Weekly Kpop Review 18-02 – 25-02 – How NOT to Kpop

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Show Notes

JYP, Stray Kids, Itzy, Nmixx – Like Magic
This tracks cool! Powerful, emotive performance goes hard. Love the beat switches, filtered/effected in the verses, then a dnb for the chorus. The chorus synths have an industrial electro flair before dropping to the verse sound which is pretty if not a little standard, reminiscent of Ive’s either way. The vocal absolutely shines on this one, it’s well produced, I’m confused as to why this is effectively a throwaway release I absolutely love this track.

Yugyeom – 1 Minute
Gray production uninspired – i’ve heard this sound a million times. Yugyeom’s performance has great energy, the doubling is a bit aggressive but very dynamic singing and rapping parts. Its cookie cutter rnb here, if you like Gray’s productions you’ll like this.

Le Sserafim – Easy
This song is boring. Standard trap rnb beat to a hook to a part with pitched down vocals. Performance comes off too subdued, maybe too heavy on the psychedelic travis scott delays and autotune. Its short at 2:45 which is nice and the mix is balanced and warm, but nothing stands out from this bland, standard 2024 kpop track.

IU – Holssi
Oh this beat Knocks! IU is singing a little lower in this one compared to tracks like Lilac. This track is sick! Production is top class, the upfront vocal works well with a very spacious mix full of big verbs and delays. The digital sounding harmonies work and give the track a strange ethereal flavour, like i’m listening to fairies singing from flowers. It ends a touch abruptly, but awesome track

IU – Shopper
Little bit uninspired this one, think Carly Rae Jepsen sound. I love the beat switch in the chorus though, really strange syncopated moments. Production once again is stunning, this one less interesting than holssi a much safer bet in its arrangement, it really soars at the end a real stadium feel, reminiscent of Florence and the Machine. Solid track.

Moon Byul (Mamamoo) – Think About
Wasn’t sure what to expect from Moon Byul’s full length. This track is cool, her singing is great, not overly affected and emotive, maybe a bit too much repetition in the lyrics, felt like every second word in the chorus was repeated XD. Tempo of the track is great and energetic. The mix is loud and a bit too compressed for my taste. It’s a catchy, solid kpop song i recommend

Moon Byul – Touchin&Movin
I love the Pre-chorus in to the chorus, the beat follows the vocal in a cool way. The arrangement is fun, disco synths and bass with some horns in the mix. Track has a great energy, partly from the tempo but also Moon Byul’s performance, energetic and powerful, real pop star stuff. Tough decision but I think I prefer think about

BiBi – Sugar Rush
WHOOO what a banger. The beat is sick in this track and comes in at a really weird time, grabbed me straight away. Bibi’s performance is sexy and cheeky, despite being performed in a whispery voice sits well in the mix. Moments of harmonies are a nice touch, gave the track some dynamics. Great rnb pop track.

Jung Seung Won – Leaf
Orchestral ballad that absolutely hits from Jung Seung Won. The soaring chorus is brilliant.

Leellamarz – Two Pills
Something about the minimalist arrangement and production on this one works for me. I’m still not huge on the autotune but i totally get that its leellamarz sound. I like the scratchy, boxy drum sound, the swimming filtered vocals. This track has mystery, pulling me in til the end. Recommended.

YeoDongSaeng – A Fluttering Love
Great voices. The strings were great but come off a touch thin, the whole mix is quite bright. The drums don’t have much impact but I appreciated the acoustic sound to them, same with the guitar had a lovely itch to it. Its a solid, catchy track if you’re into that older Apink sound.

A.C.E – My Girl
Lush rnb dance track from ACE. Love the beat, mixed really tastefully, the snare has a warmth to it never biting or sharp. The disco inspired guitar is standard, not bad but typical. Personally would’ve liked a touch more plucky attack in the bass, its tone is nice and full but it would’ve grooved a little more with some more high-mid energy. Synths are lush and sweet. Vocal is sweet to but overproduced for my taste, every vocal sounds like a backing harmony, its like this song has no lead vocal. This track is mid, nothing incredible.

Caper – Like A Drug
I really like Caper’s voice, it has a unique flavour to it and really interesting vibrato. Its cool to hear a fresh voice in korean rnb. The backing track is a bit standard, beat is mixed well and there’s some cool violin and flute samples throughout the track but otherwise pretty standard stuff. Caper’s on my radar though this voice is too special to ignore.

