Pop Off: JINI vs SEVENTEEN vs TAEMIN (October 2023 Comebacks)

[00:00:00] viewer discretion is advised. Your fave will be criticized.

[00:00:04] That's Chris. That's Jan.

[00:00:06] And this is CCTV, the nonstop pop show.

[00:00:09] And it's time for the October 2023 at K-Pop Pop Off.

[00:00:16] Here on CCTV, Chris and I have the inside scoop with extensive experience

[00:00:20] performing on stage and working at record labels.

[00:00:23] So you can come join us in our in-depth conversation about global pop music on Player one. This was done by J. Bach, Styles Fuego, MZMC, J. Kim, and Amine. And of course, if you knew or you didn't know, Jenny was a part of the group and mixed before leaving. So this is her title track from her debut solo EP under a new company. So this is gonna be interesting. Yes.

[00:01:41] Yes. So the first round, we talk about the song

[00:01:43] and everything about the track.

[00:01:45] And I went into this with a very open mind. full effect, especially for that first part of the song. It makes the whole build into the chorus very satisfying. It makes the whole build of the song very satisfying. And yeah, I think it was good. Like the, you know, the, the come on, come on hook. It's simple, very catchy. The la la la la is the post chorus. La la la usually always work. So it works in this case.

[00:03:01] And yeah, I mean, it's versus smart as well.

[00:03:04] It's decent.

[00:03:04] You know, it's quite short, very simple, but, you know, does bring

[00:03:07] something interesting to the song. Yeah, okay. Yeah, okay. That's valid. You know, I agree with you in terms of like not having my sex occasions like I didn't have a concept in mind because What I will say about JYP that they looked at her Heard her voice and essentially typecasted her as the sassy rapper Now granted the way she looked in JYP in in mix

[00:04:20] It did fit and if I'm not mistaken

[00:04:22] She was supposed to be like the kind of like the center and to like silly unes

[00:04:26] popularity kind of Either the demo was just like as is what she has now, or they stripped it back for the sake of like, you know, K-pop sensibilities, I don't know. But I do wish that as the song progressed, we had a little bit more harmonies of her singing with herself, some more vocal stacks. That's what I was, because the song felt a little like one note, except in the second verse when there was like a little vocal effect on the note.

[00:05:41] Oh yes, that's the base.

[00:05:42] They're like, tryna get melting, you know?

[00:05:43] I think it was like, oh, it was fun, that's fun.

[00:05:46] Because for me, I'm with you. The softer tone mellows out that nozzle, that nasal tonality that she does have. Sometimes it's a little like, oh, what's that? A little much. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. But she did what she had to do. Yeah. I will say I was not expecting her to get as many votes as she did.

[00:07:00] Like it's interesting that that makes stands, I assume,

[00:07:03] are the ones who are kind of just like very supportive of maybe kind of right If y'all just made albums and just released singles, this whole like, I wonder what would happen to the industry in that sense. Like what? If it's guaranteed so many more sales. I was about to say, yeah. Yeah. That's why they say this for another alternative universe. I'm alternate universe. Excuse me. OK, so speaking of 11th mini album and how long it's been, I love them so much.

[00:08:22] I've been a fan of the beginning.

[00:08:24] All right.

[00:08:25] So this is the example of but it's not bad. It slots nicely in with their rally cries, you know, fighting and in box zoo clapping together, tak-tak-tak. This one has the... Do you have that? You have the chanting. It's nice. I do appreciate that the rappers are seeing a lot a lot throughout.

[00:09:41] Jungkhan and Dina are singing lead in the choruses and they have lighter tones, so it doesn't They're like a number one, number one, number one, for like a really long time. So they swept it. It's good. It's good for what it is. Screams crowd participation. And I think after coming from super, it's like really intense. Like, uh-oh, I'll take these hits. Now it's like, yeah, here we are. Boop, boop, boop. Here we go. So it's interesting that they can actually teeter the line of being really strong

[00:11:02] or being really sweet, being really cheesy.

[00:11:04] Like after school's successors are definitely in them and feels. That's funny. And you know, Bums is great with these kind of brighter productions. Like he always makes it super lush. Yeah. And this one had some nice instrumentation as well. Like a lot of funk influence there with the guitars and the horns. And yeah, it's a good concert encore song. Very happy melody.

