March 2023 was another month for K-Pop! Chris and Chantel Nicole give their unfiltered and honest reactions and reviews and discuss production, vocals, lyrics, videos, choreography and performances in this edition of “Is It Boppin’?” Viewer discretion is advised, your fave will be criticized…

This month, we reviewed:

• ONEW - "O (Circle)"
• TAN - "Fix You"
• KAI - "Rover"
• NMIXX - "Love Me Like This"
• MAMAMOO+ - "GGBB"
• JISOO - "Flower"

As always, our Patreon crew members got to vote for what they wanted, and the remaining spots were decided by polls on our social media! For TWICE - "Set Me Free", BamBam - "Sour & Sweet" and Billlie - "EUNOIA", we filmed exclusive reviews just for our Patreon members. To get a sneak preview...we made some shorts!

Shorts:

• TWICE - "Set Me Free"
• BamBam - "Sour & Sweet"
• Billlie - "EUNOIA"

Transcript (from YouTube):

fewer discretion is advised your faith will be criticized that's Jan that's good we are CCTV the non-stop pop show and join us for another round of izib where the biggest K-pop releases of March 2023. [Music] looking for an awesome Global pop music podcast well look no further because Shannon and I have the inside scoop with extensive experience performing on stage and working at record labels we review and deep dive into your favorite artists songs and careers and also interview music industry professionals including artists producers choreographers and everything in between so you can join us on patreon at patreon.com CCTV pops and become a part of our amazing crew which includes the set Lily Emily Kevin and Juliet subscribe now and let's explore the world of pop music together thanks to all of you who have voted in the polls on patreon and across our socials your input help us decide the songs on this episode which really surprised me what the results were because I looked at ourselves what darling that's awesome okay and uh twice in bam bam we're very close but did not end up making it in sorry every vote does count but if you do want to see our reaction to those be sure to subscribe to our patreon because I will be a patreon exclusive and also if you want to join in on our discussions or our votes make sure to subscribe and leave a comment with your picks alright so this episode we'll be discussing some of the top KPOP releases from March 2023 so let's get into it is it a Bop or is it a fork this is is it bop it here we listen to the songs and discuss the production lyrics videos and everything in between so let's find out do we have Bops or flops yes and the first song we're going to talk about is circle by onu and this one was done by him Ina Harris and you young Jin this one um it just really shows why he is good at what he does you know like he's very good at a ballad you know um and also it's nice to hear his kind of tone in Kpop especially in the soundscape of it being so high pitched and very like or rap focused um I like this song because the core is just hopping right into it um is is probably one of my favorite things to hear because it sounds very hopeful and it's so interesting to hear how certain chords and Melodies Inspire and bring about happiness like he's just like completely happy like the whole song is in like this you know Joy Fest um like dice was previously or something like that but it's it's almost like huh hoping for a better day like you know the the rainbow after this the storm kind of thing um his tone in the song is very like gentle and understanding and something about the lyrics being like the circle of life or like how life is a cycle and how all the people we meet are going through the same things at different times like the Sun is setting on someone else's time and you know that kind of thing or like the Moon is coming we all have something going on just saying 24 hours in a day um but I like the way this was um done especially with like the chorus uh the choir in the chorus things like that stood out to me the verses are great don't get me wrong but of course the chorus is what you want her people and I was hooked it wasn't like you know bombastic K-pop track but I liked it yeah onu has become a really interesting solo artist like I think all the members of Shinee have but his Lane is very interesting because he I think you can kind of feel that he doesn't really care about being super commercial I think everyone else kind of does yeah yeah but with him it's not that way so it makes his whole discography a little more just interesting I guess but yeah I love this one it's very very cool I think the first time I heard it I was kind of like like I don't I don't fully get it and then when I read the lyrics and saw kind of how self-reflective it was and and how it almost feels like someone who's hit like just a new Epiphany in life like they've hit some milestone in life that's caused them to be super reflective about their world and their life and and overall just kind of I don't know how the world Works which is interesting um and and the way it's produced definitely reflects that as well it's super dreamy very ethereal a lot of these kind of like fluttering sounds that are very dreamy around you um and his tone is perfect for that because yeah he makes it quite hypnotizing I think like you said he sounds very like he sounds very warm but it's still very pensive like he's in the midst of discovering something and kind of just like spewing it out you know in a poem that's kind of what it feels like so yeah it's really really beautiful and I agree the choir was a great choice because it kind of adds this then kind of spirituality to it oh without it turning gospel but like yeah it's interesting and it's ad-libs are great the average at the end yes yes he sounds amazing I love his voice yeah honestly I agree and I think um the video definitely lends itself to like the whole idea of it um I was giving very much every being everywhere at once with that like with the little flashing I love that effect that you have like the subject in one spot like in the center of the camera and everything else is changing um the video is interesting to me because you do have those different versions of himself in life um and I think just pair it in with the lyrics of what was going on um it's oh gosh I don't again I don't want to get too too deep but it is there's quite a deep song I mean he's not like one to shy away from that and I appreciate it um but yeah the video has like a childhood places like a school or like a bedroom or a childhood toys a talk that little dinosaurs little circle things are flowing into the water um and also there's this one Set uh scene where he's on like this very like childhood cartoon childhood uh TV show like Teletubby kind of set with the hills but then it almost looks like The Truman Show with the blue screen and the open door and the so it's like he's being watched constantly and he always has to be like this innocent happy kind of person and and then you see the teleprompter with the lyrics so he's being told what to say when to say how to say it uh like nothing is ever right everything is perfect but not really because it's rehearsed um and then at the end you see these really quick flashes and there's a cell phone with blood on it and and rabbits and other imagery broken things and there's a lot of circle imagery as well um but yeah those kind of like uh juxtaposed images of him being alone in these very like neutral toned spaces that looked dilapidated and then this perfectly crafted set kind of spooky um but yeah I like that kept my attention yeah I've seen this video now a few times but I feel like I need to watch it again like away more times to fully get it because you're right it totally reminded me of everything everywhere all at once may have actually been inspired by that because it is kind of like these different timelines right in a way it's like in one life you could be this like host of a kids TV show in one life you like you know it's very very interesting the way it was done um and yeah the tunnel I love The Truman Show reference that's very yeah it's interesting it's like he's traveling through very Marvel like very like you're looking at all the different potential timelines in your life or maybe moments in your life it's very yeah really really cool and I yeah I think that takes many many watches to fully get it or maybe the point is you never fully get it which ooh because life yeah you never forget come on yeah so what'd you think of the performances oh man you know again because of the lyrical content and the whole like maintaining like inner child happiness stuff like that that costuming has been leaning more toward like Pee Wee Herman and friends or like you know love angel music baby very Allah um wind it up you know um no that's a great reference yeah right with the one I love when he's wearing the tie and the tie is hanging on his shoulder I think it's very stylistically cute um I love his hair um it's giving Sunday morning's best is giving like I'm going ready to go to church like listen all the black girls out here you already know your mama said in and bumped your ends and you didn't want them bumped you know the little crop little Bob looking like freaking James Brown but luckily his is just straight um but yeah you know but background dancers are adding to the story kind of almost like clouds as they float out around him or like get in his way as he walks through them so I think the whole storytelling with the dancers is great because if you're gonna have all this queen maybe choreography you know a hundred thousand percent effort at least have the dancers kind of you know add to that as opposed to like swallowing him up yeah you know so yeah I appreciate it and then he has like this weird like you know helpful look on his his grave sorry yes his facial expression is very not silly but yeah very like innocent yeah I don't really know yeah yeah like yeah they're like in awe of something but again I guess goes along with kind of like the Epiphany kind of thing like he's suddenly discovered this like whole thing about life that he's learned yeah the choreography is interesting to me so when I was a dancer in a crew and was going to all these competitions and stuff there was a time period like maybe 10 or so years ago where all the dancers were doing the lyrical contemporary hip-hop thing where they take up slower more like pensive song like this one and do really hard moves to it but then it's like but then it's still very like flowy but it's a poppy way and this is very bad so that's all I can think of when I see this that's not a bad thing but that's just it's just kind of interesting in that way that you didn't just kind of make it contemporary they just went like hip-hop contemporary yeah

