In natural S.M. tradition, Super Junior has returned with a repackage album. The album cover is absolutely atrocious, which frankly seems like they don't even care. But really, S.M. probably hasn't cared for a long, long time. "Magic" is like the late spiritual successor of "No Other" however many years ago, both in the sounds and the style of the MV. The audio is happy and energetic. In contrast to "Devil," Super Junior sounds more together and in sync. Perhaps that's what you want if all of your members are chasing after the same girl...again. Even though it's almost certainly not on purpose, the pronunciation of "girl" creates a utility phrase, where they could be heard saying either "magical" or "magic girl." Both make sense, so even if this was unintentional, well done.
The majority of the video is dominated by the basketball court scenes where tacky dancing, mediocre basketball skills, and a plethora of special effects come together. It's certainly eye-catching at first, but gets boring rather quickly, despite all the fancy moves the boys try to break out. Thankfully we're treated to Kyuhyun being downright hilarious at 1:59. He is probably the last member I would think of doing that move. The remainder of the MV revolves around the Super Junior team trying to show off and attract attention from the lovely lady. I was expecting the cliche Siwon pick but in the end Kangin wins. They should've had him at center for the ending shot. The magic tricks edited in throughout the video were quite the treat, both entertaining and effective at supporting the overlying theme of the song. Heechul and Eunhyuk handle the rapping and the former does a better job than the latter. Eunhyuk's voice was never really that suited to rapping so it's not surprising that Heechul sounds much better. He's been on the upswing with raps since "This Is Love" anyway. The English used is still a little suspect, but not quite as bad as those seen in "Dumb Dumb." As this is a project / celebratory release, I doubt we'll be seeing the full set of choreography anytime soon (save maybe for the major performances come the end of the year).
Comparing Super Junior to Big Bang this year comes down to a battle of quality vs. quantity. Big Bang certainly made more noise and waves with their months of releases, while SJ dropped "Devil" and "Magic." Super Junior's titles were simplistic in nature but very charming to the average listener, whereas the plethora of Big Bang songs could be used against them if people aren't prepared for what's coming. Big Bang also had a few misses, whereas both Super Junior songs are most certainly huge hits. I said in my "Devil" review that Super Junior have aged gracefully since debut, and this release doesn't alter my opinion in the slightest.
Rounding out the rookie corner this week is YG Entertainment's newest group iKON. Originally the Team B that lost to Winner, this set of trainees had to wait an extra year before their debut with "Welcome Back." While a year is certainly a long time, iKON had to be careful to not be similar to their now-sunbaes, but maybe the YG flag would be enough to give them (more than) a pass regardless.
Let's start with the good: "My Type" has smooth written all over it. The song isn't too slow or too fast. It hits the elusive sweet spot and you can hear the hip-hop (or is that R&B?) resonating in the background even if the main vocals are slower. The iKON voices aren't too bad, and I do appreciate the fact that they cure rapper syndrome right away by giving Bobby and B.I the chorus. They are a considerably large group, so leaving out the rappers could've happened, but thankfully it didn't. Not sure who the main vocalist of this group is, but Junhoe should comprise that role. He has a voice full of depth and it's not as high-pitched as the others. Out of both the trainee groups, his voice is the most interesting and has the most potential.
Perhaps the influence of his non-iKON appearances have overwhelmed me, but Bobby's rap was pretty forgettable. Now obviously this song can't be put in the same realm as his Show Me The Money performances or "Born Hater" but I definitely was expecting more from him. Mino showed that he could still have solid raps after an official debut so a shame Bobby couldn't do the same. B.I on the other hand was a pretty big miss. His voice reminds of G-Dragon but he's (a) got a higher voice and (b) simply not as good as his sunbae / mentor. Oh, and that part at 3:00. Never again. Never. Again.
We're treated to a pretty classic MV. Yet another group of boys find interest with one girl. When will the idols of Kpop ever learn? Probably never. Actually, wait a minute. Didn't one of Big Bang's latest videos gave everyone their own girl? I guess it'd be tough giving all 7 members (except it wouldn't be). Almost the entirety of the video shows the group hanging about and doing seemingly arbitrary dance moves out on a basketball court / athletic area (I did see traces of a track field or something similar). I laugh every time they race by on their scooters. It was silly when Sistar did it and it's still silly now heh. Other than that, there weren't too many specific / individual interesting things that stood out to me for the video. Stereotypical videos have been getting painful for a long time now but I'll manage. It's the audio that intrigues me the most anyway.
