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yestoday*I didn't plan anything out; this ended up being a long ramble on more subjects than I expected. Like I swear to god, I didn't even know it was possible to have this much to say about a dead duo who don't talk to each other with nine total songs and minimal content together (and most of the ones that do exist I haven't even watched anyway). To make it easier to read for my own sake, I separated it into sections by numbers and bolded the... uh, well, what comes closest to being a topic paragraph for whatever my brain moved onto during that juncture.
[1] —— Now is, like, a million times better than Trouble Maker in every aspect: the song, the choreography, the MV, the styling, even the B-sides on Chemistry. But I can't get myself to say 'I wish they debuted with that' or 'I wish that one the one that went viral' because Trouble Maker itself just holds too much eminence in on its own.
I think much of it has to do with the name itself. It works well that the song and the artist names are eponymous; it's more memorable that way, of course.
(It's also way less of a generic title than just simply 'Now'. I sincerely wish Cube just translated the Korean title—who's idea was it to call the song 'Now' when you could have 'No Tomorrow'? Eunkwang would do better. Notice how the majority of Cube artist songs started getting more interesting titles when Eunkwang became director? Sorry. That's not even true. I have no idea what I was trying to say. I have not gotten over five hours of sleep in a week. But either way, I think this was enough to prove my inherent beef with basic song titles is never ever going away.)
It's just that I have this feeling that the world as we know it would not at all be the same today if the pair dropped Now instead of Trouble Maker first, so no matter how exponential of a degree I adore Now, I cannot ever imagine Trouble Maker being replaced. That debut held a very unique and eldritch power that shifted a massive force in the universe and spun our measly planet's fate away from a an unknown, yet undoubtedly near, utter destruction. I have this very realistic vision playing out in my head right now of going back in time to late 2011 with Now.mp4 on a flash drive and anonymously sending it disguised as fanmail to predebut slayqueen LE right before she meets up with the bros to begin composing for the new Cube commission and time-traveling back to the present to be greeted with a completely dystopian reality.
Yeah, no—Trouble Maker has to be one of the foundational pillars of our dimension. I know for a fact the existence of this piece is somewhere in a subliminal plane preventing a break in laws of physics. She strenuously upholds the boundaries universes parallel to us every day. Working her ass off every day keeping our reality from colliding into a calamitous destiny; we should be be worshipping her.
Once again, I have no idea what that meant.
[2] —— I've also completely forgotten what direction this post was meant to go in, so I'm just going to keep going. Let's talk about the alluring contrast in concepts of these darling motherfuckers' two total releases of their expectedly short-lived career together.
The concepts are another one of the elements that aided me in coming to the conclusion that Now was truly better in every way. They're vastly different, almost on polar ends of the 'sexy fatal duo—fatal, as in both figuratively and literally' spectrum. And I relish both of them. The appeal is out of this world and whoever was responsible for coming up with these deserves to have their ass ate. Obviously, I'm aware both tropes are sufficiently cliché; I don't mean I think the creative director behind this should get their ass ate for being original. I'm more enthralled by their idea of bringing to life both of these concepts with Hyuna and Hyunseung specifically. They did so well planning it out for a three minute song and integrating the vibe into the performance aspect of it.
I'm not sure whether the stark distinction between the concepts of their two albums was intentional or not, but I am so happy with it. Since I am a known lore geek, who loves music and stories and puzzles to be solved and especially music with stories with missing pieces to be discovered or created on your own, it's a given I would be drawn to these MVs in some way. Trouble Maker's were on the less challenging side of music video stories to figure out, yet the opposite of less interesting. The plots are fairly straightforward, and, as mentioned before, pretty cliché. Some groups have a continuation of lore throughout their MVs. Theirs do not. It's evident these two are not related (or are they?), so I don't have to worry about that (or do I? In this essay, I will discuss the representation of reincarnation and parallel timelines in-).
The seemingly uncomplicated plot for both music videos is great for the general audience wanting to watch a music video to watch a music video. You know, anyone non-insane and with a head not filled with an insatiable desire to link and expand and weave something out of interesting material. So people other than me. But god, what I see from the MV is that what is bluntly shown is only the surface! And the base story it gives is a fantastic jumpstart for inspiration. As per everyone, I latch onto snippets of story that resonate with me, my tastes, personally, which both of these happen to do (but Now more so).
