EXO "Overdose" --Someone call the doctor!

   For this week I’m going to talk about EXO’s “Overdose” – with EXO upgraded their music video with symbolism and fans probably by now overdosed on testosterone.

   First thing: I know it’s a pretty SM-ish music video, with the flashy box room and wide shot of group dancing, but I noticed that they were trying to convey some kind of message in the music video. Maybe they did it unintentionally, since wrapping a music video with secret messages within is not SM’s style. It’s hard not to notice they have A LOT of hexagons in the background. At 0.44 you could see that four of them even formed a hexagon. So what does that mean? I know their name EXO will form a hexagon shown in their previous music videos, but that got to mean something, right?! So I googled to find the meaning behind a hexagon, and turned out that hexagon is made up of six sides, and six actually means unification and balance. Ah ha! Balance! Since they are singing about being overdosed, it makes sense that the hexagons are conveying a message about keeping things in balanced. And the maze inside the hexagon, it tells us how hard it is to find balance. To put it in an equation : maze = overdose. Which is why we can see that EXO being trapped in a maze and got lost because they were overdosed with the feeling of being in love.

   Still, why enter the maze when you know clearly that you are going to get lost? Why you choose to listen to your heart, instead of your brain? Sounds like a rational question, isn’t? But hey, that’s what love does to us, am I right? You can think clearly when you’re in love. You shudder, because the feeling of being in love and loved by someone you have feelings for is too overwhelming and you feel like your body isn’t yours anymore and your soul has left your body but you like it anyway. You tell yourself that you’re in trouble, you are going to get hurt, but you do nothing anyway. I know because I’ve been there before. I guess that’s how people overdosed with drugs feel. Anyway, you decide to enter the maze because you are clinging on the hope that you will find the centre of the maze, just like Kai did. However, we see that the maze closed up and blacked out the moment Kai was about to walk into the centre of the maze. Kai never escaped; and so do we. We hold to that hope until the end, yet we cannot beat reality and what our brain told us. It’s very relatable, you know. For diehard EXO fans, they can also interpret the whole thing as once you are addicted to EXO, there’s no way out.

   Ok that’s…deep. However, their use of symbolism (by accident or not) doesn’t save EXO from the absurdity of the music video. Why D.O. didn’t get batshit freaked out when a box was floating in the air?! How could Chen threw a flash of light at Lay? Do they still have their superpowers like in MAMA? (if they got superpowers, they would have saved themselves from overdose. God I’m such a genius.) Why is Lay lying on the ground when he had white clothes on?! Lay’s mom is not going to be happy about this. And don’t tell me you didn’t laugh at 2.46. Close up shots of Tao and Kai poking their cheeks, seriously? WHAT THE HECK IS THAT?! It’s like, they had ran out of cool moves and were like, let’s poke our cheeks in front of the camera oh so cute we’re gonna make all the girls faint! That’s not cute, though, sorry.

   There’s another thing I would like to complain about : their outfits. I don’t normally talk about the outfits people wear in their music videos, but since it’s a SM video, there’s not much to be focused on so their outfits demanded my attention. I don’t understand why Kris and Kai were wearing that I’m-gonna-go-fishing hat. That’s so not cool, and totally killed part of their manliness. I want that hat to be banned forever! And they also have a piece of cloth at each of their thighs, which, to me, serves no purpose. It’s not cool either. I guess they were wearing it as the same reason why Girls’ Generation wears different colored jeans in their music videos.

   Alright enough of my rantings…Before you get the wrong idea, I’m actually an EXO fan! (Not the crazy type, as you can see.) I always think that EXO are good dancers, in fact all SM groups are good dancers. I really like their sophisticated dance in Overdose. The dance is so full of energy and very…professional. The hitting-your-laptop-when-it’s-not-working dance at 1.37 is awesome and fits perfectly with the beat. I would like to try it with my friends someday, I’m pretty sure it’ll produce some kind of comic effect when we do it because only EXO will look good doing that kind of dance. Kudos to EXO for pulling off such an amazing dance; it’s certainly not easy to get all the dance steps organized neat, and coherent in such a big group. To be honest during the whole video I had my eyes on Kai. Boy, isn’t he something?! I don’t know why the camera is focused on his legs at 3.33 ,but damn, that leg is so sexyyyyyy. If you pay close attention you’ll notice that his movements are graceful; you’ll never get bored watching him dance like that. Kai is definitely an phenomenally brilliant dancer. I know what you’re thinking, but you are wrong, I’m not Kai-biased alright. It would be hard not to notice his awesomeness since Kai pretty much dominated the whole video.