I would still call this song the little brother of "Empty" by Winner though. I just can't shake the feeling of familiarity from my head no matter how many times I listen to either. Not to say this is a bad resemblance, as "Empty" was an excellent track. Decent vocals and a decent set of raps equal a decent song, naturally. In the grand scheme of things, it's a pretty average debut that will be bolstered heavily by the YG name.
JYP sure is liking his bands lately. The newest rookies of JYP Nation are DAY6, and thankfully, there are 6 members in the group. Considering that GOT7 had a very 2PM-esque debut with "Girls Girls Girls," and since the Wonder Girls take on the band concept wasn't as smooth as I would have liked, I didn't really know what to expect out of this group.
This is most certainly rock / pop rock, and I am very pleased. As someone who first discovered Younha with songs like "Houki Boshi," "Ima Ga Daisuki," and "Te Wo Tsunaide," "Congratulations" rings out familiar nostalgic vibes. The chorus is driven off the instruments, along with the chants powering behind the "congratulations." For a while, I wondered why GOT7 struggled with their vocalists, but turns out they were all waiting to debut under DAY6 ha. Seriously though, Sungjin and especially Jae definitely stand out with their voices and delivery. I'm not sure how I feel about the rap from Young K. It's not bad, and I'm convincingly reminded of Yubin's segment in "I Feel You." At the end of the day, a decent rap that doesn't hurt the song should be good enough. Both raps are good enough and build into the final chorus so there's not much else to be said after that.
Unlike Wonder Girls and "I Feel You," "Congratulations" differs in having no choreography since they were primarily marketed as band. This makes sense. DAY6 is a band from the get-go, as opposed to Wonder Girls who were a group-turned-band (sort of). I'd dare say that this group's take on being a band is more serious than their sunbaes (though I understand WG did indeed practice their instruments). Maybe it's once again the fact that they're a band from the start but their style seems more authentic to me, or I'm just weird. Moving onto the MV, we get a decent plot behind everything, another nice change of pace compared to "I Feel You," which was just rertro fanservice of sorts. The story involves a young man and his ex-girlfriend in a chance encounter on the subway. Complete with flashbacks and everything, the video is cut up into him staring her down, reminiscing on past love, and shots of the band (of course). Might I add that setting up on a subway probably isn't the brightest idea, that seems like a safety hazard. Also, why is Young K the only member who "talk to" the girl? I thought that was a little weird since nobody prior had scenes with the new couple.
DAY6 starts off their career on the right foot, with a splendid song and a relatable MV. The instruments power through the song and provide a strong backbone while Jae's vocals give the song extra flair. Young K's rapping may not be spectacular but it's able to work with the song and he honestly may be one of JYP's better male rappers already. "Congratulations" is the debut track DAY6 needed to show that JYP can put together not just groups, but bands, too.
Red Velvet is somewhat of an anomaly. On one hand, RV's debut was pretty horrendous compared to their company sunbaes, despite all the EXO-esque teaser hype (and even that didn't deliver the same weight of justice). "Happiness" was just bad no matter how you looked at it, the song was not good and video had some controversy. On the other hand, the group had released some excellently smooth slower songs, like the remake of "Be Natural" and "Automatic." With the hilarious theory that they require some S.M. sacrifice before / when things happen to the group, Red Velvet will kick off the fall reviews with "Dumb Dumb."
"Dumb Dumb" is an addicting dance number. It's as simple as that. The chanting of "dumb dumb" worms into your head very quickly and is a much better hook than the creepy "lalalalala" from "Ice Cream Cake." At least with this one, I don't feel like I'm walking into a fairytale horror mix. The instrumental really drives the song with tacky noises everywhere that don't distract too much, though they do cloud some of the adlibs. Where they improve on the hook compared to ICC, they falter in the chorus department. The range just doesn't sound as comfortable, and they definitely sound like they're reaching for those notes. Even worse is if this was adjusted. This leaves the verses as the main highlight, which is a shame because they're so short and limited in number. Instead we get...
One of the worst rap inclusions of the year. The rap as a whole is extremely questionable, not to mention the distribution. Yeri is about as filler as filler can get, so I understand they probably wanted to give her more lines. But the entirety of the rap sections just don't fit with the song. It's common that having a rap which is slower than the verses or chorus results unfavorably and this is certainly a good example. Not to mention that awful string of English / Michael Jackson songs used in the latter rap part. That was just uncomfortable, especially when what followed was the bridge. Talk about awkward transitions. S.M. continues to show they can still struggle with this kind of stuff. Ack, this song could've gone places they kept with the high-impact verses / chorus.
