[Bonus] Girl Group Rapper Power Rankings IV: Summer 2017 (#20-#11)

#20. Amber (-13)
Remember when f(x) was a thing? They've become the next iteration of Secret, what with nothing to show for in 2017 so far. Amber in particular suffers because she was gaining a shitton of momentum with a plentiful 2016. I thought she would've kept at least some steam coming into this year. But alas. If Hyomin and Hana get punished for not rapping then so does Amber. The last time we heard her rap was in "All Mine." For crying out loud don't leave this group for dead, S.M.

#19. Chanmi (+5)
Chanmi marks the end of the low tier rappers. After getting her breakout moment with AOA Cream, she got some extra attention with "Excuse Me" and "Bing Bing," though neither of these were even half as good as the rap in "I'm Jelly Baby." Of course that's a given since she has to compete with Jimin of all people. She'll forever remain under Jimin's shadow, but maybe just maybe, Choa leaving gives some room for hope. Maybe this frees up some room for longer rap breaks that won't all just go to Jimin by default.

[Bonus] Girl Group Rapper Power Rankings IV: Summer 2017 (#30-#21)

Welcome to another edition of Girl Group Rapper Power Rankings. Continuing on our Power Rankings revisiting tour (May: bias, June: group, July: visual, August: rapper), the only stop left after this one is the vocalists in September. Once more I'll briefly go over the main focuses when determining placements: ability first, material second, consistency third. Voice matters so much, you might get triggered seeing people ranked too high or low being carried (or not carried) by their voice. Title track / promotional material only. Veterans won't get too much "outside credit," but it does hurt rookies who may have better B-sides I didn't get to listen to. This double-edged sword tries to make things as fair as possible, if you can call it that. In the same vein, I'm gonna care much more about what they've done in the present than in the past - like say what's new since the last list. And finally, ability to write or produce raps is ignored because not everyone has the chance or opportunity to do so. If it were a level playing field I certainly would factor that in but alas.

From last winter's set we bid farewell to Yubin, Hyelim, Nada, Sihyun, and Bora. May their groups rest in peace. Conversely, I'll be adding four younger rappers to the fray: Laboum's Yulhee, Dreamcatcher's Dami, DIA's Huihyeon, and LOONA's Jinsoul. I'll try and have a member addition / subtraction segment for each new installment of a Power Ranking. There were many rappers I wish I got a better or more in-depth look at (from groups like Pristin or Bulldok) but I've delayed this piece long enough (drafts started as early as late May). There's always the next rendition! This time around more than previous lists I've focused more on tiers. So for the most part even though each rapper is placed individually, most of them collectively share similar attributes within the same tier. I've babbled enough, let's start from the bottom!

#30. Junyeol (+2)
Bottom tier inhabitants range from 30th to 26th and they're characterized by (a) simply not much to work off of and (b) being forgettable as rappers to begin with. Apparently Junyeol is "graduating" (read: leaving) Stellar. So it's high time I finished this half of the rankings. You've moved up two spots! Unfortunately, you're still last. Junyeol had small bursts of rapping here and there, though it's more like chants. Even the newest "Archangels of the Sephiroth" release saw the same. Which by the way is the most badass title for a Kpop song ever. She never really had a long rap break and she now she never will, that's so sad.

#29. Dahye (+2)
Ahh, BESTie. You had some promise with "Excuse Me" and then everything went into a complete stop. That makes writing your blurb very difficult. I could say how her rap there was pretty good and might be the sole reason she deserves to be higher but that was two years ago. On the bright side, she has been active on her own Youtube channel with some covers so that's great to see. This means either BESTie is coming back or they're done. My pessimistic nature guesses the latter.

[Bonus] Best Of Big Bang

I missed the last r/kpop Top Ten for f(x) - though I didn't want to pile on the S.M. artists - and here we are with Big Bang. Kind of crazy to think that since I started my blog in 2012, the first Big Bang song I ever reviewed was "Loser" in 2015. Of course I then reviewed almost every MV they released that year but anyway. Here are my picks for Big Bang's top songs.

#10. Fantastic Baby

Whenever I think Big Bang dance anthem, this is it. Snazzy background, tacky MV, wild shenanigans. G-Dragon and T.O.P drop the bass with the rapping while Daesung and Taeyang bring up the hype. Oh yeah and Seungri sings about Obama. Too bad he's more of a SHINee fan ya feel? We can't be safe from politics all the time. This is a legendary banger (heh) that has stood the test of time in my eyes. Years later and the song still holds up. This is what Big Bang is.

#9. Lies

Oh how cruel time is. Not because "Lies" hasn't aged well (it absolutely fucking has), but because more modern releases and recency bias cloud my memory and judgment. Still, "Lies" is a Big Bang classic dating all the way back to 2008. Don't let the subpar quality of the MV fool you, this song fired on all cylinders and was but a glimpse of what to expect from Big Bang in the many years to come. That opening piano riff is super memorable and a staple of another early Big Bang classic sure to make an appearance later down the line.

[Review] Sonamoo - Friday Night (Blitz)

Sadly, this piece won't be published on a Friday night. Still, we're all waiting for Sonamoo to break out. Despite being the "successor" to Secret (who are still locked up in the dungeon by the way) they haven't really found their footing yet. Mostly because they keep away from the badass tone that they had with "Deja Vu." However! "Friday Night" strays from the more bubblegum pop sound that they seemed to love across the last string of releases, none of which I could get into. This one is a little harder hitting and thank god for that because the girls are better in this element. Also thank god what happens at 0:46 never shows up again. Backing them up is a groovy instrumental and pretty solid choreography. It's one of the rare dances that uses a lot of tutting which is neat. Could even see some silly rollerblades version working out. I love how seamlessly Sonamoo uses Newsun and D.ana's rap breaks. They never seem forced and it's redeeming seeing them shine (I've not been a fan of their performances in their other songs). I'll keep MV thoughts brief: it's boring and could've done without the butt close-ups. They're dancing in water (which is cool) but unfortunately comes after GFriend's release where they did the same thing (not as cool). Supposedly there's another song in the works, so for now I'll enjoy this disco-loving song that puts Sonamoo back on the right path.

