for these types of tracks, and I'd really love to hear more from her.
Ooh Ahh could almost be a Coffee Shop RnB Midtempo, but this song is more suited to summertime cookouts than Seoul coffee shops. You could easily slip this in the playlist in-between Gettin' Jiggy Wit It and 1of1, and no one would care. Hell, you just might have all the aunties and uncles runnin' up on you, askin' who dis is and why you ain't burn them a CD yet. There's an element of Unapologetic Joy™ here, and I'd really love it if we saw more of that in 2018.
Rating - Heavy Rotation
3. Roller Coaster (Kim Chungha)
Miss Chungha, current That Bitch™ of 5th generation idols and successor to BoA's title of K-Pop Dancing Queen, heard what y'all had to say about Why Don't You Know. And while she's not done with that tropical sound yet, she's decided to appease the masses with her take on an Euphoric EDM chorus.
We love a kind and considerate queen, y'all.
Roller Coaster is very K-Pop circa 2013, sis. These verses are tropical themed Latin-pop, while the choruses take a dive into Euphoric EDM territory. This song isn't for everyone (it's a wee bit too musically complex for those who love a good straightforward pop song), but if it's up your alley, then it'll blow your wig south for the winter.
Like last year's Why Don't You Know, many have had quite a few things about how well Chungha's voice fits within the songs she's given. And while I had to agree that Why Don't You Know forced Chungha into shrill n shrieky territory for the chorus, I think her songwriters did well to reign her in here. I mean, there's only so much baby girl can do with a soprano as high and bright as hers.
Rating - Heavy Rotation
2. Heroine (Lee Sunmi)
MY QUEEN!!!
Art School Lesbian/Part Time Vampire Queen™ Lee Sunmi decided to declare 2018 for the Gays by throwin' some Euphoric EDM at my black ass. My wig isn't just lopsided sis, it's lyin' on the ground. On fire.
Heroine likes her dynamics, baby. Miss Sunmi starts things off with a softly whispered verse layered over a driving beat, then kicks things up a notch with a fully belted out chorus that features orchestral elements. It all reaches a head in the most Euphoric drop I've ever experienced in a K-Pop song where Madame Sunmi dances for her Art School Final life.
The thing I love the most about this song is that there's a real sense of fun here, amongst the melancholy. Idk if Sunmi knows what Euphoric EDM is or nah, but she really nails the sound here. There is talk of Teddy n co plagiarizing Cheryl Cole's Fight For This Love, and while I definitely hear it (Teddy didn't straight up copy/paste the offending bits into Heroine, but it's close enough that his team can't play this off as a coincidence like they're trying to), I'm gonna be shameless here and say I prefer Heroine. Euphoric EDM demands a sense of grandiosity that Fight For This Love just does not embody like Heroine.
Also, Cheryl Cole unnie can't sing as well as Sunmi can. So, even if Fight For Those Love could compete with Heroine thematically, it fails based on that aspect. I know I've said before that vocal talent doesn't really determine song quality, but sometimes vocal talent makes or breaks a song. And this is one of those cases, baby.
In an act of solidarity with the gays, 1theK has graciously blessed us with a Special Clip for Heroine, that's pretty much a Music Bank performance with better production values and camera work. You can view that here.
Rating - Heavy Rotation
1. I want love (Kassy)
Miss Kassy is not fuckin' with us lames no more. Miss Kassy has declared war on our scalps, and we gon pay what we owe, bitch!!
I want love is some Clean Bandit type shit. It's more RnB than House, but a bitch could slip this track on a Clean Bandit album and no one would be wiser. For those of you who belong to the Church of Empress Utada, you'll notice that the halftime break before the chorus sounds a lot like the queen's Merry Christmas Mr. Lawrence-FYI, and that's because both songs quote the main theme from Ryuichi Sakamoto's Merry Christmas Mr. Lawrence.
Yes, Utada really snatched the whole of Ryuichi's track and couldn't be bothered to come up with a more creative name #LazyBitch
If Kassy really wanted to be lazy, she could have let the beat do most of the work. It's pretty awesome, and none of her four fans absolutely no one would've been cared. But Ms Kassy isn't lazy (like Utada). No, she gave us a Premium Vocal™ performance *and* a badass rap section (that I thought was Kasper, at first). I wish she'd have gone HAM with the harmonies, but this song is still amazing.
Rating - Heavy Rotation
Alright loves, that's it for this week!! Please tune back in on Friday, same time, for the next entry in my SHINee Feature Spotlight series. This time around, we'll be spinning some more SHINee's more experimental tracks!! And be sure to tune in next week at 6pm EST for the next Review Roundup, featuring songs from this week!!
Hello, babies!! It's Jace (aka Felicity B), and it's our first SHINee Feature Spotlight!! I am so excited to be doing this, because SHINee was literally the second group that I got super attached to (EXO being the first). And, believe it or not, but Jonghyun was my first bias before I fell into Jinki hell. I'm a sucker for the soft leaders, sis...
Era Spotlight
So!! Today's era that we will be pulling songs from is '90s 5HINee!! I wanted to do this era first, because I absolutely love everything about '90s music. I love Funk, I love RnB, I love New Jack Swing, I love Deep House, I love it all!! And SHINee me something of everything from that era. Once again, these Feature Spotlights are not a Best Of™ list or even my favorites from the albums, necessarily, they're songs I think would fit well together. So no getting mad if your fave isn't here!!
Odd Eye (Odd)
Oh, Odd Eye...
I really wanted to avoid the Fan Favorites™ to the best of my ability (which is kind of impossible, considering how beloved this album is), but I simply couldn't do that with Odd Eye. Yes, everyone and their mother fucking loves Odd Eye, but this song represents the best parts of Odd, to me.
Odd Eye is smoky. She's smouldering, sis. She's SHINee at their sexiest. Odd Eye's beat doesn't really do much, but that's exactly what the doctor ordered. The beat is basic, but it gives SHINee the chance to just... SHINE!! I absolutely had to start this list off with Odd Eye, because a) this is a modern interpretation of a '90s RnB midtempo if I'd ever heard one and b) this song just really shows that SHINee are That Group™, sis. Don't get me wrong, I love when SHINee flame broil my wig with all the bells and whistles, but they are just as arresting and breathtaking as a group without them. When will your faves ever be this iconic?!?!?!?