What the hell is happening in this music video. Like what in the actual fuck. It's not quite seizure-inducing like with T-ARA videos, but there's still so much going on and absolutely none of it makes any sense. By the way I still can't really tell who anyone is that isn't Wendy. At least S.M. was kind enough to not dress them all entirely the same and go back to colour coding. The bizarre scene changes disrupts from watching the choreography, which is brilliant, lively, and powerful. The dance is fun, too, and there's many subtleties with the moves that make the whole routine fun to watch, an example being the "hahaha" part at the chorus with the girls shaking their heads and covering their laugh.
Even though S.M. may have dropped the ball (and that's some serious droppage) with the amount of rapping and non-vocals in this comeback, the choreography is delightful and the MV is artistic, if but a little crazy. Ultimately the song's faults do outweigh the non-faults, and "Dumb Dumb" lands behind "Ice Cream Cake" as Red Velvet's signature tune, but maybe not that far behind.
5. Apink
Alright, top 5 time. Initially, I was hesitant to put Apink so high on this list, but if Wonder Girls deserve #10 out of legacy, Apink surely requires a top 5 placement. Like I mentioned earlier, very pop-focused songs aren't my style. I enjoy them every once in a while, but that's about it. Luckily for Apink, the "every once in a while" pop song is more often than not one of their tracks. "Mr. Chu" and "Luv" are different styles of pop but they cater to the same audience. Outside of Mamamoo, Apink competes for the best / balanced vocal lineup, as everyone from Eunji to Naeun ranges excellent to passable. Naeun in particular has been making strides of improvement, and the support singers like Chorong and Namjoo really impress. "Remember" wasn't quite able to compete with some other summer songs but rest assured this group will carry on for a long, long time. What could really help Apink this fall would be an Eunji solo debut. Please make it happen!
4. Sistar
This was a heavily contested slot, but Hyorin can only carry so far. Sistar has been on the rise since as early as 2012. Sistar has Hyorin, the incredible juggernaut of an idol that makes being in the same group substantially more difficult (heck, she snagged a spot on a rapping show). Soyu has an impeccably clear voice that shines in some of their songs, but is most obvious in the various collaborations she's been a part of. Bora and Dasom are often overlooked for being an inferior rapper and essentially group filler, but the former certainly is capable and the latter has (like Naeun) been making improvement in her voice. While "Don't Be Such A Baby" was a delightful B-side to "Shake It," most of the past year of content has unfortunately paled in comparison to what Sistar was releasing back pre-2014 with "Alone" and "Give It To Me." The fact that consecutive summer songs "Touch My Body" and "Shake It" haven't been able to stand up to "Loving U" and were generally disappointing says a lot of Sistar lately. In the end, a slightly weaker series of releases places Sistar at #4.
3. Girls' Generation
The once unshakable queens of girl groups have (finally?) been dethroned. And in reality all it took was an average album followed by losing Jessica. Jessicagate shook the fandom to the core, given that the group used to be heralded as the pinnacle of member stability. Taeyeon and Tiffany are still 2 of the nation's best girl group vocalists, and the departure of Jessica has given the support vocalists in Sunny, Yuri, and Sooyoung more lines. Although the first release as 8 wasn't very appealing with "Catch Me If You Can," Girls' Generation are getting back into motion. "Lion Heart" was a versatile studio album that redeems the previously mediocre albums of "Mr. Mr." (and even "I Got A Boy" to an extent), no doubt thanks to having triple title tracks. Combined with the upcoming long-awaited solo debut of Taeyeon, as well as solo efforts from Tiffany and a TTS subunit comeback, Girls' Generation will be fighting back hard for their spot at #1.