Dbo – A lot of stars
Fun energetic track from Dbo. Well mixed sub bass and kick. The autotune adlibs could be a bit much at times, but otherwise suited the feel. This track is short, just over a minute 35, but a fun ride while it lasts.

Alexa – Sick
Its a cool track from Alexa. The guitar and bass tone is great, I love the distortion on the vocal especially in the chorus, fits the vibe of the track, the chords in the chorus hook are really pretty. I wanted the last chorus to crescendo a little more, maybe a more obnoxious guitar lick or a solo even. Really enjoyed this one it got stuck in my head.

Twice – One Spark
I love the beat on this one, perfectly produced, i love the dnb influence. The vocal is clinical and what one would expect from Twice, excellent. I like how the synths reminded me of other Twice songs like in feel special or I can’t stop me, gave the song a familiar feel. The repetition of the hook is tasteful, not annoying at all like other Kpop I’ve heard recently. I think what stops this track from being all time is the arrangement needed a little extra in the chorus to make it hit and soar, the vocal does but the other elements are lacking.

Bryn – Still
Bryn leaning in to hyperpop on this one. I love the distorted elements landing on the beat, fierce, digital and dancey. Didn’t mind her autotune, but it was a bit much in the bridge, which is a mess. Everything gets filtered and bryn’s voice takes a strange turn. I respect the experimentation but wasn’t pleasant to my ears. This a catchy tune from Bryn and really shows how diverse her sound can be.

W00R1, Bryn – Catch Me
Also coming out this week from Bryn. a dance rnb track, I like the more edm production it hits deeper than songs in this vein like le seraffim’s easy or twice’s rush. Bryn’s performance is excellent as ever, flow is awesome, the la las at the back end are effected and panned in a really fun way. Great track thats dangerously close to Kpop coming out these days, but stands out on its own.

TVXQ at 20: a Retrospective

TVXQ at 20
In 2003, one of the greatest Kpop groups of all time debuted. Then almost all their members left.

Hello everyone, I’m Sean @sepatorprod, i’m an audio engineer and today I’m going to take you through the wild career of SM Entertainment Kpop stalwarts TVXQ (Tohoshinki, Dongbanshinkki). I will explain why they’re so good including their best songs, their scandals, and how they are so successful 20 years on.

Beginning
http://kpopkfans.blogspot.com/2014/05/sm-artists-training-time-and-year-they.html
The members trained for a couple years before debuting under Sm entertainment as a 5 member group (jaejoong, yoochun, junsu, yunho and changmin) in 2003 with Hug.

Hug
A safe bet of a debut. Recalling the sounds of H.O.T and G.O.D, I was pleasantly surprised by how different it sounded to their labelmates Shinhwa, this tracks RnB beat and gospel choir backing vocals make it feel very late 90s 2000s kpop. They followed this with Tri-angle

TRI-Angle
The vocals are so powerful even with the early 2000s production. The strings are cool but sound synthy and artificial, maybe less compression or reverb would’ve helped give them a more realistic feel. Elements of this track, such as the somewhat abrupt style change in the bridge and the rock guitar elements fused with hip hop rnb beats, are still a part of the SM sound, can be heard especially in EXO and NCT songs

Rising Sun
Really feels like TRI angle V2.0. Rock guitar, strings and a rnb type beat. This one sounds slightly more industrial in the mix which is cool. For context we need to keep in mind that nu-metal was the biggest genre in the world, with bands like Limp Bizkit, Linkin Park and one hit wonders like Crazy Town’s Butterfly being some of the biggest songs at the time. This track feels like if an NSync track was made by Linkin Park.

O
Once again an awesome vocal performance, and this kind of melody and beat would be echoed in Shinee’s Ring Ding Dong. This track is compressed to death, its release was in 2006 so I’m not overly surprised. A shift to a more Rnb/Hip Hop instrumentation and performance, with a lot more rapping. Not really my thing, I think Tri-angle had a better sound with the rock influence

Balloons
Fun, catchy up beat pop song. I feel a Jpop influence on this one, think SMAP or KAT-TUN or Arashi, with it’s disco beat and strings.

TVXQ were popular basically from the get go, Tri-angle, Rising Sun and O were all the best selling albums in their month of release, selling 100s of thousands of copies. which isn’t that surprising considering SM Entertainment were possibly the biggest entertainment company at the time and had seen great success with HOT, Shinhwa and SES, which means there’s buzz around what they do next and even fans loyal to the brand rather than their specific artists. This isn’t to take away from the songs, they are very well made and the performances are excellent. Although standing on the shoulders of SM giants certainly helped TVXQ achieve success, there was one song that made them the kings of kpop.