So it gives the general plot in the MVs, but to me the more significant part is the vibe, the feeling, the energy, the atmosphere to envelops me in. I mentioned the spectrum of this concept earlier. Trouble Maker is the high profile, the upper-class scandal, the hitmen and blackmail, the sinister parties, the elite figures who have close underground ties to vile factions, the endless games of cat and mouse—the manipulation, mansplaining, malewives; it's also the shitty flames CGI. Now is the middle of nowhere, the shady nightclubs and questionable one night stands, the alcohol and cigarettes and having done every strain of drug, the petty crimes and maybe a little beyond, the long and complicated relationship, the intoxicating freedom—the gaslighting, gatekeeping, girlbossing; it's also the fried hair dye jobs.
And so, with the lore provided and the intense, crazy, delicious pure vibes (as elaborated upon above) it delivers to me, my brain starts popping off with endless shit—most of which is incomprehensible, at least if I ever tried to write it down—but it's so good to me. By this I mean, glimpses of extra scenes and blurry images of backstory (that I made up; manifested from the raw vibes alone) flash through my head, not even as a whole thought, or a fully fledged out picture, but rather more of an abstract gradient of color that blossoms in my mind? Only those tones contain meaning that only I can understand, and sometimes even for me it has to be while I'm in the headspace the song and its aesthetic enshrouds me in.
'Just enjoy the damn song and the sexy people?' I'm trying! Sorry for being insane. I can't help it. But either way, this doesn't make me enjoy the song nor the sexy people any less—if anything it just amplifies the how hard it already hits.
[3] —— Speaking of sexy people, this pairing becomes such a surreal combo the more you know. Trouble Maker is so funny, because encountering their hit music video without context is a vastly different experience than knowing exactly who these bitches are, where they're from, and their career histories.
It's "oh look, two good looking singers making a sexy song together" versus "that is THE Kim Hyuna of 4Minute, with a run in Wonder Girls for five seconds, who eventually turned out to be one of the best selling female solos and committing the most impactful dating scandal to ever hit the modern K-Pop generation because of her blossoming crush on a dude who debuted with a bowlcut, and THE Jang Hyunseung, sole Cube apologist of BEAST and most extra stage hype man of the 2010s."
Anyway. Because of how they're promoted, it's unarguably easy to speculate the members are involved romantically outside of the job, especially when you have no beforehand knowledge of K-Pop and how the industry runs. I remember vividly, when I was around eight, my friend showed me Trouble Maker MV for shits and giggles. We were both snickering and 'ooh'-ing over it like it's the most scandalous thing ever. (I mean, I guess it pretty much was for us back then.) I remember smirking to her, "Oooooh... are they married?" She most likely shrugged, just as clueless, and couldn't give less of a fuck. I most likely did a quick Google search, found their Wikipedia, skimmed the first paragraph, got bored, and decided I couldn't give less of a fuck. It was precisely because I was young and had instilled heteronormative tunnel vision, but I don't doubt that if I saw it for the first time today without the background I have now, I would have assumed they were at least dating in real life, as well!
(I faintly recall her showing me some Hyuna music videos as well. She showed me Bubble Pop for sure, and the Hyuna version of Gangnam Style. Possibly Ice Cream was in the mix as well, depending on how close to the timeframe my memory supplied. "I don't know, Korean stuff. I just found it on YouTube," she had told me. That was my first encounter with Hyuna. And who knew! Eight more years later, she would hold such an important spot in my life and my primary—only lasting—area of interest.
(Hold on... I thought back and, if I was eight, that means it was 2012. Trouble Maker had only been out for a year. Now wasn't even a thing yet. Oh my god, that is insane. I don't want to dwell on that any longer; I'm feeling nauseous, guys...)
In the comments of Trouble Maker performances, you're almost certain to find several gushing about their "chemistry" and how well they suit each other and how they want them to date for real. I always crack a giggle at those, sorry, sorry, sorry. Ahem. They are good performers, YES. But chemistry... chemistry hmm? These motherfuckers are awkward as SHIT. It is absolutely hilarious, and I love them for it. It's the peak of entertainment and, in a more obscure way, can reflect the prowess of their artistry. Allow me to elaborate.