uh the storytelling and the choreography though is nice I think what I noticed the most which I thought was interesting with was how they used the female dancers versus the male dancers because they really did separate them like there'd be moments where the the girls would walk out um and then the boys would be the only ones dancing and then also vice versa and then you've had little moments where he like partnered with a girl and then like or the dancers would form like a little picture and then he would kind of like interact with whatever they were forming so yeah a lot of interesting storytelling here which doesn't fully mean anything like it's not super obvious what yeah it's actually alluding to which I like because you can kind of interpret that however you want I guess um so yeah I enjoy the choreography for sure but yeah definitely very dance crew from a few years ago oh totally totally I think this is a nice era for him he seems happy the fans seem happy with it and we're happy with it too yeah um my score is sitting at a fat eight um it's a very fatty we get a full but uh what about you yes I will stick to an eight as well um next is tan with fix you and the song was done by KZ Kim taeh Young Hoff and jisung of tan uh so I'll let you kick us off with this one um we have been seeing tan around but have not spoken about them so this is our first time it's kind of surprising that they made the count yes well yes thank you to our patrons who I guess are tan fans which is awesome because I am a tan fan as well actually they're actually really good yeah yes I heard about them because of the C Clown connection right one of them was a member of c-bound which I loved C Clown they were a second they were second gen right or with the third gen