Mirotic
What a moment in Kpop. Driving beat, dynamic, perfect vocal performance. Harmonies that have been imitated time and time again. The hook is an earworm. The synth is abrasive, present but not overwhelming. I will say the vocal is a touch overproduced, too effected considering how amazing the vocals are I would’ve given them more space to breath and let the performance shine. Released in 2008, we see the guitars disappear and replaced by fairly dancy rnb synths, think Britney Spears, Justin Timberlake or even EDM songs by eric Prydz, Benny Benassi.

No such thing as bad publicity: Mirotic’s lyric I got you under my skin, the hook of the song, was deemed too sexual by the the Korean Commission of Youth Protection As a result, the album was labelled with stickers indicating that it was restricted to people over 19 years old. Also, performances of the song would only be broadcast after 10 pm.

This song already had the backing of TVXQ fans and fans loyal to SM Entertainment, now it was getting the attention of the general public by being in the news. Spotify wasn’t available internationally yet. Discovering music in 2008 meant hours of trawling through music blogs, myspace, music magazines and music shows on TV, or by taking a bet on a CD with a cool album cover. Mirotic’s controversy definitely introduced TVXQ to many future fans in my opinion, ensuring their long term success.

The lyrics “I got you under my skin” were changed to “I got you under my sky.”
Mirotic would sell millions of copies and is TVXQs biggest song on spotify.
This would be the beginning of a crisis for TVXQ as 5, as three members, Jaejoong, Yuchun and Junsu left due to contract issues. This is a huge blow, Jaejoong was the face of TVXQ, being front and center of several of the covers, and Junsu being one of the strongest vocalists in TVXQ. Two members, Yunho and the maknae Changmin, remained. Once again, the publicity generated from this controversy would’ve created buzz for their next release.

Still I am surprised they continued as TVXQ, I thought they would at least change the name or pursue solo activities. That being said from SM Entertainment’s perspective it makes perfect sense to keep TVXQ alive. They put lots of resources in to this group that have been successful and are now absolutely huge with Mirotic, keep the train rolling.

TVXQ – Keep Your Head Down
This was the song TVXQ had to come out with. A strong, big track with huge vocal runs, a statement to show the world Max and Yunho are just fine as two.
Heavily distorted guitars with orchestral instruments recalls Tri-angle. This song is fairly minimal like Mirotic, but a lot slower paced. I really like the space this gives for the vocal to shine. I don’t like the grandiose, cheesy horns and the weird, electronic kick, it sounds wonky and grating
This track to me sounds the most like what SM tried to do with EXO’s sound a couple years later.
Before U Go
TVXQ slowed things down on this one, recalling Usher, Justin Timberlake and Trey Songs, Boyz 2 men. Full RnB, those 90s gospel harmonies are rich. I love the tasteful compression on the beat although I would argue this track overall is a touch too compressed. The vocal is top 5 best performances ever in Kpop. Stunning, extended vocal runs, an incredible high note at the back end. Lots of space in the mix only hindered by the compression. Personal favourite of mine definitely give it a listen.
2012 TVXQ release catch me. A european edm influence on this one, trance notes with a dubstep bridge that really dates it but I kind of love how distorted and the strange beat switch in this moment, where the kick sounds like it’s following the rap vocal. It’s nice and loud, the performance once again is incredible, soaring and grandiose. This track is 100 miles a minute, I would’ve preferred more dynamics but still a very solid tune.