   I like the song, really, I think I like Overdose more than I like Wolf. The lyrics make sense, thank God for that. Am I the only one who thinks that the prechorus is damn sexy? ‘Oh she wants me oh she got me oh she hurts me’, OH YOU MAKE ME WET MY PANTS! Nah just kidding. I know what people said about the song is the most important thing, more important than the music video itself, but I’m not really good at music so I have more things to say about the music video instead of the song, so do forgive me for always saving the last short part of the review for the song.

   And lastly, I think SM Entertainment is going to earn big through EXO this year. I think they have already have a massive supply of T-shirts, caps and all the other merchandises with the hexagon-with-a-maze symbols on them ready to flood the market. What I saw is a hexagon, but what SM saw is $. Just a hexagon, so what? Each Exotic is going to buy 20 caps with that symbol anyway. What an opportunist, SM Entertainment. 

Top Ten Kpop Songs (January-March 2014)

  First thing, confession time. Instead doing a survey or whatsoever, I made this list based on my favorite songs released in January to March 2014. Double confession time: I was bias when it came to ranking the songs. Come on. Being a Kpop critic doesn’t mean that I can’t be particularly fond of certain Kpop groups, right? Besides, one man’s meat is another man’s poison. I’m doing this to share my favorite Kpop songs to everyone who cares to read my blog.

10) B.A.P—1004

Yes! Finally! A song that is good enough from B.A.P! Before 1004, they were doing a lot of ballads and aegyos in their music videos, and it’s something that makes me feel very uncomfortable because the powerful and energetic B.A.P aren’t meant for stuffs like this. They totally rocked Warrior and No Mercy, but now they did it even better in 1004. The intro of the song is pretty addictive, and they presented a powerful and mind-blowing dance that you couldn’t find it anywhere, except in Kpop. The MV though, doesn’t make any sense but let’s just skip the part I complain about how illogical Kpop MVs can be sometimes, alright?

9) Taeyeon (SM the Ballad)—Set Me Free

I noticed that Kpop groups normally steer clear of ballads. That’s because Kpop is targeted to teenagers, and they prefer different genres like dance pop rather than ballads. However, to achieve success in Kpop just by ballads, you would have to produce a really damn assdhsfdgldgkpsfadfrfhfcdl awesome ballad that is going to capture everyone’s heart. Taeyeon, with her perfect vocals, presents heartbreaking ballads all this time. I love Closer (To The Beautiful You’s OST), and I’m so glad that SM the Ballad decided to let Taeyeon sing Set Me Free. The song is so beautiful, and I think no one else could sing this song better than her.

8) 2NE1—Happy

I always feel happy when this song starts playing on my phone. The song is so cheery and cute and I could feel the extra jolt of serotonin running in my blood lol! This song is so fun, and this is what Kpop is about, isn’t? I always love fun and silly songs, I found comfort in songs like Happy in mundane everyday’s life. I have watched the MV for a few times, jumping and singing along at the same time, but the song is just so fun and 2NE1 is so cute and I swear the temperature in my room rose by several degrees when I was watching it repeatedly on Youtube. It’s official: 2NE1’s MVs are meant for rewatch. 

7) Girls’ Generation—Mr.Mr.

GG did a good job in Mr.Mr. There’s no silly rappings (The Boys, remember?), no different songs being mixed together (I actually like I Got A Boy but obviously there’s a lot of people who don’t like the combination GG had produced). Mr.Mr. is pure singing, just like what Simon and Martina from Eat Your Kimchi had said. The song is catchy and I have to stop everything I’m doing and sexy-dancing around my room when Mr.Mr. starts playing. I don’t like the MV because I know they were trying to present a story but in the end it got poorly edited. I’m waiting for the dance version of Mr.Mr. , SM.

6) Lee HongKi (FT Island)—What I Wanted To Say

This is actually an OST of the drama Bride of The Century (No I’m not doing free advertisement here but yeah, I’ve finished watching the 16-episode drama. It’s about a girl who is about to get married to a rich man but...BACK TO THE SONG, PLEASE!) Since FT Island is always about upbeat songs, so it’s great to see HongKi singing such song. There’s so much emotions in this song, and with HongKi’s vocals, this song is perfect. This is going to be an award-winning OST, mark my words.

