MV Review | Lee Michelle - I Can Sing

The song

The guitar sounds good and groovy. I kinda like it. Her vocals were on point.

Now I don't understand why she didn't do a vocal performance thing on this song...you know, she says "I can sing" so that's what you could expect, a girl who would sing the hell out of this song, you know what I mean? 

Why did she make her "doom doom" part so short (from 1:25 to 1:35) ? THAT was the best part of the song to me, she was doing some RnB singing and I was like "yes, go ahead girl!" and then she sang the chorus and then rapped...you can sing girl, but why rapping? She's not bad at it, but c'mon, all of a sudden, a rap part...it didn't really suit the classy and groovy character of the song, in my opinion. 

This song was too soft, too "good girl" to me...when it could (should?) have been fierce and memorable.

It's a good song, but for the most part Michelle's songs sound too standard, too safe. They're not really exciting. But they probably sound like her, to be honest. She's said before that she's not adventurous or something like that. She's simple, and there's nothing wrong with that. But as a new artist trying to break into a saturated and highly competitive music industry (Kpop), you would expect her to show us something different in order to stand out, and be more visible in a sea of pale-skinned, thin sexy young women. 

Well, YES, she already stands out. She's thick, half black and doesn't show skin. She doesn't dance and she didn't dye her hair blond with blue contact lenses. Good. But still, music-wise her song is not outstanding; emotionally, vocally and visually.

She preferred to keep it cool and low-key, almost like an accoustic song.

The visuals

It's not a bad idea, it doesn't put Lee Michelle in the spotlight, you can see her but it's very subtle and sober with a playful light. I do worry a little bit about the reason being that she's not the "conventional Korean beauty"...which might be why they don't put day light emphasis on her face and body.

There are seats in front of her, but nobody is sitting to watch her sing. How sad you'd say, but that's interesting, she knows she's not super famous, she knows she has few fans and is just debuting as an artist. She's (still) introducing herself and proving herself.

I like that she doesn't look thin. She has nice legs. Her outfit is good but it kinda makes her look older or too serious. The necklace is great, the pants and shoes too. 

But it saddens me a little to see her hair like that. Korean hairdressers don't really seem to know how to handle kinky or frizzy hair (cf. Michelle's promotional pics). Now, she probably doesn't give a shit about that, she's probably fine with her hair this way, and if that's the case then I shouldn't say anything. 

MV Review | Cheetah - My Number

I wouldn't say that I was disappointed, I didn't have expectations to begin with and I'm not a fan of her. Still, I know she's a good rapper as I've watched Unpretty Rapstar.

What do I think of this MV?

Too Kpop for my taste. Flashy colors, pink, yellow, no story. The only good point was the Pinky Cheeks dancers. Oh, that and the "men use half naked women as props, lemme do the same but with men on my promotional pic". That's how I understood it (I kinda like this tongue-in-cheek thing) though I also get a feeling of usng drags as props as in a way to make a buzz and get more views...
The song is "meh", I'm not fond of the saxophone and it's not catchy as a whole, no hook. The lyrics are basic. Cheetah's flow was kinda boring too, not much energy in it.

It's funny how Cheetah's fans reacted to this...they're all like "But why didn't she show all she can do? Why does this MV look Kpop and not Hip Hop or badass? She can do better!"

Lol. I get you folks. But Kpop doesn't give a shit about badass female rappers. If so you would have already seen solo badass female rappers on the mainstream scene (which means Kpop) and on the charts. But that's not the case, right? No, CL is NOT badass. She SAYS she is. Nuance.
Kpop has a mold and it wants all of its artists to fit in with a certain image, a certain sound. It's all about toning down the strong ones so that they can still be palatable to the mainstream audience, and hyping up the weak ones so that they look decent and kind of talented.

No surprise here. Cheetah's no exception to Kpop's mold. Though I must say I was a little bit surprised  that she decided to start off with pop instead of Hip Hop. Usually Hip Hop artists do it the other way....like a natural "evolution" as an artist (which means getting a bigger fanbase). But the thing is, why would she be seen as an Hip Hop artist? Because she can be kinda badass in reality TV show Unpretty Rapstar? As a matter of fact, AOA's Jimin did too. And she's an idol, she's not Hip Hop.
So, unless Cheetah releases a full Hip Hop album, I won't consider her a Hip Hop rapper. She'll just be a Kpop rapper in my opinion. Which is fine. I'm not talking about talent here. But there's a difference and we shouldn't mix the 2. Rapping doesn't equate Hip Hop. Period.
And to those who are already calling her "Queen" and "at Yoon Mi Rae's level"...folks, get real. She has released like ONE Kpop song, where's her album? Just wait for her to show consistency before snatching Tasha's crown.

