Let's face it, EXID are trendsetters. There is no way to argue that point. It really doesn't matter that they come from a small company or that they don't have the largest Daum fancafe. Everyone pays attention to EXID, whether they intend to or not. I see "Up & Down" performed so often by street performers that I'm kind of glad I wasn't in Korea during the height of the "Up & Down" resurgence. I like the song, but every street dance performance I've seen involves that song--I can't imagine walking through Sinchon a year ago. I love that this comeback aligns itself with the 1 year anniversary of the return of "Up & Down."
As trend setters, EXID are under a lot of pressure to deliver now, and their first comeback after their explosion in popularity was designed to please those that wanted a sequel to "Up & Down," but had they did that again with this comeback, they'd be in danger of losing their relevance. "Up & Down" made them popular, but people get bored if they hear the same song over and over again.
"Hot Pink" is not only a song meant to reacquaint the public with EXID's sound, but it also serves as a rebalancing. Because their sudden surge in popularity was mostly due to a single member, the first comeback after was a little lopsided in parts to her. "Hot Pink," however, evens things back out a little, which in my opinion, is a good thing. there are some other groups that got really popular very quickly due to a single member that still haven't figured out that spreading the love is a good strategy.
In my opinion, "Hot Pink" is an EXID song. If I had been given a demo of this song and asked "which group would do well with this song," one of the first groups to come to mind would be EXID. The song isn't lacking in quality, and it has that EXID "catchy repetition" thing everyone fell for. My only problem stems from the fact that it seems to be going in many directions at once musically, and I'm going to put that down to how many people wrote/produced this song (5 people wrote lyrics, and 4 composed). There is such a thing as too many cooks in a kitchen, and I think this could have been better without so many hands. However, it could have been SO MUCH worse, so at least there's that.
Overall, "Hot Pink" is a good song. Catchy, strong vocally, and in a weird way, kind of cute. It could have been better, sure--but it looks like quality songs like "Up & Down" aren't a fluke for EXID, and I'm betting this song will do well for them.
PS: EXID's earlier songs are really good as well--don't forget them.
B.A.P is back and I'm not crying, I've just got something in my eye, I swear.
1. Take You There: When B.A.P debuted, the introductory songs were typically powerful declarations of control and domination. This song is distinctly different--it sounds like it could have been just another song on the mini-album, and though I like the song, its placement as the first song you hear has me me scratching my head. I had expected powerful, and I got a medium-tempo song, that, all things aside, is a pretty solid song. It just isn't the intro song I had been anticipating for a year and change. I'll take it and cherish it though, because it's been a while I've heard these voices in this way. In addition, even though I expected a typical, B.A.P intro song, I feel like having this song as the first song on the album shows that despite what they've been through in the last year, they've been maturing as a group. I've seen groups come back after long hiatuses picking up as though no time has passed, and that doesn't seem right. These guys are older, more mature than they were a year ago, and stepping away from what would have been expected of them even a year ago in terms of intro songs shows that even though time has passed, they haven't been taking a break from their music. They've grown, and it's good to see.
2. Monologue: Yep, I'm still confused by the order. I understand that having this track first would be really strange--no one wants to start an album with a monologue. Nobody even wants to start a lecture with a monologue, and lectures are typically monologues. I'd say the only reason I'm confused about the order is why they chose "Take You There" to start the album over any of the others--perhaps that'll become clear once I get to them, and if you know the answer, please let me know! Now while I'm confused over song order, I'm also not sure how I feel about this monologue. On one hand, I feel like it would be really weird if they didn't address the fact that they were facing problems for the time that they were gone--I mean it's not like it was a secret. Some groups have been able to deal with internal issues without publicity (I assume there are some problems whenever an artist takes a while to make a comeback; any non-working artist isn't profitable and profit is the only thing companies care about in the end), but B.A.P had a pretty public blowing out, and it needs to be acknowledged. However, I typically don't like monologues, and I think it would have been okay had this "song" not been included. I would not expect a lot of other artists to include something like this beyond "A-yo we're back!" or something, but as I said earlier, B.A.P has matured and they're telling people that (literally). And I will say the latter half of the90 seconds makes me excited for the title song....
3. Young, Wild & Free: I'm going to have to apologize: I promise the score I give them for this song is not based on my emotional reaction, but I'm going to have to admit to the fact that I cried watching the music video. Not ugly tears, it was just seeing the symbolism all throughout it that got to me. It's blatant and it's everywhere, and I love it. I got emotional. Now for the music! First of all, I realize that this song is very B.A.P, if that makes sense. They've always loved songs about freedom and breaking away and all of that, and while this one means so much more, I'm going to have to consider the fact that this is a common theme for them. It works for them, but still; they can (and have had) singles about other things. They won't lose too many points because one thing all these songs with similar themes is show just how much they've matured (yet again)--Jongup has come into his own, Youngjae and Daehyun have balanced out, Zelo has grown up (in all the ways), and Himchan and Yongguk have matured as leaders, and you can hear it. I particularly enjoy Jongup's growth, because I feel like he tended to be forgotten about by some. The song does show the growth of the group, and the meaning behind it is immense, however, it could be better. It sounds a little too similar to their previous releases for my taste. I'll probably listen to it for a while though, if we're being honest. Watch the music video here!
4. Be Happy: Sounds like someone's been listening to "Uptown Funk" a lot, Bang Yongguk. Don't get me wrong, this song is good, but if anyone can't hear the obvious "Uptown Funk" influence (note: I'm talking influence, not plagiarism. Since this year the Korean music seems to have problems seeing that line), I'm not sure where they've been for a year (almost exactly, actually). The guys all sound good, and I'm glad they have a happy song on this mini-album, but all my brain keeps doing is repeating "You've heard this a million times before." Also, the lyrics read more like an interlude that's been stretched a little too long. Had this only been a minute long or so, I feel like I wouldn't be as put on guard by this song. Good song, just very familiar.
5. Blind: I like this sound on B.A.P. It plays with the rock vocals both Daehyun and Youngjae are good at, but it's still hard enough that the rougher voices, all the way to the distinctive, beautifully sandpapery rapping of Yongguk, can be appreciated. I hope we end up hearing more like this from B.A.P--I like the idea of them alternating between rap/hip-hop and rock for their career. Just before they went on their sort-of hiatus, it sort of seemed that they were headed that way with releases like "1004," but they were unfortunately interrupted. That being said, I feel like this song isn't something from 6 months ago. It's like I accidentally skipped a year of B.A.P releases, instead of them just not being around, if that makes sense. To make it clearer, what I'm trying to say is that it doesn't feel like the group was put on pause; they didn't stop being B.A.P during their break, they just didn't let us hear the music they were coming up with. That's what it feels like. And I feel like that's one of the messages they're trying to tell us with this album: despite not being in the public eye, they were never NOT B.A.P.
Overall: A good mini-album. Emotions aside, it could certainly be better. But the message is clear: B.A.P is back.