Word Count: 244

[Review] Girls' Generation - Holiday

Guess who's back, back again. SNSD's back, tell a friend. The current #1 girl group is here for more magic. Another comeback, another dual title tracks with "Holiday" and "All Night." How spoiled we can be as fans of Girls' Generation. This is their monumental 10th anniversary since debut, and even though Jessica is gone that doesn't take away from this accomplishment. When younger girl groups say they hope to replicate the success and longevity of SNSD it's not even an overexaggeration. Apparently Taeyeon liked "All Night" more which means in true curse fashion that I'll like "All Night" more but "Holiday" will perform better. Let's see if that holds up.

I don't think it's possible for the Taeyeon / Seohyun combo to get old. We see it all the time in subunit packages and here, too. Comparatively speaking, I don't like how the girls sound in "Holiday" because the range is too high for a lot of members, and it's especially evident during the verses. For this reason I enjoy listening to "All Night" more (to be determined whether or not I'll review that). The chorus escapes the range issues and is perfectly fine, plus the extra line tagged at the end is a nice addition to an otherwise simple chorus. Tiffany salvages the verse with the first half of her non-chorus part but again their voices sound a tad too high for my preference.

[Bonus] Best Of EXO

In timing with r/kpop's Top Ten Tuesdays series going on, here are my picks for EXO's best music. I've participated in a few though only provided lists and picks. Having this post in conjunction with their EXO thread lets me post some more meaty content instead of just a list. Since their discussions include any song, this Best Of will also not be restricted to title tracks, which has been general tradition. Also, they have people rank the top 10 songs so this installment will also have that number. Away we go to EXO planet!

#10. What Is Love

It's not about how you finish, it's how you start. At least in Kpop that holds more weight. Both versions of "What Is Love" showcased solid vocals from Baekhyun, Chen, D.O, and Luhan. It was but a brief introduction of the powerful vocals to come from them. Baekhyun's line at 0:47 is one of my favorites to sing along to in any EXO song (and any song in general). The final minute is also marvelousFunny fact when I first watched this video I thought Luhan was Chen because he looked more Korean. Shows what I knew back then.

#9. Black Pearl

Man, the XOXO album had so many goodies in it. There's no honorable mentions but if there were, it'd be littered with XOXO tracks: "My Lady," "Peter Pan," etc. What I love most about "Black Pearl" is that the verses and chorus are two distinct entities but both sound in sync with the other. Baekhyun has like a three second window and everything just goes. Boom. Right into the strong chorus. This is "that escalated quickly" to a T. And as far as short bursts of rapping go for this has one of their better sequences, too.

[Review] Monsta X - Newton (Blitz)

With five other Blitz pieces under my belt, I'm going to set my word limit to 250 for all Blitzes moving forward. Including that first sentence, so moving on! Monsta X slightly take up the mantle of releasing a summer jam for Starship with Sistar's departure. "Newton" is more on the softer side despite making me think of Cam Newton (who is anything but). The instrumental is powerful and drives the song without being overbearing. But the chorus is muddy as the backing sounds and vocals mix. I don't listen to much Monsta X, so I can't tell if it's the instrumental being too loud or the members voices being too soft, but during the chorus it's difficult to listen to. Shownu in particular is soft-spoken from what I saw on Running Man so that doesn't help. Anyway, I.M continues to impress between his technique and his voice. Since none of their vocalists seem standout, he'll be a huge reason behind Monsta X and their successes. On the other hand Jooheon is more of a miss than hit, though he does remind of Zico - still a long ways to go. "Newton" stays at one pace throughout the whole song, and the only thing that really changes is the instrumental. It's still a solid release (albeit not very memorable) and definitely one of the best Lipton advertisements ever.

Word Count: 228

[Bonus] Best Of Seventeen

In tune with my sister's 17th birthday which happened yesterday, let's take a quick look at Seventeen's best title tracks. This squad is one the up-and-up with their addicting dance numbers, so you can definitely expect a few (if not many) of those to show up on this list. ...actually, as it turns out, Seventeen only have had six main singles so I guess I'll have to rank them. Maybe I don't listen to them enough but it feels like they've been around for much longer and have released more songs. Looks like a collaboration song will sneak its way in here.

#7. Pretty U

I can't put my finger on why this song isn't very good. Maybe it lacks an addicting melody, maybe it lacks a distinct punch. It could also be that Seventeen's music is generally more hype and "Pretty U" is very mellow. This isn't usually a bad thing, but at the same time a group has to be good enough at different styles in order to be versatile. Let's attribute to this maybe being a missed opportunity in regards to their slower jams. Plus it's not like they can't do slow(er) songs, as you'll see later on.

#6. Q&A (with Ailee)

Here's a question: if this song is up here, is it because Ailee's vocals are so awesome? Or because Seventeen's rappers made nice support contributions? Seems like a little bit of both in my mind, but hey that's what we want to see. Ailee is a superstar and it's good she doesn't overpower these boys with her voice. At the same time, not giving another artist enough lines would've been a problem, too, so it seems "Q&A" hit that magical sweetspot. I would still argue that the last two songs are not particularly memorable. Moving on.