After all this time, ladies, I'm still falling in love with you.
Ever since the release of "Bubble Pop" by Hyuna two years ago (time flew), I've never found another K-pop song that was my summer jam. Until now.
2NE1 never disappoints by always constantly changing their sound and I think that's why they are at the stage they are at now after having only debuted in 2009.
Falling in Love is a light hearted song with a reggae melody that still has the fire that 2NE1 has always possessed since their debut. This is emphasised by CL's rap however it's the same old same old as we know she has the flow that makes her one of the best rappers in the K-Pop industry. Another thing I like is the fact that Minzy seems to have taken the role of lead singer, if you watch most of their unplugged or live performances, Minzy can hold her own better than Bom or CL in my opinion.
I'm also digging the styling in the music video, maybe not the coloured contact lenses but everything else goes perfectly together. If my hair could look as healthy as CL's, I would be a happy child. Dara's blonde locks are beautiful and Bom and Minzy's hair is just a knockout.
Get funky, get down- off the pole for health and safety's sake.
I gotta commend the ladies' attempt at the art of pole dancing, I must admit, despite it's sexual connotations, pole dancing is bloody hard.
Being the goddess Nana is, bless her heart. She shows the toil of daily practice on her body from the bruises she got for this comeback. Not only that, Lizzy has broken her ankle and Raina has injured her wrist leaving only six to be able to actually perform on the pole.
So before any of the slut shaming, take into the account the sheer work it took just to be able to hold themselves up on the pole, and to do it so flawlessly too after a mere six months!
Other examples of this would be Ga-In in her song Bloom.
Now song wise, I was disappointed.
It is just an odd song I can't seem to get into. Especially from the background noise of scratching and the constant "Get funky, get down" which just takes away from the lyrics and the meaning of the song. If only the Brave Brothers stopped throwing in the odd "hey" every now and then. A girl can dream. I think it just detracts from the beauty of the music video and the simplicity and grace of the song. Shame on you Brave Brothers.
I do have a chuckle at reading the description on Loenent:
"The punk and groovy sound shows the sentimental and sad voice colors of After School that has never been shown before"
I just think the groovy and "punk" has been mismatched greatly. This can be shown in the cray styling they have going on. I usually consider first love stories to be innocent and pure but the sets are so vivid it completely distracts the viewer (if they're not already distracted by the pole dancing spectacle).
One thing for sure, the girls of After School must have crazy core strength.
I had hopes that this won't be about love and more about feminism but it's K-Pop, we leave that to 2NE1 or Lee Hyori.
Whilst I wished it was different, I do like it! It's catchy and Girl's Day have consistently grown since their debut, yes we still have some cutesy- aegyo cuts but in this MV, it's not too prominent.
I also like the message of us girls leaving the coyness behind and just tell a guy you like him. Despite saying that, I doubt I'll be taking the ladies' advice to "come up to him and kiss him first" it's still pretty nerve wracking!
Ok let's talk about the MV.
STYLING
Unlike their other videos their solo shots don't have a unified styling and is more personal to them I guess. Though I doubt Hyeri chose to have masculine tailoring and I feel the stylists keep letting us down with Hyeri's styling. I blame the haircut. Also I have a qualm about unnatural contact lenses and Yura's is really unnerving.
My favourite set of outfits had to be this one:
For one, I really really like Hyeri's dress on the far left, you all may think I may be biased towards her but I'm all for the vocalists, Sojin and Minah in the middle, here.
My not so favourite one had to be this:
Yura honey, that's not a dress. Knowing cameramen on music shows, you wouldn't want your derriere on a 10 minute loop video on youtube, it's been done with Hwayoung from T-ara's nipples already.
DANCE
My favourite bit has to be just after the chorus with the booty wiggle that they do, I also like the salute that they do, that's very cool. I must say though, ever since "Don't Forget Me" I've found Girl's Day's dances easy to follow, yay.