5) Singing Got Better—Ailee

Ailee got to be one of the most talented singer in Kpop. Although she is constantly being compared to Lee Hyori and Hyolin, I think Ailee has successfully pulled her own style and she’s going to stay and awe everyone with her soulful singing. Singing Got Better and Heaven, one of my all-time favorite songs, are equally awesome. Her songs are so much better than some other Kpop groups. I hope Ailee could stick to her style, and continue to produce soul-destroying, earth-shakingly great songs like Singing Got Better. Way to go, Ailee!

4) Rain—La Song

This is the song that after you have listened to it once, you will never forget it. I laughed so hard when I first heard the intro. And then I laughed even harder when I saw Rain’s dancing. Hey I’m not making fun of Rain, it’s a compliment! At least Rain produced something that is appropriate to his age. The MV is pretty awesome, there’s nothing I want to complain about the MV. Rain was trying to pull off a fun and hilarious MV, and he succeeded. The ‘LAAAAAA LA LA LA LA’ part is damn catchy  (I know you didn’t read it, you sang it in your head). If you’re thinking hard what song to use to create comic effect in your skit or drama, La Song would be perfect.

3) SoYou and Junggigo—Some

This song has been topping the charts for the longest time in 2014. I didn’t understand why, and I never bothered to check it out until my friend told me about the song recently. So I checked it out, and fell in love with this song instantly. This chorus is so beautiful, the lyrics are so beautiful, the song itself is a beauty. Too bad I can’t understand the MV though because there’s a lot of Korean words inserted in the MV. I feel kinda ashamed of myself because I judged the song before I even listen to it. I have never heard of Junggigo before, but now I’m going to keep a close eye on him and I’m waiting for more awesome songs from this awesome guy.

2) CNBlue—Can’t Stop

I have been a Boice for a long time, so I guess it’s not surprising that this song hogs the No.2 spot on my list. I believe that CNBlue can do no wrong. CNBlue’s Love is awesome. So is Intuition. And Hey You. And Love Revolution. And I’m Sorry. And now Can’t Stop. CNBlue makes me life complete since 2009! Unlike other Kpop groups, they produce their own music and their songs have been so great that it’s impossible that you don’t like their songs. Since the day Can’t Stop is released, I listen to the song almost every day and never get bored of it. I love YongHwa’s voice, and JungShin is so hot with his bass guitar and JongHyun so cute and MinHyuk so charming with the drums. I better stop now before turning my blog into a fangirl edition. Just check out the song, will ya?

And now…coming up the No.1 spot…

*drum rolling*

*clarinet whistling*

*nose blowing*

1) 2NE1—Come Back Home

If you have read my review on 2NE1’s Come Back Home, you will know how much I adore this song. This song is perfect. The MV is well presented, probably one of the best Kpop MVs in Kpop history, the storyline is something that will shake you up. The song is thick with emotions, and I like Dara’s part on ‘come baby baby come come baby’, it’s really catchy. They arranged the song in such brilliant order, and all the 2NE1’s members combined their voices in great harmony. It’s worth the wait, the whole album is gold. This song makes me proud to be a Kpop critic.

AKMU's Melted: S..S..So..Co..Coh-Cold

 I was supposed to review Akdong Musician’s 200% last week, but after I had watched the debut stage of AKMU’s Melted, I decided to wait for the Melted MV instead because the debut stage of Melted looked promising. The MV is released yesterday, and I’m glad that the wait is worth it.

  Before I start ranting about how unique this MV is for me, let me take a moment to feel old. AKMU’s average age is only 15.5 years old, because the brother is 17 and the sister is only 14! So young yet so talented. Although there are other Kpop idols who might be even younger, 12 or 13 maybe, but there is none that is as talented as the siblings. In case you don’t know, the brother wrote all the songs and produced the whole PLAY album! Most Kpop idols do not write their own songs or produce their own album, so you can say that I’m very impressed of AKMU. And let me repeat: he’s only 17! I spent half of my time daydreaming and wondering why I was not famous yet when I was 17. *Sighs* Way to go, AKMU!