[00:12:22] Like you said, a lot of like chant along moments. Yeah. No, I thought it was good.

[00:13:25] definitely. All right. That being said, onto the final player and it is Tae Min with guilty.

[00:13:34] Player three. This was done by Moonshine, Park Tae Wan, Max Song, Nicole Cole Cohen and Chris.

[00:13:40] That's a mistake in with that. Ma'am. we had drip drop, which we still talk about, you know, and that was from the very first project and we had like. I don't know, like others. He's had other title tracks that aren't like this, but I feel like the last couple like advice and like, yeah, they've all kind of been in the same vein.

[00:15:02] So I'm kind of like ready for something new from him a little bit.

[00:16:04] belts, you get the falsetto, you get some like talky bits as well.

[00:16:09] And it's all really well executed and really great choices made.

[00:16:14] This one does have a lot of vocal layers, like tons of harmonies and like whispers behind the adlifts, behind, you know, the trills and stuff.

[00:16:17] Um, so yeah, really, really cool in that way.

[00:16:20] And I do think it's, it's a good song.

[00:16:22] I think just from him, I just am idea. I'm the idea because we call it idea and advice. I get what you're saying. Advice was like really like, oh, good. Angsty, it was like, it was like fall of the house. Usher action going on. He was going, he's doing it through a lot with the music. And sometimes I wonder, like, because I remember

[00:17:40] when he first got into the military,

[00:17:41] there was like a little bit of an issue

[00:17:42] like with like, he was having like a mental health issue

[00:17:44] when he was there, right?

[00:17:45] So I think maybe sometimes this is his way reasons because like the whisper like you said it was just like, Oh, what's going on? And you make each year. I was like, Oh, listen, sometimes I try to, I heard poison apple. I heard just different words. And here I was like, Oh, oh, I want to take a bite. Like, you know, the lyrics are just there. They literally surprisingly sensual and very zizzy.

[00:19:01] And I was like, Oh, honey.

[00:19:03] And I want him to step like you said, I also do wanna say that I'm glad that even though it is dark, he didn't like try to recreate idea or criminal, like, or better yet, just because there are strings in the song didn't try to recreate a weekend track.

[00:20:21] Cause I don't know what it is with K-pop

[00:20:23] and strings and dark cons that they think the weekend

[00:20:26] from like three years Minn's song, the most out of all of these. Yeah, I think I like the most. I'm so I'm going to be at that. Yeah, cool.

[00:21:40] Yeah, despite my complaint,

[00:21:42] I will also say Tae Minn as a song guilty

[00:21:44] is my favorite as well.

[00:21:46] All right, so moving hoping to see an animated version of her. We got like a glimpse of her animated hand. We did. Yes. Which is annoying. Cause I'm like, are we going to get a future or something around there? Or at the end, are we going to have like a free somebody moment like with Luna where she dipped into that world

[00:23:01] that she was completely like cartoonized, you know, but it didn't happen as a little disappointing.

[00:24:04] She knew underland, which adds to the whole animation of her chasing the cartoon people.

[00:24:06] It was very disoriented in that matter,

[00:24:10] in that sense, sorry, in that sense.

[00:24:11] So I appreciate the concept of it.

[00:24:13] She looks very cute.

[00:24:15] She knew what she had to do.

[00:24:18] But yeah, again, it just just satisfactory.

[00:24:20] I'm not like, wow, buy it.

[00:24:22] I'm not like, oh, and the video does not tell me

[00:24:25] who she is as an artist just yet.

[00:24:26] You know, it's one of some situations where she's really performing like in those dance scenes and stuff and like you're smizing and making different expressions. Which is great because we've complained to the past about some size these girl groups like they just look like. What's all look? Yeah. Yeah. I don't like that.

[00:25:40] So I appreciate that she like I've been pressed actually

[00:25:43] like right off the gate that she was so natural on camera.

[00:25:46] That's great for her. different costumes and they just keep like going back and forth every couple seconds and it's like a lot but not too much. So I thought they managed that quite well and it kind of gives it a nice build. So yeah, I thought it was effective as a video overall. Yeah. Yeah. It's hard because with her, I like it said, it just no expectations at all as opposed to these other two that I know very well. So it's kind of hard to like judge them.

[00:27:01] You're right.

[00:27:02] You're right.