I also love the use of silhouettes in any MV and from 2:54 onwards where they are on the stands, it just feels empowering. Also the scenes with Minah and Hyeri are similar to something that would happen in an AKB48 video, S.Korea, let's not go there please.
Gone are the days of autotuned aegyo from the Oh My God! era. Girl's Day may just have become my new favourite girl band.
Ever since the giant hit that was "Alone" SISTAR have been consistently bringing out good songs and the girls have developed from booty popping ladies to more sensual and glamorous women. Gone are the days of bending over for no reason from their earlier releases and the girls have realised that less is more from their "Alone" promotions.
Their comeback has actually surprised me but I love the concept. The Moulin Rouge set and the release of the inner sexy diva just makes the music video worthwhile to watch.
For once I am happy with the styling of the girls, especially Bora. The girl can rock anything.
The dance is an absolute joy to watch and we'll probably find a few covers up soon.
Like I said earlier, the girls have come far. For example instead of having Hyorin sing every line, Dasom and Soyou can hold their own against the powerhouse that is Hyorin. The girls have grown a lot and I think ever since "Alone", this has been my favourite release from the girls so far.
I really hope the girls have the same success for this song as they did with Alone.
After their extraordinary debut last year (in some good ways and some bad) the boys of EXO are back with their first full album which has been widely anticipated. But after the 27 teasers for their debut and the slow release of songs, did Exo come back stronger than ever?
In some ways yes.
Maybe SM slowed down promotions to teach both Exo K and M Chinese and Korean respectively. That's the only theory I've got because in comparison to their fierce rivals B.A.P, who have been kept in the public eye non stop, I think Exo has showed us that distance does make the heart grow fonder.
So now let's talk about the whole album~
Wolf- The title track, which I've reviewed already, is an utter mess. Like their debut song MAMA, it was a mish mash of clashing sounds and vocals. If you're listening to it for the first time it is quite overwhelming. After the climax of the song the rest of the song is forgotten because there's too much of the song to remember. It's a song that tries so hard to be hardcore with "strong" (mediocre) rapping whilst trying to seduce you with the highs and lows of the vocalists ranges.
Baby Don't Cry- This was a song featured on one of the 27 teasers. Whilst it was produced over a year ago, I am just so happy it has finally been released, it is a wonderful song and the short live performances of this song really did show the group's strongest points. Baekhyun, D.O, Luhan and Chen really captivated me as a listener with their vocals for this song. Chanyeol's rap is not overpowering and is a tasteful addition to the song. The melody is simple yet it carries the song through and makes the song such a delight to listen to. This is definitely one of my favourites from the album
Black Pearl- From the first verse I thought I wouldn't like it but the more I thought about it, if SM had given better thought to what the title track could be, I would choose this. It's a song that you could imagine would be performed well with slick choreography and the vocals aren't too in your face unlike the instrumental. Saying that, the instrumental isn't something out there or original but it's easy to listen to, unlike Wolf.
Don't Go- If "Baby Don't Cry" made me tear up a little, this song made me smile. Just listen to it. It's just so lovely. For once I prefer the Korean version of this song but either way, the vocals in both the Korean and Chinese are just so lovely and it just makes you feel at peace.
Let Out The Beast - Another featured song in the many teasers. It was like a throwback from the mid-2000 boyband songs, which I liked. Personally, I'm not too crazy about the song, from the title you'd think it was Wolf 2.0 but you'll be pleasantly surprised that it isn't. At least this song isn't a mess, however it was a forgettable effort from the guys for me.
3.6.5- It's a very cutesy song okay, let's just leave it at that. I'm not a fan of cutesy.
Heart Attack- This is another favourite. I don't know why, but I definitely like it. For once autotune is used to add to the song and it has a nice effect. I'll probably be adding this to my morning commute playlist.