2. AOA
Ace of Angels are everywhere. They're dominating the charts, from "Miniskirt" to "Heart Attack," the girls have been promoting vigorously with good success. While "Miniskirt" remains their strongest song to date, "Heart Attack" was one of the best tracks this summer and the album as a whole was very good. AOA is plenty active elsewhere, having a plethora of variety show appearances and acting in dramas. Seolhyun remains one of the nation's femme fatales, while MINABOYS dominate le reddit. Choa isn't necessarily top tier, but her voice carries the rest of the group on her back (though Yuna is commendable), and Jimin, much as I dislike her voice, has serious technical ability that cannot be ignored in her rapping. The visual game is almost unrivaled, having the quadruple threat of Seolhyun, Hyejeong, Choa, and Yuna. AOA is responsible for eye contact dance practice videos, which receive just hype for the all the right fanservice-y reasons I do feel sorry for Youkyung though. she and AOA Black haven't been around since 2013. Nonetheless, AOA has brought their A-game for the past year plus, and continue to reap the fruits of their labor.
1. Girl's Day
If there's anything the other groups on this ranking have shown, it's that a strong promotion cycle works wonders, and Girl's Day are the uncontested winners of having the best series of comebacks. "Expectation," "Female President," "Something," and "Darling" were an incredible sequence of title tracks that rivaled 9MUSES' run in 2013. If you include "I Miss You," then there was something for just about everyone. Following that, Minah made a pleasant solo debut with "I Am A Woman Too," showcasing her crystal clear voice with R&B ballads. Afterwards was "Ring My Bell," a good-enough track spearheading a better album. Hyeri is the 3rd and final member of the current "lead girls" in Kpop right now, along with Hani and Seolhyun. Her personality is a bit eccentric but perhaps that's simply more of her charm. While Yura is often glanced over, she doesn't suffer from rapper syndrome and gets a charitable amount of singing lines, not to mention her recent raps have shown some growth. This group's music can be considered safe, with Sojin and Minah doing the singing, but there isn't another group with such fair line distribution and they have covered plenty of genres, including going from cute to sexy then back to cute. 2015 may not have been as strong for Girl's Day as 2014, but the record still shows that they are the current girl group to beat.
Alright, here we go: Girl Group Power Rankings. I'll drop 12 girl groups I believe are at the top of the ladder. Since this is the debut iteration, the rankings are all new, though you can reference the 2015 Girl Group Radar piece I wrote back in December. With the summer season ending, this is a good time to catchup with all these groups and find out where they stand. Rankings are primarily based on music, whether it's group releases, solo projects, collaborations, etc. etc. All of that is fair game. Then of course you throw in some visuals, variety appearances, bias / preference, and we'll find out which girl groups can call themselves queen for now. We're keeping things recent though, so no major throwbacks in these rankings. Of course, it's impossible for me to get to everything so some groups/ data will be more limited than others but that's something we all have to deal with. Reminder that this is a personal list / opinion!
Honorable Mention: GFriend
I don't know about you, but if I was a rookie girl group getting "criticized" for being similar to Girls' Generation back when they debuted, I'd be pretty happy and content. Honestly, GFriend's music isn't really my style. It's very much like A-Pink in the cute pop alley, but there are key factors giving GFriend this spot and not say another rookie group. The choreography is damn impressive, no questions asked, "Glass Bead" and "Me Gustas Tu" are decent enough songs in their own right, but the choreography empowers the song to greater heights and really brings out the performance ability of the group. Another reason their title tracks impress are the vocal carries. The energy in both songs is already at a good level, but Eunha and Yuju's high notes and adlibs are both powerful and clean. Considering they're so young, they will likely mature into superstar vocalists. From a performance perspective, this group may be the most impressive of the year.
Honorable Mention: FIESTAR
FIESTAR was one of those groups that was always under the radar until the sexy concepts rolled in. Continuing with, "You're Pitiful" was an excellent way for the group to start 2015, having placed 4th in my reviews after April (only 3 other songs since have tied or scored better). The MV was artful if a little weird, but Linzy, Yezi, and Jei carry the song through vocals, rap, and performance, respectively. FIESTAR stock will rise a bit over the next couple months as Yezi participates in Unpretty Rapstar 2, and she is probably the member I look forward to seeing on that show the most. She has a talent that will surprise plenty of audiences who haven't heard of her. 4minute competes heavily for this spot on the rankings, what with the incredibly strong release of "Crazy," along with rumors of Jiyoon joining Unpretty Rapstar 2, but with Hyuna's weak solo comeback, I will gracefully give FIESTAR the spot.
