UNF. So Amazing.
They are SO. AMAZING. LIVE.
I'm just sit here and grin and dance through this video and about shit my pants in excitement of the prospect of actually getting to see them LIVE this year! (AND because GD is releasing his 2nd solo album over the summer, which only promises to be every kind of awesome.)
TOP's rap in Bad Boy?!?
Everytime Daesung hits that ridiculous note in Fantastic Baby?!?
GD ALL THE TIME (but especially that very last bit in Lie when he goes off all crazy-awesome)??!?!?!!?
I. LOVE. THE. INTERNET.
Thank you for bringing me Big Bang, internets, thank you so so much.
Why, hey there, BigBang. You've decided to throw some fierce style swag into your comeback, neh?
I approve. I whole-heartedly approve. And I am all kinds of behind the concept - I keep on thinking of it as an uber-fierce version of Safety Dance... BigBang leading the revolution against those who want to stop the music, those who want to stop the breathing, those who want to stop the DANCING.
DANCE, DANCE, DANCE, DANCE, DANCE. Fantastic, Baby.
However, I do feel like y'all left Seungri out a bit. I mean, he still got his little say in, and his first outfit was dope. But then I think you all felt a little sorry for not making is part
bigger, so you appeased his ego by letting him take his shirt off and
surrounding him by sexy ladies in cat suits who can't keep their hands off him.
Taeyang got decent face time, and I feel like he was the motion in this video (despite the buddha/monk shot). Without him it would have been a bit static for the first half. Also, he should always wear that metal arm thing. Amazing. Maybe not the neck tattoo, though.
Daesung. Also gets less outfits, but that's okay, because he gets to be half naked. And chained. And then they ask him to flex, just to make sure we all got the point. I'm also loving the futuristic plastic-face sheilds, but I'll spaz more on that later. I also think Daesung's outfits are the biggest juxtaposition - naked in chains, then super spiffed up and suited? Also, true-to-form, he's got a smile while he wears that suit, even though it doesn't really fit the shot or the scene :P
Moving on.
WTF. Seriously. How amazing is this picture. How do they come UP with this shit? And how do they convince TOP to wear it? I literally laughed out loud in glee when that shot came on. Anyway, I totally dig the blue hair. And I like that if they know they're going to have to layer the clothes on him anyway, why not use the kind of outfits that already do that? Mostly this just made me REALLY want someone to come up with a ridiculous K-drama rom-com where TOP has either come from or is going to georgian England/Europe... ... OH MY GOD. Someone PLEASE make T.O.P the first asian Mr. Darcy. Dear god. He would be PERFECT.
And now, for the main event. It's as if the conversation in the planning room for the video went something like:
"Yeah, I think Fantastic Baby will be our high-concept, fashion video. What do you think?"
GD: "ME. ME ME ME. I will be ALL the fierceness. I will have ALL the hair colors. I will wear ALL the outfits."
I'm so glad he spoke up. Pretty much every new shot of GD had me gasping in awe. Sometimes from he concept shit as much as the swag - even if the ego is a little ridiculous. That Tim-Burton-esque opening shot? With the suit? And the cane? And the POWER cords, feeding the music, FLOWING FROM GD's HEAD. Because he's the brains behind all this shit. GAH. I <3 him so much.
And then there was GD's plastic face mask thing. Complete with hoop necklaces.
I usually think GD walks the impossible line between being the cutest boy on the planet and the sexiest person I've ever seen, but GEEEZ. Something about the metal and the neck and the back of his neck and the fact that I can't see his eyes... for the entirety of the video he's planted firmly on the sexy side of that line, but these shots just KILL ME.
And thus ends my rant. Go watch the video, it's the shit.
Big Bang, you've absolutely obliterated the Kpop tropes/boxes with a Groove SO SMOOTH it makes me all woogey inside.
I have no time to actually write this post today, but considering that my day has been made bearable, nay, enjoyable solely because of the release of this video, how could I neglect to post something (especially when I haven't posted here in so long)?
I Fucking Love This Song.
Out of all the teasers, I assumed that this would be my favorite from their new album, and they'll have to explode my brain with one of the other four songs to change that. (Update: it's still my favorite. By far.)