yeah they were kind of like fizzling yeah yeah but like they they never really hit big but they actually have great songs in their discography and even though only one member is from the sea clown this literally sounds like their whole discography so far it literally sounds like the continuation of C-Class I'm in tears I mean considered what they could have done what they could have done yeah totally like I could see their best songs are exactly this this like slightly cheesy melancholic yeah that song that's actually a mid-tempo you know yeah it's funny um very very late second gen early third gen which is very much what I love of in K-pop boy bands especially um so yeah I love the processed guitar I love oh my God yeah I just love the slight cheesiness of The Melancholy yeah it's so good and the chorus there's something about the structure of it I really like like it's a very actually complicated chorus where every single part yeah but then there's all these extra parts after it yeah oh yeah it's not just it's not just that over and over again yeah it's like there's kind of a nice structure to it which I appreciate and again very kind of K-pop from 10 years ago so yeah it's interesting I need to learn a little bit more because I can't tell like if they're successful right now yeah someone let us know I like how they're doing like chart wise and stuff like I can't fully tell but I am supportive I think a lot of their title tracks so far have been really good yeah it's been a year for them so I guess I've been doing successfully enough if their company has enough money to fund them you know like hate to be like that but we all know how expensive it is to be a K-Pop group oh my god um but yeah you know for me I feel like like you said a lot of it does like second second third gen um but yeah I I can't tell the places apart yet doesn't mean they're bad I can't either I can't tell them apart that's my only kind of like quote-unquote note for this um the blend of the electronic and the guitar like you said it's very much like old and I wonder how people are feeling about it because this whole like K-pop Renaissance but like is happening now like the old school sound is happening in Kpop and not just like taking from like American inspired music like they're actually ripping themselves off now which is great you have to say it's a rib raw but it's like it's one of those things where they're kind of like they're inspired by their own yeah musical progression yeah yeah so I think it's interesting I do want to know how it is doing um on the circle slash got on chart but uh but yeah I think this song is interesting I like the rappers in it I think there's only like two rappers that I caught but yeah I um I appreciate that they're willing to do something kind of sad in the middle of spring upcoming um so yeah especially with the other songs that were coming out because the girl goes up and smacking the boys out of the water so yes kudos to them for coming up with this kind of like hey girl I love you let's work on this um thing you know like I like that you know take care yes yes the video though is okay there's nothing super memorable about it to be very honest I do appreciate the um the beach scenes though because it doesn't just because it doesn't really fully fit the song but I like the golden hour lighting of them right on the beach and running through the town that they're in the attempt yeah yeah so it's okay yeah yeah there's some old music videos I can see in this song like when I look at them in the white suits it's kind of like the white building reminds me of like infinite like there's a like some knots like old school even the way it's kind of edited I'm like this looks like that weird like overly high quality Pig oh God it's just the way the video is it's not smooth it's not as smooth as I would like like in certain natural scenes like um the color grading like in the white background with the white suit is very like old school kind of way of like color grade everyone looks very pale everyone's wearing white as well um the crown is gray when it's supposed to be black because we all know pavement is black you know like that kind of thing but yeah everybody's like old infinite the black and white scenes kind of remind me of like um it's a little low budget but it reminded me of Because of You by after school when they're kind of like with the sheets and stuff like that hanging again it was very lazy the way I have this sheet hanged up was the way they had to she hung up in a video of like so see what you want to say about my seat y'all he's talking about your boys um but yeah I think one of the more interesting set pieces were like um where the the sunset behind like the walls so it kind of brought Two Worlds together but yeah it was a little cheap and then the dancing it wasn't bad but again it wasn't one of those things where I'm like wow this right here is like amazing and the jacket choreography though it's okay I mean I get it like the jacket even in the beginning when they're dancing there's like the jacket on the shoulder so I guess it's kind of like a cool guy but also what the guy does with your shoulders or it's comforting you know um so yeah I guess I like that I will say though like for like family show show it too too much but unless you were looking but there's like a pelvis tap in the pre-chorus that I don't like like I don't know what that is yeah yeah again I was just like I don't I didn't want to like not like the song but then I like watching the choreography and I'm like what is that what is that it doesn't make any sense but yeah it's in it's in the pre-hug you see them tapping their stomachs I don't like that I don't know what that is um but yeah I mean they seem like they're really giving it their all and they perform it so yeah I mean here's the thing if the song sounds like third second gen and if the video looks like that Jen also I wish the choreography also looked like that because this it's again I say this a lot on the is it not bins it's too hard like they're hitting so hard it's super fast at times yeah when you're having your solo you're the one doing the most yeah and that's very what current K-pop is but like it just the musicality is just not there it doesn't fit the song like why are you moving your arms that fast on a song that is so like melancholic I I don't know it just annoys me it just doesn't fit the song like they're it's so it's a more chill song you know yeah so I don't like that um so I didn't love the performances of it I have better performances in the past for the past title tracks so yeah but I like the song so I'll actually give this song an eight how about you um actually I kind of sat it with the seven right now it might go hospital 7.5 but yeah I gave it a seven all right so keeping with kind of wanted some of the older pop stars K-Pop Stars we have Kai who's finally made his comeback after more than a year with Rover and this one was done by Park taewon manoir Dara Valentina nikova y-n-g-a young chant Gabriel Brandis and Yu young Jin and it's actually a cover of Mr Rover by a Bulgarian artist Dara which is why she's also credited and all her songwriters are credited um so yeah what do you think okay Kai welcome back darling welcome back um I like that he kind of went for a more fun approach for this song because a lot of the other songs were like you know I'm not gonna hold you I love me some Peaches I I know peaches was not about all because it was very Travis Scott want to be a little divisive yeah let me some pizza okay um it was so cute if you would have had a song called cream that would have been great he doesn't agreement come on um that's just me being hopeful uh but yeah no I think this is a lot more fun than and and uh and peaches uh I like the little reggaeton kind of inspired thing it's so interesting again hearing different cultures again because Dar is like Bulgarian right she's not Latina but I thought she was right then I was like girl I mean I guess ethnically speaking she kind of has features very reminiscent of a woman that's from you know Hispanic culture but yeah I was like oh that's interesting I I will not lie I do like her version because it's like a lot more like you know because it's higher pitched or whatever because I didn't know that they lowered it um but yeah I think the autotune on his voice is good it's not like off-putting it adds to the effects of the song um second verse is definitely a highlight for me I don't know why I like that second I think I like the Cadence of his vocals in the second verse um for belting in the studio in that chorus I mean that bridge or the last chorus and those ad-libs yeah yeah

