[Blog] The Soloist J-Trinity

Today is a short and light blog post that sort of doubles as a spotlight-esque article. We'll see how I feel about it and go from there if I have similar ideas in the future. We all know the J-Trinity that is Twice's Mina, Momo, and Sana. But there's another trio of J's who are nowhere near as popular or discovered, and that's a damn shame. These three are all underrated soloists that don't get anywhere near as much love as they deserve, for reasons (mostly) beyond my understanding.

[Bonus] Best Of 2014 (#20-#17)

2014 was not a kind year for Kpop, as I'm sure most of you know. Contract terminations, lawsuits, drama, and member changes were ripe all year round, and we saw staple giants like Girls' Generation crumble and rising stars B.A.P suffer all of these conditions. The Kpop shenanigans were certainly at an all-time high, but not to be forgotten were the music releases. This year, I originally had a list of 12 songs, with an Honorable Mentions group, but that category grew to 8 songs, so I figured I'd consolidate all the songs into one premier list of 20. This year's list is all over the place, partly because of having more songs and partly because that's pretty much how this year went down. So here we go!

20. Sistar - I Swear

While Sistar's "Touch My Body" didn't have the same type of impact as previous summer releases. "I Swear" more than made up for that. With a solid base in the music video, which followed the girls' trip to Saipan, Sistar delivers a bright and happy "I Swear," spearheaded by none other than Hyorin's divine vocals. Seriously, her work in this song cannot be understated. Still, Soyu and Dasom make ends meet with support vocals (especially during the bridge), and Bora's rap, while a bit grating with aegyo, is still solid. It's a rather weak finish this year for Sistar, considering they clocked in within the top 10 the last 2 years, but nonetheless, they're going to be a prime group in 2015.

19. J-Min - Shine

J-Min was finally brought out of the S.M. dungeons this year after having worked in Japan. I was tempted to pick one of her Japanese works like "Sorry" but I'm being true to the Kpop name and only picking Korean songs. It's a solid number, however I can't help but think that "Shine" pales in comparison to "If You Want," but that's probably an unfair assessment. I think the instrumental is a little too loud and messy, which obstructs J-Min's incredible voice. That being said, however, J-Min's delivery is still flawless and the song as a whole is a lovely trip down memory lane to the older days of pop rock that first drew me in.

18. KARA - Mamma Mia

KARA suffered from losing Jiyoung and Nicole, but really made a statement with the addition of Youngji and "Mamma Mia." This type of high energy vocals is right up KARA's alley with Seungyeon and Gyuri. Even Hara and Youngji made waves for their work as well. I'm a bit displeased with the scattered English, and it made the song weaker without fluent pronunciation from Nicole, but man the MV was all sorts of eye candy and the choreography was pretty good, and pretty pretty. Personally, I was really interested in what direction KARA would take after another roster shuffle, but with the hilarious Youngji (literally never stops laughing) the changes were handled rather splendidly.

17. CL - MTBD

When I first saw this song on the "Crush" tracklist, I clicked with caution. After all, I wasn't impressed with the "Baddest Female" era that CL seemingly has herself wrapped in, but man was I pleasantly surprised. This song is all of what CL was that first attracted me to her style. Her charisma is still on point, lyrics and delivery are smooth and the instrumental is beast. The quality of this "MTBD" is so high that if this was released circa 2009 (the "To Anyone" era) this would've easily been a top song then, too. "MTBD" signals a return to form for CL, and I hope that her foray into the American market will have more of this and less of the "Baddest Female."

[Bonus] Best Of 2012 (#8-#5)

8. Seungyeon - Guilty

By leaps and bounds, Seungyeon’s “Guilty” outplayed all the individual songs by the other members of KARA, and is good enough to find itself at #8. Seungyeon’s voice was a little underwhelming for some parts but very strong otherwise, and the high note is very clean. The instrumentals were also excellent, especially during the parts where the intense bass and strings brought a delightful contrast to Seungyeon’s whispering. For bonus, the music video was also beautifully crafted. The scenery and effects were awesome, Seungyeon looked awesome, and the use of explosions at the chorus were awesome.

7. J-Min - Stand Up

The decision between whether Seungyeon or J-Min would rank 7th was my most difficult decision in this review. Yeah, it’s merely OST work, but J-Min’s voice is probably one of the best to sync this style of music, and the ending was swift and strong. While the ending of “Guilty” was more dramatic, this had better execution. J-Min’s high notes and power notes do not fail to disappoint, and she used energy to stand more apart from the instrumental, whereas Seungyeon’s soothing notes blended. The guitar solo / instrumental was classy, and while the music video paled in comparison to “Guilty” save for Jungmo’s appearance, keep in mind “Stand Up” is just a OST and, this isn’t a rank of music videos to begin with.

6. Psy - Gangnam Style

Yes, the Gangnam phenomenon is crazily overhyped by now, but I feel neglecting a song that has become Youtube’s most viewed ever, and brought more knowledge of Psy who was rather quiet seems unreasonable. At least placing “Gangnam Style” in the upper half does it justice if only for sheer popularity. But you’re forgetting this song is hilarious, too. Psy’s heartful rapping and singing will bring smiles to your face as you watch it alongside the music video, and my what a glorious music video. Quite simply one of the best if not the best MV I have ever laid eyes upon. One billion views have been reached, what is next?

5. Girls’ Generation 태티서 - Twinkle

S.M. proved whether it’s 9 or 3, or anything in between, SNSD will always be on the top. The first variant of the subunit system delivered a delightfully catchy pop song with excellent showing from the main vocalists Taeyeon, Tiffany, and Seohyun. It’s lighter than “Genie” but more serious than “Gee”, and the choreography is pretty cute and catchy, too. Taeyeon is nothing short of perfection, Tiffany absolutely killed it with her low husky adlibs, and I’m one of many shocked by maknae’s fierceness and charisma. The belts were so obviously strained but is only a minor error in light of such a nice song. The next subunit has some shoes to fill, in the footsteps of “Twinkle”, but I believe the members will bring more than enough hype for the song.