XIA Incredible

 How's the song? 

Can I just say how much I love this song right now? It's just so summery and happy and it makes me want to wave my arm during the "Oh~" part at the beginning of the chorus. It definitely could have done without Quincy, but I'm just going to pretend that that never happened, even though it still does every time I listen to the song. Curses!

This song is very different both from the music that has already come out this year and from the sound that we have come to expect from Junsu's solo stuff as Xia. His last song, "Tarantallegra", was very big and theatrical sounding and it completely stood out from the other songs that had been released at the time.This song does the same thing, but in the opposite way. There aren't really any theatrics, there's no dubsetp, and the song sounds the same from start to finish, way to be different Xia!

How's the video? 

Okay, so I'm going to be slightly serious for a little bit, prepare yourselves. I have seen Xia's videos and I know that he always has foreigners as his back up dancers, but I never really thought about the why. I was reading the comments for the "Incredible" video and I saw a comment about Asian people being afraid to appear in anything that has to do with JYJ because of SM Entertainment. This intrigued me so I went to the internet, and I found that that comment is not without foundation.

This is all speculatory, but I guess the broadcasting stations won't let any member of JYJ perform on their programs and the only station that has ever tried to work with JYJ was KBS and they always end up "mysteriously" falling out of whatever deal they have made with JYJ. At the end of last year, I think, JYJ and SM finally finished their dispute and SM said that they wouldn't have anything to do with JYJ ever again, but is that true? SM, I know you're grumpy because you lost 3/5 of you major money makers, the world found out about your questionable contracts, but you house some of my favorite groups, so please be less sucky and pull that stick out of your butt.

Hey, look at this article that came out this morning. 

Anyways........

Look at all of those white people! There's even a token black guy!

    
And to make the video even cooler, Adam Levine is in it!

Oh, wait, that's just some dude that resembles Levine, just kidding.

That being said, something this music video does well is the cultural diversity. It isn't just hordes of white people with random ethnicity in the background. There are all sorts of people and I think that that could help with the fact that K-pop is becoming more global. It shows that K-pop isn't just for weird white people who wish they were Asian. 

Last thing that I will praise, all these background people don't look like they want to kill themselves. As many people have probably noticed, the people in the background of K-pop videos, especially ones that take place in clubs, are almost impossible to watch because they are just so awkward. All of these people look like they want to be there though. I think one of my favorite moments is when they are standing on the water set and everyone is free-styling in the background. Look at those smiles, those are people who are loving life.

How's the styling? 

You know what is incredible? This hat:

The rest of the outfits though were just so wild and crazy. It's like the stylist went to on a second hand store spree and bought every colorful thing that they could find and then the cast had a free for all to decide what they would be wearing in the video.

The only reason that this hodge podge of clothes work is because everyone is wearing them. Even though all of these outfits are a hot mess, it adds to the fun party atmosphere of the video because of all the colors, patters, and textures. Does that make any of these outfits okay? No, but they can all be crazy together so they feel like they are dressed normal.

Was the dance super amazing?  

The dance style was definitely different than what I expected. This dance was more carefree and easier looking than some of the other things that he has done. When I think of his solo work images of air humping and crotch caressing immediately come to mind, but there is next to none of that in this video. I say next to none because of the slightly random bedroom scenes.

I was watching this video thinking, "Wow, this is very tame, where is the traditional super sexy Xia dance that we all expect in his videos? Oh, I spoke too soon, there it is." This isn't even really a dance so much as an excuse to shake his junk since he hadn't done it yet in the video. Oh, Xia......  

Who owned it? 

Xia is a solo artist so this video is all him. Like Roy Kim's song "Love Love Love" though, there was a random person that as trying to steals Xia's spotlight and it was this guy that I have decided to name Abs McGee, because holy crap did you see him?

So....many....muscles..... I actually creeps me out a little. I'm all for muscles and I will go weak at the knees for a defined back and pair of shoulders, but I don't know, this guy is just a little too much. 

Does the English make your ears bleed?  

This video is a lot like a drama in the sense that the Korean speaking English makes more sense than the person that is the actual English speaker. Everything that Xia says makes sense in the song and it is pronounced well too, I didn't read over the lyrics and find hidden English like I did in BAP's new song, go look those up, English everywhere. Xia did say "swag" though and that makes me want to weep because I think that that is the stupidest word ever created. I would take "yolo" over "swag" any day and that word also makes my skin crawl.  

Now Quincy's English is another story. His rap is as follows:

You’re so hypnotic girl
Alpha-robotic girl
Baby, you’re futuristic
Shine in your vega world
Everybody knows
That this club is yours
Shake your spaceship candy
You’re so incredible

Um, in order for me to shake my "spaceship candy" I need to know what that is. I decided that I would go to Urban Dictionary to see if this was actually a thing, and it's not. If Urban Dictionary doesn't have a definition for something, it can't exist. I have spoken.

What else is happening? 

Kim Hyun Joong "Unbreakable" - I've never actually listened to any of his solo stuff before, but this song was pretty cool, especially since this is his comeback after being in Japan for so long. Jay Park also did a very good job at being awesome, but not overtaking the video.

Henry "Trap" violin and piano version - This is kind of random to be putting here, but it's awesome because Henry is a freaking beast on the violin.

Miss $ "You Were Not the..." - The song was okay, but the video was a little weird. It was a cool idea, but it made me feel a little nauseous. 

B2ST "Shadow" - Both song and video are pretty awesome. The mirrored shots with the couple dancing were really cool as was their makeup. Also, Yoseop has sexy arm veins.

ODD EYE "Follow Me" - This song is a lot softer than their debut song, but the synths completely over power the strings which is the concept of ODD EYE. I'm a little disappointed because even though their debut song was a little, well, odd, it was different.

A Pink "Secret Garden" - Collectively, this song and video are gorgeous. They're like a bunch of fairies serenading you through the computer screen.

Lee Jung Hyun "V" - I have a confession, I have a soft spot for techno. I don't know why, but it hits the spot sometimes. This song hit that spot and it has a crazy fun video to go along with it.  

f(x) "Rum Pum Pum Pum" - To be perfectly honest, I'm feeling a little underwhelmed with this song. I think that f(x) is capable of having a bigger and better sound, especially for a comeback song after being absent for so long.  

~ Alora