For weeks 47 and 48 of 2011 we will be discussing the music videos of IU, Troublemaker, Infinite, Big Bang’s Daesung and Bang Yong Guk & Zelo.
IU – You&I
November 28, 2011
The Song:
IU’s songs all have a distinct flavor that make them “IU-like”. Her songs are all the same: merry, magical and sweet. There’s no doubt that her songs have all been kept the same genre simply because it is the best that fits IU’s voice and range. IU’s voice is sweet like honey, with a slight squeakiness that makes her high notes adorable. Normally, IU’s songs are great; “Good Day” was unbelievably cute, “Someday” was beautiful, and “Marshmallow” was hyper-sweet. This comeback however, was a bit disappointing. We always encourage idols to expand their horizons with new styles, and IU will not be spared: So please, IU, give us something more to work with. It’s obvious with “Someday”, that yes, this girl is just as capable of singing softer ballads as she is high-paced pop. So maybe a ballad or two wouldn’t be that bad to present to the public, especially considering IU is “the #1 greatest singer”. Another really bothersome thing about this song is IU’s overuse of falsettos. Normally, her squeakiness is tolerable and even adds a bit of flare to her voice. Combined with an overuse of falsettos though, that’s where the problem began. To put it bluntly: IU’s voice was verging the point of annoying.
The Video:
There was no need for this video to be almost 9 minutes long, especially considering the fact that the actual song is only about 5 minutes. If it presented a fitting story, with an actual plot and message, maybe the 9 minutes would have been tolerable. But no, the entire video was complete indisputable nonsense that was in every way confusing and ridiculous.
What we’re trying to say is we had no idea what the hell was going on. Does she like some comatose guy (with a super flat nose by the way), and she somehow gives him her life/time so he may wake up? How did the video make any sense to anyone, because it sure didn’t for us.
The redeeming thing about this video is the set. Wow. This set was gorgeous and magical. It was as if Santa Claus’ workshop and Disneyland had a baby, sprinkled with IU girliness. The manufacturing going on gave the video a whimsical feel, and the goose was just an awesome touch (and the best part of the video). The song and set seemed to go along a lot better together than the song and the plot; the plot, we think, was supposed to be a sad lovetale, but IU’s happy bubbliness did it no justice.
Troublemaker – Troublemaker
November 30, 2011
The Song:
We feel like almost everyone is practically jumping in their pants at the idea of such a sexy collaboration rather than actually taking a few steps back from the sheer sex-factor, and analyzing the duet at a musical level. In truth, the song itself isn’t half bad. It’s tolerable, and while Hyuna’s rapping is most nearly insulting in practically all other occasions, in this particular duet, it’s half passable. Neither of these two are strong singers in their respective groups, and this was sort of Cube’s bad. You just shouldn’t put two vocally weak links together. The outcome isn’t going to be pleasing to the ears, and that should’ve been obvious. Nonetheless, Hyuna and Hyunseung managed to put on an okay-ish show.
Minus the vocals, the rest of the song was pretty good. The instrumental version of the song is great; the beat is good, and the overall melodies are really lively and complex. The chorus of the song was honestly not that catchy or memorable. What was really catchy was the whistling. Whether you enjoyed it, or were impossibly annoyed, the bottom line is: that whistling, whosever it was, was pretty darn addicting.
The Video:
While the song was nothing impressive and/or different, the video was really something else.
Troublemaker’s concept is obviously pure sex, and this music video showed no less. All the “plot” basically demonstrates is an obvious sexy cat and mouse game going on between Hyuna and Hyunseung. The individual scenes were meant to be eye candy and were dripping with sex appeal. We do however, have a few problems with the video.
First off, Cube Entertainment: What are you thinking? Hyuna is already a residential “slut” of K-Pop, and you’re not giving haters much to prove otherwise. Now, we ourselves are not outright calling Hyuna out for being a “whore, “tramp”, “slut”, etc. But the point is, others are. And Hyuna fans, 4minute fans, Cube fans, random strangers; they can all try and defend sweet innocent Hyuna, and claim such negative comments as being “irrelevant” and “miniscule”. But the truth is, every comment, every hater, every troll, hurts. Get a big enough population and who knows, Hyuna’s reputation may take a turn for the worst.
Secondly, and something that is awfully bugging us, is the unevenness between these two. Hyuna presents herself in a strong, charismatic and sexy way. She knows what she’s doing; how to be sexy, how to be appealing, and how to do her job right. Hyunseung on the other hand, seems so awkward. When he’s alone, he’s fine. But pair him up with Hyuna, and he just seems like a lost dog, with Hyuna holding the leash and showing him what to do. That kind of atmosphere was really painfully awkward to watch, and all we could really do was feel sorry for them.
Lastly, Hyuna:
Be a lady, don’t go 180.