  I LOVE this MV. I love it more than I love pizza. This MV is something close to my heart, it touched me deep down and kept me awake at night. I like how all the ugly truths that we all have been avoiding real hard come bombarding at you in the MV. The MV shows us what we don’t want to see. I understand the boy’s feelings in the MV, I feel a deep connection with the boy. I share the same emotion with the boy. Maybe I’m exaggerating a little bit, but to be honest I feel like although the boy and I are in two different places, but we are experiencing the same thing. First, the boy has the curiosity and the innocence that no one understands. In this mind-your-own-business world, the driver was mad at the boy because he snapped some photos of some confidential bankers’ documents. The boy didn’t even know that what he was doing is wrong, he didn’t have any bad intentions anyway. But the driver, of course, did not understand. Why? Because he’s an adult. Second, the shopkeeper knew that the boy didn’t have enough money to buy the things he wanted, but does he do anything? No, but he could have. Third, the boy saw beggars looking for cans in trash bins, and they almost fought just for the trash. This is a good scenario showing the poor fight against each other for survival even though it always ends up ugly. Fourth, the boy saw two mothers arguing because their children were fighting with each other or something. This is the problem with the adults. They do what they think is right even though it’s wrong. They stubbornly believe what they want to believe when they don’t even know the truth. And that was an Asian mother and a black mother, I know they are trying to slip some kind of message in the MV but I would choose not to discuss about it. Fifth, the boy saw a street performer coated in silver was sitting alone with desperation in his eyes. Images like this may mean nothing but I always shiver when I thought about the story behind. He was facing hardships to earn a living and whenever I think about people struggling hard to earn money barely enough to survive, I wonder why the world has to be so cruel, when we see millionaires and celebrities everywhere with their LV bags and nasty attitude. Sixth, the boy learnt that you might be receiving approval for your work from someone, but that someone could betray you any minute. He trusted that lady, but she left him in a pub with unpaid bill. Seventh, the few seconds of the lonely bartender looking at everything with his cold eyes hit me so hard. I’m almost an adult now and I could feel what he was feeling. He was fed up with everything he saw and with his life, there’s nothing good going to happen in a pub anyway. In the end, he poured out his anger that was buried on the boy. Eighth, when the boy was at the police station he saw different kind of people throwing a fit at the cops. He watched in disbelief, and at the same time felt that he did not belong in this place. Ninth, cold and bruised, he saw a dog and was trying to be friendly with the dog. Because he thought that dog would be different from all the scary adults, but he was wrong. The dog barked at him like he was some kind of alien, and he lost it. He screamed his heart out, there were tears in her eyes. In such a cold world, he felt powerless. However, the guy in the caravan invited him and made him a cup of coffee. They both smiled, and faith in humanity has been restored! But of course, it was not that simple. We later see that the boy, who was now a grown up, was starring out at the office window with his cold eyes. This is a very cold world, after all.

  Throughout the journey the boy tried to capture the different natures of human. I found this relatable because I myself, am also a serious student of human gestures. I am very observant of every tiny actions of the people around me. When I see the unpleasant side of human nature, it sends chills all over my body. When I see warmth in people’s eyes, it melts the ice freezing my heart away. I don’t understand why the world has degraded to its ebb, I don’t understand why people are so selfish. I also don’t understand why we make the world so complicated. There are tons of people suffering right now, and at the same time there are also many rich people sipping red wine in their posh balconies. And I almost go crazy thinking that I can’t do anything about it. Even if I can, I am not strong enough, not powerful enough to change to world and influence people. Religion serves no purpose, law serves no purpose. Life is getting meaningless. But still, once in a while, we see people reaching out for one another, helping each other to pull through during hard times. It’s beautiful, it really is. The MV brings out the message in 5.18 minutes, a bit long for a Kpop MV but it’s still good.

  I couldn’t bring myself to watch the MV for the fourth time because you know why. Tissues, please. Anyway, I’m disappointed that AKMU isn’t casted in the MV. But I’m more disappointed that they were filming it outside Korea with non-Koreans cast. Korea isn’t a bed of roses, it is not as fun as Kpop. It has its own ugly side too and I would like to see them reveal it in the MV. Remember Brown Eye Girls’ Cleansing Cream? Yup I would like to see something like that. The YG president picked 200% as AKMU’s first title track, and AKMU themselves picked Melted for their title track instead. The reason the president was doing this is because Melted is rich with realistic elements and reality could not be peach and cream, something that Kpop does not appreciate. What a bold move from the AKMU siblings! Still, the Melted MV has a melancholy plot fitted perfectly into the eerily beautiful song.The whole MV is just beautiful.

