I’m counting down the seconds until this song and MV gets the banhammer from Korea’s favorite Ministry of Culture and Tourism, but I kinda wish that they would let this one slide, just this once.
Newcomer girl group Rania was set to debut last August, but their first music video wasn’t released until today. The seven member girl group is looking to target a global audience with anticipated releases in China, Thailand, and Vietnam. They will also be appearing in the movie Hype Nation starring Jay Park. Check out their debut music video, “Dr. Feel Good” below:
The group has also released an English version of the song….and their English pronunciation is actually fairly impressive.
English usage aside, I think “Dr. Feel Good” can easily pass for a Top 40 hit on American pop charts, and I guess that’s what Rania’s going for. K-pop girl groups get compared to the Pussycat Dolls all the freaking time, but I’m inclined to believe that that’s more because America has next to no real remaining girl groups left that can be used as a comparison. Rania’s video for “Dr. Feel Good” is more reminiscent of PCD than anything I’ve seen out of the K-pop market – not just because of its sexualized theme, but everything from the lighting to the synchronized choreography to the color choices is so reminiscent of Pussycat Dolls’ “Buttons” that it’s hard not to make a comparison. Not to say that Rania is a ripoff of PCD – they’ve just chosen to adopt a style that is generally more accepted in Western pop culture than Eastern pop culture. And we’ll see how long that lasts.
Socio-cultural commentary aside, I didn’t think “Dr. Feel Good” was all that impressive as a song, but there are definitely some really talented female voices in there and I want to hear some more of that.
(youtube)