When I was having a desperate craving of that Now MV vibe, I looked up the behind the scenes video on a quest to scrape up as many crumbs as I could. It was a short video; Cube did not put much effort into these things back then. And by the end, I was too busy cracking up at how ironically awkward and quiet they were to remember the reason why I was there in the first place. It was giving a Business Partners a little too much; like damn, not even a little fanservice or anything for the behind filming? Good for them, good for them! I respect the coworker hustle and nothing beyond that—until the dreaded variety shows.
Recently, I watched a bit of their 2013 guesting on A Song For You, the one with Jo Kwon as the host, and it was giving the same thing, only they had to force out a little more to keep the viewership incoming and their paychecks secured. Jo Kwon was also really fighting for their lives here. I appreciate how professional the two are with their answers—maybe Cube told them to keep it ambiguous, or maybe they can't help themselves to answer so rigidly, strictly sticking to discussing their work during the production of the album, with no extra fluff. So, it's honestly nice to see them staying above the level of discomfort (I would rather their awkwardness palpably seep through than them going above and beyond faking it), but they are still skillfully throwing out enough hooks for the fans who are looking for the couple fanservice to be baited by and maintaining their interest. I personally admire their talent to be able to find that balance between the two and sustain it so well. The lack of anecdotes can even be taken as 'mysterious' for the delusional people they semi-cater towards! It's perfect idolism!
I've got to give it to them that, despite not being able to completely conceal the awkwardness off-stage, they are able to create such a tightly-weaved illusion and deceive so many people—because of both their excellent energy while performing (the ability to get into character dexterously), and just their overall hotness because everyone loves shipping two hot people. Their face cards were the icing on the cake. I love it. They're so good at their craft in every aspect.
To sum it up, they work really well together on stage because of sheer talent and presence and their mastery at utilizing it. That's where all of the 'chemistry' is coming from. It's wholly surface level! But for people who are only looking for the surface level content, it can seem smashingly real. When they have to talk about each other, however, it's pretty damn clear that they interact minimally outside of the job; they do not know each other lmfao. And that's exactly what makes them so much more impressive to me! As Hyuna said in A Song For You, "I wanted people to be attracted to us, and that's what we wanted to express." And express that flawlessly they did! You got the whole world whipped for you two within a song and a half. If that's not amazing, I don't know what is.
Cube would be glad to see those comments though—see that their masterplan is in all respects effective as can be.
I like to imagine the silly little blue block agency CEO scanning their then-current artist lineup, scratching his chin. Laying his eyes on two of their most certain all-rounders, he points contemporaneously to the renown face of 4Minute and the extra camp Performer (with a capital P) from BEAST, "You're sexy, and you're sexy. Boom!" Then, he turns happily to the stressed out secretary, "Future dual slayage plans just dropped!"
[4] —— Anyway, with all this talk about chemistry, let us make our final shift in attention to their best (only) comeback album called, well, just that. Chemistry. Honestly, a super cool title. (Maybe they should've given that name to Now, or something, I don't know. Anything but that boring ass song title.) I wanted to finish this off with a little album review for the fuck of it. I sincerely hope this won't be too long. Pray for me to not get carried away again. It has already taken me four sittings of writing to get to this place.
Okay, I'm going to speedrun this. Brief paragraph for each track and a The Bias List style rating. Sonic speed, because I need to take my damn physics notes soon.
[1] —— Now is, like, a million times better than Trouble Maker in every aspect: the song, the choreography, the MV, the styling, even the B-sides on Chemistry. But I can't get myself to say 'I wish they debuted with that' or 'I wish that one the one that went viral' because Trouble Maker itself just holds too much eminence in on its own.
I think much of it has to do with the name itself. It works well that the song and the artist names are eponymous; it's more memorable that way, of course.
(It's also way less of a generic title than just simply 'Now'. I sincerely wish Cube just translated the Korean title—who's idea was it to call the song 'Now' when you could have 'No Tomorrow'? Eunkwang would do better. Notice how the majority of Cube artist songs started getting more interesting titles when Eunkwang became director? Sorry. That's not even true. I have no idea what I was trying to say. I have not gotten over five hours of sleep in a week. But either way, I think this was enough to prove my inherent beef with basic song titles is never ever going away.)