SHIFT (1of1)
See... I really set myself up for failure here, because I said I was trying to avoid the Fan Favorites™, but two songs in and I've already got two in a row, so... WHAT'S THE TRUTH,SIS?!?!?!!
SHIFT is a banger, baby. SHIFT is Deep House at its finest, baby. Play this song around A N Y O N E, and they'd jam/bop. EVEN JUST A LIL!! SHIFT is that powerful, babe.
The instrumentation in this song is just so lush, sis. I wouldn't call the texture of this song sweet (because we associate sweet textures in music with warmth), but it's similar. Everything about this song is just so easy on ears. The intro is, easily, my favorite part of SHIFT. That arpeggio with the e.piano and harmonies on top?!?!?!
It's fucking magical.
The harmonies in this song are unreal. SHINee showed up to the studio with their A-game the day they recorded this. No other group harmonizes like SHINee does in their music (most groups treat harmonizing like a cute trick for concerts), but they really outdid themselves this time around.
So Amazing (1of1)
So Amazing (the special track that isn't really that special) is a New Jack Swing song with lots of funky elements, which is right up SHINee's ally. Idk why it took SM so long to throw a NJS song at SHINee with 1of1 because they fuckin' killed that shit (I will have nothing of you losers saying it sounds too much like a typical NJS track, that's the fucking point of a throwback), but better late than never, sis.
So Amazing is really nice. It's got a really bright texture, but it's also really warm and easy on the ears. These types of uptempos are usually cheesy af, but a) that's the '90s babe and b) that makes So Amazing a great mood lifter. I can play this on those days that aren't "cry in bed all day", but aren't all that good, either. Plus, I love imagining all the silly dances the SHINee members did to the dance break, cause that horn section is so fun and playful.
Savior (Married to the Music)
It's another Deep House song!! But not quite. She's more Funk n RnB than Deep House, but shh... She's still Deep House in my heart.
The first time I heard Savior, I was little thrown off by the chorus. They sound like they're shouting in unison over the beat, but it's not as grating as you'd think it'd be. It's actually a whole lotta fun, if you ask me. And this would be such a great song to perform in concert, because it's high energy af. I wouldn't say this chorus is euphoric (Euphoric EDM usually has a note of sadness in the brightness of it all), but I wanna jump around to it like it is. And that's really all that matters, sis.
Romance (Odd)
Part of me feels like someone is going to be mad at this, but their wig is dusty. So I don't care
Romance is a song that I was hugely let down by on first listen. It, obviously, grew on me (this bitch grew on me like a fucking rash), but Ms Romance sounded way cooler in teaser form. The chorus was annoyingly bright and chipper, Minho's rapping was so off putting (which, to be fair, syncopated rapping is hard for most rappers to pull off, so that was just me being a dick), and the whole thing just felt far too long for how flat sounding it was.
I was not a fan, kids.
But Romance, like the album it was pulled from, grows on you. It seems like too much at first, but the more you listen to it, the more you start to Get It™. This isn't one of my favorite songs from the album, but it's one that I look forward to listening to.
Love Sick (Odd)
Oh my God, Love Sick!! Odd Eye and Love Sick are my top two favorite tracks from Odd, and 90% of the reason I held onto Odd for as long as I did. Odd was not an album I liked on first impact. But it kind of hit that this album couldn't be as bad as I made it out to be, because it has quite a few of my top tier SHINee faves. So me and Odd?!?! We cool now. We fucks with each other.
And yes, I do realize Ms Love Sick is another Fan Favorite™, but she's a damn good song. Y'all got me fucked up if you thought I wasn't adding this.
How does one describe Love Sick?!?!! Firstly, let's discuss these harmonies, baby. Love Sick was always gonna be a favorite of mine (that Groove™, sis), but these fucking harmonies take it to the next level. Y'all, SHINee did not have to snap the way they did on the refrain of this song, but they snatched every single follicle of hair from my wig and used it as kindling for the SM Annual Bonfire. I felt like I was floating the first time I heard this song. Love Sick would have been amazing without these over the top harmonies, but once again, SHINee are not content to do just the bare minimum.
As a whole, Love Sick is bouncy, fun, and there's a bit of melancholy there (the song is about unrequited love, after all), but it's just so Good!!
Don't Stop (1of1)
SHINee decided to get Grown n Sexy™ for the kids, y'all!! Got a bitch outchea trynna find a mans just to slow grind on.
But y'all not trynna hear alladat.
Don't Stop is Love Motion's spiritual cousin. They're more alike in vibes than actual sound (BEG being the Grown n Sexy™ idol group), but I mean... if you ever needed a part two to seduce your mans, baby.
Don't Stop, like Odd Eye, is a '90s RnB midtempo if I'd ever heard one. SHINee's vocal here is far more restrained than it was on Odd Eye (they actually let the beat do some of the work), but I like that. This song is a lot more subtle than Odd Eye is. And how does one even describe the beat?!?! I'm not sure that syncopated really does it justice, but it's not something you hear a lot in K-Pop. One complaint I have about this song is that I wished Key's rap break was just an instrumental section. I don't dislike it to the point where it turns me off from the song, I just think it would've been cool to do a dance break there.
Feel Good (1of1)
Feel Good is appropriately named, because she makes a bitch feel real good. Don't let her trick you with the soft intro and first verse, because the bulk of the song is Groovy™ af, baby. You could dance to this, but I'd prefer to just bop to the beat and make stank faces at the appropriate times.
The rap bits in Feel Good, unlike Don't Stop, are Just Right™. I have very much enjoy Minho's evolution as a vocalist *and* a rapper. Rapping in K-Pop is a concept I've just had to get used to cause so many of these idol rappers are not good by any stretch of the imagination. But if you can give me something that's fun, I've learned to roll with it. I liked Jongin as a rapper (before he became Vocalist Kai™), because he was very aware of the fact that that was not his calling in life, but he made it fun. And Minho gives me a fun verse here. Issa highlight.
Rescue (1and1)
If ballads are not your thing, then I wouldn't be surprised if you skipped the entirety of the 1and1 repackage (and therefore, Rescue). Which is a shame, because SHINee have some of the best ballads in K-Pop, but quite understandable.
But Ms Rescue is not much of a ballad, fam. The intro/first verse might trick one into thinking this isn't gonna be much of a song, but just like Feel Good, the song *really* starts with the chorus. And lemme tell you something - the chorus is F I R E!! You've got a nice little beat going with the prechorus, yes, but the chorus takes it to the Next Level™, sis. You've got thumping 808s, a badass chord progression, and the SHINee Boys™ givin' us That Good Good™. The chord progression is a particular favorite of mine, because it's got this gritty, almost anxious feeling to it. It's perfect for this song.