In July 2012, PSY’s Gangnam Style was released, and it went global. Now millions of Western people were aware of Kpop, and with the internet having advanced since 2003, finding out about Kpop was easier and faster. Tumblr and other blogs, spotify playlists, kpop news sites in english, fan translations and videos on youtube meant there was a sea of information available for fans getting in to Kpop. A few months after Gangnam Style, Catch Me was released in September. To me, Catch Me is the first track by TVXQ that a lot of Western people noticed. I remember seeing Catch Me’s music video on an asian pop show that would air on tv on weekend mornings, in Australia! Safe to say it was no.1 on the gaon charts in Korea and won on live music show inkigayo. https://kpop.daisuki.com.br/en/awards/TVXQ.html
January 2014 TVXQ turn Ten and release the album Tense, with lead single Something. Caught me by surprise this one, it’s a jazzy cabaret influence showtune, like amy winehouse, which could not be further from the sound of Catch Me. SM is savvy and know to highlight Changmin and yunho’s vocal, I love how natural everything sounds with swing and easing on the compression to deliver dynamics.
I also love the warmth of the mix, some of those horns in the chorus are playing pretty high but it never feels too sharp, ditto the vocals those high notes aren’t harsh at all. This song was huge but also a little swallowed by the mass of kpop that was coming through post Gangnam style.
At this point many smaller music entertainment companies were established riding the hype, such as Jellyfish, Starship, Stardom among others, and with them many many groups, on top of the big three companies JYP, YG and SM constantly releasing music from their roster. 2003 there were around 30 kpop debuts total. In 2014 there were over 40 groups and over 20 individuals debuting in kpop. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2003_in_South_Korean_music
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2014_in_South_Korean_music
From Tense onwards TVXQ went a little quiet, partly due to military enlistment, but also due to generational shifts and a changing of the guard, as SM groups such as EXO and Shinee became hugely successful.

They’re 2018 comeback, the chance of love is mid. The mix doesn’t highlight the vocal, rather the funk influenced bass and guitar are highlighted. Both these instruments sound pretty, but the mix overall is high mid heavy, it doesn’t have that warmth like in Something.

2018 onwards, TVXQ begin to fade away. EXO move in to legend status and NCT rise up as the hot new thing. Zooming out Kpop remains global with a dedicated fan base since Gangnam style, and a little group called BTS become sensations along with YG group Blackpink. Their stories are for another video. TVXQ make occasional korean variety appearances and maintain a presence in Japan.

One pandemic and a half later and here we are. 2024. I don’t think the pandemic affected TVXQs relevance as much as time, Mirotic is now over 15 years old and the members are quickly approaching 40. Among the younger generation of Kpop fans they are not discussed too often. But Here’s why I think time is TVXQs most powerful weapon.
The stress of the pandemic grew demand for a big but often subtle part of our culture; nostalgia. As people found comfort in older shows, music and movies on a mass scale, studios capitalised by releasing reboots, sequels, and in the kpop world, anniversary comebacks. Kara would make a comeback for their 15th anniversary, Infinite and U kiss also both had anniversary releases. And on December 26th 2003, Hug turned 20.
https://www.koreaherald.com/view.php?ud=20230707000586
TVXQ released 20&2 december 26th 2023 20 years since their debut performance of Hug. It charted at number 3 on gaon charts and as of writing lead single Rebel sits on just over 900 thousand plays. Its a dark, dance track with a beat reminiscent of kanye wests black skinhead that I loved, but it’s marred by a carol of the bells interpolation that although performed well, didn’t please my ears.
Although falling short compared to all their no.1 releases, I think no.3 for a 20 year old kpop group cements them as legends of the genre. I love how modern Rebel sounds, rather than riding the nostalgia hype or even doing a mirotic 2.0 TVXQ made something dark, dancey, and unique in their discography.

Their Influence.
SMs artists shaped the “SM Sound”, which generally speaking is a blending of many genres with an rnb underpinning to glue the track together, not always effectively. At least in TVXQs 5 member era 2003-2008, they had little influence on other Kpop groups at other entertainment companies. But from Mirotic onwards and the rise of the hallyu wave, which is when kpop saw great success in other countries in asia and eventually western countries, we see TVXQs influence in other boy bands. TVXQ Visually had a strong, muscly dominant look for mirotic, wearing dark suits with nothing underneath to show their muscular physiques.
This look influenced 2pm’s Heartbeat concept and groups such as Infinite, B2st, MBLAQ, the latter even debuted with the same number of members. Musically these and many other groups had similar arrangements of rnb harmonies, strings and rock elements. *maybe play a short section of mblaq or show their mvs*. To be clear I think these groups brought this sound into their own and weren’t ripping off TVXQ, just influenced by them.
But these groups couldn’t match TVXQs vocals, which are some of the strongest ever recorded in Kpop.TVXQs body of work still holds up because their vocals are that strong, and SM were smart enough to produce songs that played to this strength, with soaring choruses and long, high notes after the bridge.Putting aside the resources and influence of SM Entertainment, TVXQs vocals combined with attractive visuals and energetic performances make them the undisputed Kings of Kpop.