  Thank God, the lyrics of the song make sense. (I have my fair share of going WHATTT when it comes to kpop lyrics). In fact, considering the fact that a 17-year-old boy wrote it, the lyrics are well-versed and neat, like ‘I leave behind the darkness that found its way to my heart’ and ‘I wish the frozen love will melt away now’ are indeed very poetic. Even the ‘why are they so cold’ line is eerily addictive.

  If you have not watch the MV, please do so. Even though there are a lot of Youtube comments saying about how much they cried when watching the MV, please save your tears in your pocket or something. Because the world is a lot crueler that what you have seen.

Crayon Pop : so damn fUHHHH-nEEEEE

  Talking about Crayon Pop, their Christmas Song is still stuck in my head. I’m not exactly fond of Bar Bar Bar, but their Christmas Song is so freaking addictive. It is the MV that eliminated all my prejudice against Crayon Pop, so when I was watching Uh-ee, I was like, this MV got to be good (or else I’ll start judging like a bitch again).

  So this time, Crayon Pop is taking a different approach in their song. Uh-ee is actually a fusion of trot and techno, with a heavy hint of Korean folk music. This kind of music is pretty unfamiliar for the public, definitely not the people’s taste since Kpop is targeted for young adults and even children. However, I think it’s a very good try. Not much Kpop groups would be bold enough to try new things that promise unpredictable Youtube comments. I appreciate Crayon Pop’s efforts in telling the world that they are living in Korea and they are Koreans. We have been seeing a lot of Kpop MVs filmed outside Korea, songs with English words in almost every verse and American-styled outfits. I am not saying that this is a bad thing; it’s just that when you are trying to hard to go global, you skipped steps that could actually help you to shine. Since I don’t know a thing about Korean folk music, so I’m not going to talk much about it but there’s one thing I’m going to complain about, that is the overuse of techno in the song. Less would be better; the techno basically makes every one in the group has the same voice.

  Okay now, the MV. The first 40 seconds of the MV does not serve any purpose, and you gotta agree with me, that Crayon Pop donned beautiful dresses looking all so elegant serves no purpose also. Why, Crayon Pop, why? I found no reason except that they wanted to present a somewhat high class MV teaser. And after that, we see people yawning and keeping boring conversations until Crayon Pop appears again as ahjummas and the atmosphere gets pretty hyped up. Crayon Pop looks freaking adorable with the red scarfs on their head and modified hanboks, so cute that I think I could watch them all day. I have learnt that sweet, young, innocent teenage girls could do no wrong. I mean, if real ahjummas start dancing like that in a party, people would be like, “SECURITY!”

  The dance is BIZARRE. I thought there would not be another one more ridiculous than Christmas Song, but Crayon Pop proved me wrong. Simon and Martina from EatYourKimchi always stress on humor > sexiness, and I could not agree more. This is Kpop, and Kpop is supposed to be fun! The holding-one-leg-and-jumping-like-a-chicken dance, is never something I could imagine as a Kpop dance move. Totally mind-blown. Their dance isn’t hard or complicated, but there’s so much energy scintillating from the girls. One thing I like about Crayon Pop : they don’t care about being neat when dancing ; they just dance whatever they want and have so much fun at the same time. Look at their expression, they are all so immersed in the dance which sane people would never have the guts to dance in public. That’s the kind of dance that is so embarrassing, but you would want to try it when nobody is watching. Owh admit it, you locked the room and tried the chicken fight dance in front of the mirror, right? Right?

  Crayon Pop does not act cute or sexy, they have their very own concept which is so different from the others. You tend to earn hate when you are different, and Crayon Pop knows that. There’s one guy being stopped by the security guards from entering the party, but when he showed them the double red lines on his head, the guards recognized the sign immediately, got scared and let him in. You see that? The red lines are the same pattern on Crayon Pop’s helmets in Bar Bar Bar. It’s like telling all the haters that despite all the hate, Bar Bar Bar is indeed, and still famous and Crayon Pop should be respected and feared. Not only that, when Crayon Pop is dancing, the same guy has been doing the Bar Bar Bar jumping move in the crowds, not once but twice! It’s like a constant reminder to everyone of Bar Bar Bar’s huge success. Sometimes I wonder whether other girl groups secretly hate Crayon Pop, and if they do, Uh-ee MV would be a slap in their faces.

  We all could use a little laugh sometimes. Why so serious? It’s very clever of Crayon Pop to bring WTF moments with a low budget. They don’t need fancy dresses, sexy dances or expensive MV sets. They put even a simple stage to good use. Their sense of humor and boldness are going to keep them alive, not for long but at least for the time being. And lastly, all the best working with Lady Gaga from me! 

