I heard this song not too long ago on Inkigayo and I wasn't really impressed. I mean, it seemed to be an attempt at a fun, upbeat song, but those base synths. sudden drop in pace and the odd chanting (in poor English, mind you) in the chorus really let down the exciting build up that the killer rap sections and endearing vocals had provided. Or at least that was what I thought until I saw the actual music video. The music video was eccentric and basically portrayed GLAM as freakish people from another planet, coming (or at least that is what I presume) to just have a good time. It was ok, I guess, with some moderately interesting effects and bright colourful explosions. But it tied in pretty well the meaning of the song, which I find incredibly inspiring and is the reason behind my love for this track.
What is the meaning? Well, if you do not Korean, you'd might probably think its some messy party anthem, as people to get 'the party started' and the 'its just a heartbeat away' (which does not make sense), which is pretty damn shallow. But if you do understand the language, or bothered to look up the translated lyrics online, you'd realise the boldness of the song, and the impactful messages hidden within the lyrics. Basically, 'Party' is a lesbianic song.
Wow.
And no, it is not raunchy in any way. It is somewhat reminiscent of Firework by Katy Perry, as both provide messages about acceptance and being yourself. But GLAM's attempt at advocating this message comes through way stronger. Why? Because they are in Korea where homosexuality is universally looked down upon by society and from GLAM to come up with such an in-your-face song is seriously awesome. And also they haven't been banned by KBS. The song is rebellious, it goes against societal norms, much like Bikini Kill were when they were in their prime, advocating feminism and starting a feminist rock wave which spread like wildfire. GLAM are just so daring and it does not come off overly vulgar, rather its a really sweet and inspiring song.
Wow.
GLAM tells everyone that anyone can be a 'Romeo' and anyone can be a 'Juliet' and that you should just screw others' opinions and just have fun and enjoy life. And hearing that just gets me so pumped and brimmed with emotion that I just want to stand up and jump around brainlessly.
- The Kpop Philosopher
Friday 31 August 2012
[Single Review] G-Dragon- 'One Of A Kind'
G-Dragon. Aaaaah. Honestly, out of all the talented Kpop idols out there, I could swear by my dog's life that he is, unquestionably, the most talented one out there. And comparing him with other musicians like Jung Yonghwa and whatnot, I'd say that's a pretty good place to be at. But I have my reasons. Firstly, when idols produce songs, usually they would not partake in the production process, like writing the lyrics or composing the backing tracks. However, G-Dragon does it all. He is an amazing songwriter and 'Haru Haru' still blows my mind today. Secondly, I like his style. And by style, I do not mean in the fashion scene solely, no, I refer to his method of presenting himself. In terms of fashion, one cannot deny that he takes an unorthodox approach to clothing, with really flamboyant clothing which clash so much, yet turn out so good. In other aspects, he too does not follow the routine styles followed by majority of the other idols out there, and it is probably because of that that I respect him so so much. He is just so out there, and he just wants to tell the world that, "Hey, I'm gonna do things the GD way, and if you don't like it, screw off", and that confidence he brings with him is so endearing and utterly respectable. To top it off by doing such potentially controversial acts in a renowedly conservative nation like Korea is really really remarkable.
That being said, I had high hopes for his solo comeback. Heartbreaker in 2009 was heavily lauded, and bagged GD numerous awards, like Album of The Year at the 2009 edition of MAMA. Heartbreaker was somewhat a milestone for Kpop, as it brought this form of swag which had never really been seen before, with lightning fast raps and GD showcasing his unmatched stage presence. Even by himself on a comparatively large stage, he owns it, and swallows the stage whole. That left me a question, would I be disappointed? Usually I do not keep my expectations too high up as naturally disappointment would come about easier. Look at The Boys, where I held ridiculously low expectations for; ultimately I felt satisfied despite eventually realising that compared to legend tracks like Gee and Genie, it just felt short on so many levels. Still my trust in GD's talent and swagger led me to keeping up with my expectations and I took my first listen of One of A Kind, with a tinge of nervousness and overwhelming eagerness.
And so I did......
Everything I had said about GD, everything I had praised him forced just went full circle, back to this video and slammed me in the face with twice the force. Holy cow.