Thanks so much for watching. I’m Sean @sepatorprod. Buy me a coffee link in description, like, subscribe. Til Next Time.

Other Sources
https://kpop.fandom.com/wiki/Mirotic
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_number-one_albums_in_South_Korea_(1998%E2%80%932008)

Youngjae (GOT7) – Do It Notes – How NOT to Kpop Review

https://open.spotify.com/track/7wqqCArjMYTtXRhw0uYLmc?si=b11e803a205442fa

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Youngjae – Do it

This is youngjae doing a jay park song

Catchy hook with a plucky guitar and wurli-ish synth 

The guitar felt a bit too compressed, or perhaps needed some more eq to control the sharpness, sits in the mix slightly buried so maybe the beat needed to be turned down or sidechained less aggressively

The beat is very cool, snare/clap is scratchy and kick is present, tastefully popping out in the mix

Its a well balanced, cohesive mix with tasteful rnb production, the bottom end is controlled especially well in the chorus

This tracks sound is very jay park, think yacht, drive or all i wanna do, but youngjaes vocal… Not quite jay park level. Its very good and mixed natural which i respect, but jay park is the goat and i think i would have preferred this as a jay park tune

I enjoyed this track, youngjae went a bit quiet once he moved to higher so im glad hes back

Queendom Puzzle Songs Ranked Notes – How NOT to Kpop Review

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Ranking every Queendom Puzzle Song

Hello everyone, I watched the third season of popular variety girl group competition extravaganza Queendom, which this season was titled Queendom Puzzle. It featured one of the most confusing voting and points systems I’ve ever come across, something about voting your own top 7 but also there’s 30000 points to the best team that week aksjdfha I don’t know. Criticism aside it was an entertaining ride, my favourite aspect was without doubt the songs. I ranked every song that Queendom Puzzle has on Spotify, which means a couple have been omitted Overall they were decent this season, but which one was the best. I’m going to rank em all and give a couple thoughts on each one, starting with the track I cared for the least,

#17 I Do

This track is similar vibe to Puzzlin’, but it doesn’t work. The vocal delivery, you know when someone ends every sentence as if it’s a question? They somehow thought that was a good idea for the verses. The mix is good, the arrangement is fun with the synths and guitar soaring in the chorus, but that random wedding march interpolation and the super high key…urgh this song is not it

#16 Rise Up

Sentimental to a fault, I didn’t mind the lower key it’s sung in, but a pretty standard uplifting pop ballad.

#15 Wannabe

Not crazy about this one, I think it’s unfortunately a victim of the original being that good, honestly Wannabe is all time. This groups performance is a bit…flat? The energy isn’t quite there, it feels a little too clinical there’s no edge. The rock arrangement is cool if not a little standard, it’s generally what we get when we see a kpop group live.

#14 Bad Blood

This song is forgettable, I kind of like it’s subdued flavour but there’s nothing interesting going on, the hook is a little annoying, the arrangement a bit…it kind of sounds like something someone threw together this track on garageband, roughly mixed it then called it a day. The vocal performance is great, one of the better performances of the competition, props nana, sangha, suyun, yeeun, wooyeon and kei

#13 Hopeless Romantic

I have no idea what dohwa is doing on this track, but it kinda works? This track is pretty good, reminiscent of Bigbang ballads or insert KDrama OST here. I like the weird sharp flow of the verses, it works well. This track is a bit standard, performed well but it’s not mindblowing, I didn’t care for the doubling of parts, a touch too repetitious on the vocal refrain

#12 Snap (Athena ver)

This performance is less clinical, there’s more attitude which elevates the track. Athena captured the energy better despite their performance technically being worse. The track feels more epic and grandiose rather than busy with this team’s vocal

#11 SNAP (Pick-cat ver)

Vocal wise Pick team’s performance of SNAP is awesome, powerful, dynamic, smooth, great rap vocals and the vocals in the bridge are incredible. This song is too busy, great beat and the bridge beat switch is awesome but it’s a lot

#10 Billionaire

I think I needed more harmonies on this track, I get why that didn’t happen to highlight each member, but I was missing them. The vocal performance is a bit too staccato and abrupt, didn’t quite crescendo how i wanted it to. I liked the reggae influence but the team that performed this didn’t quite match, especially compared to Last Piece team

#9 Last Piece

This track, I would’ve preferred as an instrumental EDM banger. That being said, the vocal performance is awesome, although I didn’t care for the whoa-ohs, this track has that epic final boss feel. Savage, monster is a bit cringe. The abrasive synths after the horns are great, the horns are a bit cliche, but overall a pretty good edm banger.