The first time I listened to Rescue, I made the stankest of faces. This song is just *so* fucking '90s, and it's one of my favorites from the repackage.
Alive (Odd)
So on top of giving us Grown n Sexy™ tracks for seducing bae into our lairs (or den of iniquity, if that's what you prefer), SHINee has also provided us with Alive. A song for... Well, do I really have to say it?!?!?!
Doing the frickle frackle!!
Alive is aggressive, kids. Like, EXO's MAMA aggressive. I was kind of thrown off by it on first listen, which is funny considering how I was very much into Everybody (or more specifically, Jinki with blonde hair and eyeliner singing Everybody). This is the type of song I picture boy bands practicing the stomp routines they receive from the National Boy Band Assembly® upon completion of their lineup.
Because boy bands sho' do love they over the top stomp routines, baby.
Alive starts out with a very loud, very in your face drum pattern that almost sounds like a giant making his way through the hills at night. Then, the verse comes crashing in with equally as loud and frenetic synths and The SHINee Boys™ matching the aggressiveness laid out by beat with a whole lotta attitude. And then, my favorite part of the song, the chorus. Out goes the Kill Bill Sirens frenetic synths and in come the RnB chords and harmonies. Cause God Knows™ these boys can't make a song without some killer harmonies. Bless the Lord almighty.
Wish Upon a Star (1and1)
This song always makes me wanna cry. I still love it, tho. Top 10 favorite ballads.
Wish Upon a Star is a soft classical ballad, if I've ever heard one. But The SHINee Boys™ sure know how to dress these up Just Right™ to make them worth your while. Wish Upon a Star sounds like it belongs in a Disney movie. It's soft and wistful, but sweet in texture, at the same time. I'm not exactly stoked for the SHINee World V concerts that are happening in February, but I hope they sing this song for Jonghyun. It'd be perfect for him.
This song always makes me so happy when I listen to it (despite always making me wanna cry my eyes out), because it really just shows how far SHINee have come as individuals and a band. They've always worked so hard to improve and comeback stronger, and this song is the perfect representation of that. 1and1 was the perfect time to release this song, because that era represents SHINee at their best, to me. Listening to this song makes me really happy, despite how sad I am.
Chocolate (Married to the Music)
Because no SHINee playlist (or album, really) is comeplete without a gay up straight up Funk track. Because SHINee are the K-Pop Kings of Funk. I will accept no other opinions about this.
Chocolate is Funk for the kids. The Actual Kids™, that is. Chocolate gives us those Funky elements we all know and love, but with a modern twist. The verses have an almost dissonant quality to them with how syncopated and off kilter the rhythm track is. I'm not gonna lie, it's definitely something you gotta get used to. But when that chorus/refrain rolls up on you, you're definitely gonna be happy you stuck with Chocolate. As typical with any SHINee song, there's lots and lots of harmonies. SHINee sees these groups only doing 5ths, and is like, "Oh no ma'am, not our gay extra asses".
Chocolate is, to be quite honest, SHINee on auto-pilot. It's SHINee doing what SHINee does best, and that's why we fucks with ha. I've never disliked a Funk song from SHINee, and I never will. These SHINee Boys™ have an understanding about Funk, and know how to make Funk songs Just Right™. It's always a pleasure to hear them make songs like these, especially when they give us a modern twist to go along with it.
Alright guys, that's it for today's list!! Tune in next week for my next Feature Spotlight, featuring songs from SHINee's experimental era. And don't forget to tune in on Wednesday to my Review Roundup of this week's releases!!
Hello loves!! My name is Jace (aka Felicity B), and this is your Review Roundup for the second week of January 2018!! I can't really tell if I liked this week in music better than I did last week. There's a better variety songs, at least.
Beware (Stray Kids)
I really wanna like these kids, because it's obvious af that JYP does not.
But.
Nothing they've released has really been up my alley. Beware (I realize that the actual name of the song is GRRR Total Law of Madness, but sis...) sounds like a better produced version of Wolf, and you'd think that was a good thing because Wolf was a poorly produced mess. But this song takes itself so fucking seriously. It's not terrible, but it's not something I really want to listen to again.
I don't get JYP's angle with this group. First, there was the survival show that wasn't really a survival show (which I'm glad, because I fucking hate actual survival shows). And before that was Hellevator, another overly serious song that makes me roll my eyes. And now this. I really don't wanna be a dick because this is their second release and they're teenagers, but I'm not a fan of being growled at by a bunch of high schoolers and then having my ears assaulted by nasal singing (because, of course, their vocalists sound like they're trained by the same people who trained JB). It's not a fun experience.
Do betta, JYP.
Rating - 1/5
Going Going (Jang Wooyoung)
Oh look, it's another JYP act with a bad song!!
Okay, the song isn't that bad, but there's not enough positives for me to overlook the negatives. Of which there are many.
Firstly, this an uptempo that drags; I literally could not wait for the new section to begin, because I was ready for the last one to end. And this is New Jack Swing, baby. My black ass fucking loves New Jack Swing (yes, even The Boys). But I could give you an entire playlist of K-Pop songs in the style of NJS that are W A Y better than this.
Secondly, Wooyoung doesn't sound particularly good singing on top of it. The rap bits were the best parts of the song, for me. Which is about 90% not his fault, because whoever was on vocal production duties was slacking. His voice sounds like dude dropped them on the beat, adjusted the levels a lil bit, added some reverb to sound like he actually did his job, and went tf home.
Tragique.
Thirdly, the arrangement of this song is weird af. What do I mean by that?!?! There are two choruses. Yes honey, you read that correctly - two choruses. The song starts out with a section you'd assume is the chorus, but when you get to the second chorus, it's something completely different. In fact, you don't hear this first "chorus" till the end of the song again (which, in hindsight, I'm glad you only hear it twice, because the lyrics make me roll my eyes so hard and the vocal melody has the weirdest rhythm pattern). I guess that's not too weird when I write it out, but it majorly throws you off when you hear it play out in the song. For me, anyway. Which is surprising, because Red Light and I Got A Boy are All Time Faves™ of mine (with Oh! being a runner up). But I guess I just don't like it here.
