[Review] BoA - Woman

Your queen has returned. There's not much else to say about BoA's career. She has done anything and everything, in Korea and Japan, on the stage and in the booth. She could call it quits right now and we'd still be talking about her for years to come. But enough of that, let's talk about the headliner of her 9th album: "Woman." After the powerful comeback from IU, BoA now checks in with a return of her own.

You know how every company has their own signature sound? And then within the company each group / artist has their own signature sound? BoA has been so dynamic for so long that she is omnipresent with her style. This is no different, as "Woman" draws you in immediately with that beat and the click of her high heels. Oh yeah, and she's walking on the fucking ceiling. There's so much tied to the instrumental it's fantastic. Take the series at 1:12: the little finger walk with high heels into the snap is so sassy I love it. BoA's voice glides through this track and those sudden high notes (0:29) are gorgeous. It's not often you see a vocalist pull those off without sounding strained. BoA has done this for long you always expect great things from her. The song does get weak in the prechorus with those quick lines, and the weird decision to have "woman" be pronounced by a random. I'm not even bothered it's a man, but I'm bothered why it's not BoA haha.

In traditional BoA fashion, the video zooms in on her choreography. Of course, I'm nowhere near qualified to talk about the finer workings of said choreography, but still. I can always appreciate BoA's dancing skills and she always puts on a show. She straight up does the upside down walk in her live stages, too. As people say, BoA is your bias' bias' bias. Perhaps the title of the song has prompted my brain, but some of the moves certainly felt more "womanly" whereas BoA has usually leaned on being powerful and sharp. Nonetheless it's a strong choreography that matches pace with the song itself.

This is yet another standout release from the veteran. BoA delivers style, charisma, and personality in this dance number and it's another installment in her large library of success. The industry will not slow her down, new debuts will not slow her down, and time definitely will not slow her down. BoA will be synonymous with Kpop until the end of time. Long live the queen.