February 28, 2016

[Review] Mamamoo - You're The Best

After teasing us with the beautiful ballad "I Miss You" and hilariously weird "Price of 1cm," Mamamoo are ready to drop their studio album "Melting." They've already achieved ridiculous success prior to this album, so anticipation and hopes are quite high as we dive into the vacation wonderland video of "You're The Best." Again, I don't quite understand some of these title translations, but I'm not Korean (and the Korean title itself is also quite weird to me) so whatever haha.

Solar has really come into her own lately. She's deservedly a top tier vocalist by now and this may be the best song that showcases her talents. She constantly gets some powerful lines and she has been very consistent since Mamamoo's debut. Her versatility doesn't go unnoticed and those high notes are really bulked up by Solar's voice. It's so refreshing to see her constantly act as the lovestruck girl, as her facial expressions are beyond priceless. Even though Wheein carries the chorus in "You're The Best," she more or less takes a support role with Solar's power and Hwasa's energy in the mix. This MV made me realize a very important issue: Wheein needs her own eating show immediately. She would kill it. I would pay good money to have a "Lunch With Wheein" stream or episode. Please make it happen. The V broadcasting app can make this dream a reality.

Moonbyul continues to do her best despite being left in the vocal shadows of her teammates. I'd really love to see her get some singing lines or even minor harmonization later. She has shown the capacity for it, so just need to get that potential realized. This is probably her weakest rap performance to date. Both raps aren't bad, just underwhelming. Compounding this is the fact that she doesn't have a single rap segment but rather split shorter ones. Generally this type of thing doesn't work very well (and in "Um Oh Ah Yeah" I argued the same thing), unless you have extended raps for both parts (think Erin and Eunji in 9MUSES' "Wild"). Still, I commend her for her effort. On the plus side, I like that Moonbyul isn't introducing herself before her raps anymore! Though that's because Hwasa does that now. Dangit. Anyway, Hwasa continues to rock, bringing that disgustingly good charisma and sass to her vocals. If Wheein's smile gives me life, then Hwasa's energy does the same. This ship is too powerful. And I must say, I have never seen that shade of orange that perfect before. Kudos to you, Hwasa (honestly though everyone's appearance is on point, even if those shirt and jean combo only remind me of f(x)'s "4 Walls" performance outfits. But otherwise they are dressed to chill and have fun, exactly what they're doing in the MV.

The latter half of "You're The Best" is easily the better half. Moonbyul's rap is better the 2nd time, the final chorus is delicious even though the ending is rather abrupt. Though considering how fast and energetic the song was from the start, I guess it's difficult to really come up with a good solution as to how the song should end. I absolutely love when songs / artists pay tribute to past ones, so the "Mr. Ambiguous" and "Piano Man" throwbacks are awesome. This and NS Yoonji's "Wifey" are some of the best in that regard. More songs should do this from time to time.

Mamamoo's formula has not changed. They drop yet another title track with really strong vocal performance, addicting rhythm, a better-than-box-sets MV, and add some of their classic beagle charm, too. I'm sure the rest of the album is sure to not disappoint, and will likely stand as a top album of 2016 early. Next time get Moonbyul some singing, pretty please?

[ Overall: 90 / 100 ]

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