#PickyBitch
And since we're on the subject of the arrangement... WHY ARE THESE TRANSITIONS SO FUCKING LONG?!?!?!!?! SIS, THE TRANSITIONS BETWEEN SECTIONS DON'T NEED TO BE 10 FUCKING SECONDS LONG!!! THAT IS UNACCEPTABLE!!
Once again - Do betta, JYP.
Rating - 2/5
Don't Leaves (Block B)
And here come the ballads!! We're not mad at it, tho.
We all knew what kind of ballad Don't Leave Me was gonna be. More of a midtempo than an actual ballad, Don't Leave Me sounds a bit like a B1A4 or Seventeen song, but with Block B's track record as of late, we're not gonna dock points for that. Don't Leave Me starts out with a filtered percussion section that they unfilter for about 2.75 seconds before getting into the verse, almost as if they're reassuring us that they haven't gonna completely left of center with this ballad. Which is nice, because it creates a nice transition (not the word I'm working for, but you get what I mean) into the verse. And from there, they layer in more elements to create a nice backdrop for Block B's vocalists to actually show us what they can do.
Because God knows Shall We Dance was literally Zico and the boys. It was fucking ridiculous.
From the teasers, I thought I was gonna hate this (or be extremely apathetic to it ) but I should've known better. These B1A4 style/YG template ballads always get me, sooner or later (*WINN4R cackling as Fool plays in the background*). This isn't something I'm gonna put into Heavy Rotation (because God only knows my hyperempathetic ass doesn't need another reason to randomly be thrust into a depressive episode), but I wouldn't relegate this to Shuffle Bait.
Especially with Zico and P.O sounding as good as they do here. Granted, Zico sings half his verse and P.O doesn't rap at all, but you gotta take those small victories where you can find them. And they have really nice singing voices, too.
Rating - 4/5
The girl from back then (LONG:D)
This, however, is a ballad that's going right into Shuffle Bait. If I even download it, at all.
Where is the LONG:D that gave me All Night, sis?!?!?! The intro literally sounds like the Sad Piano Music™ that Youtubers download en masse from those royalty free music sites. Like, I was literally tempted to skip this release all together, but I rather like the way LONG:D's vocalist sounds (if Baekhyun was a properly trained and a baritone who actually needed all that chestiness in his mix, with a dash of Kang Seung Yoon's rasp).
The girl from back then sounds like a more generic version of Seventeen's Campfire. It's not what I'd consider a classical ballad (has too much going on), but it's just as boring as one. On repeat listens, the Gospel influences (however faint they are) did grow on me, but I can't even see myself wanting to listen to this when I'm in the mood for downtempo ballads. LONG:D's voice puts this into Shuffle Bait, but just barely.
It's too anybody of a ballad, sis.
Rating - 2.5/5
Tell Me (INFINITE)
Dongwoo's demonic ass starting this song with a whispered "Anywhere, Anytime" should have prepared me for how catchy this fucking song was gonna be.
Tell Me, like Wooyoung's Going Going, starts off with the chorus. But instead of giving us two different choruses when no one needed that in their life, it makes a very typical pop song sound a lot more interesting than it actually is.
Now... What Tell Me's composers/producers did isn't original by any stretch of the imagination. I know it seems a little counterproductive to mention this before I explain what they did (and why it's so cool), but I just know someone is going to try me on this.
So.
Tell Me (after Dongwoo terrorizes us with the raspiness in his voice) starts with the chorus, but a very stripped back and simplistic version of it. If you're not paying attention (which I might not have been the first time I listened), you could easily mistake it for the verse. That surprised me, because composers/producers don't usually start out their songs with the chorus being sung, if they have the chorus first; they usually play the chorus melody using some kind of instrument that sounds important (like Orange Caremel's Magic Girl, for example). Tthey'll also usually have it going at full intensity, so when it switches to the verse it's very obvious that what you just experienced was the chorus (since that's usually the most important aspect of the song in pop music).
So yeah, nothing too left field, just an interesting twist on an oft used formula.
Outside of that, this song is a very typical INFINITE title track. Very intensity, much dramas. Which I don't hate, because they're one of three groups in K-Pop who can do a song like this, and not bore me to death.
Rating - 4.5/5
Secret Garden (Oh My Girl)
Secret Garden is Orchestral Pop. It's not just typical, it's cliche af. Even IU, circa 2010, wouldn't have touched this with a 10ft pole.
But God save us all, I really like this song. And it's not even that I'm OMG trash (their anti-South Asian foolery during Windy Day era, combined with my general disinterest with anything they've done since then, stopped that right in it's track), but that chorus melody, sis. It's just so G O O D!! That, combined with the sweet, almost milk chocolatey texture of the instrumentation makes me feel like I'm floating. And you know what, 2018 is all about me livin my best Gife™ (Gay Life), but it's also about me being self-indulgant and liking what I like, no guilt attached.
I will say that I wish that this song had more live instrumentation in it. Those strings are definitely synth generated, and it's kind of distractingly obvious. The percussion is also too heavy for this type of song. It feels like I'm listening to a demo that OMG's company decided to send to a mastering house and release, cause they couldn't be fucked to work on the song anymore. It doesn't ruin it for me, but I can't help but notice these things.
Rating - 3/5
Glow (Choi Jaemin featuring EZ KIM)
Glow is a Sad™ song for Sad Days™. This is a song that throws down a blanket of it's angst and just revels in it. And while that isn't something I'm trying to listen to On The Daily™, I can save this for for those really bad days I just need to cry out those ugly emotions.
Contrary to what I said about Secret Garden, Glow is a song I felt like could have been beefed up by some electronic elements. The bass could have been thickened up in post, because it feels too limp for a song like this. Hell, they could added a low af ass sine bass to sumplement the bassist, and I wouldn't have minded. Overall, the production of this song is very loose. And I get that super tight production in an emotive song like this would have bleached out all the emotion, but more could have been done to tighten up how the elements don't really blend together. Especially the vocalists. They don't really fit together like they should, and I guess that kind of enhances the experience since this song feels like one long ass disonant chord, but still.
Teenage me would have played this song to death. Which makes me glad that I'm not that person anymore.
Rating - 3/5
Lonely (Jo Kwon)
See... I wanted to be petty, and just post his dance videos with Lia Kim, but we're trying to be a better person in 2018.