It's just that I have this feeling that the world as we know it would not at all be the same today if the pair dropped Now instead of Trouble Maker first, so no matter how exponential of a degree I adore Now, I cannot ever imagine Trouble Maker being replaced. That debut held a very unique and eldritch power that shifted a massive force in the universe and spun our measly planet's fate away from a an unknown, yet undoubtedly near, utter destruction. I have this very realistic vision playing out in my head right now of going back in time to late 2011 with Now.mp4 on a flash drive and anonymously sending it disguised as fanmail to predebut slayqueen LE right before she meets up with the bros to begin composing for the new Cube commission and time-traveling back to the present to be greeted with a completely dystopian reality.
Yeah, no—Trouble Maker has to be one of the foundational pillars of our dimension. I know for a fact the existence of this piece is somewhere in a subliminal plane preventing a break in laws of physics. She strenuously upholds the boundaries universes parallel to us every day. Working her ass off every day keeping our reality from colliding into a calamitous destiny; we should be be worshipping her.
Once again, I have no idea what that meant.
[2] —— I've also completely forgotten what direction this post was meant to go in, so I'm just going to keep going. Let's talk about the alluring contrast in concepts of these darling motherfuckers' two total releases of their expectedly short-lived career together.
The concepts are another one of the elements that aided me in coming to the conclusion that Now was truly better in every way. They're vastly different, almost on polar ends of the 'sexy fatal duo—fatal, as in both figuratively and literally' spectrum. And I relish both of them. The appeal is out of this world and whoever was responsible for coming up with these deserves to have their ass ate. Obviously, I'm aware both tropes are sufficiently cliché; I don't mean I think the creative director behind this should get their ass ate for being original. I'm more enthralled by their idea of bringing to life both of these concepts with Hyuna and Hyunseung specifically. They did so well planning it out for a three minute song and integrating the vibe into the performance aspect of it.
I'm not sure whether the stark distinction between the concepts of their two albums was intentional or not, but I am so happy with it. Since I am a known lore geek, who loves music and stories and puzzles to be solved and especially music with stories with missing pieces to be discovered or created on your own, it's a given I would be drawn to these MVs in some way. Trouble Maker's were on the less challenging side of music video stories to figure out, yet the opposite of less interesting. The plots are fairly straightforward, and, as mentioned before, pretty cliché. Some groups have a continuation of lore throughout their MVs. Theirs do not. It's evident these two are not related (or are they?), so I don't have to worry about that (or do I? In this essay, I will discuss the representation of reincarnation and parallel timelines in-).
The seemingly uncomplicated plot for both music videos is great for the general audience wanting to watch a music video to watch a music video. You know, anyone non-insane and with a head not filled with an insatiable desire to link and expand and weave something out of interesting material. So people other than me. But god, what I see from the MV is that what is bluntly shown is only the surface! And the base story it gives is a fantastic jumpstart for inspiration. As per everyone, I latch onto snippets of story that resonate with me, my tastes, personally, which both of these happen to do (but Now more so).
So it gives the general plot in the MVs, but to me the more significant part is the vibe, the feeling, the energy, the atmosphere to envelops me in. I mentioned the spectrum of this concept earlier. Trouble Maker is the high profile, the upper-class scandal, the hitmen and blackmail, the sinister parties, the elite figures who have close underground ties to vile factions, the endless games of cat and mouse—the manipulation, mansplaining, malewives; it's also the shitty flames CGI. Now is the middle of nowhere, the shady nightclubs and questionable one night stands, the alcohol and cigarettes and having done every strain of drug, the petty crimes and maybe a little beyond, the long and complicated relationship, the intoxicating freedom—the gaslighting, gatekeeping, girlbossing; it's also the fried hair dye jobs.
And so, with the lore provided and the intense, crazy, delicious pure vibes (as elaborated upon above) it delivers to me, my brain starts popping off with endless shit—most of which is incomprehensible, at least if I ever tried to write it down—but it's so good to me. By this I mean, glimpses of extra scenes and blurry images of backstory (that I made up; manifested from the raw vibes alone) flash through my head, not even as a whole thought, or a fully fledged out picture, but rather more of an abstract gradient of color that blossoms in my mind? Only those tones contain meaning that only I can understand, and sometimes even for me it has to be while I'm in the headspace the song and its aesthetic enshrouds me in.