he tried his best you know um yeah yeah I like the lyrics are also confrontational too like you know uh with someone of his status he has been involved in some mild very mild controversy with dating like not even anything serious so I do appreciate him being like yo stop throwing my name around come on I think that's cool you know um the the lyrics kind of date themselves with that common hashtag or anything it kind of Dazed themselves but it's not a huge deal um and yeah this song kind of facing like you know plagiarism Scandal bullcrap with the fan not for nothing but if you don't know what the heck

you think a company as big as SM with the internet around would sit there and take a whole song and if they did look like um it's not possible at this point like if they did like I can't figure out how they would get away with it they're huge I mean this song's insanely catchy I think even the first time I heard it I was like okay this is gonna be a hit right um and it's hard now though because the video and the choreography is so viral that it's hard to listen to this song without also Imagining the visual which is kind of Ty's thing in general anyway I think you feel that way about most of his songs yeah but this one specifically for sure so it's hard to kind of just think about the song by itself but I will do my best um I do enjoy listening to it is a very standard pop song structure and of course it's very very easy to sing along to um and I think they made some good choices they actually did take some of the elements from Dara's version um they did add some flourishes to it they definitely made it a lot more Lush for him which is very hot I mean well it's very SMS to make things that Lush um so it's a nice it's a nice um upgrade I guess you could say from the Dara version um his vocals I agree they sound good I don't love his voice normally like it's quite nasal but in this case it totally works I think they've learned kind of where his voice sits well um so even in those ad-libs and stuff like he's not it doesn't feel too forced like it all feels very open like he sounds good for kind of where he's at and and so yeah and I appreciate kind of the um aggression in in his delivery yeah yeah because yeah that that wasn't always his strong point so I think it's definitely his vocals have improved a lot oh yeah over the years yeah totesma goats totally would go totally mongoli um but yeah you know what I actually kind of had a thing where I was like oh yeah is it because the song is good good or because that chorus is just repetitive um which was kind of dictate what my score will be at the end um I'm not gonna tell you what it is yet though um but yes going with what you were saying about the visual I think the video is so funny just a hot guy doing hot spy boy things like it wasn't anything serious like I enjoyed that I I enjoy the uses of background dancers like it was so fun to watch the girls dancing with the guys and how in the videos like interloping and whatnot and some of the camera angles of him standing with the girls and then looking down at himself and he's like reflection of himself by himself um I like the whole like him switching identities I think one of my favorite ones were the Billy Elliot identity where all of a sudden there's like a ballerina because if you don't notice that the Billy Elliot wasn't identity then you're like yo why is um why is Black Swan out here you know what I'm saying like you'd be like why is she out here doing her thing on point and why is he dancing with a bunch of ballerinas but it fits into that because Billy Elliot um but yeah I think it's interesting um second verse again stands out because he has no shirt on underneath that uh denim jacket and he's wearing a scarf on his head like a little old Russian maiden and I don't know why I liked it but I like it I don't know what that is well I love also that he's just performing in that I guess it Center thing that they're in so maybe it's just like staring at him yeah that makes it the bed that best part at the same time I mean I think yeah I did watch kind of the behind the scenes stuff and everything and I did like that he was inspired by his own life like he loved Billy Elliot as a kid he is he did take ballet he's a ballerino right um so I love that reference and the scenes with the ballet dancers is awesome like it does add a lot of layers to the whole thing while keeping it all really fun yeah um yeah really really enjoy it I mean he is such a great performer that's what he's known for so his videos are always good so this one doesn't disappoint at all the choreo is great like I mean yeah again they did an amazing amazing job I haven't officially learned it or anything but I feel like I kind of know it because yo he got literally people were saying that he's like uniting the K-pop fandom because he literally got every single active group that's promoting at the same time as he was did that challenge with him and then even people that were not actively promoting like 18th members yeah Taeyang from sf9 who's a huge EXO Kai Fanboy and he got to do it with him like he brought the people out like everyone was like I will put on this makeup so I can do the Rover challenge I'm in tears that's the makeup no

um but it's super super fun it it looks really really good it's not that hard you know people can learn it pretty quickly I think um and the performances are all really good we just did that episode that was a rant about expecting our Idols to sing live he is an exception I think um he's like Britney you know he's an exception like if you've got to perform like that is that good a performer and you need to lip sync in order to execute that that's okay you know what as a solo artist as a solo artist myself it is hard to sing by yourself than it is with you know like 20 seconds of a song all together then it is like you know so yeah going back to which we say you are like a Britney but also he's on stage the whole time so it's a little bit tougher and he's not Beyonce I'm joking but also I'm not be sure to be look out for our Destiny's Child uh Pop 101 episode is coming soon it's going to kind of I didn't mean to plug when I'm plugging plug it in plug it in combining everything because like I said I have to include the visual here so 8.5 how about you I'll give this one an eight okay up next is love me like this by in Merricks and it's done by London noise which is Greg Bonnet and Hayden Chapman um Lee Hai Jin Jennifer um

why am I getting all these hard names weekly Payette and Gavin Jones oh my good this one's interesting because we have seemed to have abandoned the Chex Mix yeah can I just say yo you and mix fans you showed up we got so many votes for that mix yeah so thank you hopefully you're open to our review oh shoot right it's like here get the song on the silver Platters at the guillotine like no I'm joking We're not gonna like no no no no I don't hate this song yeah yeah you know and I heard this song the way the bass line goes it kind of reminds me of sybils Don't Make Me Over like um old r b fans