10. Wonder Girls
Legacy is important, so when a group once thought to be gone forever returns to glory, people everywhere rejoice. That's what fans of Wonder Girls have experienced over the last month with their return and the "Reboot" studio album. The new lineup is perhaps equal to the previous one, trading out Sohee for Sunmi is an upgrade, but on the flipside Sunye brought a lot of depth in terms of the singing, something which Yenny can't really replicate. I haven't gotten around to the album yet, but I hope Yubin gets some singing lines. Nobody should be subject to "Bora syndrome" ever, so the sooner we cure everyone the better. As one of the most successful groups of their time, and being able to stand up to Girls' Generation, Wonder Girls' comeback is heartwarming to both old and new fans alike.
9. 9MUSES
It's only appropriate 9MUSES find themselves at #9. They've catapulted themselves after a dormant 2014 with "Drama" and "Hurt Locker." While the former was a rather safe play, the latter was the superstar summer track that lived up to expectations set upon the group after the very successful whirlwind cycle of "Dolls," "Wild," "Gun," and "Glue" in 2013. The group has suffered through a multitude of roster changes since debut, so pray that they will continue on without further problems / hindrances. The year off really hurt their momentum, but let's not focus so much on the bad. 9MUSES is probably the best-looking group as a whole (Kyungri sure comes to mind). They also have Erin, a top 3 girl group rapper, as well as Hyuna and Hyemi, consistent vocalists whose abilities are unfortunately underrated. If they can go into next year with no issues, they'll be one step closer to getting back to the level they were in 2013.
8. T-ARA
While T-ARA also aren't perfect in terms of roster consistency, what puts them above 9MUSES is that they have a previous year of content to piggyback off. Let's not forget that Jiyeon made an awesome solo debut last year, and "Sugar Free" was one of the best dance tracks of 2014. The "So Good" mini wasn't terribly exciting but it was fairly balanced with what songs it did have, Included was a Chinese version of "So Crazy" which was predominantly in Korean. That was confusing. Anyway Eunjung also made her solo debut, while quiet was also very pretty. In their current trajectory, I'd expect a Soyeon solo debut and some more Chinese activities next year. T-ARA is well-rounded in talent, just a shame their tragic scandals have yet to fully recover in the eyes of the public.
7. EXID
Ah yeah, ah yeah, ah yeah ah yeah ah yeah! The EXID train continues to move forward. Following the revived success of "Up & Down," EXID delivered "Ah Yeah" in spring 2015. The "Ah Yeah" EP has some goodies inside, notably "With Out U" which is one of this year's best B-sides, awkward-looking title aside. The roster is not without star power, either. EXID is home to LE, a standout rapper with plenty on her resume and ferocious delivery to match. Solji is incredibly overlooked with her powerful vocals but has made up for it with appearances on King of Mask Singer and various OST work. Hani needs no introduction at this point, her jack-of-all-trades utility plus a carefree and friendly personality speak for themselves. Just like their sudden explosion in popularity, EXID's spot in the rankings will also likely jump quickly. A good way to wrap up this year would be a Dasoni comeback, right?
6. Mamamoo
2014's hottest debut made it to the top in no time. The string of "Mr. Ambiguous," "Piano Man," "Ahh Oop!," and "Um Oh Ah Yeah" made for an excellent promotion cycle, while the rest of "Pink Funky" makes for an enthralling listen. Mamamoo has the vocal prowess, the retro vibe, and the addicting personalities that make for a killer group. Wheein and Solar make for an unfair vocal pairing, but Hwasa is responsible for like 90% of the charisma and sass and is plenty talented in her own right. The harmonization across their library is insane and with singers this good they have tackled all types of genres with success. Not to be forgotten though, is Moonbyul. Moonbyul is a more-than-capable rapper with surprising vocals. If they give her some singing lines they might be the most balanced group in line distribution. These girls need more variety appearances. They are extremely dorky and lovable, and their music is fantastic. What more could you want?
Let's be honest. How many people even realize that Kibum was / is a member of Super Junior? Of course he's inactive, but he's still listed as an official member even though he hasn't participated in group activities since 2009. Funnily enough there was very recent news from Kibum himself that he is no longer under contract with S.M. Let's start there I suppose.
Kibum hadn't been active as a Super Junior member since something like 2009. Yet for all intents and purposes, he was still technically a member of the group, even though he hadn't been in a single promotion and was literally 100% on the acting market. There were no lawsuits, no contract terminations, no shenanigans, just the joke of an excuse that he was still "a Super Junior member that we would welcome back anytime." I'd be willing to bet that he had no intentions of coming back to the group, and indeed since his contract ended his Instagram post sure sounded happy he was no longer with the company.
