It has always been a little hard trying to get into F.CUZ (pronounced “focus”), particularly because their name sounds like “eff cuzz” rather than “focus,” and since then they’ve always been a little confusing. However, in an attempt to explore the world of K-pop a little more, I’ve decided to take a chance and dive into F.CUZ’s latest release, “No.1.”
After a respectable debut in 2010 with “Jiggy” and a few member changes here and there, F.CUZ has returned from Japanese activities, ready to start anew in Korea with their latest album For Century Ultimate Zest and promotional single “No.1.” Let’s check it out.
Visually, everything going here seems like mash-up of images we’ve already seen; think U-Kiss meets MBLAQ meets a hybrid of 2PM and SHINee‘s wardrobe stylist and bam! F.CUZ is born. The MV has a lot of flickering lights that contrast light and dark as it highlights the lines of the choreography, and the standard two dance sets and one plot line. Though normally the whole flashy lights things can get really boring really fast, the windows used in the first set have an interesting layout and the grid/lattice arrangement of lights in the second set was also a nice touch from the usual spotlights of burning white light. At the same time however, there is nothing particularly spectacular going aesthetically, especially not with those red and gold pants.
As the MV progresses, it follows an interesting but also kind of random story of the F.CUZ members being tied up and beaten up by a gang, only to be saved by fierce heroine, presumably their ‘No.1’ as the song implies. But more on the story later.
Delivery: 3 out of 5
Like mentioned above, nothing too spectacular is going here, and that includes delivery. Like every other group, the dancing is on par with K-pop standards and the vocals, while a bit on the higher side for my taste, were also synthesized well. Still, I did feel like the female foil had more emotion to convey than all the members did combined, which made for a botched, unbalanced production. Though it was not a drastic blow to the overall MV, it still leaves the viewer with something missing.
X-Factor: 4 out of 5
Perhaps the most interesting part of this MV was the drama aspect of it. The story immediately opens and abruptly closes with a sword-wielding heroine rescuing the members of F.CUZ from getting the crap beaten out of them by some shady looking gang. How the members ended up tied up the wall, where the this girl comes from, none of us know. While a fuller story would’ve have been more ideal, it was nonetheless very intriguing the sense that the girl, their No.1, was a street fighter–she was the one doing the saving and the sweeping off of feet. It was neat twist to what could’ve have easily been a cliche story, and overall, it was major X-factor keeping this MV afloat.
Let us know what you think of F.CUZ’s return with No.1, and your thoughts on the new members, the song, and the MV!
(fcuz0108)
