Unicorn Jukebox

Hey y’all!

I want to try something a little different this week since I was really busy last week and don’t really have a recap for you. I wanted to try reviewing a music video that came out, and talk about all of the different aspects it contains such as fashion, song, overall story/aesthetic, camera work, and choreography.

Before we get into the breakdown of the music video lets go through a little background on NCT Dream. NCT Dream is a sub unit of NCT (Neo-Culture Technology) which is a rotating member boy group under SM Entertainment. This is the third music video that they have release ahead of their comeback as NCT 2018.

Overall Aesthetic/Story line: If this was your first time viewing anything by NCT Dream the overall aesthetic wouldn’t really shock you. BUT this is a crazy concept switch from what they have done in the past. Their previous aesthetic was much more young boys with a bubble gum pop influence, and this is anything but. I’m glad that they decided to purposely put in shots of them laughing or doing cute things to show that they’re not getting rid of that side of their image, but rather expanding to show more sides of them. Dream doesn’t really go for an actual story line throughout the video, and instead focuses more on aesthetic. As far as locations, and costuming is concerned there is a heavy hip hop influence through out the look of the video. The overall image is a bunch of kids playing around in the streets, something very commonly associated with hip hop’s roots. And to drive the point home further Mark wears a shirt with Beyonce on it, and someone else (sorry didn’t see who) is wearing one with Kanye.

Song: The song itself is really not my favorite. Dream has a lot of really talented vocalists and I feel that they really missed an opportunity to showcase them with choosing to shout sing the chorus. But, I must say I did not realize how great of a voice Haechan has, and I’m glad that at least one person got a chance to shine vocally. The first time I heard this song I thought they didn’t give Mark a verse, and was completely shocked by that, but no worries he gets one toward the end. As much as I don’t really care for the song (it’s probably my least favorite of the tracks NCT 2018 has released so far) it does get stuck in your head fairly easily, which I guess is the point.

Fashion: I really like the fashion choices in this video. NCT is known for wearing things that on paper you wouldn’t think go together, but some how they pull them off. The clothes definitely show off a 90s hip hop aesthetic. I really loved all of the neon colors that when paired with the lighting design really popped through out the video. I think the use of the neon colors helped keep alive the boyish image that Dream is so known for.

Camera Work: The camera work wasn’t too crazy or anything like that, but it did a couple of things that added to the video. I liked that it would alternate between long ‘professional’ shots to more dietetic ones that made it feel like it was being shot by one of the members in the video. Towards the end of the video the camera got more involved with the song, shifting a bit every time go was shouted and added onto the frenziness that was created in all of the changing scenery and lighting building the song up to the conclusion.

Choreography: Unfortuantely there wasn’t too much of the choreography shown in this video to make too much of a judgement, which is really sad. Dream are incredibly good dancers, and although this music video was good I would have loved to see more of them dancing. That being said what was shown was great and definitely centered around a more hip hop feel, like everything else in this video.

Hey everyone!

Welcome to my Weekly Recap. This was another really busy week for me so I didn’t get to listen to as many albums as I would have liked this week, but there were quite a few good ones, so that makes up for it. This week I definitely listened to a lot of older music, well not super old. A lot of these albums were released in 2014 or 2015, so not exactly recent, but still very good.

Femm-Isation by FEMM

Rating: B+

They are a ‘mannequin’ Japanese duo with a really unique sound. I found myself enjoying a lot of the tracks, but listening to the whole album altogether was almost a bit much. I feel like I will enjoy their songs and style a lot better as individual songs in a playlist versus listening to the whole album again. I normally don’t feel that way about music because I feel the artist’s stories are told better through a whole album versus individual tracks, but this is definitely an exception.

X by Ed Sheeran

Rating: B+

I had obviously heard tracks from this album since it was released, but it had been a while since I had listened to the album in its entirety. I prefer ‘Divide’ over this album by far. I feel that this was definitely a unique album with the most of the tracks having an off the beaten path feel, while still having all of the recognizable hits.

2014 S/S by Winner

Rating: B+

This album really reminded me how much I enjoy Winner’s music. A lot of their staple hit come from this album and overall its a very solid piece of work. It makes me increasingly more excited for their next comeback.

The Manuel by Eddy Kim 

Rating: B+

This was a very cute album and I really enjoyed Eddy Kim’s sound. He has such a soothing voice so it was very nice to listen to. I had never heard of him before so I was very delighted to be treated to his great voice.

Life Note by Hong Ji-Young

Rating: C

Overall I didn’t really care for this album. None of the tracks stood out or did anything for me. It was pretty bland for the most part.

25 by Song Ji-Eun

Rating: C

This album was also pretty bland for me. There wasn’t too much about it that really stood out. There was one track, “Don’t Look at Me Like That” was incredibly familiar to me for some reason. I think it is used as a backing track in several videos by other companies or YouTube creators.