'Just enjoy the damn song and the sexy people?' I'm trying! Sorry for being insane. I can't help it. But either way, this doesn't make me enjoy the song nor the sexy people any less—if anything it just amplifies the how hard it already hits.
[3] —— Speaking of sexy people, this pairing becomes such a surreal combo the more you know. Trouble Maker is so funny, because encountering their hit music video without context is a vastly different experience than knowing exactly who these bitches are, where they're from, and their career histories.
It's "oh look, two good looking singers making a sexy song together" versus "that is THE Kim Hyuna of 4Minute, with a run in Wonder Girls for five seconds, who eventually turned out to be one of the best selling female solos and committing the most impactful dating scandal to ever hit the modern K-Pop generation because of her blossoming crush on a dude who debuted with a bowlcut, and THE Jang Hyunseung, sole Cube apologist of BEAST and most extra stage hype man of the 2010s."
Anyway. Because of how they're promoted, it's unarguably easy to speculate the members are involved romantically outside of the job, especially when you have no beforehand knowledge of K-Pop and how the industry runs. I remember vividly, when I was around eight, my friend showed me Trouble Maker MV for shits and giggles. We were both snickering and 'ooh'-ing over it like it's the most scandalous thing ever. (I mean, I guess it pretty much was for us back then.) I remember smirking to her, "Oooooh... are they married?" She most likely shrugged, just as clueless, and couldn't give less of a fuck. I most likely did a quick Google search, found their Wikipedia, skimmed the first paragraph, got bored, and decided I couldn't give less of a fuck. It was precisely because I was young and had instilled heteronormative tunnel vision, but I don't doubt that if I saw it for the first time today without the background I have now, I would have assumed they were at least dating in real life, as well!
(I faintly recall her showing me some Hyuna music videos as well. She showed me Bubble Pop for sure, and the Hyuna version of Gangnam Style. Possibly Ice Cream was in the mix as well, depending on how close to the timeframe my memory supplied. "I don't know, Korean stuff. I just found it on YouTube," she had told me. That was my first encounter with Hyuna. And who knew! Eight more years later, she would hold such an important spot in my life and my primary—only lasting—area of interest.
(Hold on... I thought back and, if I was eight, that means it was 2012. Trouble Maker had only been out for a year. Now wasn't even a thing yet. Oh my god, that is insane. I don't want to dwell on that any longer; I'm feeling nauseous, guys...)
In the comments of Trouble Maker performances, you're almost certain to find several gushing about their "chemistry" and how well they suit each other and how they want them to date for real. I always crack a giggle at those, sorry, sorry, sorry. Ahem. They are good performers, YES. But chemistry... chemistry hmm? These motherfuckers are awkward as SHIT. It is absolutely hilarious, and I love them for it. It's the peak of entertainment and, in a more obscure way, can reflect the prowess of their artistry. Allow me to elaborate.
When I was having a desperate craving of that Now MV vibe, I looked up the behind the scenes video on a quest to scrape up as many crumbs as I could. It was a short video; Cube did not put much effort into these things back then. And by the end, I was too busy cracking up at how ironically awkward and quiet they were to remember the reason why I was there in the first place. It was giving a Business Partners a little too much; like damn, not even a little fanservice or anything for the behind filming? Good for them, good for them! I respect the coworker hustle and nothing beyond that—until the dreaded variety shows.
Recently, I watched a bit of their 2013 guesting on A Song For You, the one with Jo Kwon as the host, and it was giving the same thing, only they had to force out a little more to keep the viewership incoming and their paychecks secured. Jo Kwon was also really fighting for their lives here. I appreciate how professional the two are with their answers—maybe Cube told them to keep it ambiguous, or maybe they can't help themselves to answer so rigidly, strictly sticking to discussing their work during the production of the album, with no extra fluff. So, it's honestly nice to see them staying above the level of discomfort (I would rather their awkwardness palpably seep through than them going above and beyond faking it), but they are still skillfully throwing out enough hooks for the fans who are looking for the couple fanservice to be baited by and maintaining their interest. I personally admire their talent to be able to find that balance between the two and sustain it so well. The lack of anecdotes can even be taken as 'mysterious' for the delusional people they semi-cater towards! It's perfect idolism!