don't make me I kept saying don't make me over on this and I was like oh I should do a mashup but I can't because I can't produce but instantly I was drawn to that because I was like oh it kind of reminds me of don't make me over this is fun oh um I was kind of impressed with the vocals on this in terms of like them actually just singing and not hollering because because we all know there's been a couple minute hollering um I think I was impressed because it wasn't like okay listen to us we can actually sing we're a vocal group which has been a lot of the other singles fault with me um it's always been like we can scream our faces off I'm like you know local talent is also melisma it's um technique it's also what you decide to do in those certain like like moments not just belting your face off in a high tone um so yeah I think vocally they sound pretty good so they even does stand out but I'm trying to get used to her voice because she has like a little bit of like a tight nasally sound I'm trying to get used to that so do you not so you're gonna keep saying that um the chorus though is a little bit mind-numbing it's a little mind-numbing love me like this love me like that love me like this and it's a little mind-numbing with the repetitiveness of it um I I do like it a little bit more uh than Rover's repetitiveness for whatever reason I guess because it is so like hypnotizing um but I do wish we would have got a postcourse like Rover actually gave me a little bit something else to like you know munch on it gave me a little bit like something to work with this did not it just added like hey yeah whoa and a guitar in the second half of the chorus which I thought was cool and I feel like if that guitar was featured a little bit more in that second half chorus it would have been a great shot the kind of a great instrumental to use for that in Mix Change up situation that's a guitar right there you can do something with that whole like

do something with it and you didn't uh but then again when these songwriters and these producers get these briefs I'm pretty sure they probably do want to go somewhere else with it but whatever they're getting told to make a lot of K-pop companies like do not don't switch up the program what we gave you is what we want so I mean it's no fault that the producers just want to say that now because I think sometimes when we say we wish it would have done that we kind of don't indemnify The Producers because K-pop companies are very much like we want ABC not a uh no we want a no lowercase a this font you know um so yeah I think I think in this situation for them to kind of like abandon the Chex Mix versions of their songs it's interesting um like I feel like it's instead of taking time to figure out like a more proper cohesive formula it's like put the next song out but don't make make sure it's not too polarizing make it more commercial so that people we can attract more people so when we go back to what we usually do we'll have more fans and um maybe that's the idea I don't get it but again I guess they don't want to turn off too many people because it's only their third single but that's when you take more time to make better music instead of it's another rant for another day um I saw a hilarious comment on Twitter where someone was like no there are still the end makes change up because it's a mix of hip-hop and R B and I was like uh no please tell me you just made that up and they didn't say that girl um so we have not been shy about our feelings about end mix since before they even debuted and um look I'm not a fan of the change up that they've done in the past however I agree with you in that there is a way to make the changeups good so I'm a little disappointed in them that they just abandoned it all together they're like yeah like I feel like they could have just worked a little harder to like make it more palatable anyway um my reference actually or what this reminded me of was actually Wonder Girls like this oh my God like this stuff like this yeah super sense I learned how to cover so it's not as cheesy as that one is this one's a little more refined a little cooler but that was the vibe that I got for me yeah so that was kind of my reference I love the pre-chorus in this the harmonies are really really beautiful and I like the melody a lot so definitely big shout out to that part um yeah the chorus I actually like the channel I mean like this I mean like I almost wish it was breathier than they do it like I think I appreciate that slightly slurred and slightly chilled I think it could have even been more chill just to kind of get it slightly more Dynamic with this really like sharp beat this is like hard-hitting beat yeah and then when the second half when the guitar comes in oh so when I first heard it I was like oh please tell me they sing it the second time and you get like a bunch of Harmony