In case you had not realised, this is a positive review. The song drips with arrogance and self-flattery, so much so that one can see GD's wild and unrestrained side, and not too much that it portrays him as a snob. If the song did convince you that he was an arrogant piece of poop, then I guess it would not reflect poorly on GD's character, rather, it shows you just how incredibly magical and convincing GD's productions are. You hear it and you are engulfed by the beat, engulfed by GD's swaggy arm movements and slightly nasal rap runs, and you feel like you ARE ONE OF A KIND. You feel like you are GD. And yes, GD is a freaking awesome guy to take the role of, so being GD......well accepted.
The song is not exactly catchy, and in fact it is rather weird. The raps sort of come in triplets, and have this sort of rolling effect as they dribble relentlessly out of GD's mouth. Also, there are these odd dreary lengths of beats between verses, in addition to the speak-rap chorus. Add any one of those three elements to a regular peppy Kpop song, and I'd probably flip.
But then the magic of GD kicks in. He teases us, with the monotonous rap triplets serving as somewhat of a build-up. We start to think, 'What's coming next? Is he gonna switch back to his nasally voice or do a divalicious high note (unlikely, but hey GD is the epitomy of an enigma)?" We never know. And we wait. In anticipation.
Then it hits. Oh. Wait. It hasn't. He slows down his rap, intentionally drawling over the lyrics with a seductiveness and confidence which I do not believe anyone else in Kpop can do better than he. The tempo slows down a bit and our hearts go on a rollercoaster.
Then comes the long beat sequence. Which sort of brings things back up to speed building up the tension yet again as we wait for a loud, bombastic chorus. In Heartbreaker, GD intertwined hardcore rapping and auto-tune laced long notes which made the chorus similar to a tsunami, hitting us forcefully with heaps of electronica and hip hop. In this song, he doesn't. Instead, he goes back to his monotonous raps and contorts his voice digitally. While some may think its an anti-climax of sorts, I do not agree. It is progressive. It serves a suitably offbeat ending, rounding up all the tension from the previous verses into a speak-rap, with GD swagging about, convincing you "Hey Sir, I'm one of a kind." And hell yes, I believe that.
This pattern goes on throughout the song with some variation, which is always appreciated to break the monotony of songs sometimes. And the video ends. I close the browser. And I stone in disebelief.
After the masterpiece in Heartbreaker, GD has done it again.
Who wouldn't have expected it? He is after all, one of a kind.
- The Kpop Philosopher
That being said, I had high hopes for his solo comeback. Heartbreaker in 2009 was heavily lauded, and bagged GD numerous awards, like Album of The Year at the 2009 edition of MAMA. Heartbreaker was somewhat a milestone for Kpop, as it brought this form of swag which had never really been seen before, with lightning fast raps and GD showcasing his unmatched stage presence. Even by himself on a comparatively large stage, he owns it, and swallows the stage whole. That left me a question, would I be disappointed? Usually I do not keep my expectations too high up as naturally disappointment would come about easier. Look at The Boys, where I held ridiculously low expectations for; ultimately I felt satisfied despite eventually realising that compared to legend tracks like Gee and Genie, it just felt short on so many levels. Still my trust in GD's talent and swagger led me to keeping up with my expectations and I took my first listen of One of A Kind, with a tinge of nervousness and overwhelming eagerness.
And so I did......
Everything I had said about GD, everything I had praised him forced just went full circle, back to this video and slammed me in the face with twice the force. Holy cow.
In case you had not realised, this is a positive review. The song drips with arrogance and self-flattery, so much so that one can see GD's wild and unrestrained side, and not too much that it portrays him as a snob. If the song did convince you that he was an arrogant piece of poop, then I guess it would not reflect poorly on GD's character, rather, it shows you just how incredibly magical and convincing GD's productions are. You hear it and you are engulfed by the beat, engulfed by GD's swaggy arm movements and slightly nasal rap runs, and you feel like you ARE ONE OF A KIND. You feel like you are GD. And yes, GD is a freaking awesome guy to take the role of, so being GD......well accepted.