Bang Yong Guk & Zelo – Never Give Up
December 1, 2011
The Song:
The song was completely unexpected. After “I Remember”, it seemed normal to expect something just as fierce and dark, but “Never Give Up” is the exact opposite. Both songs share the same “Rap/Hip-Hop” genre element, but while “I Remember” was more deep and powerful, this song was light-hearted and fun. It was, dare we say, adorable. The song had an old-school rap feel to it, and sounded really youthful and not at all threatening. The adorable elements, thank God, didn’t overshadow either Bang Yong Guk or Zelo’s obvious talents, and their awesome rapping skills did not go unnoticed. In a way, the song was fresh and original; although “Hip-Hop” is not really new to the K-Pop scene, the concept and strategies were new. There aren’t that many groups that attempt to present such a concept with cuteness rather than charisma (though both of these guys definitely have charisma), whilst being friendly and inviting rather than fierce and threatening. So tons of props to this duo for, successfully, accomplishing a cute, friendly vibe while still showcasing amazing charismatic raps.
The Video:
TS Entertainment has just proven itself to be worthy of the master troll list. Because wow, did they fool us, thinking Bang Yong Guk and Zelo would debut with an ah-mazing continuation of their sexy, badass teaser. But alas, imagine the shock when we, completely earnest to see what amazing thing beheld us in the music video, impatiently clicked the “play” button…
And the utter jaw-dropping moment when we realize the video is an entirely different species than the teaser.
Okay, that’s a bit of an exaggeration. But pretty darn close in expressing our feelings. Whereas the teaser set a more smokey, sexy mood, what with the fierceness of Bang Yong Guk, the mysteriousness of Zelo and Hyorin’s undeniable sexiness, the actual music video is, in basic terms, adorable. Which was completely unexpected. The most surprising aspect of this abrupt change was actually not the sudden 360 of the duo, but rather how wonderfully they were both able to pull off the “cute” look. Who would have thought that these two apparent badasses would look unbelievable adorable in their preppy, colorful outfits, singing, er, rapping for Hyorin (who was equally as adorable).
The video was colorful and wonderfully vivid. There were two main settings used for this video: A high school of some sort, and an underground basement where all the “fierceness” took place. The outfits were bold, unique, and fashion-forward, and the members themselves looked fantastic. It was great to finally see Zelo, without all his masks, in action, singing and rapping. For a fifteen year old kid, his charisma and attentiveness were impressive.
Daesung – Lunatic
December 2, 2011
The Song:
This song was really unique. It wasn’t pretty, soft, or marvelous, yet it was still pleasing to the ears. Which is really weird. The song was more rock than anything; definitely not pop or rap. We can only assume that the song was befitting to the drama it belongs to. This sort of genre actually complements Daesung’s voice, and we were pleasantly surprised to hear him rocking out. Daesung’s voice is always one of our favorites; the poor guy is really underrated, but his velvety voice is really something impressive and remarkable.
As for ourselves, we’re not exactly the type to be fans of such a song, but for a “comeback”, it was nice to see Daesung have tried something different than the usual cookie-cutter Pop stuff, and come up with something much more original and complementary to his voice.
The Video:
As nice as the song was, this video is just frightening. And we mean the type of scary that is nightmare inducing and utterly confusing. His face mask was amazingly pretty and his outfit was YG status gorgeous. It was something only YG would do; make a video that horrifying and then putting a fabulous, more-than-likely expensive outfit in it.
The drawing cartoon people are horrifying and made us cringe and almost cry. These weren’t cute cartoons, in any way. We can’t help but feel the video and song would have made a lot more sense if we knew about/watched the drama. But seeing as we didn’t, well, don’t blame us for being so confused and horrified.
Infinite-Lately
December 5, 2011
The Song:
Dear Infinite: We have a problem with you. This problem was evident back when you guys released “Paradise”, and now it has arose once again in this particular song. They all have lady voices. We are in no way trying to be mean, or immature, but that fact is killing Infinite for us. They all have high-pitched, girly vocals. At first, to be frank, we were scared. We never thought it possible for there to be so many “men” with the exact same type of high-vocals. Now though, their singing is just annoying. The song itself was nothing special; truth be told, Infinite is much better at dancing. We’d say they should stick to dancing, but that idea is really impossible and highly improbable. The song is great to listen to if your a hardcore Infinite-fan, or if you just like hearing boys sing like girls.
The Video:
The video was b-o-r-i-n-g. It was so anti-climactic, and we never thought so little could happen in 4 minutes and 15 seconds. The music video was dreary and dull, and we actually nearly fell asleep whilst watching it. It was painful to get through, and all we really have to say is this: Infinite, please make better, more-stimulating videos. It’s not even that the video was bad, which is what we’d normally complain about, but nothing literally happened for us to even talk bad about. Infinite basically walked around a city, buying cheap shit. Where’s the creativity?
♥ P&B
The Truth About K-Pop 