BTS (방탄소년단) - Blood Sweat & Tears (피 땀 눈물)
After an extraordinary year that has included two headlining-arena dates for KCON 2016 as well as two albums featured in the Billboard 200, BTS has made sure they are still at the top with their lead single, 'Blood Sweat & Tears' for their second full-length album, Wings, that was officially released on October 10th 2016. With the single's MV almost as 88,000,000 views on Youtube, the song features the emotional, falsetto vocals of the group's singers, Jimin, Jungkook V & Jin which are then contrasted by the tough-yet-delicate grunts of the verses from rappers Suga, Rap Monster and J-Hope. These graceful tones are juxtaposed with the electronic-dance breakdown at every chorus.
The beautiful, melancholic vocals and raps fit perfection with the MV with their artistic theme; many theories have been made about the meaning of the MV with one of the most common ones being about the book, Demian by Hermann Hesse where Sinclair (Jin) makes a deal with the devil (V) and seals it with a kiss (referring to the scene when Jin kisses the stone statue).Suga has said that in their songs, the rappers have an order of 1, 2 and 3, with J-Hope rapping last. Rap Monster and Suga have deep voices, so when J-hope raps, it's full of hope.
Wings is a new era for BTS as the album flew to No. 1 on the overall U.S. iTunes Top Albums chart as well as 'Blood Sweat & Tears' in the overall Top Singles chart as Top 30. Not only that but the members Wings is a new era for BTS as the album flew to No. 1 on the overall U.S. iTunes Top Albums chart as well as 'Blood Sweat & Tears' in the overall Top Singles chart as Top 30. Not only that but the members have also explained how this 15-track album means a lot to them since each member has a solo song in it along with the fourth iteration of their 'BTS Cypher' tracks, 'Cypher (P.t) 4'. They have already announced a comeback, Wings: You Never Walk Alone for February 13th 2017 and have just released new concept photoshoots for the two album versions, 'Left' & 'Right'. BTS are also still to add more dates for their Wings Tour; to the group, this is only the beginning of a whole new era.
ZICO (지코) - BERMUDA TRIANGLE (Feat. Crush, DEAN)
Just like a bermuda triangle, Zico, Crush and Dean really do form the dopest trio proven by this track 'Bermuda Triangle', released on November 28th 2016. Although the song is fairly new, Zico flew to South Korea's real-time music charts Monday in less than 12 hours of its release; Crush and Dean have helped the song receive so much attention with the MV having more than 15,000,000 views on Youtube.
Before Zico released 'Bermuda Triangle', he was seen at the Melon Music Awards 2016 where he won the Hot Trend Award and the Rap/HipHop award; he also performed in London for Men's Fashion Week 2016 in November. With his effortlessly cool vibe, Zico gives it all with his rapping. Against the heavy beat and bass of 'Bermuda Triangle', his buoyant style matches it perfectly. Crush has been a big name in Korean R&B for a while now however Dean has been imprinting himself in the South Korean music industry much more recently as well as turning into an international star in 2016 with the release of his first EP, '130 Mood: TRBL'.
With the work of some of the coolest names in Kpop, we were given 'Bermuda Triangle'. Not only was this collaboration and song perfect, but we as an audience get to experience legitimate street credit, something that is rarely found in Kpop. Each part of the song fits the artist who is rapping/singing like a glove. Deans opens and closes the track from the awesome hook to the closing of the menacing beat. Crush is rougher and takes up the middle portion. The contrast of these artists and parts of the song helps keep 'Bermuda Triangle' dynamic. The overall beat has multiple layers, making it dark, deep and intimidating, just like the artists.
BIGBANG - BANG BANG BANG (뱅뱅뱅)
During 2015, BIGBANG were releasing MVs at the incredible rate of two per month and along came 'Bang Bang Bang'. Even with the astounding amount of MVs they were releasing, the quality of them were awesome, proven by this third release from the MADE project in particular. From the numerous locations to the outfits, this MV is a classic representation of modern Kpop. It begins with quirky camera spin and disorientation, zooming into the first member's part. This continues throughout the MV, jumping from member to member until they unite for the chorus.
Overall, 'Bang Bang Bang' recieved extremely positive reviews from critics. Fuse praised the MV, "an over-the-top affair, with the guys rocking a slew of wild looks, hairdos and fashion in a neon-tinged world."
Billboard also called the track a banger, praising every single look and making it the biggest Kpop song of 2015 in the World Digital Songs chart. Stereogum ranked it the 14th best music video of the year being the only non-English song on the list. It's MV was the most viewed K-pop group video of 2015, second of all time behind their own 'Fantastic Baby'. The choreography, by Parris Geobel, was one of the most popular dances in 2015. Not only that, but the track was even chosen by the South Korean government for a part of the loudspeaker propaganda broadcast into North Korea borders, in response to the January 2016 Nuclear tests.
BLACKPINK (블랙핑크) - BOOMBAYAH (붐바야)
YG Entertainment teased Kpop fans for months of an upcoming new Kpop girl group, and since it has been almost seven years since they debuted a Kpop girl group with the last being 2NE1, a four-member group including CL, Dara, Bom and Minzy, the news was enormous in the Kpop community. Although fans couldn't wait for BLACKPINK's debut, the entertainment label did all they could to build the hype with numerous teaser photos of the members Jennie, Jisoo, Lisa and Rose.
YG enertainment eventually revealed BLACKPINK's debut through a series of teaser images and two songs, 'Whistle' and 'Boombayah'. Needless to say, the newly-debuted girl group exploded the Kpop community. Without having to go into extreme detail of the MV, the vibe and style is almost identical to 2NE1's which caused controversy as many fans compared the two four-membered groups, being biased to the group they preferred and creating hate to the other. Technically, this was done on purpose by YG Entertainment to express that the feel 2NE1 has was not exclusive to them, but to make all groups that are signed to YG Entertainment stand out as a whole from other Kpop artists that are signed under other labels. The Korean news outlet, Naver, reported that the CEO of YG Entertainment said that he did not try to differentiate the two groups. Either way, both groups have their own fame, fan base, albums and members.
“We didn’t try too hard to create a difference between Black Pink and 2NE1. It was the same when we created 2NE1. YG has its own unique sound so we focused on making the music sound the most like us.”
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