[Bonus] Worst Of SM Entertainment

This ought to be fun. Time for some motherfucking negativity up in here! Keeping with the S.M Entertainment theme, we're going to look at some of the worst selections (that are title tracks of course) to ever come out of that company. I did rank them, but that really means little when we're looking at the bottom of the barrel here. Some of the reasons are music-related, and some are purely hate-based. If something sounds bad, then it's bad. Simple as that. Let's see the worst material from one of the top entertainment labels in Korea.

#10. BoA - Nega Dola

Remember we're talking about bad songs so it's better to be up here than down there. Boy it feels bad to list BoA but I gotta do it. "Nega Dola" isn't even a below average song, but it would've been a great song if not for the horrific decision to make BoA rap. There are some things that you should never do. Giving BoA some pitiful rap lines in every verse leaves an awful taste in your mouth, and an awful sound in your ears. SME hardly has the rapping profile with their members, I don't know what they were thinking making BoA do that. Literally ruined the song for everyone.

#9. Super Junior - Mamacita

It's like "Mamacita" was a stepping stone or experiment to figure out how to incorporate international beats. Clearly needed some trial and error since "Lo Siento" was solid whereas "Mamacita" was...not. Everything about this track just feels awkward, like it's going through puberty or something. Even the typically sweet vocals from Kyuhyun and Ryeowook seem off. That rap break by Eunhyuk and Shindong is atrocious, so it's exactly like the average Super Junior rap! "Close your lips, shut your tongue" will always be associated with their cringe rap moments.

#8. TVXQ - Humanoids

TVXQ has had some magnificent highs and dreadful lows. They certainly support those type of eclectic tastes. I reviewed "Humanoids" on the blog before and it only scored a 70 thanks to appearance points and me liking the choreography at the time. Now with a refined taste in Kpop dances I can say it's not a strong dance. The chorus isn't half-bad...if all they were doing was singing. Too much chanting and rambling random shit. A hodge podge of mediocrity creates a mediocre product.

[Review] (G)-IDLE - Hann (Blitz)

With Visual Power Rankings out of the way (and class ending) I can write actual content. Also this group's name puts them at the very top on Blogger's labels which pisses me off. Anyways, here's their first comeback with "Hann" and those verses are fucking gold. The English "do you remember what you said" flows super well unlike other tracks and goes right into the Korean. The rest of the English in the song...not so much (mostly because of pronunciation). The verses are drawn out so each member gets plenty of singing time. Miyeon and Soojin benefit heavily and sound amazing in lead roles. Soojin in particular leveled up since "Latata" with her mannerisms and stood out more - having bright red hair certainly helps. The song builds well on itself throughout but "Hann" struggles in the chorus game, leaving much to be desired. Hopefully this doesn't become a trend where they have really solid verses with lackluster choruses. They've been too repetitive and dull. I wasn't floored by this choreography either but the formations of an even membered group are enough to hold it down. Soyeon delivers another solid performance though it's not as impressive as her debut with "Latata." Like the verses, the bridge is also really good and builds into...an awkward dance break by Shuhua. Huh. Not what I was expecting but it'll do I guess. That break and the choruses hurt this song's chances of being better than "Latata." Plus Yuqi got ruined by those bangs, goddammit.

Word Count: 250

[Misc] Girl Group Visual Power Rankings IV: Battle Royale (Finale)

In traditional fashion, this got delayed because of work and other life struggles but here we are. The final eight will duke it out until one visual stands alone on top of the competition. Here's the matchups and seeding which I based loosely on their original brackets. We'll go right through with "details" on each matchup and we'll conclude with sunshine and rainbows.

Quarterfinals
1. Hyejeong (AOA) vs. 8. Jerry (Tahiti)
This is easily the most mismatched pair in the quarterfinals. Hyejeong is a stunner that has been consistent for forever while Jerry is sort of the reluctant pick out of her group. It was a tall order to even get this far so props to Jerry for a good run nonetheless. Hyejeong obliterates Jerry here and as the #1 seed is the favorite to go all the way.
* Winner: Hyejeong

2. Hyosung (Secret) vs. 7. Jaekyung (Rainbow)
Well look at that. The two nominees from the Relic Bracket are immediately up against each other. Both are from opposite ends of the group spectrum. Hyosung is the popular vote as her status as a bagel girl has been discussed for years. Meanwhile, Jaekyung is underrated from within her own group with members like Hyunyoung. In a move that will surprise many - myself included - Jaekyung will move on.
* Winner: Jaekyung

[Misc] Girl Group Visual Power Rankings IV: Battle Royale (Part II)

With four heavyweight candidates already in the finals, it's time to discover the underdog participants. Rising and Nugu Brackets are inferior but only in name and status. Attractiveness is not bound to a group or their success. But what am I doing this is too much effort and writing for a fucking beauty contest. Continuing on, here's Rising Bracket.