I wish they took out something the the I wish they took out the chant the repeated chant and only did a five six parts yeah that would have taken it to uh the whole level that I wanted it because right now the chant continues and those harmonies are quite in the in the back in the mix yeah and so I was like oh that was so close to the way I want it so anyway that might be me but it was just almost there but I do like the guitar that comes in I like the intensity that that adds for sure yeah you're right I mean if you are going to do something that's so repetitive boost it with the that's my thing like if I kind of just like repetitive in myself in the way that I had it pictured or the way that I wanted it to go so that's just me but that's interesting to be fair though I like the song a lot more than the last oh okay that was not great oh I'm not even gonna think about that pre-release song there's a reason I didn't include it in the list so we did the polls I don't even want to talk about it and he's like no no um yeah but what'd you think of the visual though oh wow you know this is one of those things again you know abandoned all of this cartoonish buffoonery um for the sake of what it's almost like might be entertainment doesn't know how to balance too much and just enough because now you got this video where what God there are some like Whimsy like the inmix fan fantasy world like yes it's in the refrigerator or like whatever like the house right there you got the jellyfish like going around in the bedroom yeah yeah right at the crib but then you get to like the dancing scenes and like put them girls on the cycle Cyclorama wall like they'll be fine or like put the white room yeah I like put these girls on um how you say um put them in a in a dark room with lights but don't change the clothes are you kidding like that like like for it to have like a guitar and it kind of sounds rockish that's when you put them in the black and the leather or at least put them in like not silver some of them a little cheesy but like black and leather denim just not plaid change the clothes like the way they were dressed I've just boy and then the the florals the floral scene I felt like that it was it was okay like again it was just giving all right when they're done filming their dancing put the grass on you know what I'm saying put the turf down like that's what it was giving um I do like some of the clips where they're like looking at the the the the transparent like floor with the flower I like that I like I love videos that have that I wish they would have been dancing or like performing more on instead of picking up flowers I'm like oh my God the flower um but yeah I feel like again it's one of those things where it's like they have this image they have this concept y'all blew your whole bunch on the first two single now suddenly you don't have money for the budget and they're wearing the same clothes that they wore in one dance scene throughout the whole videos dance scenes you know what I'm saying like and we always talk about how less is more but this is the one time where you could have just tried a little bit like with the costuming and well my issue is that you could use these sets and this video concept for literally any song Almost yes like there's nothing about this video that seemed catered to the song itself um that was more so my issue with it like it just felt very generic there was nothing that special about it um I think the girls themselves though you can definitely tell they're more comfortable on camera now there's a little bit more presence so that's really good to see yeah I'm starting to kind of recognize certain ones a little bit more which is good um so yeah I'm just a little confused by the concept itself because it feels like they kind of had this set and the whole idea fleshed out before the song was even written and they're like that's the video for the next single regardless of like the song it sounds like like we're gonna be in a white room they're going to be in a dark room then they're going to be in a bedroom and then you know what I mean like it's a flower it's like it's just like okay like I don't know like at least they're older videos like they really fit the song at least even we didn't like the song like I can appreciate the visual you know so yeah don't know a little confused um performance wise and choreo wise yeah kind of the same issue with tan like I kind of wish that choria wasn't as jumpy as it is it's very like Zumba at times um yeah cause it's like you know I know everyone go like this I don't know that's just kind of what it felt like because again love me like this love me like that like that's like that's kind of lazy it's like kind of chill like why are you like doing the absolute most you know what I mean like while you're doing it I just it just doesn't that's a song like again like I just don't understand that like it doesn't need to be going at 100 like the whole time anyway also I do appreciate though that they are singing live and even in that dance practice they were singing live we've got real harmonies that are alive as well which is very rare in k-pops I can very much appreciate that so thank you ladies for that um I enjoyed hearing live vocals but yeah the choreo doesn't really do anything for me so oh I'm not gonna lie I actually like the the me like this in the lovely like pointing all cause uh like even at either like choreographing like we both have choreographed pieces right for me I don't think I would have changed it too too much if I get what you're saying because they're not like a sexier type of girl group it's almost like what else can they I guess you know love me like this love me I guess it would have been basic hip-hop if anything like really basic but I guess this is memorable because the hip shaking I like to hit me like this I think because they Rock so much it gets a little bit like well I think but even the way you're marking it right now yeah even if you did it at that 60 yeah 60 70 that's what I'm saying Rocky right it's the rocking it's the rocking because I like to love me like this love yeah I like that I like the the subtly but yeah and I I have a lot of the same notes that you have so at this point like we're at the same page on this one um how would you rate it though what's your score you know what amongst the end mix songs yeah it's pretty good let's be real so I'll give it a 7.5 how about you you know what okay I will give it an eight because I think they're going the right direction without like copying any other girl groups I'll say that nice nice moving on to manalu plus with ggb and this was done by Kim dohun Li seung-ho so young Bay Cosmic girl and inner child and so this is actually two members of mamamoo this is their is it their first release as a Duo these two yeah I think so I said two of them yeah actually yeah I mean I got an old album but like just kind of being like silly like it wasn't like official release like this one so yeah how do you feel about this one okay so first off I don't fully get why they're a Duo because it literally just sounds like a mamamoo song you know what I mean so maybe just the other two are just busy doing other things and the two of them were like we want to do our thing but I just I feel like the song just sonically just also could be a mamamoo song so that's why I'm kind of like like what's the point of that but that aside um the two of them do have a great Dynamic I think the two voices do sound good together they're very different yeah um so the dynamic is good there and you get a lot of variety when you listen to the song um not even getting to the switch up part yet but the the most of the song I appreciate that it's bright but they're the way it's produced there and the way they're saying it it's still very grounded in a way yeah um so overall it has a nice feel to it like and it's kind of just a fun song nothing super groundbreaking or anything um but yeah I enjoy it for kind of just like what it is I guess with the change up I mean we can talk about the little switch up in the middle but how do you think of what do you think of the song um I think it's I think the conceptually it is very cute it's very on brand for them yeah I love that do re mi Faso La Mundial ah I love that and lyrically like there's very fun yeah yeah and it had nothing to do with the whole topic of the song which is good girl bad boy which I think is great because I was like ggb go go with it again like but it wasn't GoGo baby again um I think that's a great concept um the whole like why do girls good girls like bad boy like it's a tail it's a tale as old as time um but yeah the doo-op sound was like missed in their releases like lately it's been very like Latin influenced or like or for commercial influence or whatever kind of like car commercial like you know like the guitar from the car commercial yeah yeah right we're starry night sorry yes I've said it starry night sorry mumus sounds like Ford commercial um but yeah I think this I think it separates itself a little bit more than uh separate yourself from the more recent singles but kind of lumps itself in with the earlier ones yeah even mention it with the MMO uh with with the song um Mr ambiguous but yeah I think the song has a switch of that inmix was looking for um that's crazy it's crazy right after right um but yeah I think it's interesting to hear this kind of doo-wop sound within K-pop because I think a little bit before um Meghan Trainor had came out they were doing the whole doo-wop kind of sound with their four-part Harmony blah blah so they kind of hear them go back to this after so long with Taylor with Meghan Trainor now being a little bit more popular and getting like Tick Tock famous now it is so interesting because again they've been doing it but now for me this sounded like a Meghan Trainor track but the only thing I differentiated itself and gave it what I wish Megan would do was giving it like yes you know some raps and then solar actually being like really Soulful and vocal tone so I think it's interesting to hear those two voices together doing something that is already hap it's so weird it's like this weird thing because they've already done it but why go back to it now so I think it's really interesting um but yeah that switch up was interesting I don't know how I feel about it at um because it was not the same key yeah they've done switch-ups in their songs before it's like not like a New Concept for them but this was not graceful it was not smooth and it just felt like it was kind of trying to cater to their sensibilities as them both liking more edgier hip-hoppy kind of concept but yeah but then the production itself like was bizarre like like not even if you just isolate just that part I agree it's very tinny um it doesn't feel broke around like I don't know it doesn't feel well-rounded at all it's just like I don't know it's very bizarre yeah no it wasn't my favorite and then when they do it live we're gonna talk about that later but when they do it live it's like they bring in Chico Malo uh and as opposed to this random music video breakdown um but yes let's hop right into the video really quick I mean they could budget like this we love silliness with a budget you know like the sets are really really fun in this yes um the two interacting is also really really cute I love all the little interaction moments being the two where they're like pushing each other like it's all just really really fun and silly um and it made me like the song More which is the point of a music video right yeah um so yeah again I enjoy it for what it was I I feel like they're kind of at the point in their career where they kind of just do whatever they want as well um so taking that into account I enjoy it but nothing I will watch back a ton of times I guess yeah what do you think oh dang it you know what I think we were talking about I mentioned them very briefly um when we were talking about the Bus song um they have that kind of chemistry that 17 has um where they actually like each other to a certain extent where it's like you know what I can stand to be with you for a subunit like they have that kind of chemistry um and they also kind of came out around the same time where they were actually covering each other's songs for like shows like really cute ways um so yeah I like the the video of it it reminds me of fighting's video where it's like a set yes that's what that's like displaying these girls in this apartment like like I'm bringing up with him I'm not going back and they're like oh my God don't go back to it well you know it's so funny like because because literally we all do that like all male or female you do that but it's so funny like as a fellow female or watching your girlfriend do the same thing she said she wasn't going to do with the person she said you know it's funny um I like that the dancers also act into it as well um I think the styling was interesting I love the dance sing with the girls with solar and lunga dancing with the guys and then bringing them together and it helps with the styling because mumbia is more tomboy-ish so she just [ __ ] guys and then uh solar is more feminine quote unquote so she is just with the girl so it's really cute and then bringing them together and having Moonville and solar dance together at one point I think that's what makes them kind of stand out you have like this cute little Sapphic moment where it's kind of fan service because people have already shipped them together because it's Moon and Sun