Now we look to Sulli. Sulli's case is probably most similar to Kibum's, in that she hasn't really been active with the group and didn't seem to care much about her future in f(x). Sulli was the reason "Red Light" promotions cut short and the whole attitude debate along with her dating Choiza didn't really put her in the best of lights for fans. There was speculation she'd leave the group eventually and that turned out to be true. To this credit she was treated the same way as Kibum. While her hiatus wasn't as concrete as Kibum's, she was still listed as a member up until the announcement of her departure.
As for Jessica, Tao, Kris, and Luhan (those "lazy" foreigners), They're different in the sense that they had definitely wanted to stay in the group, but have individual activities (or more of such) on the side. Jessica with BLANC, and the EXO boys with overseas activities in China. Ms. Jung still expected to be a Girls' Generation member while maintaining her fashion line and either S.M. or the other members (or both) were against. We'll never know the truth, but again when you look at what happened with Kibum and his status, I don't get why the same couldn't have applied to Jessica. What's even more bizarre is that for a short period after, she remained under S.M.'s management before they finally let her go. As for the Kris / Luhan / Tao trio, health conditions were also cited a la Han Geng's lawsuit, so to me this looks like following a sunbae's footsteps in this regard but again without the full story it's difficult to say. Supposedly Chinese queen Victoria also has separate promotions in China, so I find difficult to believe that something worked out with her and not for the Chinese EXO trio. I'd imagine the key difference being that the EXO members wanted nothing to do with the group anymore due to health / schedule concerns.
The aftermath of all this? Super Junior will continue as if nothing happened because in reality, nothing did happen. They have been promoting with slightly different rosters for years now and "Devil" showed they're still good. Girls' Generation have trekked along with Jessica for almost a year now and in my eyes have redeemed themselves in terms of music, with a capable "Lion Heart" album. Losing Jessica has freed up line distribution, giving other members like Sooyoung and Yuri more chance to shine. EXO has watched the months go by, losing a member every so often. The quality in their music certainly hasn't decreased, and most of the main talent is still there, but the pressure is on Lay as the only remaining Chinese member. Eyes will be on him like a hawk for who knows how long. As for f(x), Sulli contributed very little to their music, so losing her would ideally give Amber and Victoria some more lines, which is perfect in my book. Her status as the team visual is also highly questionable what with Krystal and Victoria existing. To be honest, f(x) is probably better without her. In the end, S.M. still can't be trusted. The company only has SHINee and Red Velvet that can boast a (mostly) problem-free journey, and RV is but a little over a year old. Time will truly tell for S.M.
It's almost been a year since I wrote a list of my favourite biases in Kpop. I did that piece when I first transitioned over to Blogger, but now that some time has passed it'll be fun to update this list every few months to see where my favourites stand. I'm really not that much of a fanboy anymore but still am at heart. We'll see how this series goes.
10. Minzy (-6)
Oh how the mighty have fallen. Last year Minzy was at #4, but has now barely remained on the list, albeit through no fault of her own. 2NE1 has been as dormant as a bear in winter, what with Park Bom's status still extremely questionable, and CL's continued march and exposure into the American market. Minzy has still been fairly active on Instagram but I honestly don't know when the next time we'll see her or her group is. Her legacy in my bias list keeps her from dropping outside the top 10.
9. Hyejeong (NEW)
To be honest, Seolhyun may be the fan favourite but Hyejeong is probably the most attractive in the group. She gives off a more mature look and that's more appealing to me than Seolhyun's youthful demeanor. Hyejeong is also probably the most balanced member in AOA, providing good support vocals, excellent dance ability, and of course pristine visuals. She even has her own series on V, which I'm all for. So long as AOA continues to climb the charts so too will Hyejeong on my list.
8. Suzy (-2)
Suzy also drops a few spots due to miss A's general inactivity. "Colors" was a pretty good mini album but that was in March, and the most we've seen from the group since is individual activities. Suzy will continue to pursue some acting career while group activities slow down. Part of me is worried that soon she will be Bae Suzy the actress rather than Suzy from miss A but that remains to be seen.
7. Wheein (NEW)
It's about damn time someone from Mamamoo made it here, and Wheein proudly takes that glory. When I first discovered this group Hwasa and Wheein immediately stood out to me, and it's not hard to see why. Not only is Wheein a gifted singer, she has the most infectious smile (added power of dimples) and an even more infectious laugh. Everyone from this group is lovable, but Wheein's qualities push her ahead of the team.