MBLAQ 'BAM!' : Be A Man

From boys to men, MBLAQ is back! Or to be more accurate, Music Men Live in Absolute Quality is back, MMLAQ (pronounced as Am-me-lack) for short!

Okay, MBLAQ has been one of my favorite boy groups of all times. Their songs and dances are pretty good and consistent, their MVs always changing from one form to another, and they have achieved a stable position in the kpop industry (all thanks to Lee Joon). I always divide MBLAQ’s timeline as 2 parts: the primary stage which MBLAQ were still boys and they produced a lot of pop songs, and the secondary stage which MBLAQ is now men, dominating kpop with sexy ballads. They are equally successful in both stages, but the timeline has been divided so clearly that Be A Man did not come in as a surprise.

Like in Smoky Girl, Be A Man MV is presented in black and white. Monochromes aren’t uncommon in kpop; it has always been used frequently by girl and boy groups that sometimes I don’t see the purpose in doing so. However, I think using monochrome in Be A Man MV is a good choice. Black and white express manliness and sexiness so it’s suitable for the MV, and strongly support the lyrics of the song. They even donned suits and ties, exhibiting maturity, slapping your face and were like, ‘hey we are grown men now! We are still as sexy as we were in Smoky Girl! And yes, No Love is a mistake! Sorry guises!’ Oh come on. Almost every boy group makes such mistake that it’s like a norm in kpop.

There’s actually nothing much to say about the MV. Beautiful MV set? Check. Enclosed space? Check. Few shots of a girl? Check. Be A Man is a very typical MV. Well, I understand that a lot of MV producers and directors stick to the comfort zone when it comes to kpop and they aren’t willing to risk anything with a provocative MV, which makes certain MVs so mind-blowing and some remain dull and boring. Yes, Be A Man MV is dull and boring, you wouldn’t want to replay it. I feel like they are dancing and singing in a fridge, with the misty smoke and the small suffocating space, the surrounding looks cold but since it complements with the song so I guess it’s okay. They are using props like hourglass and mirror, which is very very common in kpop MVs because they think items like this is symbolic. Seriously, I would like to see a MV with lots of pizzas because pizzas are symbolic too you know cheese and pepperoni and bread make such awesome combination that it makes calories mean nothing so pizza is indirectly a symbol too, yeah?  

The dance, however, is a beauty in simplicity. They are doing Rain’s style sexy dance, and I really like the sexy shoulder rotate in the MV. The dance moves are basically repetitive, but I like it when they are slow dancing and not trying too hard to be sexy; that’s the moment they are the most delicious ;) .

I must admit that Be A Man is an addictive ballad, even better than No Love. Beautiful song, heartbreaking lyrics which may be overboard for US music but not so for Kpop industry. Mir’s rap with the beautiful melody behind is my favorite part of the song.They really prove themselves as men, because according to the lyrics ‘all I can do is breathe’ and ‘should I be a man and let go of your hand’, which means they are handling the break up like a real man unlike some other boy groups that can’t even breathe in their sappy music videos. I’m glad that there’s no tears in the MV, thank God for that, because I’m so sick of guys sobbing uncontrollably and making stupid decisions when they broke up with their girlfriend in kpop MVs.  It’s disgusting to see five or more guys crying at the same time! (And there goes their fans cursing me like shut up bitch my oppa is upset how could you said things like that?!)

I could see that MBLAQ is growing their own trend in Kpop, with their sexy slow dances and beautiful ballads.There are so many boy groups mushrooming lately that it scares me, they have terrible songs with awesome dances which will bore you after some time, which is why I think MBLAQ’s Be A Man is a smart move, the MV rising above the other new groups, firmly holding MBLAQ’s place in Kpop. Trust me, MBLAQ may not be as popular as you-know-what-boy-groups-I’m-talking-about, but they are here to stay.

4Minute's Whatcha Doin' Today-Partying With the Maids

  Once upon a time there lived a wealthy man with five daughters. He trusted his daughters,  and so he let them in charge of the house when he went on a business trip. The daughters were bored, so they hosted a party in their house. “Yay party tonight!” Typical American teenage story.