This is a really nice ballad. Not something I'd put on Heavy Rotation (i feel like a fucking broken record), but if he H A D to do a classical ballad, it wasn't as bad as it could have been. I'd have preferred a ballad like his duet with Gain, Q&A, but it was nice of Mr Kwon to remind us plebians that while he is a Dancing Diva™, he did get his start as a ballad singer.
I'm gonna need him to throw it back to his Animal days for the next release, tho. This was nice and all, but I need to see him featuring in Hyuna's next comeback with those shiny red boots and a trope of male dancers.
Also in red heels.
Rating - 3/5
Candy Pop! (TWICE)
Firstly, can I just say that TWICE's Japanese team are R E AL L Y giving these girls the push to be huge, because this video is ridiculously high budget. That is the best animation I've seen in a J-Pop music video. And I used to be a huge J-Pop stan before I got into K-Pop.
Secondly, whoever put that pink monstrosity on my girl, Sana, needs to be fired. I just can't, sis.
Do betta, JYP.
Lots of people are not a fan of Candy Pop, and I can't lie - that's partially why I like it so much. I will admit that I'm a sucker for cutesy pop tracks like these, but I'm also a petty bitch who's no stranger to loudly stanning TWICE because people want to talk shit out the side of their mouths about their supposed lack of talent.
News flash Marleigh/Zeno - the concept of talent in K-Pop literally doesn't fucking matter, because your level of talent does not dictate the kind of music you produce. Groups like SPICA and Mamawhomst Mamamoo have songs that vary wildly in quality, because some of the people they've worked with get lazy af when they work with vocal groups.
Anyway, Candy Pop will do just fine in Japan, because TWICE already have a sizable following there and it fits within the sonic landscape. It also has some pretty cool musical twists, like a halftime break for a post-chorus refrain. I definitely like One More Time better (Candy Pop can get aurally tiring pretty quickly because of that chorus, which is why that post-chorus breakdown is appreciated), but Candy Pop is pretty great, too.
Rating - 4/5
Spotlight (MONSTA X)
Monsta X may have revisited their debut sound, but I don't want to stab them all for it. It's a Christmas miracle!!
Spotlight is Monsta X doin' what Monsta X does best - intense trapstep uptempos with choreography to match. The difference between something like this and Trespass (*shudder*) is that they're taking themselves W A Y less seriously. They look like they're having fun ruining our lives with how hot they are, and even though Spotlight isn't something I'd describe as ~fun~, that still translates to the music.
Spotlight was quite the surprise for me when Universal Japan dropped the video on us. Mostly because it was a Japanese release with a full MV on Youtube (don't look at me like that, Japanese companies are allergic to digital releases actually making sense), but also because I had no idea MX was in Japan.
Spotlight is a banger. It brings me joy to see MX showing their sons how to make music like this and not be absolutely boring or pretentious af. This song is definitely going on Heavy Rotation.
Rating - 4.5/5
Stagger (Cheetah)
This song makes me extremely uncomfortable.
And I get that that was the point, with the video featuring Cheetah in various states of intoxication, but... God, I just feel so fucking unsettled anytime I listen to this song. It feels Wrong™. I get the concept (it's actually pretty cool), but you can't just be outchea makin' songs that no one wants to listen to more than once. That makes no sense, sis.
How does one even describe this song?!?!?! First, there's that horn (I think) sample that has been manipulated to all fuck. There's no way in hell they just copy n pasted that from somewhere with it sounding like that. That's like the base of the song. And then you've got that stilted drum machine patterns, combined with parts of the song playing in reverse. Cheetah almost doesn't fit in this song with how sharp her rapping is, but it works (I guess), because it adds to the disonant atmosphere of the track.
I'm here for artistry and experimentation in popular music circles, but can we make songs that people can actually, you know... LISTEN TO?!?!?!?!?!?
I will say that I'm here for the preview she showed at the end of the video, tho. Ma'am outchea givin us High Fashion Butch™ with a tropical beat, and my wig was instantly in tatters.
Rating - 1/5
20th Century (V.E.I.L)
Idk who V.E.I.L is, but I love this song.
The quickest way to get me into your band is to give me New Wave. Or NuDisco. Or Deep House. Or Lo Fi Electronica (like 20th Century). To be honest, you could give me any number of throwbacks to the '80s or '90s, and I'd fucking love you.
But that's neither here nor there.
20th Century is a fun af song, and I wonder when this became such an oddity in K-Pop. Companies these days (as well as stans) are obsessed with perfection in their groups, at the cost of personality. And granted, it's always kind of been this way, but it's at an all time high these days. Every group performs like a well oiled machine. Which is great. But they look like robots. And with the music these agencies give their groups, it's not a pleasant experience. Very rarely is a terrible one, but at least when it's bad, it registers a reaction.
Anyway, 20th Century sounds like something I'd expect from the Polysics (now that's a throwback to my weeb days, if I've ever seen one), but more on the electronic side. It's got that same Lo Fi/'90s feel to it, but it's dressed up in '80s synthpop. Which is never a bad thing. A part of me almost wonders what this song would be like if an idol group promoted it, but she quickly hushes up when my logical side reminds her an idol group would never promote anything with production this Lo Fi.
I mean, there's TAHITI's Tonight, but sis... Let's not kick 9muses 2.0 while they're down.
Rating - 4/5
Butterfly (Weki Meki)
Fascinating how Weki Meki had to have their comeback delayed because of trouble with a shareholder, but they were able to push out this song for the Winter Olympics.
But I'm sleep, tho.
Weki Meki's Butterfly is a cover of the 2009 OST for the film Take Off, originally by Loveholics. Weki Meki's cover was released in honour of the 2018 Winter Olympic Games.
Um... I like Weki Meki's cover more than the original.
Weki Meki's cover is in the style of synthpop, and that fits the chord progressions and song structure a lot more than the pop/rock arrangement of the original. It also brings out the nostalgic vibes of the song, because these types of chord progressions were used very heavily in the '80s/'90s. After listening to Weki Meki's cover, the original just sounds flat and poorly produced. Which I mean, K-Pop didn't really have good production till about 2013/2014.
So.
The video linked above doesn't feature the full song, so here's a lyrics video that does.
Rating - 4/5
Electric Kiss (EXO)
Yes, I do realize this song has been floating around the EXOnet since around November, but I haven't seen an official release featuring the full song till this dance practice. And I've been wanting to cover this forever.