6. Sojin (+1)
Sojin gets a slight bump in the rankings while maintaining her youth as she approaches the tender age of 30. Seriously this woman never ages. The genes are strong with this one. Anyway, "Ring My Bell" was a decent number for both her and her group. She was also absolutely adorable in her Running Man appearance earlier this year. Considering that Girl's Day will be very relevant for the next year at least, Sojin will always have a spot here.
5. Kyungri (+3)
To be honest, if only "Drama" had something to say, Kyungri would have retained her spot from last year. However, the powerful "Hurt Locker" helps boost her in the standings. The song is probably within the top 10 of the year so far, and not much else really needs to be said after that. I'm very glad 9MUSES is back this year and hope that they will be a more stable group for once in their careers.
4. Bora (+1)
Bora's short climb isn't really due to her own efforts as it is the mistakes of others like Suzy and Minzy falling down the list. The disappointment mainly stems from a lackluster rap in "Shake It" and an underwhelming showing in the Running Man episode, where she was outclassed by Bomi and possibly even Seolhyun. If only she had been announced for Unpretty Rapstar 2. Instead, Hyorin gets to shine...again.
3. Soyu
Spoiler alert: the top 3 have remained unchanged since the original set. Soyu continues to excel both in and outside of her group. Her performances across the "Shake It" mini were consistent, but she hasn't forgotten her success from last year with collaborations, and this year she delivered "SimSim" with Eluphant. This girl needs another appearance on Running Man, as her competitive streak needs more time in the spotlight for appreciation.
2. Taeyeon
If you get a Girls' Generation comeback you get another chance to see Taeyeon at the top of everything. And really is that so surprising? Taeyeon has one of the most versatile voices in her group and indeed across the competition, so with "Lion Heart" being such a diverse album only results in many good things for her. She was hilarious in the Girls' Generation special on Running Man, where her physical prowess (or rather lack of such) provided some fun antics across the games.
1. Younha
2015 has been a rather quiet year for Younha but as my favourite for over the last 5 years (probably since I discovered Korean music), her throne will be very difficult to topple. Taeyeon is the closest to doing so and if she can't do it after a successful studio album, I don't think it's possible. With some of the mediocre solo releases this summer, I'm hoping we get to see Younha before the end of the year with some stellar promise.
Welcome back to another Recap. Now that we've had another 4 months pass us by, I've got a better grasp on what I want to use this series for. Besides the obvious recap, I can go over songs that I missed, or other topics, sort of like a mix between the usual reviews and the extremely rare blog posts (though I do have another of those coming up). I might not keep these to be recurring every 4 months, hence why I've changed the title of these types of posts. Anyway, I reviewed 30 songs from May to August, which is double the amount from January to April. I'm glad I was more productive! Anyway putting them in a list would be very clunky and take up a lot of space. So to overview the summer block, I condensed the list by score. If scores are the same, the better song is listed to the right.
May - August Rankings
30. Big Bang - Bang Bang Bang // Big Bang - Bae Bae (75)
28. Hyuna - Because I'm The Best (76)
27. Sistar - Shake It (77)
26. Hara - Choco Chip Cookies // Girls' Generation - Party (78)
24. Hyosung - Into You // A-Pink - Remember // Eunjung - I'm Good (80)
21. Wonder Girls - I Feel You // Girls' Generation - Lion Heart (82)
19. BoA - Kiss My Lips // Big Bang - We Like 2 Party // T-ARA - So Crazy (83)
16. GD&TOP - Zutter // 2PM - My House // Big Bang - Loser // Mamamoo - Um Oh Ah Yeah (85)
12. Super Junior - Devil (86)
11. KARA - Cupid (87)
10. Girl's Day - Ring My Bell // BTS - Dope // Girls' Generation - You Think // EXO - Love Me Right (88)
6. Lim Kim - Love Game // AOA - Heart Attack // Big Bang - Let's Not Fall In Love (90)
3. Big Bang - Sober // 9MUSES - Hurt Locker (92)
1. INFINITE - Bad (94)
I won't really dive into individual scores too much but man I overestimated a few songs. "Love Game," "Cupid," "Kiss My Lips," and "Into You" should probably drop a few points. They're still pretty good songs but when I see them next to some of the others in that score range I don't know what I was thinking. Come to think of it, most of the soloists didn't really do that well in the grand scheme of things, since the top 10 (that I reviewed) is dominated by the groups. This was a pretty good set for the summer, though most summer tracks were fairly average.