[00:27:03] But I think it's just her.

[00:27:04] I think it's just conceptually speaking the video, which is like a little bit like

[00:28:02] a slight visual lab for the video. It was filmed in the UK and Hungary.

[00:28:05] Cause I was trying to figure out where they were.

[00:28:07] But yeah, what did you think about this video?

[00:28:09] Yeah, well first of all, I am enjoying this trend

[00:28:11] of K-pop music videos being filmed abroad.

[00:28:14] Is it just like that's really doing that?

[00:28:16] It might just be Ivy that's doing that.

[00:28:17] Sure, maybe.

[00:28:18] But I enjoy it.

[00:28:19] You know, it gives it a different vibe for sure.

[00:28:22] And you know, as with all 17 videos, yeah,

[00:28:25] like there's just a lot going on

[00:28:27] because all 13 kind of kids start jumping behind you. Yeah. You know, to be like, it's just like a lot. Um, so yeah, they really went for the cheese for sure. I will say though, the execution is great.

[00:29:40] Like the graphics are really, really fun.

[00:29:42] Nothing too distracting, but very like, I don be like, we're here to be built. You guys suck. We're here to make it better. Like this is what it's giving. You know, it's like, we're going to make it pretty. Okay. And you're going to mark the best. Okay. At this time, we want to shoot the fireworks on this bridge. Like this is what it's giving. It's very aggressive.

[00:31:00] They even got the ants to assimilate, you

[00:31:02] know, with the little ant thingy with

[00:31:05] woozy.

[00:31:06] You know, so that's, if you're going to, if you're going to have animated creatures, like Jenny's, Jenny's video had, this is a way to keep them. But yeah, this is definitely super bright, which is not Taimin's. No, so yes, player three is Taimin guilty. So yeah, what do you think of this like psychological

[00:32:21] thriller?

[00:32:22] Not the psychological is giving setter Island for sure main bits, where he's getting dragged and moved around, and his clothes, and then someone uses his hand to move maneuver a G-U-N.

[00:33:42] So I was like, oh, this is actually really cool.

[00:33:44] Like all these weird positions kind of add

[00:33:46] to the anxiousness that I have read them, but you're better at interpreting these. It's a crime. Is it him that is kind of the antagonist in it? Or is it more like he's stuck? It's not that he is stuck in some like, abusive relationship, but you're like, like he's being manipulated by or is it him being the manipulator? And he's guilty of that.

[00:35:02] That one. It's going on. So I did watch it five times. And I was like, I still don't know what's going on, but he's great, you know? Yeah. So yeah. So yeah, I enjoyed it. Yes, indeed. Indeed. Okay, so that's the end of round two.

[00:36:20] So, oh, this is hard.

[00:36:24] I feel like I go with this kind of thought most this one time, let's do it again, or like let's make it official. Like it's very much in that vein of just casual interaction. Okay. And I appreciate that even though the lyrics are like we're longing for someone because they taste like tequila lime, lime, lime, lime. The choreo isn't reflecting something too smexy.

[00:37:42] Okay.

[00:37:43] I do however wish that the choreo in the post course

[00:37:46] wasn't so me static, but the emotions behind the movements are static because when she's performing in the video, she's giving me

[00:39:00] smile.

[00:39:00] She's giving me flirty, but on stage, I don't know if it's just nerves.

[00:39:04] She seems like she's unsure of what expression to give.

[00:39:08] And it's like's nervous. I think she was nervous. I think so too. But like it's just like yeah, that will come with experience. I think. Yeah. I think she was good.

[00:40:21] The choreo looks fun for what it is.

[00:40:23] It has to be musicality.

[00:40:25] I liked that there were male and female background dancers.

[00:41:22] than she is and it's kind of showing her up a bit. That's what I was, I didn't want to say that

[00:41:24] because that's how negative I'm mine.

[00:41:26] Oh yeah.

[00:41:26] I mean, I don't know if I do, but I that's how it looked to me.

[00:41:31] No, it did.

[00:41:32] Yeah.

[00:41:33] So I don't know if that's again, if that was just directed

[00:41:37] or what she's used to in terms of like what maybe what JYP kind of told them to do like dance wise

[00:41:43] because we talked about in the past, there are some girl groups or some companies that do have the girl progress as we won't see this. The thing is the thing or is it just I am new. Um, but up next is 17 with God of music. That's not how it goes. No, but this choreography is just every time they hit our pop off or is it boppins?