#8 Time of Our Life

This track sounds very Jpop I can see why Shiroma Miru shined on this one. Not discounting the other members though, their performances were great. I think this one needed more dynamics, it kind of felt a million miles a minute, well executed but not number 1 material.

#7 Glow-up

The chewing gum! These kinds of tracks, somewhat reminiscent of G-Idle, aren’t my thing. I loved the bass synth playing the hook through the track, so catchy. The tempo of this track really elevated it, something I don’t usually notice, but the pace really carried it through, kept my attention. The vocal performance, so strong on this one, really awesome, not all time but a strong track

#6 Charismatic (drop the beat ver)

I like the youthful vibe drop team brings to this track, but the performance is less smooth than picks, a little more dynamic but in a bad way some vocal parts kinda run off course. This track though, its a banger, props to the producers

#5 Web

This track was really interesting in it’s dark, somewhat minimal fantasy sound, I generally don’t care for onomateopeia (looking at you YG) and this was no exception. The flows were cool, dynamic and well performed, I thought the style switch in the bridge was cool and tasteful. But there wasn’t really a wow moment on this one.

#4 IDGA (I don’t give a)

My goodness this track slaps. I think the vocal performance wasn’t stellar besides some highlights from fye and yeoreum. Bobby’s track screams YG so if you love YG check this one out.

#3 Overwater

The mermaid song! This tracks arrangement is so cool, deep sub bass, wet synths. Like bad blood a somewhat subdued vibe, but this time that comes across in the vocal performance which maybe let this song down in the ratings. I personally really like the track, its a complete package, the members gel well and it’s performed solidly, those falsettos are perfect.

#2 Puzzlin’

I don’t know if I’m just a sucker for this flavour, but I loved this track. The vocal performance from Riina, Shiroma Miru, SUYUN, lee soo jin, wooyeon, Jiwon and Kei was on point, they’re voices played off each other well, no one stuck out too badly. The arrangement is sweet, warm and well mixed, that hook is fun, a real highlight of the series.

#1 Charismatic (Pick on the top ver)

I loved this groups performance, nana’s its my vibe is all time. Production wise this track rules, fun bouncy bass line and horns, a not intrusive horn section, awesome track, I would absolutely bop to this as an official release from a group such as aespa, XG,

Aespa – Better Things Notes – How NOT to Kpop Review

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Aespa – Better Things

I love this track. It’s weird!

Production is good if not a little too understated, slightly boring but heaps of space in the mix. Every member sounding beautiful, the harmonies really shine on this track and beef u what is quite a sparse mix.

Beat switches, I think someone told SM they want more beat switches, cause this has 4! I found that made this track not feel cohesive but more like a collage of a few different songs. That being said it gripped me, this track is very minimal but never boring.

The mix on the beat is great, this song sounds shiny and futuristic like chrome, which comes off a little sterile, I wanted a little more bite. Despite the sterility this mix is awesome, so balanced with so many elements.

This track is like nothing i’ve heard in kpop this year, i’m a little obsessed.

Thanks for listening

ITZY – Cake Notes – How NOT to Kpop Review

ITZY – Cake

Intro and main hook Cake cake cake – awesome

Horns work really well on this track not so obnoxious like other songs that use them

Very cool trap beat that contrasts really well with the vocals
Top notch vocal production as expected from a JYP group

2nd verse kinda off, maybe a different vocal melody or backing melody needed, was grating
The chorus is a bit typical of girl groups such as red velvet, I respect the unique production with heavily affected guitar and synths

Overall I quite like this track, it really showed off ITZY and how talented they are but I don’t think it comes anywhere near Wanna, its pretty mid.

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Soyou ft. Bora – Aloha – How NOT to Kpop Review

Missing the summer. Sean @sepatorprod sat down to review ex-SISTAR member Soyou’s awesome comeback with Bora, Aloha. Support Me!

Transcript

Hey everyone, I’m here today Sean @sepatorprod reviewing ex-SISTAR member Soyou and Bora as a feature on this track ‘Aloha’.

The intro filters in and it sounds like The Avalanches ‘Since I Left You’. I loved it! That was very cool. Similar kind of breathy exclamation on the ‘Ha’ which I’ve heard across IU tracks, which I also really love IU so this sat well with me.