You guys, tell me why I thought EXO was really about to throw some 5th Harmony/BO$$ type shit down with that intro?!!?! I really thought I was about to get EXO outchea, flexin' on these heauxs, but maybe we aren't ready for alladat. Lordt knows the way EXO L reacted to Lotto shows it.
But that's neither here nor there, sis. What matters is how amazing Electric Kiss is. She starts out strong with heavy brass stabs and an even heavier drum beat, and only builds from there. Miss Kiss is not playin' games with us, ladies. She might not have been the BO$$ style flex that I thought she was gonna be, but that doesn't mean she's a slouch, neither.
When teasers for a Japanese EXO album turned up on SM's YT channel (which makes no fucking sense, but okay, girl), I was iffy. With singles out like Love Me Right ~romantic universe~ (as if adding a subtitle would make that song any better) and Coming Home, I was not hopeful. But Electric Kiss bangs harder than anything EXO has released since Call Me Baby. I never would have expected a Japanese EXO campaign to net me music this good with how bad their Japanese singles have are, but I really should've known better. EXO has always thrown down when it comes to the music, and Electric Kiss is a certified B A N G E R!!
I was tempted to put this in the Fabulous Five, but the songs there deserve to be, so...
Rating - 4.5/5
Refresh (TSUN featuring YUMADA)
So I see y'all just gon' hit me with the a sexier version of Blah!??!?!?! We really doin' that, sis?!?!?!
Alright, sis... Don't be mad when you see these rough ass body rolls.
Refresh, like I mentioned above, is a sexier version of Planetarium's Blah. It's the same kind Tropic/RnB hybrid arrangement, but the instrumentation is more Tropical than RnB. Miss TSUN's singing definitely gives Refresh an RnB vibe, tho. The production here is a little loose, but it's not too glaring obvious.
Rating - 3.5/5
The Fabulous Five
5. Timeless (Jaehyun, Doyoung, and Taeil of NCT U)
Firstly, I need someone to tell me what song this sounds like, because it's been bothering me since release. These chords sound vaguely familar to me, I just can't tell what song Timeless shares them with.
Moving on.
When SM annouced that the NCT U Trio were making a comeback with a ballad for SM Station, I was not pleased. Station ballads are notorious for being lackluster af, and I was annoyed that SM really wanted this to be the song that followed Lower.
This is me eating my words.
I'm a little blown away at how amazing this turned out. NCT is a "group" (if you can even call them that) that has always come as more machine than man, so a ballad release (especially a Station ballad release) is the opposite of what I wanted from them. But they sound so raw and vulnerable here, it's a little heartbreaking.
Doyoung, Taeil, and Jaehyun are all very nice vocalists, but it is clear that Taeil is the main vocal of this unit, sis. Like... A bitch really started tearing up during his parts!! Doyoung and Jaehyun have the technical skill, but Taeil was really outchea singin' for his life!! And his belts are so nice?!?!? Fuck... He's really giving Taeyong a run for his money as my NCT bias, and I don't need this.
I can see why they wanted to do a live video here - K-Pop producers have a tendency to overdo the vocal production when doing studio recordings. And while that results in perfect vocals, it comes at the cost of any emotion or integrity in the vocal performance. And for an artform like K-Pop where the ability to emote isn't high up on the list of requirements for idols, that's a big fucking deal. Especially when ballads are usually used as more of a way to show off vocal ability than what they're supposed to. Which is kind of ironic, considering most main/lead vocalists have shit technique, and are usually picked for their ability to belt really powerfully (read - holler real loud).
I definitely would not have liked this if it was studio recorded. Yes, they're recording this *in* a studio (them vocals is too clean, sis), but... Y'all know what the fuck I mean!!
Rating - 5/5
4. Full Moon (Dreamcatcher)
Dreamcatcher said in a recent interview that they do enjoy their sound, and most of the members (literally everyone except one; and even then, she just wanted to branch out a lil) would like if they could go darker. So I guess this is their agency honoring that.
Full Moon is a very typical Dreamcatcher song (which makes sense, since this is their anniversary release) with symphonic elements mixed within a heavy rock backdrop, which gives off the vibe of heavier J-rock and VISUAL KEI songs. And you wouldn't think that would make for a very pop friendly song, but their composers/producers use very pop-friendly chord progressions and song arrangements. Add in the members of Dreamcatcher (who have voices that are very suited to pop music), and you have a formula that shouldn't work. But it does.
It works, oh so well.
The video linked above doesn't feature the full song (I'm guessing they're gonna release the full video with their March comeback, because the song is already out in full), so here's their performance at their fan meeting that does.
Rating - 5/5
3. I'm all ears (Kim Taeyeon)
I'm all ears is a song from Taeyeon's Christmas album (which I might have downloaded, but never listened to). I'm guessing the video release is a gift to the fans type dealio, because she's not promoting it.
I find it interesting that I'm all ears was included on a Christmas themed album, because it feels springy. In fact, this song almost feels like Taeyeon heard Jessica's Because It's Spring, and decided that she wanted to make her own version. Which I'm cool with, because I like I'm all ears better. I like when Taeyeon gives us light and airy. Beltyeon is annoying, because her belts sound pinched and nasal. And Taeyeon relies on them far too much to cover up the fact that she can't emote very well with her voice.
But this is good.
I'm definitely putting this song on Heavy Rotation. I know, #Shocking. But if anyone peeped how I was fawned over Twenty Something from last week's list, it really shouldn't be that surprising.
Rating - 5/5
2. Love You (Eom Ji Hee)
Now this is a real throwback to my youth days (don't ask, I'm not about to become That Kind™ of blog).
There's something so... Nice™ about hearing something this raw and unmastered, especially since we're so used to hearing such high production values in K-Pop. And I know I've clocked other songs on these lists for having loose production, but the difference is that this is SUPPOSED to be low production; this is literally a girl singing with her backing band with a camera on. I could point out all the things "wrong" here, but they don't really take away from the performance. The songs I've clocked for being low production, however, were studio recorded affairs that missed the mark. And granted, not everyone can afford to send their shit to a professional mastering house, but it's not hard to get harmonies to sit nicely in the mix.
Anyway, this is another song that sounds real familiar (I'm pretty sure this is a cover, because even the vocal melody sounded familar, and that's a big fuckin no no), but it sounded real nice. This is musics I'm trynna listen to on good days when I can't sleep. The video is even perfect for it, with it's starry projection on the band!!
Rating - 5/5
1. Diamond Girl (MxM BRANDNEWBOYS)
Remember how I said you could give me any kind of throwback to the '80s and/or '90s, and I'd be happy?!?!?!