  The daughters were bored, like dead serious bored. Sohyun was so bored that she decided to fool around with  house chores. Hyuna was so bored so she decided to lean on the lamp post by the road side, mouth hanging open (must be distracted by her own breasts). Gayoon was bored that she threw a tea party with her servants before the real party began. But poor Jiyoon. She was bored too but you basically couldn’t do anything much when you’re constipating. I just don’t understand how with 4 bodyguards in the same toilet is going to help though. They even squatted down which I assumed they were checking her shit. Like seriously? Pooping when 4 men are watching you is so not cool. But she was having such a hard time, that in 0.55 minute, she had to do that thing. Yes that thing. What’s that thing called actually? I’m-a-banana-smoothie-so-I’m-gonna-shake-myself shake? Ha ha ha. And finally it came down to Jihyun, the sweet naïve sugar princess living in her own world. She looked like she was having a lot of fun with herself though. Can’t put all the blame on her. Her sister was having a tough time battling constipation and I bet she must be so depressed that she needed sugar to calm her nerves. Note to 4Minute: There’s a lot of things to do when you’re bored besides hanging out at the toilet. For instance, you can go swimming. Swimming is fun! You get to try different stunts in the water, wear really sexy swimsuits (which I believe Hyuna’s stylist has prepared a lot of these), or drink the pool water.  Just kidding. Note to all fathers: you’ll never know what your daughters are going to do when you leave the house to them.

  I get that they are portraying the flashy and trashy concept here. Korean Miley Cyrus, eh? Hitting the bodyguard’s buttock, locking the bodyguard into a locker, peaking and laughing at the bodyguards when they are peeing with the servants cheering on. I get the message they’re trying to send here. People are going to judge how mean they are in the MV but they have already defended themselves with Sohyun wearing the strips with word UNUSUAL, which means they are not usually like that. Or maybe they meant unusually mean which is they exceed the appropriate level. Either way I hope the servants are not going to sue them for maid abuse.

  I notice that 4Minute has been asking a lot of questions that don’t make any sense. What’s Your Name? Is It Popping? Now it’s Whatcha Doin’ Today? Why so many questions? Why, 4Minute, why? I’m expecting the next song to be Why You No Answer My Questions?!.

  I’m a bit confused with the first few seconds of the MV where Hyuna catwalking and dancing like a stripper onstage. The scene doesn’t get along with the overall MV. I know the producer is saving some parts in the MV for Hyuna to show off her sexiness, but the first few seconds are a bit too much. It’s like, okay 4Minute, leave all the sexy part for Hyuna. The other 4Minute members were all dressing modestly to cover up for Hyuna’s sexiness. It’s not Hyuna’s fault, it has something to do with their entertainment company. When they show too much Hyuna in the MV, it looks like a forced attempt to insert sexiness in the MV. ‘It’s Hyuna and Brave sound’ should replace ‘it’s 4Minute and Brave sound’, because Hyuna kinda made Brave sound sounds so much like her 4Minute members. It’s also a fragment of What’s Your Name, and the tucking-your-hair-behind-your-ear part? I swear I have seen it somewhere.

About the MV, I think there are way too much lights. Too shiny. Even their outfits were so bright. When there are too much lights, the colors fade into the background which is a shame since there are actually different type of colors in the MV. 4Minute makes it a habit that in every MV, they must be jumping joyfully at the end of the MV. This is pretty immature for an old Kpop group. They put themselves in a position with all the new girl groups mushrooming recently, with cheap and empty MVs. 4Minute has their own style, they stick to it, but they are not doing anything extra. I found Whatcha Doin’ MV plain and boring. It’s time to add the boom effect, girls.

The song itself is not bad, but I think it could be even better without so much rapping. The chorus part is catchy, and you can’t stop yourself shrugging to the rhythm of the chorus.

Sorry 4Minute, try harder next time. And don’t ever rap in the toilet again please it’s too much for the fans to handle.

Orange Caramel's Catallena - Sushi and Kpop

  

I saw vinseop’s comment in Allkpop and I was really surprised of the deep, complex meaning behind the MV. I actually have different thoughts but after reading his/her comment everything makes more sense and I decided to accept his theory and elaborate more.