Review series | My selection - The powerful Korean female RnB vocalists

Part I-b) The powerful female vocalists: BONI | Ailee

I noticed that there are more Korean soul male singers than soul female singers. I wonder why. Or maybe I haven't searched enough. I have a theory: soul music requires sensuality, "exposure" (sort of) of your feelings, as well as mastering one's voice to be tough and powerful on demand. Young Korean women aren't supposed to do that according to society's expectations. The soft, cute, neutral, high pitch voice is what they tend to have massively. They do show sensuality with their bodies but not with their voices.

BONI 보니

Very clear voice, nice rythm and skilled. She's young and her music is old school RnB! I prefer her over Ailee because of her music.

BONI 보니

Korean RnB needs more women with powerful voices like her. Women can be strong in their vocals, but they can be sensual vocally and even sexual. Time will tell. BONI could work on her emotions when she sings, she has the potential for something more than strong vocals.
***

Ailee

Ailee 에일리

Her voice is very RnB, but can be pop as well, she is between somehow. her ease when she sings is remarkable, she's skilled. Like BONI, she needs tp work on using her emotions to move people when she sings.

Honestly, Ailee has a quasi "old-fashioned" Korean sound to me...like her voice is very modern and young, but her music is not fresh enough for my taste, aside from her songle "Heaven", the rest sounds non fresh. Besides, her songs just don't do it to me, unfortunately, it's too pop :(  Great vocalist though!!

***

Honorable mention:

Insooni 인순이

She has such a rich and deep voice. I love her low register. This woman is in her early 50s. Yes. She can SING, dance and captivate an audience. The way she sings is old school, of course, but she has this serene energy that makes her look cool even today. She's too pop sadly, her music is not really RnB.

***
BMK 비엠케이 (here's her wikipedia page)

Don't look at her weight, she's beautiful! Her voice is rich and deep like Insooni's but they sound different. BMK has her own touch and feeling in it. Like Insooni, her music is too pop balladish for my taste, and for this blog post as well. But I had no choice...I have to include them, no woman can outsing them with such power in Korea.

BMK 비엠케이

This is a track from her new mini album.

Part II - Korean R&B male singers: the dancer kind

This is the 2nd part of my series "My selection of Korean RnB singers".

Part II - The dancer/singer kind: Bi Rain | Jay Park | Se7en

Bi Rain 비

This grown man is just...WOW. Let me explain, though I'm pretty sure that if you're reading this, you already know who he is. Rain is probably the first solo singer who danced that well with that swag. No, wait, JYP was, JYP trained him as well I think. Rain's vocals are not awesome and strong but he has a "suave"/sensual thing with his husky voice and sounds soulful.

Here's one of his first for you, that choreography made me go O_O back in 2006, when I found out about Korean music. Please watch it in HD.

Now he's not only a good singer and dancer, he's also an actor, he played in Korean dramas and in American movies. After going to the military for 2 years (Korean military service) he's now free and we're waiting for new material from him. Meanwhile, let's listen to his old stuff, the following video (a ballad song) shows his vocal skills.

Do you remember his feat with Omarion? Really good collaboration, Rain's vocals on the 2nd verse were refreshing and strong, and I like the beat of the song.

***

Jay Park, ex-member of idol group 2PM. After a scandal he had to leave the group, and decided to go back the US, his home, as he's Korean-American. 2 years after he goes back to Korea to pursue a successful solo career.

Jay Park (Park Jae-Beom 박재범)

He can sing, rap and dance really well..
His sound is popular, a mix of RnB, hip hop and pop. His English is perfect as it is his first language and his Korean sounds fluent to me, though I don't speak this language. He also has an acting career in Korea.
He's the youngest of the artists I'm introducing here, he's 23 or so.

Here's another MV "Joah", a nice pop track.
One more very good track, "Star" (RnB sound)

***

And...Se7en!!
I barely listened to his music I must say, but he is VERY famous in Korea, girls just love him. He's as popular as Rain and Jay Park.I like his voice, his voice is sweet and really good for pop and RnB. The more I dig into his music, the more I discover his voice. He uses his vocal range smartly. Don't be fooled by his looks, he's already 28 :)

Se7en 세븐

Here's al oldie song for you.