Diamond Girl is exactly what I'm talking about.
Diamond Girl is a funky n (most importantly) fun throwback to the '90s (with a little bit of '80s synth work thrown on top for good measure). The bass work is a highlight for me, and that damn "my diamond girl" hook won't leave me the fuck alone. That, and the "treat you like a gentlemen, like a gentlemen" (which is literally the same rhythmic pattern and interval as Chuu's "you attack my heart, you attack my heart" in Heart Attack) refrain are certified ear worms. Even the biggest pop haters couldn't resist those lines getting stuck in their head.
Like... I really don't know how to describe what I like about this song. Sure, I picked some stuff out, but that's just the tip of the iceburg. This song is balls to the walls A M A Z I N G!!!
2018 is the year of groups with lackluster debuts making amazing comebacks, I guess.
Rating - 5/5
Alright, babies, that's it for this week!! Don't forget to tune in on Friday for the next installment in my Jonghyun tribute with the first SHINee Feature Spotlight at 6pm EST, and next week at 6pm EST for this week's Review Roundup. Love you, guys!!
So... While developing my playlists for my SHINee FSLs, I ran into a few problems (I guess). SHINee has such a wide and varied discography, I feel like it'd be a dishonor to them to just throw songs from completely different eras together like it wouldn't be an incredibly jarring experience. I also couldn't decide on a set number of tracks from each album to put in each playlist; I feel like doing more than three songs per album when pulling from four and five albums would just muddy up the playlist and make it unfocused.
So.
Do enjoy this Taemin FSL (I was planning on doing one on him March, anyway), while I work on my SHINee FSL series.
And yes, that does mean the SHINee tribute is going to extend into February; I'll keep you all updated as best as I can.
Wicked (ACE)
Oh Wicked... You swerved my ass big time when I first listened to you. Idk how, but to be fair - hindsight *is* 20/20.
Wicked starts out with a very calm trumpet line over smooth chords, but it doesn't stay that way for long. Quite like it's hard to keep Taemin in his clothes, the sassy Funk elements just couldn't stay tamed. But that's okay. That's why we like Wicked.
This is a song that I'd really love to see Taemin perform with a live band. Maybe a little choreo. But mostly just Taemin having fun with his backing band. That'd be so cool.
I'm Crying (Flame of Love)
When Taemin announced that he was debuting in Japan with Sayonara Hitori, I was... Intrigued™. I mostly didn't know what to expect (especially with Taeminnie serving Elvin Royalty/Fantasy Prince realness with the teasers), but I was real interested in what the music would sound like. Cause that's what I'm here for, sis.
I'm Crying is J-Pop af. It's also the closest thing to a ballad that I'd enjoy from Taemin. Idk why I don't like his ballads, they just feel bland and so unlike him to me. But I'm Crying is perfect, because it's got that Japanese Winter Ballad™ (all my J-pop fam knows exactly what I'm talking about) feel, but with his signature drama mixed in.
My favorite aspect of the song is how soft and bittersweet the opening melody is. It's such a simple piano melody, but I'm such a sucker for them. And when the strings kicked in?!?!!? I was gone, b.
One by One (Press It)
If ACE showed us Taemin's potential as a soloist, then Press It is Taemin realizing that potential, and showing us Lee Taemin, the artist. ACE remains my favorite body of work by Taemin, but Press It has some of my favorite songs by him.
Like, Top five favorite, sis.
Remember when I mentioned Taemin's signature drama?!?! One by One is a great example of that. Jonghyun is King of the Drama Gays, but Taemin is the Crown Prince. Every time I listen to One by One, I imagine Taemin dancing in the rain to it. Yes honey, full on '90s drama. And it fits, because One by One (hell, the best songs from Press It) all have a '90s flare to them.
Crazy 4 u (MOVE)
Crazy 4 u is one that might have fooled me if I hadn't peeped ha from the jump. See, you don't spring a song like Wicked on a bitch, and expect to surprise ha again with a song that starts out just the same. No ma'am!!
Crazy 4 u, to its credit, stays in the midtempo range for the first verse and prechorus (quite a bit longer than Wicked). Then the beat gets really going, and finally explodes into an RnB influsrd Future Bass style drop. Crazy 4 u never quite pops like Wicked does, but this is another song I'd like to see Taemin perform with a live band. But this time, I definitely wanna see him doin' it big with the choreo.
Door (Flame of Love)
Door is a song I'm surprised I haven't seen on a Korean release from Taem. It's very Jpop-esque, but if anyone could sell J-Pop style music to a Korean audience, it'd be these SHINee boys.
Door is a song that fits right in with the rest of Taemin's repertoire; midtempo with lots of drama. But damn if this man doesn't have me hooked to this type of song from him. He just does them so well, and I just really appreciate that.
Heart Stop (featuring Kang Seulgi of Red Velvet) (MOVE)
Heart Stop was a song that was H I G H L Y anticipated, because of one Miss Kang Seulgi. If we're not counting Drip Drop (which features unctredited background vocals from Miss LiVii/Alice Vicious), Heart Stop was Taemin's first official collaboration as a soloist.
And what a collaboration it is, sis.
Heart Stop is pretty upbeat for a Taemin b-side, but idk if I'd call her an uptempo. She's got groove, but this isn't "dance at the club music"; this is "seduce your mans into giving you $500k" music. Whatever you want to call her, I need Taemin and Seulgi to carve out some choreo to this, and scalp me. They're both awkward as hell around the opposite binary gender (cause they're both so fucking gay), but with some preparation, we could avoid the awkward (but still iconic) mess that was Taemin's collab stage with Sunmi.
Or Seulgi's dance stage with Taeyong. God, that was so fucking bad.
As far as collaborations go, Seulgi is present on the song just as much as Taemin is, and that is really appreciated. They even go as far to sing some sections together, and that was way more than I was expecting. Typically, collabs like this have the featured artist sing/rap one part in the song (typically the bridge) and then they're done. So it's nice to see them make this a Seulgi song as much as they made it a Taemin song. Cause idk if I'd like this as much as I do if it was just Taemin.
Soldier (Press It)
Can we give it up for Press It one good time, y'all?!!?! This album is top heavy with midtempos, but Taemin delivers every single one of them effortlessly. The album is a masterpiece, and I fall in love with it again every time I give it a listen.