The song is not exactly catchy, and in fact it is rather weird. The raps sort of come in triplets, and have this sort of rolling effect as they dribble relentlessly out of GD's mouth. Also, there are these odd dreary lengths of beats between verses, in addition to the speak-rap chorus. Add any one of those three elements to a regular peppy Kpop song, and I'd probably flip.
But then the magic of GD kicks in. He teases us, with the monotonous rap triplets serving as somewhat of a build-up. We start to think, 'What's coming next? Is he gonna switch back to his nasally voice or do a divalicious high note (unlikely, but hey GD is the epitomy of an enigma)?" We never know. And we wait. In anticipation.
Then it hits. Oh. Wait. It hasn't. He slows down his rap, intentionally drawling over the lyrics with a seductiveness and confidence which I do not believe anyone else in Kpop can do better than he. The tempo slows down a bit and our hearts go on a rollercoaster.
Then comes the long beat sequence. Which sort of brings things back up to speed building up the tension yet again as we wait for a loud, bombastic chorus. In Heartbreaker, GD intertwined hardcore rapping and auto-tune laced long notes which made the chorus similar to a tsunami, hitting us forcefully with heaps of electronica and hip hop. In this song, he doesn't. Instead, he goes back to his monotonous raps and contorts his voice digitally. While some may think its an anti-climax of sorts, I do not agree. It is progressive. It serves a suitably offbeat ending, rounding up all the tension from the previous verses into a speak-rap, with GD swagging about, convincing you "Hey Sir, I'm one of a kind." And hell yes, I believe that.
This pattern goes on throughout the song with some variation, which is always appreciated to break the monotony of songs sometimes. And the video ends. I close the browser. And I stone in disebelief.
After the masterpiece in Heartbreaker, GD has done it again.
Who wouldn't have expected it? He is after all, one of a kind.
- The Kpop Philosopher
Saturday 25 August 2012
[Song You Need To Know #1] 'Cleansing Cream'
This song was not exactly an underrated song. It did generate quite some interest, but many still have never really heard this song before, preferring the orchestral, divalicious masterpiece in Sixth Sense, from the same album.
I loved Sixth Sense. It was powerful and that Mariah Carey-esque note from Narsha was probably one of the best things with appeared on the 2011 Kpop Scene. But it seemed a little unfair that that song, which was stunning to say the least, had to steal away practically all the limelight from the rest of the songs in the album, most of which were pretty solid. Cleansing Cream, was one such overshadowed song.
Aside from the ambiguous and laughworthy title, the song conceals a deep message further enhanced by the beautiful vocals, laced with pain and helplessness, all which culminated into an emotional ballad, one of my favourite ever Kpop ballads. Most ballads done by Kpop groups have been produced simply to add a slight variation to their album songlists which (let's face it) are predominantly swamped with mindlessly catchy electronica beats, and many a time, these ballads have been gobsmackingly lacklustre. A rare gem like Cleansing Cream thus immediately grabbed my attention, and after the first listen, I bought it. I got the message. My soul was permeated with the ideas of superficiality and feelings and suffering. The chorus, expecially, featured many moments of spectacular falsetto by Ga-in and to-and-fro high notes with Narsha, which were brilliant. Jea, of course, shone with her chesty belts and Miryo, who got the least share of the song, made the most out of her short rap bits, which intertwined gorgeously with symphonic Western strings in the background.
Few other Kpop ballads have managed to convey such depth and complexity, especially not in such a sound smothered with variety and exceptional singing techniques. Maybe another one I could think of would be 'We Were In Love' by T-ara and Davichi, another lovely ode with surprisingly spiteful rap sequences from Hyomin and Hwayoung, and also beautiful harmonizing from Soyeon and both Davichi members, simply oozing with sadness and raging pleads for their loves to return to them.
Still, Cleansing Cream is a ballad not to be overlooked. Need I say more about BEG? Brown Eyed Girls have never disappointed and I do not foresse them doing so in the near future.
I loved Sixth Sense. It was powerful and that Mariah Carey-esque note from Narsha was probably one of the best things with appeared on the 2011 Kpop Scene. But it seemed a little unfair that that song, which was stunning to say the least, had to steal away practically all the limelight from the rest of the songs in the album, most of which were pretty solid. Cleansing Cream, was one such overshadowed song.