yeah so um they're a cute little friendship ship um so yeah it's nice to kind of see that um but yeah I think the the mix with Napoleon is way better of an incorporation than that random dance break and I hope they keep doing it for the live shows like right now we only have the KBS one but yeah just don't put that hip-hop back in there please yeah but the performances are fun like they're good performers you know they're well seasoned at this point and they always sing live which I which is always great you know um they always sound good as well that's what they're known for yeah um so yeah again just kind of seeing them interact on stages is really fun and the interaction with the dancers as well like they give eye contact to their dancers like the dancers are very much a part of it which I appreciate and um yeah all the little pictures and stuff within it are good you know the dancers kind of doing different poses in the back and then the two of them kind of walking through them and stuff like all that is really enjoyable so yeah very entertaining to watch I think as a song just kind of just for something fun for the two of them to do something fun for the fan to do I appreciate it for what it is but it's not gonna like bring any new fans or anything I don't think so yeah oh yeah yeah I'll stick to a seven as well all right up next we have jisoo with flowers good good I got Batman bad team Korean bad team is terrible but um but yes this is done by vvn Kush Vince 24 and Teddy Park the usual YG suspect yes and I don't know if that's a good thing or a bad thing at this point um considering oh the hums I'm getting but yeah considering the uh the tone of this song um it's interesting to hear what kind of music we get from this group with all the time they've had in the careers yeah all the pull that they have like all the reach that they have as a group it blows my mind um yeah this song is it reminded me of Selena Gomez like when she was going through her like look at her now phase um watch it go look at it very just um One Note um minimal it also sounds like an upscale version of solo like it could have been played for a soundtrack of like Emily in Paris or some like Netflix rom-com breakup scene where the girls like getting her stuff together and she's like I'm done I'm out of there I'm out of here um like the lyrics are cool I like the whole thing about you know the scent of a flower is the last trace of a girlfriend that's cute but again like the song doesn't really deliver in the way I would expect the main vocal to deliver and I don't care what Amy one says like you can be a huge fan of blackpink you can admit that this is not like vocally amazing and a part of me feels like they should have got other producers for it um because it just sounds like again something that Jenny could have done or like the group could have done as a whole but just more stripped down um and I feel like the guys are kind of the producers are kind of just like well we know it's gonna be a hit so miles will keep our names on it it doesn't feel like they were like let's give her the best of the best that's just how I feel about it um so sorry I'm sorry yeah I think I'm a little confused because you know this is her solo debut and it just doesn't feel like much fanfare was really made of it on any side like there's nothing that makes me feel like she's super passionate and excited to be a solo act there's nothing I'm hearing in the song that is like okay like this is making a statement like this is jisoo coming out yeah the solo artist like this is her moment like I'm not feeling that from anything in this era so far yeah um so I'm just slightly confused by what the point of all of this is if you're not gonna differentiate her from the rest of the blackpink stuff that she's already done so I'll just slightly yeah I'm just a little confused by the whole thing um but as a song it's fine like it's what I expected like when I heard that it was gonna be these producers and writers and and after going to the concerts you know she did Liar by Camila Cabello as her solo track this is very much in that vein as well so oh yeah if I was gonna predict what this is gonna sound like this is pretty much what I was expecting whether that's a good thing or not I don't know like do you want to be super safe with your day solo debut oh you're right baby um yeah her voice really is quite confusing in this for me the processing is very odd in it um and like I think her tone I like her tone actually like in a lot of the black pink stuff like I like the huskiness I like the slight kind of yeah I don't know it's quite low like her voice is interesting but in this there did some weird processing in it she sounds super nasally it's there's no dynamic in it she's singing the whole thing and it's like a throaty kind of you know yes you're so right because even on the other single eye a single but it's not eyes on me all eyes on me oh it's almost too high for her it's almost too hard and it sounds like so Roadie like you said the nasally yeah and then they added just extra kind of like tinny processing on it that that doesn't help it in any way so yeah just not a huge fan of that um the dance hook moment after the courses oh I don't even know what you call that but not my favorite it's very piercing like not in a good way oh no see again it's giving is when my thing is if you're gonna have like a song that just goes into this random Dance Part the vocal has got to be on point otherwise you're just using it as filler and that's what that was it was filler she got to give me something before and she didn't give me that before I was just like oh you smell as a flower it's just like okay like yeah come on I've heard her sing Clarity by um foxes and Zed at the first um world tour oh you can sing songs that do that I wish I would have just given her an EDM song called it a day and not this if they were going to do that like all eyes on me leans more toward EDM yeah God but yeah and then the song just ends like there's just there's no build in this song it literally from the start is literally just one note the whole time like I just doesn't go anywhere I don't know I don't again I just don't really get it um visually um she looks beautiful and the video I'll give her that you know um what did you think of the video that's one of those things where you just look at each other I had nothing to say um listen again this is not about like our personal preference even though it kind of is but also just like but it's not just solely based on that either like nothing about this video gave me this is who jisu is in this group like I guess she has all the all the pretty scenes in the video like with cl the baddest female with DAR you had kiss that wasn't a great song but you knew her personality with bum you had all of her ballads because she could blow her little face off