He also did a good RnB song with an American rapper, Lil' Kim, yup! Here's the MV:

His English is quite on point, really nice track.

I don't comment on his dancing skills because I haven't been following him but Rain is the best, Jay Park might be somewhere in the middle.

Se7en and Rain both have a Japanese career as well.

***

Honorable mention: Wheesung. I already mentionned him in my previous post but he's also a good dancer. He doesn't dance much though, it's a pity. He originally started as a dancer, but somehow (I forgot the story lol) he became a singer and songwriter.
Here's one of his popular songs "Insomnia", given by Craig David.

Review series | Korean R&B singers - My selection Part I

Let's talk about Korean RnB/soul now, I've been thinking of making a post about it, comparing the best vocalists and see what their assets and differences are, why I like some more than others.

Part I- The powerful male solo vocalists: Wheesung | Kim Bum Soo  

You know, I love RnB/soul, especially nu-soul. In Korea nu-soul isn't really a thing yet...maybe some rappers do some nu-soul music but as for singers doing this genre...nah. But I believe they'll eventually get there :)
Anyway, Korea has lots of talented Korean RnB singers, who often do pop ballads that don't often sound RnB to be more attractive on the mainstream market I guess. Still, you can find many good real RnB tracks from them, their vocals are true to the genre, on point and soulful.

Wheesung 휘성

Wheesung (pronounce Hwisung) and Kim Bum Soo are the best male solo artists in K-RnB in my opinion. Their voices are powerful, emotional and clear. They all can sing very well in falsetto, upper chest register, mid-chest register and low register. I'll try to analyze it all for you guys in this post.

They are grown men in their early 30's and have different personalities but they all are passionate people, and you can feel it in the way they sing.


Out of them my favourite is Wheesung because of his more emotional, versatile, sometimes unperfect and somewhat "weird" vocals at times. He's also the sexiest out of tthem, vocally speaking I mean. Some of his lyrics can be sensual or sexy. And he really does it right. Now enough blabla and here's 2 songs for you!

It gives you an idea of what he can do in his sexy mode ;) I also love the melody, so soul and classy. His high notes are smooth. 

Wheesung is really good with rythm too, I love how groovy he sounds in songs like "With Me" or how in control he sounds in "This Kind of Situation". Here's another song where I like his flow. Personality-wise, I kinda feel close to him as in I can relate to his sensitivity. His ballads are not boring, I feel them even if I can't speak Korean. And I'm not even a ballad person...I'm NOT but he made me love them.
On stage, he usually brings out those vocals and if you can't hear the guy then you're deaf. He sometimes goes too strongly with his voice so he doesn't sound perfect. I got used to it, he's sometimes "too much" but make no mistake, he knows how to really tone it down and gently tease our ears most of the time :p

***

Now Kim Bum Soo. Ah, Kim Bum Soo!

Kim Bum Soo 김범수

He debuted as a faceless singer, without performing his songs on stage, that's what I read on the net. I love how groomed he became and how handsome he is now. I loved his cheeky face and big glasses, I still love his not-so-kpop-ian face. OK, musically he could do (much) better, but vocally this guy is awesome!! He started singing in church, as he's a Christian, and he even recorded a few gospel-like songs with a choir and him as the lead singer..
He can hit notes with strenght and he uses melisma really well. Listen to the 2nd vid first ;)

I love the way he sings, surely, slowly building up his way to a stronger tone. Delivering it with such a smooth voice, in the studio and on stage, he's that flawless. Out of the 2 singers here, he's the best. He has worked very hard and it shows. I just wished he could ditch his freakin' current music composers and get BETTER ones for his next albums. Oh, did I forget to say that he did a gig in the US last year? :)

Here's a featuring he did with Dynamic Duo. Awesome and flawless.

***

Honorable mention: Yoo Young-Jin 유영진 , here's his wikipedia. I couldn't post this article without him...he's been in the industry for a long time and his voice is great! Too bad I didn't know him much.

I didn't include Park hyo Shin here because he's not an RnB singer as far as I know. Park Hyo Shin is probably the very best male vocalist in Korea, I know I know, but this post is about RnB and Hyo Shin usually stays in the pop ballad category. If you don't who he is, you'd better check him out!!
Don't be disappointed if I didn't mention Naul and Ha Dong Qn here because they will be in my 3rd post, in the group category.