Aside from the ambiguous and laughworthy title, the song conceals a deep message further enhanced by the beautiful vocals, laced with pain and helplessness, all which culminated into an emotional ballad, one of my favourite ever Kpop ballads. Most ballads done by Kpop groups have been produced simply to add a slight variation to their album songlists which (let's face it) are predominantly swamped with mindlessly catchy electronica beats, and many a time, these ballads have been gobsmackingly lacklustre. A rare gem like Cleansing Cream thus immediately grabbed my attention, and after the first listen, I bought it. I got the message. My soul was permeated with the ideas of superficiality and feelings and suffering. The chorus, expecially, featured many moments of spectacular falsetto by Ga-in and to-and-fro high notes with Narsha, which were brilliant. Jea, of course, shone with her chesty belts and Miryo, who got the least share of the song, made the most out of her short rap bits, which intertwined gorgeously with symphonic Western strings in the background.
Few other Kpop ballads have managed to convey such depth and complexity, especially not in such a sound smothered with variety and exceptional singing techniques. Maybe another one I could think of would be 'We Were In Love' by T-ara and Davichi, another lovely ode with surprisingly spiteful rap sequences from Hyomin and Hwayoung, and also beautiful harmonizing from Soyeon and both Davichi members, simply oozing with sadness and raging pleads for their loves to return to them.
Still, Cleansing Cream is a ballad not to be overlooked. Need I say more about BEG? Brown Eyed Girls have never disappointed and I do not foresse them doing so in the near future.
Friday 24 August 2012
[Single Review] Kara- Pandora
Kara, I would say is one of the top 4 girl groups in Korea, as claimed by many Kpop fans internationally. In all honesty, I never really thought they deserved a place within the 'Big 4' since their compatriots in that prestigious category were the unique and utterly confident 2NE1, the eternally harmonized Girls' Generation, and of course, the youthful veterans of the industry, Wonder Girls. All these groups had a very evident strength, be it in stage presence and vocal talent (2NE1), harmony and beauty (SNSD) or remarkable consistency (WG). But Kara, to me, did not seem to have a really defining factor which enabled them to stand out.
Their debut single was a failure, but what truly propelled them into the spotlight was 'Mister' where their ridiculously difficult, and sexy, butt rolling attracted girl crushes and induced heterosexual fantasies all over the globe. Besides the butt rolling, that song was not impressive. I mean, the song had a decent hook and all but everything seemed so generic and the rest of the dances looked a bit base, and weak.
When they released 'Lupin', I was extremely impressed. I liked their change of concept. The aegyo concept of girl groups was really starting to become quite the overused fad, and I for one was certainly not impressed in the least by any of the rookie groups who had creatively instilled the concept into their debut singles. Lupin was powerful, with a blaring trumpet background and a rocking hip swinging dance, oozing with pure energy, power and confidence, a side of which I was dying to see in many of the new female groups which debuted.
But since then, Kara has appeared to have gone back to their 'cute' concept, with 'Step' and 'Jet Coaster Love' portraying as rather naive females, easily attracted to undeveloped relationships and night partying. I don't understand why the aegyo concept existed at first, for Kara especially. Sure, they debuted as teens, but didn't DSP know better than to promote their group in a way copied so many times before? And now being grown women, the cute concept is completely inappropriate and reflects on the groups' agencies as rather materialistic in some ways.
With 'Pandora', they have seemed to have taken that message, going with a slightly darker song with epic background music from Sweettune. In the teasers, what really got my attention wasn't Jiyoung's hair or Hara's eyelashes or Nicole's crawling on all fours. Rather it was that mess of sounds in the back, a sick electric guitar riff, noisy violin rapidfire sections, more awesome trumpet blares, and they added a form of complexity to the song, in that it gives the impression of quick movement, that the song is surging forward, urging the listeners to move forward with it to gain the impression of the dominance the song has over their souls. The lines were equally distributed, a norm for Kara, but a problem I am facing is that lack of distinguishable quality between the members' voices. They sound the SAME, which brings forth the rather obvious fact that Autotune was used to quite an extent in the production of the song, taking away credit from the true potential of the girls. (well, Seungyeon and Gyuri at least)
What I liked about this song was its hook, which seems to be a constant in all Kara songs. They always have a repetitive one/two syllable hook (eg. Hallo hallo, La la, Up and up ah ah), and it just worms its way into your head and take control over your body's nervous system. I, for one, have been singing it all day without giving two poops about the stares I have been receiving in public. I also loved the chorus, it seemed very harmonized which brought forth depth in their tones.