I've got to give it to them that, despite not being able to completely conceal the awkwardness off-stage, they are able to create such a tightly-weaved illusion and deceive so many people—because of both their excellent energy while performing (the ability to get into character dexterously), and just their overall hotness because everyone loves shipping two hot people. Their face cards were the icing on the cake. I love it. They're so good at their craft in every aspect.
To sum it up, they work really well together on stage because of sheer talent and presence and their mastery at utilizing it. That's where all of the 'chemistry' is coming from. It's wholly surface level! But for people who are only looking for the surface level content, it can seem smashingly real. When they have to talk about each other, however, it's pretty damn clear that they interact minimally outside of the job; they do not know each other lmfao. And that's exactly what makes them so much more impressive to me! As Hyuna said in A Song For You, "I wanted people to be attracted to us, and that's what we wanted to express." And express that flawlessly they did! You got the whole world whipped for you two within a song and a half. If that's not amazing, I don't know what is.
Cube would be glad to see those comments though—see that their masterplan is in all respects effective as can be.
I like to imagine the silly little blue block agency CEO scanning their then-current artist lineup, scratching his chin. Laying his eyes on two of their most certain all-rounders, he points contemporaneously to the renown face of 4Minute and the extra camp Performer (with a capital P) from BEAST, "You're sexy, and you're sexy. Boom!" Then, he turns happily to the stressed out secretary, "Future dual slayage plans just dropped!"
[4] —— Anyway, with all this talk about chemistry, let us make our final shift in attention to their best (only) comeback album called, well, just that. Chemistry. Honestly, a super cool title. (Maybe they should've given that name to Now, or something, I don't know. Anything but that boring ass song title.) I wanted to finish this off with a little album review for the fuck of it. I sincerely hope this won't be too long. Pray for me to not get carried away again. It has already taken me four sittings of writing to get to this place.
Okay, I'm going to speedrun this. Brief paragraph for each track and a The Bias List style rating. Sonic speed, because I need to take my damn physics notes soon.
1. Volume Up. For a song with this title, I expected it to be more upbeat the first time I listened to it. Though, that impression is most likely influenced by the 4Minute hit of the same name. (Do you think Hyuna gets confused if you ask her about her song called 'Volume Up'? Just kidding, Trouble Maker's Volume Up has nothing against 4Minute's. This irrelevant B-side could never be compared to Her Majesty Volume Up by 4Minute.) While I can't say this track particularly touches my sentiment in any way, as it is a clear filler, it's an arguably good starter track for an album. Despite being the token filler ballad that all albums have, I don't think it's utterly useless. I see it as the calm before the trainwreck of a storyline the rest of the album will portray. The acoustic guitar sets a solid base mood for this album's theme: an atmosphere of distinct tenderness. It's not that bad of a song, just very mediocre compared to the songs it had the unfortunate fate of being next to.I'm done. I'm done! Bless up! Good riddance to this! Is it just me, or are these journals getting longer and longer by the second... My god, I cannot shut up. Anyway, I bid Hyuna a very good day, and well-wishes for her probably-upcoming comeback with Hyojong. I bid Hyunseung a very good day, and well-wishes for his performances on Double Trouble. I was so glad to see him on there, by the way. It was so nice to see him performing again; it's been a hot while, hasn't it? I still need to watch some more Double Trouble stages. But now, I have some stupid online textbook notes to take and BTOB content to catch up on (the latter being the more important of the two, of course).Hooks: 7
Production: 7
Longevity: 7
Bias: 7
RATING: 7
2. Now. Skipping the pleasantries; you already know what I think about this song. The chorus is catchy as hell; the sounds used in the instrumental fortify the gloriously edgy feeling that I adore. While the lyrics are disappointingly generic (I wish they alluded more specifically to the concept), the vigor this song is enriched with makes up for most of it. It's fervent; I feel like I'm truly sitting at the border of all life, legs dangling off the edge of the world—just me and my partner, holding in our hands what is our last chance. The MV delineates the sensation I get from listening pretty spot on. I see the MV as this: they are a runaway couple, living off theft and making money in less than righteous ways. They do what they want and pride on never having been caught, but as a result of that accomplishment, can't stay in one place for a long time. They have no attachments to anyone besides each other, but that doesn't mean they can't go out and have their individual fun. While committing crimes is fused into their lifestyle like any other daily activity, they have never, ever killed. When Hyunseung gets tempted by money, he breaks their one moral code. Hyuna, appalled by him, lashes out and departs. And from here, they both have to figure out where to draw the line between love and ethics. They know that wherever their final destination is, it will always be together. So, at the emblematic edge of the world, where two people whose only purpose is each other linger face to face, with their souls on the line, will reconciliation be able stitch back together the gaping tear in the fabric of the quintessence? Or will it befall them like a comet to bring the end of all endings?