[00:43:02] We usually have the same kind of notes for them.

[00:43:05] Yeah.

[00:43:05] Um, so I'll just kind of get into a little bit like some.

[00:44:03] like, or short, it's like the pussy cat dolls, like we didn't know that they were beeping so bad until they broke up.

[00:44:05] Well, it's one of the worst.

[00:44:07] I mean, but yes, overall, yes.

[00:44:09] Yes.

[00:44:10] I mean, with melody and Nicole is obvious, but the rest of them, you know, kind of just

[00:44:14] like, you know, like, I mean, aside from the world, well, my point is though, they've

[00:44:19] all been through so much in the past year as well.

[00:44:21] Like, Cinquan, you know, so nice to sit there and have a moment because it happens in real life. When you're at a party and there's like one or two people like really getting down, you let them have their moment. So it's even more natural. And obviously they're great dancers. So I love it.

[00:45:41] And it's been fun seeing the point is them pointing up

[00:45:44] in the sky.

[00:45:44] It wasn't them doing contemporary Christian music dancing, and they make it look so easy. I mean, to be very, yes, the choreo is maybe more simple than some of their other stuff for sure. Yeah, but you know, they still execute it really well. Like it's still quite loose, which I appreciate it. Like a lot of things is very simple groove and a lot of footwork. So their arms can kind of do whatever feels natural to them.

[00:47:00] And that's different for each person.

[00:47:01] Yes, but their timing is like perfect.

[00:47:03] So it's like it's still very clean, even though it feels very loose.

[00:47:06] So I think the balance of that is very good.

[00:48:02] know what I was thinking about when I heard the song.

[00:48:06] Isn't so interesting, like listening to a song without looking at the video and then thinking, because we're both jazz, you

[00:48:09] ever have that moment where you're like, Oh, this is hot here.

[00:48:12] Like just just naturally kind of, you know, I did that with this.

[00:48:17] I was like, Oh, I wonder what they're gonna do because I just

[00:48:19] listened to the song.

[00:48:20] Um, I forgot how I heard it.

[00:48:22] I think I may have like, I was scrolling on like some type of

[00:48:26] social media saw that he's wearing. And I know this like the choreography, like slash performance thing,

[00:49:41] but I want to just kind of focus on what he's been wearing.

[00:49:43] What he's been wearing has been great. So it's not like he was trying to outdo him, but it's just it's interesting to see where the influences are and where the training is and etc. So I really do appreciate those parts like that. I think I think the most word for it. The chorus is one of those that are gonna stand out like I'm not sure it was gonna be like move in terms of like everyone wanted to repeat it if like for like

[00:51:04] Decades from now, but it's one of those where you're like, how could I I flaily dancer. I think that comes with the contemporary training, right? Yeah. But it's always super clean as well. Yeah. So so yeah, I appreciate that. But yeah, it's interesting because the chorus choreography is actually very easy, like conceptually, like in terms of the steps, it's actually very easy. It's this thing.

[00:52:20] Then it's just like, you know, hands to one side and then just like down and then to the other side and then down and then it's actually like this to 17. I've been seeing her. Yeah. I mean, yeah, I agree with you. I think I'm going to give 17 as well. Because although Tayman sells it, the performance is on point, him just having that chorus cannot be the reason why we just are being on the whole choreography, right? Yeah. Yeah. I agree.

[00:53:40] If you were wondering why,

[00:53:40] for me, like 17 just exudes so much joy.

[00:53:43] And again, like I like seeing the interactions

[00:53:46] between them and I like that it to Tayman because bring me a solo artist and still hold it down and give you what I want, texturally in the vocals, choreography is there, and he holds it down by himself, and I love those background dancers, they killed it. So, in the video, okay. Okay, yeah, okay, yeah, treatment, oh God, it's hard. We've never had that draw. I never tried to do a dry type of affair.

[00:55:01] I'm not doing that, but-

[00:55:01] No, we're not allowed to do that.

[00:55:02] I know.

[00:55:03] And neither are you.

[00:55:04] We would like to hear what you think.

[00:55:06] What wins each round for you,

[00:55:07] what ultimately wins the October