It’s got an ’80s vibe, bright, city pop-esque synths that would sit right at home in the Barbie movie funnily enough. This tracks kind of pink if there was a colour to choose for it.

Production, great. Loud, present, electric bass is a bit buried, besides some slap notes sticking out. The synths, awesome. Crisp, beefy, so I don’t mind that the bass was a little buried cause the synths, man. Really, really great production on the synths absolutely loved that sound.

I was especially happy with the drums. Cymbals, hats, those percussion elements, they’re not intrusive, they help the track along, they make it groove. Finger snaps great element, loved that. Tiny bit cliche but I don’t mind, really suited the track on this one.

Soyou’s vocal performance, so good! She’s just great, fantastic singer. The key is high but she handled those highs beautifully. Production on her voice is brilliant as ever, perfect.

Look, say what you want about Bora, but, she plays to her strengths. That baby voiced delivery of her bubblegum rap verse on this track, it’s saccharine sweet but it’s perfect for ‘Aloha’. It suits the vibe perfectly. Really good choice there.

It’s a summer bop what can I say, like, the whole track left me feeling energised, happy as larry, although it did make me miss SISTAR, RIP.

Thanks for listening, I’m Sean @sepatorprod, Buy Me A Coffee. Til Next Time.

Jeebanoff – Care For You/There, There – How NOT to Kpop Review

Hello everyone, today Sean @sepatorprod sat down to review Korean RnB artist Jeebanoff’s latest release Care for You/There, There. Follow on insta @sepatorprod and Buy Me a Coffee☕

Transcript

Hey everyone Its Sean here @sepatorprod. Hitting you up with another review of an awesome track by Korean Rap RnB artist Jeebanoff. He released a track about a week ago called ‘Care for you’ and ‘There, There’. I’m going to review them combined because he uploaded a lyrics video with them combined so I feel like they are companions to each other so i’ll review them as such.

Start off with ‘Care for you’, beautiful harmonies it’s a nice sweet production. The guitars, sparkly, beautiful, kinda got some depth to them. No thinness here, really beautiful guitar sound on this track.

And the beat it kicks in really nicely it adds some dynamics to the track. It’s got kind of a spring day vibe this one I really loved it. The trap type beat, very tasteful.

The vocals, Jeebanoff, man, amazing. It’s him at his best. It’s the best I’ve heard him, like the soft falsettos, these airy, murmured verses. Awesome, awesome track.

And then we go into ‘There, There’. So the lofi beat is cool. It’s mixed maybe a touch loudly, which is weird because in ‘Care for you’ I found the mix really amazing, well balanced. But then ‘There, There’ kicks in and it’s off balance somehow.

Minimal production, lots of space, but it’s hindered by what I saw as a lot of compression, I suspect. So that made it more upfront, very very present, in my face, yet kinda airy in its minimal production. So, I guess there was tension there that didn’t quite work for me.

Harmonies, beautiful once again, just like in ‘Care for you’. But mixed very low, very very low. Whisper quiet, I would’ve liked them brought up a little more considering how beautiful they sound.

Overall it is a cool chill track, the production was kinda lacking on ‘There, There’.

But I absolutely loved this double track effort from Jeebanoff. Especially the vocal performance he absolutely killed it this time and I’m really looking forward to what he’s got coming next. Whether that’s an EP, album, another single, I don’t mind, more Jeebanoff.

Thanks for listening, I’m Sean @sepatorprod. Buy Me a Coffee, Til Next Time.

How NOT to Kpop S2 Ep.5 – Squid Game Crypto Scam, aespa Giselle Racial Slur, Lay Fan Pregnancy Rumours

This episode Sean and Henry talk the sensational collapse of a Squid Game Crypto. Also, Aespa Giselle lip sync a racial slur landing her in trouble. False rumours against EXO member Lay come out on Weibo, SM responds.

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How NOT to Kpop S2 Ep.3 – Paloalto NFTs, ITZY Bullying Scandal, BTS Korean Only?

This episode Sean and Henry discuss Hip Hop legend Paloalto releasing an NFT, ITZY’s Lia bulllying allegations, and should BTS only sing in Korean?

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Paloalto NFT: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T6bAkyK-Kp8
NFT Explained: https://www.investopedia.com/non-fungible-tokens-nft-5115211

ITZY Lia Bullying Allegations: https://www.soompi.com/article/1456317wpp/jyp-entertainment-denies-school-bullying-allegations-against-itzys-lia