Okay. Getting a little side tracked. Anyway, I love the melody. I love the verses—surprisingly, more than the hook for once (by 'hook,' I'm referring to the "Tell me now, now, now, now" part). I love the backing music—the definite intensity, amplified creatively by the strings I noticed that were so cleverly integrated. I always treasure my little orchestral touches in electronic songs. Along with that, I have also always had this special attraction to songs in minor keys, as I'm sure many others do as well. The enigmatic flourish this song is executed with stimulates just the right spots in my brain, the near right amount.
On another unrelated note, while watching one of their Music Core stages for this, I looked at the lyrics in the left corner at the right time to notice the pun with "내일은" and "내 이름" in Hyuna's second verse for the first time, and for some reason that affected me deeply at that sleep deprived moment. So, now I have a unique appreciation for that verse for no reason. When I'm playing the song and that segment draws near, a subconscious attentiveness emerges, and I suddenly focus excessively on listening for that part. Perhaps, I just need to get a life.Hooks: 9
Production: 9.5
Longevity: 9
Bias: 9.5
RATING: 9.25
3. Player (feat. HyunA). I know it's supposed to be a Hyunseung solo where Hyuna raps a bit, but I find it funny it that says it's 'featuring HyunA' while being on the Trouble Maker album. At least Hyuna's solo track features someone that's, you know, not the person she's been singing with the whole rest of this album. Anyway, Player is not the type of song that speaks to me, but at least it's not a boring filler ballad. I think it belongs in the same genre as The Back of My Hand Brushes Against by Teen Top—hopeful electropop ballads? (The difference between the two being that I do enjoy the Teen Top song a lot, shockingly!) Would it be bad to say that Hyuna's part is my favorite section of this whole song? The faraway guitar solo at her verse is very pretty and her voice in a lower register rapping over it gives a dreamy effect. I swear, I love Hyunseung too, but literally 90% of his other solos go harder than this.Hooks: 7.25
Production: 7.5
Longevity: 7
Bias: 7.25
RATING: 7.25
4. Attention. This cunty banger. This incel bop. This himbo anthem. Oh, I love it; the performance is so fun too. "I wanna rock your body, lalalala // 내 숨이 막혀 honey nananana" lives in my head rent free. The unfaltering saxophone loop that catches no breaks throughout the whole three and a half minutes would be ever the slightest annoying under any other circumstance, but not here! But at the same time, this is also a song I feel like I cannot listen to too often, or else my brain might start molding. Either way, I wish their first album had a song like this.
Hooks: 9
Production: 8.5
Longevity: 7.5
Bias: 8.75
RATING: 8.45. I Like (feat. Flowsik). It's so 2nd gen. K-Pop, my god. It's spectacular. It's everything dear to me. This is one of the many B-sides I believe deserves so much more recognition. I also refuse to believe this wasn't originally meant to be a Hyuna solo comeback title track. It's well-produced—although it mixes in so naturally with the era of music that it reminds me of, it feels derivative. But that's what I adore it for! The Y2K emotions it evokes ignites something in me. This song is repetitive, so much to the point that the verses and chorus feel like one big blend, and by the end, you basically can't remember anything you just heard besides the hook. This may seem like lousy composition, but to me, it's wonderful! The dumbing state it puts my brain in feels like ecstasy. All the clutter in my head becomes invisible for a brief moment; it's 'no thoughts, head empty' when I listen to this, just joy and positive vibes and some amazing autotune. I don't feel the need to give a single fuck about anything during these three minutes and a half. It's one of the few godsend songs that manages to silence the fuckery in my mind completely, even for just a little while.Hooks: 8.75
Production: 9
Longevity: 9
Bias: 10
RATING: 9.2