Who: Goo Hara (of KARA)

Genre: Pop

Tracklist:

1. 어때? (Feat. 허영지)

2. 초코칩쿠키 (Feat. 기리보이) [TITLE]

3. La La La (featuring Matthew)

4. 하라구

5. Rainy Day

6. 초코칩쿠키 (Inst) [not reviewed]

Hara Goo is here!

초코칩쿠키 (Feat. 기리보이) [TITLE]: So let's get this out of the way: Hara is not the strongest of singers. She isn't awful, she's just not an idol I would have given a solo. This song sort of reflects her limited range, and though the chorus is actually a little catchy (seriously, I'm glad I have chocolate chip cookies nearby because I'll be singing "Choco chip cookie" for the rest of the day), her vocals aren't remarkable. Giriboy is the highlight of this song, and honestly, if this had been his song and Hara was featuring, I feel like this would be a much better song. Still, check out the music video!

La La La (featuring Matthew): First of all, I must ask: Matthew who? I realize "Matthew isn't a common name in South Korea, but where I'm from, it seems every other guy is named Matthew, and apparently one of them got a feature on Goo Hara's solo album and ruined the song. I was actually liking this song until his part. Seriously, the whole time he was rapping, I thought "Give me 

Hara back!" and then his "Are you going to ride with me or just tease me?" nearly made me throw up. Dude sounds like an awful person and an awful rapper. Hara deserved better than that. That was absolute crap, Matthew Whoever-You-Are.

하라구: Okay, so the wordplay here is pretty cool. It's her name! But it also means something! However, this feels eerily similar to Hyuna's "Bubble Pop" and "Hyuna is Red." I like the song, but I just couldn't shake the feeling that Hyuna had done this first. It's light and fast and fun, and I enjoyed the ride, but I have to take points for feeling like a Hyuna rip-off song. Sorry, Hara Goo.

Rainy Day: Okay so who's the guy in this song? I really like the song, but I can't find his name anywhere... This song is cute--and it's something anyone can easily listen to. It's actually my favorite song off of the album. The best part about this song is that the lyrics were actually written by Seungyeon, a member of Hara's group, Kara. I love that, probably more than I like the song. Still, it's a good way to end this mini-album which wasn't particularly strong.

Overall: It wasn't the greatest album ever, but it wasn't the worst either. It wasn't very remarkable as a solo debut, which is unfortunate, especially since Kara was at one point one of the best girl groups in Korea. They've struggled lately, and I don't think Hara's solo album has helped very much, sadly. For fans that have been around for a while, maybe this album is good, but for someone who hasn't, this mini-album wasn't one that will be remembered greatly.

Score: 3.2/5