Big Bang Theory
Big Bang's long-awaited comeback delivered in spades. They provided all sorts of songs with relative success. The more casual you are I think the more you enjoyed this comeback. Or rather, if you had less expectations you'd have been more surprised with the result. "Bae Bae" and "Zutter" are more of the classic goof songs from Big Bang, while "Loser," "If You," and "Let's Not Fall In Love" are fantastic slower songs. "Sober" is definitely the star of the set, while the more chill songs "We Like 2 Party" and "Loser" also give strong showings. We do not speak of "Bang Bang Bang." All in all, 2015 wasn't so much a defining year for Big Bang, but this comeback certainly presents them in a strong fashion with this album. Who knows what's next.
Solo Ships
No, not that kind of ship. Quite a handful of solo artists joined the girl group comeback wave, along with some group soloists, too. Unfortunately, most if not all of them paled in comparison to group releases. BoA's album is probably the headliner but to be honest the rest of the field is more forgettable. Hyuna's "Because I'm The Best" couldn't live up to "Red," and the surprising and quiet debuts of Hara and Eunjung respectively didn't yield many good results. Juniel casually joined the fray with "Sorry" a few weeks ago but she has yet to really cement herself in the upper echelons of Kpop / soloists. Summer 2015 simply wasn't quite what it was for soloists compared to groups.
The Best of Summer 2015
So out of all the songs I reviewed, Infinite's "Bad" topped the list with a score of 94 / 100. That's damn impressive, but there have been some other songs that weren't reviewed or non-title tracks that really caught my attention, too. I'll drop a few of my personal favourites.
Primary - Don't Be Shy (feat. Choa & Iron)
I've been loving Primary lately. All the collaborations and projects and albums have been awesome. There were a select few of Primary songs that really impressed, but man this one is so good. Choa is incredible from start to finish, and is more proof that she really holds down the talent within AOA. Iron's feature is also pretty good, though definitely picks up towards the end of his rap. The feel of this reggae track is good and the cute and creepy MV full of sleepover shenanigans and Pokemon trading cards make for a strong release.
MAMAMOO - No No No
This is the title track that I wanted "Um Oh Ah Yeah" to be. The sass, the instrumental, the overall sound of this song is both carefree but has direction. The pop influence is there, but there's still traces of retro scattered about. Solar and Wheein are a holy combination of vocals and while Hwasa takes more of the sassy lines to inject personality in the song, Wheein and Solar's lines are the backbone. I don't know that Wheein is saying "winner" though, sure sounds like "we know" to me. You can even hear eSNa here and there. Lastly, Moonbyul's rap is fierce and gives her yet another strong rap to work with in her already impressive repertoire. Stop saying your name though, it's silly. Don't turn into the next JYP.
B2ST - Gotta Go To Work
This is a turning point for SHINee and B2ST. Previously, these groups were always "good but not great." Their comeback with "YeY" was loud but perhaps a little too loud. "Gotta Go To Work" is definitely the song of choice. Junhyung does a good job driving the chorus, which is a rare sight. When is the last time you saw the rapper lead a chorus? The casual yet lively attitude makes for a good relaxing tune, and somehow Yoseob's high tones aren't that grating for me this time around. Coupled with a cute video and B2ST finally has a winner.
Sistar - Don't Be Such A Baby (feat. Giriboy)
Here's another exhibit of poor title song choice. Sistar's "Shake It" was a fun but ultimately lacking track, but "Don't Be Such A Baby" recovers in all the right places. Hyorin's lovely vocals aren't out place, and combined with Soyu's breathy lines give this song a very soothing nature. Bora's rap is so good, redeeming herself from the mediocrity of the rap in "Shake It." Giriboy's inclusion is also very good if only for adding another perspective to the song lyrics. This really should've been the lead song on the "Shake It" mini album. Closing Thoughts
Surprisingly(?), this summer delivered far more successes than failures. Sure there were disappointments but at this point it's basically impossible to evade those. Since I was so review-heavy over the summer, I'll try to shift more towards other pieces in the next few months. Get some blog posts running, some bias lists, and the actual return of the Girl Group Rapper Power rankings. Hopefully sooner rather than later. Thanks for reading!