And while I put the video up there, it's more about the song for me- that underlying groove that just makes you sway your shoulders and bob your neck/chin. It's got this phenomenal jazzy mellow vibe that just puts me in an utterly pink cloud of happy. It's a song that makes me dance casually as I walk, whether there are people around or not. Which makes the video pretty goddamn apropos, right?!? How GD starts down the sidewalk in that first scene, that's ABSOLUTELY how I react to this song (although with admittedly less swag, and hopefully more tasteful jacket choices).
This song has the same kind of sick groove that Baby Goodnight has, but amped up just enough to really make you want to move. Preferably up against someone else. I am often awkward when it comes to sexy-partner-times-dancing, but I'm pretty sure I wouldn't have any problem if this song was playing. (And Hurrah! I will have an opportunity to test this theory on March 22 - JKPopnight in Seattle.) Especially if a certain person would magically appear and deign to dance with me, but I don't think they're going to read this and grant that wish, but HEY MAYBE, RIGHT?
And since I'm obviously in a sexy mood, let's all groove to Baby Goodnight for a minute before I resume my spaz about Bad Boy. Mmm, yeah. I'm all over GD's hair in this one.
ANYWAY. Back to the awesome that is Bad Boy. Let's look at this video again for a second. They're very obviously prepping for a world-tour / introducing-themselves-to-America, complete with music videos shot in Brooklyn to prove it. (Blue was also shot in Brooklyn, and I'm curious if all their videos from this album will be from New York.)
Also, the style is WAY outside the Kpop standard (although Big Bang often is recently): very little choreographed dancing (although the way they do handle their synced dance scenes is MASTERFUL, no?), a real place for a set instead of a hyper-lit set, and most importantly, A DIFFERENT GIRL FOR EVERY MEMBER. (In the KPop world, this is completely shocking, and I have no doubt that Simon and Martina will devote a full minute and a half to this feature next Monday. Update: okay, so it was only 3 seconds...)
The only Kpop specific aspect still intact, and that which may be a little difficult for American audiences to swallow, is the clothing. GD pretty much looks like a freakshow. I'm sorry, that jacket is ridiculous. Even if it does make me want to pet him (like I didn't already). The others are all mostly passable, with only little accessories of WTF (really, did you need a life-size bedazzled skull to complete that outfit, T.O.P?), but for the most part they're not going to raise too many eyebrows.
Overall, the song is amazing, the video is beautifully choreographed (both dancing and camera-work), and they boys look like they're pretty fucking ready to blow the American pop charts. I'm almost positive they made an English version of the video, too - there are a couple of times where GD's mouth doesn't line up with the Korean, and I assume it's because they're using shots from the English version. Get ready Amercia, Big Bang is coming (seriously, they're doing a world tour with shows in the U.S.), and you're all going to fall in love with T.O.P. And that's fine with me - because you'll think GD is a weirdo little girly boy pretending to be Lady Gaga, and that means I can keep him all to myself. <3 <3 <3
TOP is amazing. Like, arguably the hottest/sexiest/deepest-voiced rapper in Korea (and the world at large), yes? Yes.
You know who else can be hot/sexy Korean rappers?
DUDES WHO DON'T LOOK AND SOUND LIKE TOP.
Block B has one of them. And while I know TKPA is totally in favor of P.O., I just have a hard time not seeing him as TOP.2 - which is sad, frustrating, and not-not-not the same. Even more frustrating, there's now a new group - "Taken" that has not one, but TWO TOP wannabes. The blonde one isn't too TOPish, but the first time I saw this video that's how it really struck me. (The darker haired one is seriously TOP.3.)
I appreciate the ways that Korean groups are able to spot successful trends and then remix/modify them to continue that success, but I think literally copying people/personas is going a little too far. I'm hoping it's just a rookie-group thing, and once they get a couple of songs under their belt they'll find let their agencies will let their members showcase their own personalities and styles, instead of already proven ones (I also thought the other main rapper in Block B was a pretty obvious GD knock off).
And the thing is, I don't think this is bad for TOP. Bitch, please. Ain't nobody better than TOP, and we know it, and he knows it.
I do think this is bad for Block B, Taken, and any other new rookie groups who have jumped on the TOP Rapper train, because it's just distracting and disappointing me as a potential fan. :(
It's also solidifying why I'm a fan of B1A4. They've got a crazy-low voiced rapper (Baro), who looks NOTHING like TOP. Huzzah!