Speed Circus by Speed

Rating: B

I was super excited for this album. I had heard the lead single before and love it, and the choreography for it, but the rest of the album didn’t really impress me. The other tracks on the album were really just ok with no wow factor. Nevertheless I am still disappointed that Speed has disbanded.

Make Up by Hyomin

Rating: C

This album didn’t really do much for me, maybe due to the fact that it is only 3 tracks long. And being 3 tracks long, the third song felt like it didn’t fit the concept of the other two.

Bouquet by The Chainsmokers

Rating: B

This was the last album by The Chainsmokers that I needed to listen to, and is arguably my least favorite. The songs were all ok, but there wasn’t really any wow factor present in any of them. I’m personally not the biggest fan of them.

1989 by Taylor Swift

Rating: A+

I will admit I have listened to this album before, but I didn’t listen to it since I had created my list and recording ratings, so I thought it fitting to revisit it. I think this is a fantastic album. I know a lot of people have their opinions of Taylor one way or another, but I still believe this is a stellar album. This was the album where I felt Taylor had the clearest grip on her style and direction. ‘Reputation’ is a whole other story.

Locomotive by Loco

Rating: B

This was a good album. He’s not my favorite Korean rapper, but also not my least favorite by any means. I really enjoyed the Jay Park feature.

Hey~~~~~

You have no idea how completely excited I am to be able to review this album!!!! I have been actively waiting for this album to be released for over 6 months now. In case you don’t know, J-Hope is a member of the kpop sensational boy group, BTS. He has been teasing the release of the album for what feels like forever, and he dropped it last week.  This release has set a bunch of records on the Billboard charts including debuting at number 63 on the Billboard 200 chart, which is the highest for any solo kpop artist. To make that number even more impressive the album was released with only 14 hours left to be counted in that week’s Billboard 200. And with that let’s get into the track by track review 🙂

Hope World: It starts off with a really fun retro feel, which will be repeated throughout the whole album. I loved the start and I feel it really set up the listener to what the rest of the album would be like, and what J-Hope’s personal style is. J-Hope learned producing through his time in BTS so it was really cool to see him put his personality into the music and create something that truly reflected who he is versus who BTS is. Bonus fun fact: Hope World is the name of J-Hope’s studio 🙂

P.O.P. (Piece of Peace) pt. 1: The titling of this is super cute. It refers to the fact that J-Hope hopes to continue this thought in his future music, and also speaks to his personality and how he wishes to bring happiness to many people. It has a very relaxed backing track, but it never feels slow. The overall style transports you to a colorful world. This track also does a good job of highlighting J-Hope’s vocal ability as well as his flow as a rapper.

Daydream: This was the first song released off the album with an accompanying music video. Again we are greeting with a fun retro vibe throughout the whole song. You can easily picture yourself grooving out to this song at a roller disco. This song I believe is a perfect example of how J-Hope takes very interesting approaches to his rap flow. He tends to utilize space and pitch changes often versus relying on clever wording or trying to be the fastest. Also the use of the alarm clock sound effect is a super cute touch.

Base Line: First of all this song is not nearly long enough for how good it is! I am really glad it is included because it begins to show the other side of J-Hope that is heavily influenced by R&B and hip hop. This song acts as a good transition from Daydream to Hangsang making the album even more cohesive.

Hangsang feat. Supremeboi: I’m so glad that J-Hope decided to include Supremeboi on this track because he does not get nearly enough recognition for all of his work. (He’s a main producer for BTS and actually almost debuted with them). This song is something that most people would expect to be on a rapper’s mixtape, yet still retaining all of the J-Hope flavor. This is his way of saying, I can play the mixtape game your way too. I love this song so much and think it does everything you want from it. It’s the type of song you turn on when you are pre-gaming to go out for the night.

Airplane: This was the second single off of the album. I love how the backing vocals are done by the other members of BTS. This track goes back to the fun retro feel that we had in the beginning of the album. I’m glad that he set it up this way because it creates full circle effect that is very effective. This is definitely the most laid back song on the album, which kind of gives it this first class vibe. But, to be honest this is probably my least favorite song on the album, but it is still really good. I just don’t really see myself putting it in any of my playlists or reaching for it on its own.

Blue Side (Outro): I’m a huge fan of intros and outros to begin with so I am very happy that he included this. I think it is a fantastic way to showcase the fact that your thoughts on the album are concluded and brought around. It acts almost as a landing point for everyone to come home after visiting ‘Hope World’. I did hear that he had actually made this as a full song first and then cut it down to an outro, which definitely makes me wonder what the full track would be like.

Overall I thought this was a fantastic album that actually lived up to hype. I do wish it was a bit longer, but I can’t actually think of anything that is missing from the album. As far as a first mixtape from someone whose first love is dancing, this is absolutely phenomenal and I can’t wait to see what else will come from J-Hope and BTS in the future.

Safe Travels~~~~~ 🙂