“Ah, love. L-O-V-E, love.”
February was the month of love and we saw a lot of love happen this past month. The debut of JYP Entertainment’s new girl group Itzy received massive amounts of love. Itzy became the fastest girl group to receive an award show win. Older girl group CLC finally found love with their powerful single “No” and became the longest running girl group to receive their first music show win after
However with such a string of strong comebacks it can get quite easy to begin overshadowing other artists. Here are a couple music videos and songs from the unsung artists of February 2019 who are just looking for some love.
Nine Muses, “Remember”
Last month was the unfortunate disbandment of the long-running girl group, Nine Muses. Nine Muses have a long history of being a struggling but loved group. Despite the group name being Nine Muses, the group was only able to maintain nine members for about two years out of their 9-year run. They actually saw their popularity soar in 2013, one of the years they promoted as nine members. At the end of that year, two members left, changing the group dynamic.
Nine Muses was also the stars of one of the very first K-pop insight documentaries. 9 Muses of Star Empire followed the girls preparing for their debut and their lives right afterwards. It depicted the grueling lives K-pop stars have to go through.
“Remember” as a track is everything you would expect from a finale track. It’s a pop ballad, filled with soft vocals and a lot of “Ooo’s”. The music video follows the members throughout their entire journey with behind the scenes into photoshoots, travels, fan meets, and performances. Nine Muses you will be missed for all your catchy and provocative tracks.
Dreamcatcher, “Piri”
Dreamcatcher has found their niche in the girl group world as the Queens of Darkness. All their tracks are heavily influenced by punk-rock genre and their music videos invoke on a theme of horror.
“Piri” leans on the folktale about the Pied Piper but instead of children being led away by the sounds of the flute, the women of Dreamcatcher are asking to be led away from the darkness and to be saved by the sounds of the flute guiding them. “Piri” makes a wonderful use of the titled reed instrument throughout the song alongside the familiar drums and electric guitar sounds.
When they initially debuted with their punk rock sound, it was very different. H
Also, the outfits for this comeback are absolutely stunning.
U Sung Eun, “Deep”
Come fall in love with the soothing vocals of U Sung Eun. Truly an unsung artist that deserves more recognition, U Sung Eun is a soulful vocalist and her vocals fit right in with this R&B track. It’s so sultry the listener could almost melt. The track is so unsung I can’t even find any translated lyrics to write about what U Sung Eun is singing.
I can analyze the music video though! The music video is has a mix of unsaturated colors normally used to indicate memories and the last scene shows U Sung Eun walking away with a suite case. With a few English phrases sprinkled in the song, such as “Please”, U Sung Eun may be pleading to her lover if there is any more worth in their current relationship as they review their memories.
U Sung Eun’s previous tracks demonstrated her strength as a vocalist through deeper jazzier tones. With “Deep” she shows her versatility by creating a dreamlike state singing more so in the falsetto range. Overall, this is a very relaxing track especially for a winter’s day.
Z-Girls, “What You Waiting For”
K-pop is no stranger to creating groups with international members bent on international marketing potential, but what about a group made of solely international members actually meant to be marketed internationally? Introducing…project groups Z-Girls and Z-Boys.
The song is sung entirely in English and sounds as if it was made for a Disney girl group. There is nothing significantly different about the music video except for maybe the way it was arranged is toned down compared to your standard K-pop music video. The styling of the music video is not overwhelming which could be its attempt in international appeal.
What is worth mentioning about this group (and their Z-Boys counterpart) is all 7 members are from different countries and from countries untouched by previous K-pop debuts. For instance, Priyanka is from India, Queen is from Vietnam, Carlyn is from the Philippines and Vanya is from Indonesia. It’ll be very interesting to continue following Zenith Media Contents and their strategy in bringing K-pop to the international forum. Also it raises the question, what makes K-pop K-pop? What is it about this release qualifies it as K-pop?
Loco, “It’s Been A While”
Rapper Loco started his military service on February 7th, 2019 and made sure to gift the fans with one more song before his enlistment. The song “It’s Been A While” is produced with label mate Gray and features the amazing vocals of Zion T. If this song
“It’s Been A While” is song all about Loco’s appreciation towards his fans as he reminisces over the past few years. He is no longer intimidated by price tags and his beer glasses are now full of beer and not tears. He isn’t able to do what he does without his fans. He also says it’s been a while because he’s been so busy with his music that he thinks he should have done this sooner.
It’s been a while. Since that time I wrote lyrics with the inspiration I got from you.
It’s been a few years already I can smile and say now that
I’m pleased and it’s a relief I’ve been so occupied time has whizzed by
The music video is simple but adorable with the interactions between Loco and Zion T. Loco, the fans will all eagerly await your return to the music scene.
Hwasa, “Twit”
Last up on our list is the solo debut of Mamamoo’s maknae, Hwasa. Hwasa is a woman deserving all our love. In “Twit” she initially tells her boyfriend he is focusing too much on her and he is too delicate for her. She don’t like it. However as the song progresses she realizes what she wanted in a man, materialistic things and stereotypical masculinity, is not what she actually needs. In the end, Hwasa wants to return to her boyfriend and realizes she is the twit along.
Hwasa is playful in this music video and many of the outfits shoots back at hateful comments about her previous performance outfits choices. Hwasa is literally wearing plastic and sitting on top of thrones. She don’t care. She is so unapologetic and true to herself which makes her endearing, especially in an industry looking to criticize her every step of the way.
Readers, were there any other releases from February deserving of some love? Share them in the comments!
(YouTube [1][2][3][4][5][6]. Images via RBW Entertainment and HappyFace Entertainment.)