Soldier is the quintessential Taemin midtempo. It's what comes to mind whenever I think of his style, sis. Soldier become a timeless classic within Taemin's repertoire, because a) he loves to perform the motherfucker and b) it's first song of his that we hear that *sounds* like Taemin, if that makes sense. I love it.
Play Me (ACE)
Play Me is the song I was expecting when I heard Wicked for the first time. But I'm glad Wicked turned into a funky uptempo, cause it sho' woulda' been awkward to have two sexy, smoldering midtempos so close to each other on an album as short as ACE. Play Me plays out (heh heh heh) the way you'd expect it, but there's nothing wrong with that. She doesn't reinvent the wheel, but she does her job well and that's what matters in my book.
Do It Baby (Flame of Love)
Do It Baby is Taemin givin' us an east meets west affair. The song features a hip hop beat, accented by a Far East sounding riff. I would probably hate this if it didn't work out so well, but God does it work.
if Taemin ever had the urge to film a video for this, I'd wanna see him doing a lot of martial arts inspired posing (similar to what 2NE1 did in I Love You) to the verses and breakdown, and then pull out some break dancing to the beat switch in the latter half of the song. It'd be so fucking cool.
Sexuality (Press It)
Can we give it up again for Press It, you guys?!?! Cause not only are all the midtempos strong as fuck all, but the uptempos are bloody amazing, girl!!
Sexuality is a very different song than what we're used to seeing from an SMe act. Not to say that SM is unfamiliar with a little controversy in their music (BoA's Kiss My Lips, anyone?!?!?!?!), but sis... The song is titled Sexuality.
Lee Taemin is bold as fuck, ladies and gentlemen.
Sexuality is Taemin's drama translated to an '80s template, with a heaping dollop of sex added for good measure. I can't listen to this song in public (as expected for a song titled Sexuality), but it's just so fucking good.
I never knew I needed '80s Taem till Sexuality and MOVE snatched my wig and blasted her into the sun, but now I need every album of his moving forward to include a song like this.
Ace (ACE)
Ace is another song I can't listen to in public. Mostly cause I'm too busy body rolling and giving JRE levels of stankitude in the face. But also because it feels like Taem is trying to fuck you through the music.
This is not a drill, folks - Lee Taemin is trying to sex your body with his Ace. And fuck if I'd ever stop that demon from ruining my life like that.
Ace is what us niggas Negroes of American Nationality like to call a sex jam. A classy sex jam, to be specific. This is not the song to jump zaddy to. Taemin has been generous enough to provide Sexuality for that. No baby, Ace is for lighting some scented candles, putting on your sexiest lingerie, and romancing your mans (or woman, because you know my gay ass doesn't discriminate) into bed with you. Ace is for those nights when you wanna take it nice and slow.
Ace is a rarity within the K-Pop landscape. You don't really hear songs like this. Most love songs are PG as fuck all, and there's not a damn thing wrong with that. I love to be all soft and giggly. But sometimes I want something more sensual.
Tiger (Sayonara Hitori)
So, remember how I said Taem could bring some of his Japanese songs over to Korea, and make it work?!?!
Tiger is not one of those songs.
Tiger is J-Pop as fuck all. Tiger is the type of song the Final Battle™ of an anime/video game would be animated against. Tiger is the opening theme to a dark fantasy anime. Tiger is, simply put, everything I wanted from a Japanese Taemin release. This song fits him so well, and I fucking love it.
Yes, I even love the breakdowns that are all wub wub'd out, because a) it fits the song so well (Tiger could be described as an experiment in how to do extreme sonic shifts without alienating your listener) and b) it's not some Skrillex style bullshit. If Taemin had decided not go with Sayonara Hitori as the feature track for his debut, I'd have loved to see him do Tiger. Especially with those Elvin Royalty/Fantasy Prince Lewks™ he was serving with that silver weave.
FINAL DRAGON (Sayonara Hitori)
If you I were to judge the whole of Final Dragon by just the first thirty seconds, it'd have gone on the trash on first listen. I don't know what's up with that weird Gregorian chant. But it gets better. After Taemin sets the atmosphere (I guess) with his little spoken word, we get thrown into a half time section with the most dramatic horn n violin duet I've ever heard.
And that's when the real fun starts.
Final Dragon is another song that would absolutely not work in Korea. This style of hard rock mixed with symphonic instrumentation sounds very Japanese in texture. But once again, this why we were intrigued by a Japanese Taemin debut. Not only did it make sense financially (Taemin is very popular in Japan), it makes sense musically and thematically.
Final Dragon shows off Taemin's title as the Crown Prince very effectively. This is another song I need to see Taemin perform with a live backing band. I put Final Dragon right after Tiger in this list, because it feels like the aftermath of that Final Battle™. It's the ending theme to Tiger's opening theme. Yes, the two songs were side by side in their original track listing, but sis...
If it ain't broke, don't fix it.
Rise (MOVE)
Firstly, if you're listening to the playlist as you read, I'm so sorry for that whiplash, baby. I took you from one end of the spectrum to the other, but there's a method to my madness. I promise!!
Rise feels like closure. You just endured this epic battle (and the aftermath of it), and now you're approaching reality again. Rise feels like life after crisis. Rise feels like healing. Like, you don't how you survived, but you're just lucky to be alive.
Rise is a big, rousing power ballad (like most of Taemin's midtempos) that feels like it lives and breathes. I like to think of it more of an experience than a song. Of all the songs I've mentioned I wanted to hear live, this is the one I wanna hear the most.
Thirsty (OFF SICK Concert Remix) (SM STATION)
Thirsty feels like a call out, guys. Thirsty is Taemin tellin' us he knows the way we look at him, and he fuckin loves that shit like the chaotic demon he is. Thirsty is Taemin challenging us to give it to him as good as he gives it us. Possibly.
Thirsty is, simply put, Taemin feelin his oats, babies. It's a loud and bombastic declaration of his sexuality (as if he doesn't wear that shit like a designer feaux fur coat), and it's really cool to watch since Taemin isn't your typical idol soloist.
Alright my loves, that's it for this Feature Spotlight!! Did we enjoy the surprise?!?!? Be sure to tune in next week for part one of the SHINee tribute in honor of Jonghyun at 6pm EST (I promise!!). And speaking of Jonghyun, be sure to check out his Feature Spotlight here. And while you're here, there's no harm in checking out my debut Review Roundup. In case you missed it. Love you, guys!!
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