[Misc] Girl Group Visual Power Rankings IV: Battle Royale (Part I)

Here's the first part. Sorry this didn't get posted earlier. I actually had most of part I complete when the introductory post was published but have been busy with work and an online course. Anyways, Queen and Relic Brackets will go until there are two representatives each moving onto the final bracket. I'll post all contestants / matchups, then with the actual bracket. Instead of doing each matchup or round, I'm gonna show the entirety of the fights including the two "winners" of each set. Some filler text will go in each to highlight some of the marquee moments in my decision making (such a difficult task, I know), and we'll wrap it up rather quickly. Let's go.

[Misc] Girl Group Visual Power Rankings IV: Battle Royale (Introduction)

For this edition of Visual Power Rankings, I've decided to go 200% with my most ambitious piece of writing for any rankings yet. This will either be super fun or mentally exhausting...hopefully the former. Anyway what we have here is a pure cheese post as visuals are the most subjective thing to look at in Kpop. We have visual representatives from 64 groups here. I've done some cheating because I had to use defunct groups and duos. The whole "visual vs. face" of the group is kinda silly but in those cases I defaulted to the visual unless it was very extreme. If a group has either no listed visual or multiple visuals, it was my choice of member. For disbanded groups or visuals that left, I usually went with the legacy choice over the most recent visual. An example would be Wonder Girls, where Sohee is the representative as she was the visual longer than Yubin was.

There are four brackets of 16 visuals each. The reason behind using four brackets is so some nugu visual doesn't go up against Naeun early on - makes for more interesting developments within each bracket. They'll combine once a top two are selected from each bracket and make the final bracket. This introductory post will show each set and brackets, as well as each visual's seed within the bracket. To determine seeding, I did a very loose Power Ranking of each group within each bracket. Like any bracket, the 1st seed goes against the 16th seed, the 2nd seed against the 15th, and so on. As for actual content besides picking winners, I don't have much in store. Talking about visual competition is as exciting as talking about the stereotypical Kpop MV: it's boring and repetitive, ultimately serving no purpose besides taking up space. The seeding reads as the #1 to #8 seed from left to right, then #16 to #9 from left to right directly below them so you know what the matchups are.  With all that out of the way, here are the contestants for Visual Power Rankings IV: Battle Royale.

[Bonus] Best Of GFriend

It's been a while since the last Best Of Artist post (five months) so here's GFriend's entry into that series. They have nine title tracks to their name so one extra song will get promoted into the competition. You know what most of the songs on here will be but what's the mystery track? Keep reading to find out. Here's the best of GFriend's title track game plus one.

#10. Love Whisper

Starting off the list is "Love Whisper." This song was very boring and their most bland since "Glass Bead." Considering the latter was a debut song, it gets away with being more simple in nature. "Love Whisper" on the other hand, came right after "Fingertip" so the disparity between the two was quite jarring. I understand the public didn't enjoy "Fingertip" as much but that's no reason for having such a lackluster song.

#9. Sunny Summer

The name of the game so far is "bland." These aren't bad songs per se, but they don't use much imagination and are even more cookie cutter than the MVs that accompany them. "Sunny Summer" is a stereotypical summer dance track through and through. Nice right now during the season, but will become forgettable rather quickly. Also hurting them is that this has to compete with the likes of Hyorin's "See Sea" and Lovelyz' "Wag-zak" which are both better summer jams.

#8. Summer Rain

With "Summer Rain," the summer trilogy concludes and all three songs rank at the bottom of the set. What "Summer Rain" has going for it is a more melancholy sound and the instrumental. It is still pedestrian as a whole, but since GFriend don't usually have sad songs as titles, it deserves to be the best of the worst we've seen so far. The bridge is also super pretty and helps elevate the song further against "Love Whisper" and "Sunny Summer."

[Review] iKON - Killing Me (Blitz)

"Love Scenario" did awesome on the charts for iKON. Let's see if the subsequent follow-up "Killing Me" will do the same. With a title like that you figured it would be a little darker and that's reflected in the song and video. It's harder-hitting, and the instrumental chops away the background almost eerily. Bobby and B.I do a great job setting up the track and their presence in the rest of "Killing Me" is substantial without being overpowering (something they previously struggled with). The supporting cast pull their weight with vocals - Jinhwan and Donghyuk. Oh yeah I can't buy the whole stage name thing. The names they debuted with are the names I use. I'm not a fan of the instrumentals during the dance breaks. There's too much going on and it sounds like a hot mess. Actually, if the distorted vocals were removed I think that would fix the problem. Too bad we'll never know. Besides that, the only other major complaint I have is that Junhoe's magical voice gets clouded here. Doesn't sound as distinct as he usually does in iKON's music. Like in "Love Scenario" they bring the whole group for the final chorus. In both cases, it works really well. Gives the song an exciting closure without changing much, and makes for a good party banger. "Killing Me" is a strong release of a darker kind and it's about time they actually started having some good music as part of the YG crew.

Word Count: 247