Airplane is so Pretty (With a Twist)

Another year, another slew of debuts. Getting us underway is Airplane, a hip-hop trio from Winning Insight Entertainment, the label that brought us Piggy Dolls, ChAOS and Norazo.  Airplane is composed of rapper Bokiri, vocalist Min Ki and leader/rapper m Nine.

The song “So Pretty” itself is a gentle number about loving a girl no matter what she looks like and regardless of others’ opinions. Bokiri and m Nine handle the rapped verses and also provide backing vocals on the chorus which helps to mellow out Min Ki’s slightly strained lead. Overall, the track is your usual hip-hop meets k-pop fare and suffers from poor production. But it’s nice listening for all that.

The MV opens with a shot of a Caucasian model gazing out across an industrial harbour but don’t worry, the Big Bang comparisons end there. For one, this model/actress is in fact playing the part of an actual model whose (presumably successful) shoot has finished for the day. Meanwhile, we see cuts of the three boys deep in thought in everybody’s favourite loft, decked out in sensible beige overcoats.

Back to the girl, who has reached street level only to be accosted by the members of Airplane, who start revolving around her in triangle formation, trying to catch her attention. The camerawork is a little choppy, but this is countered by the fluidity with which the odd group traverse the deserted urban streets. The filters fit perfectly with the abandoned industrial setting and shots of the boys pointing insistently at cut-out letters spelling words like ‘love,’ ‘pretty’ and ‘we are airplane’ are interspersed throughout and help keep the MV from stagnating.

Finally our model makes it home safe and sound and (surprise surprise) it’s her birthday! When her friends leap back in horror however, she realises that she has walked away from the confusion of the modelling shoot with only half of her face done! So-bad-it’s-good acting aside, this is a touching moment. All is revealed in a black and white flashback, when she realises that her pursuers, far from trying to pick her up, had in fact been trying to help her out!

Before this twist, “So Pretty” is your fairly well executed but generic K-hip hop MV. The closing revelation however paints the entire MV in a different light, rendering Airplane’s persistence as kind rather than creepy, the lyrics pertinent rather than thoughtless. I’m giving Airplane’s debut MV a 2.5/5 because it made me smile, even if it took three minutes to do it.

(Winning Insight Entertainment)