Peter Pan- Rumour has it that this song is the song for the drama music video that SM has been teasing us with. Apart from that, this song is one of those that is just nice to listen to. Some people have been complaining on the lack of Sehun or certain voices on the album, I'm surprised you Exo stans can tell! It took me three years to be able to work out who was who by ear for MBLAQ and SHINee. You guys are sure fast. I also have no qualms on the English pronunciations for this song. Woohoo.
Baby- I don't really know how to feel about this song. Like the rest of the album's fillers like Peter Pan and 3.6.5, it's pretty. But the chorus made me feel more inclined to listen to this again.
My Lady- From what I heard of the little snippet from the teasers, I thought this song would be my instant favourite. I was wrong. The most attractive and important part of the song was already showcased in the teaser. I like the fact it closes the album. After an overload of the prettiness, we have a nice slick jazzy closure. You can also just imagine Kai dancing to it whilst you listen to it. Heh.
Overall I liked XOXO, Exo shows what they can do well through songs like Baby Don't Cry and Black Pearl, my only complaint is the title song because it's trying to show us too much, like their previous effort with Mama which I also think was a bit too much. I hope that we do get to see performances of other songs in the album. It's not the best debut album but it is quite a strong showcase of talent and things can only go up. Hopefully they release a better title song next time. Fingers crossed.
EXO are back after a year with their first album XOXO (I see what you did there) and lo and behold! A feisty title track...which I'm very disappointed in.
Exotics, admit it, the song is a bit of a hot mess. From the lyrics to the mish mash of disjointed sound that makes it awkward, it's a song that's meant to woo the ladies into "forbidden love" with a beast but the odd autotuned "Saranghaeyo" is just so annoying, why is it there? That's not sexy at all Exo!
As with most standard SM videos, our darlings are placed in a box, from the teasers we're meant to have a drama version in which the wolves are let out and into the real world (hooray for drama videos!). Another thing is that for this round of promotions there isn't Exo-M or Exo-K, we just have Exo as all twelve perform together. One thing that does happen is that some members are sidelined for example Lay, Sehun, Suho and Xiumin. Kai doesn't get many parts but you still see him flinging his cornrows at the front. Despite this, I kind of like Exo performing as one, it's nice to see the Korean members' attempt of the song in Chinese and vice versa, it's cute.
One thing about this dance version of the music video is the dance itself. Ok, I get that the song is called Wolf and you have the whole "I'm a Wolf awooooo" line but you really do not need to keep emphasising that with the wolf ears move that actually looks like you're doing gwiyomi player... I just find some parts of the dance silly, but I guess the boys really got into playing wolves...just like how they kept on talking about their super powers.
I just can't wait till the full album drops because we get to hear this in full:
Meanwhile, I'll just leave you with my future husband Kris.
So the baddest chick in Korea has finally made her solo debut and makes us "Do the Unnie".
First things off, I love the video, it reminds me of G-Dragon's "One of a Kind" with her backup dancers and the cross dressing. CL is the female counterpart of GD, all she needs now are t-shirts with "Do the Unnie" printed on them, et voila!
The latter part of the video has a nineties or holiday feel to it, and I like seeing CL around children, it's like the baddest female in Korea has a soft spot and shows a contrast from the CL we saw in the earlier part of the video when she bares golden fangs. I like that she's able to show herself in her music video, even with the many comparisons you can make with "One of A Kind".
The styling is colourful and of course, with a lot of Chrome Hearts jewellery and Jeremy Scott goods, I mean, how can she not have that, she's his muse! On a side note, there are cameos by Taeyang and GD (both with bad hair), why is GD not wearing any pants?
Though I may love the video, the song isn't what I expected from one of the best female rappers in Korea. Whilst some bits are definitely catchy, especially when we have to get down and do the unnie, I feel that this isn't up there with her releases with 2NE1 or with the releases of the YG Family. With a song that claims to define the "Baddest Female", CL definitely should've had a song that was stronger and more in-your-face.