First of all, what is Catallena? According to Lizzy and Raina, “It's about a woman or a person who's fussy. But even though she's fussy, you want to get close to her. For some reason, she's kind of cool. She seems really weird, but then again she seems kind of okay." Don’t we all have at least one Catallena around us? She’s so pretty, so popular and so awesome yet she has a nasty attitude and obnoxious. But everyone adores her and would kill to be in her clique. This is something you will never understand in high school. Occasionally, she seems less annoying, and you think that maybe she isn’t that bad after all, but in the blink of an eye she’s back being an evil princess and you start to hate her again. Still, deep down, you wonder how cool it is to be her. You want to be her. Anyway, in this MV, Catallena stands for all the internationally famous Kpop groups (I don’t think I would need to provide examples for this). Since they are older, more experienced and well-known in the Kpop industry, they are the backbone in Kpop and they indirectly determines the fate of other less popular Kpop groups. The greater their fame, the tougher the lives of other less popular groups. In the MV, the octopus is the Catallena since it is sold at a higher price. Orange Caramel, however, is sold at a much lower price because the shrimp, salmon and mackerel are common compared to the octopus. We can see that the three mermaids (yes, mermaids. You get to eat half human half fish how cool is that) are struggling in their plastic wrappings and the octopus is laughing at them. This portrays how hard the less popular Kpop groups are working hard and struggling to survive in the industry; but the more popular Kpop groups who live a better life, smirk at their efforts. Although as a mere Kpop fan, we don’t know what’s happening in the Kpop groups’ lives but imagine being in a popular Kpop group. You can’t rule out the possibility that you might be an arrogant bitch who looks down to less popular groups.

The three mermaids, after much struggling, lying hopelessly in their plastic wrappings when they are sold at a 3 for 1 deal. The sushi master is laughing when he is watching the television , which I assume it’s a sale advertisement of the seafood. That, for me, is pretty much sadistic. There are people manipulating the whole Kpop industry; everything is in their hands. You might be a in a popular group, but at the end of the day, you’re almost an item being used for commercial purposes and others. This is Kpop. Kpop is also part of reality.

I like it that they picked an octopus to be the Catallena. When the octopus is put on the sushi, it is sitting there like a king with the tentacles surrounding the rice from all sides. Symbolic, eh?

The price of each piece of sushi demands my attention. The egg sushi is sold at a slightly higher price compared to the mackerel, salmon and shrimp sushi. However, the egg sushi is portrayed by someone who isn’t attractive and looks somehow weird. With this they are trying to bring out the meaning that Kpop groups that use the weird and quirky concepts are more famous than the normal ones. You have to admit, weird Kpop dances do attract your attention. The unagi and halibut sushi are sold at a much higher price compared to the previous sushis, and the unagi is represented by a muscular man and the halibut a sexy lady. You see what they are trying to say, don’t you? ;) Male Kpop groups with beastly figures. Female Kpop groups with sexy concepts. Groups like these normally are more well-known since they got teenagers fangirling/fanboying all over them (even though their songs aren’t good). Why there are some Kpop groups who have debuted years ago, could not make a name for themselves after so many years? Three reasons for this: One, they are not good enough. Second, they don’t make music that fulfils comsumers’ needs. Third, they are outshined by more popular groups from more popular entertainment companies. But still, the Catallenas, in the end, have the highest price.

When Orange Caramel are eating the sushi, they have flashbacks of their carefree lives before they became members of certain Kpop groups. I think the scenes of a fish swimming freely in the ocean is a relevant  brilliant move.  And I’m curious why Orange Caramel are crying. Are those tears of regret? Or pure frustration when less popular groups (I’m not referring to Orange Caramel) could not beat the more popular groups even though they have tried their best? Or maybe, just maybe, the sushi is too heavenly delicious?

As for the song, I have no comment. It’s kinda like Lipstick, and I always speechless for songs of this kind. But in the MV they have some really funny dance moves, like the hand movement that they have a piece of sushi in their hands and the MJ style posture. I know Orange Caremel has been using the Candy Culture, which is the cuteness and colorful style, and it clearly shows in their MVs. The Catallena MV is as fun as the Lipstick MV, and well, Kpop defines ‘fun’ differently. One good instance is B1A4’s MVs like What’s Happening MV and Beautiful Target MV. These MVs are so brightly-colored, and they have silly plots that are so ridiculous that you’re gonna laugh it off and not hating it in the end. I do appreciate fun music videos like this. We all need a break from the sappy Kpop videos sometimes.

I think it’s extraordinary to combine food with music, and bring out a cruel message at the same time.Who knows that sushi has such deep meaning? Well done, Orange Caramel. One question though, how does it feel to dip your whole body into soy sauce and lick the sauce off your legs? Hmm.