While I love this new concept by Kara, as well as this song, I would say that the thing Kara needs in order to justify its position within the Big 4 in my books, would be variation. All their appear to follow a strict pattern:
Hook ---> Short Verse ---> Chorus ---> Short Verse ---> Chorus --> Awkward Slow Part ---> Chorus
It works in a way, but perhaps they could try a ballad next time, if they are so insistent on implementing a slower section into their generally fast-paced tracks. They really do throw off the pace quite a bit and just seem out of place. In SISTAR's 'Alone', their rap (fast) melded with the melody (slow) very well by intertwining with one another, yet Kara seems to take them separately like heterogenous substances, resulting in uneven pacing.
In all, this song is a step in the right direction for Kara, and I sincerely hope they could try out new concepts in future, while staying true to the traits which make Kara essentially Kara.
Final Score: B
- The Kpop Philosopher
Their debut single was a failure, but what truly propelled them into the spotlight was 'Mister' where their ridiculously difficult, and sexy, butt rolling attracted girl crushes and induced heterosexual fantasies all over the globe. Besides the butt rolling, that song was not impressive. I mean, the song had a decent hook and all but everything seemed so generic and the rest of the dances looked a bit base, and weak.
When they released 'Lupin', I was extremely impressed. I liked their change of concept. The aegyo concept of girl groups was really starting to become quite the overused fad, and I for one was certainly not impressed in the least by any of the rookie groups who had creatively instilled the concept into their debut singles. Lupin was powerful, with a blaring trumpet background and a rocking hip swinging dance, oozing with pure energy, power and confidence, a side of which I was dying to see in many of the new female groups which debuted.
But since then, Kara has appeared to have gone back to their 'cute' concept, with 'Step' and 'Jet Coaster Love' portraying as rather naive females, easily attracted to undeveloped relationships and night partying. I don't understand why the aegyo concept existed at first, for Kara especially. Sure, they debuted as teens, but didn't DSP know better than to promote their group in a way copied so many times before? And now being grown women, the cute concept is completely inappropriate and reflects on the groups' agencies as rather materialistic in some ways.
With 'Pandora', they have seemed to have taken that message, going with a slightly darker song with epic background music from Sweettune. In the teasers, what really got my attention wasn't Jiyoung's hair or Hara's eyelashes or Nicole's crawling on all fours. Rather it was that mess of sounds in the back, a sick electric guitar riff, noisy violin rapidfire sections, more awesome trumpet blares, and they added a form of complexity to the song, in that it gives the impression of quick movement, that the song is surging forward, urging the listeners to move forward with it to gain the impression of the dominance the song has over their souls. The lines were equally distributed, a norm for Kara, but a problem I am facing is that lack of distinguishable quality between the members' voices. They sound the SAME, which brings forth the rather obvious fact that Autotune was used to quite an extent in the production of the song, taking away credit from the true potential of the girls. (well, Seungyeon and Gyuri at least)
What I liked about this song was its hook, which seems to be a constant in all Kara songs. They always have a repetitive one/two syllable hook (eg. Hallo hallo, La la, Up and up ah ah), and it just worms its way into your head and take control over your body's nervous system. I, for one, have been singing it all day without giving two poops about the stares I have been receiving in public. I also loved the chorus, it seemed very harmonized which brought forth depth in their tones.
While I love this new concept by Kara, as well as this song, I would say that the thing Kara needs in order to justify its position within the Big 4 in my books, would be variation. All their appear to follow a strict pattern:
Hook ---> Short Verse ---> Chorus ---> Short Verse ---> Chorus --> Awkward Slow Part ---> Chorus
It works in a way, but perhaps they could try a ballad next time, if they are so insistent on implementing a slower section into their generally fast-paced tracks. They really do throw off the pace quite a bit and just seem out of place. In SISTAR's 'Alone', their rap (fast) melded with the melody (slow) very well by intertwining with one another, yet Kara seems to take them separately like heterogenous substances, resulting in uneven pacing.