that's a her name is the title of the song with on the grounds like yeah you got some uniqueness there for sure yeah yes like you could tell she's the acoustic princess of the group what does the song Say What is the song what does this video say about Jesus she's the pretty visual yeah she's the model she's the model I got it literally looks like a three-minute fashion commercial exactly exactly and unfortunately when you have such a stage as being a member of black pink you want to get scrutinizing right now you're getting scrutinized this is not again it's not her fault she didn't write the song but it's one of those things where I'm like babe you didn't have to make a solo thing and I feel like this is kind of like oh the blinks want it and if you're going to do it at least be like can I get a better video like it's just I mean she looked great I like the little fashion moments where she's wearing her fancy outfit she looks amazing cute but then when she's dancing and some of those scenes are very ungraceful it's like she's throwing her arms like in the pre-hug she's throwing her arms as opposed to kind of like you know reaching and actually more flowy elongating her limbs it's more just like of a more like an aggressive throw which I get but there's a way to throw something aggressively with the making look at nice she doesn't move her chest really when she's dancing in certain parts she just moves her arms as she's walking in the pre-hook at one section um the hand thing that was cute like her hands in front of her body for the flower that makes sense anything that requires her to like move around you didn't really see that like she didn't move much in this video except to like look at herself in the mirror she's sad about the breakup she's holding the scarf and it's flying in the Wind that's it so when you get to these dance scenes it's kind of just shows her weaknesses like a lot of these scenes weren't like her dancing yeah so we're recording this before she's performed it anywhere uh because it was released the last day of the month yeah so I'm curious to see the whole choreo because obviously we only got little bits of it in the video um yeah I mean just I don't know I have leaves no impact I have I don't know I don't even know what to think that honestly listen as a fellow smiled like Alto mildly fake soprano like I could write about a song for her like I'm not I'm not doing this with her um because she can do it we both heard her do something at least a little bit more Dynamic than this oh yeah right like I said I like her tone I think she has potential as a solo artist but this just doesn't doesn't sort yeah any kind of like wow she is their main vocal it's not fair to her at all Teddy in the game y'all need to stop stop you're like if I didn't really know the members of blackpink It's almost like oh one of them just went solo like check her out I'd be like okay yeah exactly it's not fair to her she deserves better um but yeah that being said what do you rank this song I mean as her first solo song very missed so six I mean it's pretty low I'll give it a six by five so much better oh man all right so as we mentioned twice and Bam Bam almost made it in there but will not be featured on the episode unless you're a patreon member we're gonna record special little episodes just about these songs only for patreon so if you're interested go check us out at patreon.com CCTV pops but otherwise cut fans of all these groups in soloist what do you think of these songs let us know which upcoming K-pop releases you'd like to see us featured next month or if you wanted to have it just talk about any kind of K-Pop song We definitely do that and please comment below or message us at CCTV pops on all social media don't forget to like subscribe and turn on those notifications for our YouTube channel and if you're enjoying the show on a podcast platform please give us a follow rating and a review until next time that's Chris that's Jan and we are signing off from CCTV the non-stop pop the show [Music]