In all, this song is a step in the right direction for Kara, and I sincerely hope they could try out new concepts in future, while staying true to the traits which make Kara essentially Kara.
Final Score: B
- The Kpop Philosopher
An Introduction
Kpop Philosophy. I am pretty sure many out there (especially the kpop antis lurking about in cyberspace, waiting to hate) would figure this phrase as somewhat of an oxymoron.
I hear many a time people saying that Kpop is fake and shallow, which really irk me as most of their criticisms usually come about rather unjustified, other than through the peer pressure of the rest of their friends either having a dislike for Kpop or not knowing about it in its entirety. I have tried asking people to give it a chance, but apparently my attempts have proven unfruitful and many of them continue to uphold biased typecasts against it.
In honesty, I do not see why they perceive Kpop as fake. Kpop is music and music is never fake. It exists around us, it smothers our ears with melodies, good or bad. Saying Kpop is fake would imply that it is a form of music which does not exist, which not only questions the theories of matter but also defies all forms of common logic. I would understand if they were to say they dislike Kpop, I mean, each to his own right? But to label it as fake simply disrespects the efforts which the artists put into creating their tracks and disregards any element of Kpop's existence, which to me is ridiculously unjustified and insensitive.
Honestly, I did not like Kpop at first. Not mere dislike, almost of a hatred, and yes I was affected by my friends. I did not comprehend why people would enjoy songs of which 70% of their lyrics were completely alien to them. I took a hiatus from exposing myself to Kpop for a while, before I accidentally came across Brown Eyed Girls' Abracadabra one day, and it really showed me that the messages of the song could resonate through anyone, and that music was a universal language. I could feel the raw power in the song, I could somewhat grasp a message through the sounds and controversial video; it was eye-opening and really got me to start digging Kpop. Yet, if only others could give it a chance.
Anyway, the reason I am setting up this blog is to mainly give weekly reviews of popular Kpop tracks, along with my analysis of them, and also a weekly recommendation of not-so-heard tracks that will definitely worm their ways into listeners' heads. I want to show Kpop's complexities and wonders, which I feel have yet to been discovered by many out there. This blog thus could serve as an insult to them, showing them what they have truly been missing out on.
KPOP for the win.
- The Kpop Philosopher
I hear many a time people saying that Kpop is fake and shallow, which really irk me as most of their criticisms usually come about rather unjustified, other than through the peer pressure of the rest of their friends either having a dislike for Kpop or not knowing about it in its entirety. I have tried asking people to give it a chance, but apparently my attempts have proven unfruitful and many of them continue to uphold biased typecasts against it.
In honesty, I do not see why they perceive Kpop as fake. Kpop is music and music is never fake. It exists around us, it smothers our ears with melodies, good or bad. Saying Kpop is fake would imply that it is a form of music which does not exist, which not only questions the theories of matter but also defies all forms of common logic. I would understand if they were to say they dislike Kpop, I mean, each to his own right? But to label it as fake simply disrespects the efforts which the artists put into creating their tracks and disregards any element of Kpop's existence, which to me is ridiculously unjustified and insensitive.
Honestly, I did not like Kpop at first. Not mere dislike, almost of a hatred, and yes I was affected by my friends. I did not comprehend why people would enjoy songs of which 70% of their lyrics were completely alien to them. I took a hiatus from exposing myself to Kpop for a while, before I accidentally came across Brown Eyed Girls' Abracadabra one day, and it really showed me that the messages of the song could resonate through anyone, and that music was a universal language. I could feel the raw power in the song, I could somewhat grasp a message through the sounds and controversial video; it was eye-opening and really got me to start digging Kpop. Yet, if only others could give it a chance.
Anyway, the reason I am setting up this blog is to mainly give weekly reviews of popular Kpop tracks, along with my analysis of them, and also a weekly recommendation of not-so-heard tracks that will definitely worm their ways into listeners' heads. I want to show Kpop's complexities and wonders, which I feel have yet to been discovered by many out there. This blog thus could serve as an insult to them, showing them what they have truly been missing out on.
KPOP for the win.
- The Kpop Philosopher
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