HALO "Mariya" Review and Analysis

HALO or Hexagon of Absolute Light and Organization, came back with their title track "Mariya" off of their second mini-album Happy Day.

HALO debuted on June 26, 2014 under Hi Star Entertainment with the song "Fever" and a cool yet fresh boyish concept. They have kept up with that concept, but have changed it up a bit over time. Some of their comebacks like "Surprise," and "Come On Now," have been on the more lighthearted and boyish side, while comebacks like "I Like This Feeling," and "While You're Sleeping," have been on the cooler and manly side. This time around, HALO is definitely pushing their image towards a more refreshing, young, schoolboy kind of concept.

Up until groups win their first music show, identifiers like concepts, themes, and styles for a group are up for grabs. A music show win helps the companies know that this style is what works for their group and that they should keep that up for as long as possible. Some of the rookies that have succeeded in defining their concepts include Seventeen, BTS, and Monsta X. At the time of their debut, they weren't the only group to try out refreshing or hip hop concepts. However, they were the groups that were the most consistent with those concepts, and that's why they became household names. The public knew their style and knew what to expect.

Although there are senior groups, like GOT7, who have pulled off fresh and fun songs, like "Just Right" and "A," that style hasn't defined their group's overall musical concept. Alongside HALO are a few other groups, like ASTRO, SNUPER, and NCT Dream that are trying to establish a cute innocent boy concept as their own group's overall style. Until one of these rookie groups gets a music show win, that style is up for grabs, so it's understandable that Hi Star Entertainment would shift more towards this trendy and public-friendly concept in order to get their boys their first music show win.

In the two years since their debut, HALO and Hi Star Entertainment have yet to establish a loud enough voice to grasp the public's attention. So far, their songs have been really safe since there's not much experimentation going on and the songs have the standard mix of music. There's the usual electronic dance music influences and a rap break somewhere in the song, with a showcasing of vocal strength in between. "Mariya" also plays it very safe and follows the trend of refreshing rookies that have been out lately.

The song "Mariya" is very upbeat and follows a standard and predictable rhythm with a very catchy hook. It's an approachable song, and if it gets discovered by others and becomes viral for some reason, then it might get this group one step closer to the top. Their music video is also very creative because it incorporates colorful visual illusions that get enhanced by the computer graphic effects. The choreography for "Mariya" also involves an interesting "peek-a-boo" dance move that seems easy for the fans and the public to follow along with. Overall, this comeback seems like a very safe and strategic move from Hi Star Entertainment to try to win over more fans and maintain the fans that enjoy the more upbeat tracks that HALO has released.

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DIA "Mr. Potter" Review and Analysis

DIA or Do It Amazing is back with the song Mr. Potter from their second mini album Spell.

DIA debuted on September 14, 2015 under MBK Entertainment. Their debut song "Somehow" and their second song "My Friend's Boyfriend" gave the group a distinct style that combined a hip hop foundation in their backing track with the girls' cheery and upbeat vocals.

After DIA promoted their debut album, member Jung Chaeyeon joined the show Produce 101, captured the hearts of viewers, rose in popularity, and became a part of IOI or Ideal of Idol. During IOI promotions, Chaeyeon resumed promoting with DIA for their Happy Ending mini-album. MBK Entertainment capitalized on Chaeyeon's rising popularity and switched up their cute-girl hip-hop concept and tried to be more public-friendly the innocent-yet-strong girl group concept for "On the Road."

Unfortunately, this concept switch resulted in controversy because DIA's music video and song production was too similar to G-Friend's original style. The music video setting, outfits, and song for DIA's "On the Road" resembled G-Friend's "Me Gustas Tu" and "Rough," and were enough to have the public see DIA as copycat idols.

DIA's new song, "Mr. Potter", mashes in various music trends from various successful groups in an attempt at finding a new style. It starts off with an eerie sounding beat that reminds viewers of the classic Harry Potter opening song. The shift from an eerie jingle into a more upbeat song is reminiscent of Red Velvet's "Ice Cream Cake." Unlike "Ice Cream Cake," "Mr. Potter" never reintroduces the eerie beat into the background. Instead, it adds in layers and layers of different beats, and becomes somewhat difficult to follow. That busy aspect is comparable to the busy-yet-somewhat-easy-to-follow back track in AOA's "Heart Attack."

"Ice Cream Cake" and "Heart Attack" are very popular songs that achieved music show wins, so it is understandable that MBK Entertainment and DIA would try to incorporate aspects of those songs into this song, but both Red Velvet and AOA had enough fandom power to support their experimental tracks. DIA's new song is almost too experimental, without enough public-friendliness or fandom power to obtain a music show win.

The "Mr. Potter" music video and choreography also lends itself to some scrutiny. The scenes shot in the bright hot pink and cerulean blue ticket booth give off a similar feel to EXID's "L.I.E" and the train scenes with the rabbit gentleman mirror the train scenes with the lion gentleman in SNSD's "Lion Heart." The choreography in the chorus also copies the same chorus choreography from Girl's Day's "Expectation." Unfortunately, in trying to follow trends through imitation, DIA's music video and choreography seems more like a mash-up of popular music video stereotypes and less like an original and innovative product.

On the road to winning a first place prize on a music show, changes in concept may happen in an attempt to find out what works with what groups. However, MBK Entertainment's attempt to switch to a new concept resulted in a loss of original fans and created a sense of doubt in the public, who will refer to DIA as the group that copies others' style. DIA's return with their mini-album Spell should have been the comeback to solidify DIA's new concept, but instead it leaves the public confused and the fans wanting a return to originality.

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NU'EST "Love Paint" Review and Analysis

NU'EST is back after 6 months with the title track "Love Paint" from their new EP Canvas.

NU'EST or 뉴이스트 was established by Pledis Entertainment in October 2012 and their group name means "New Establish Style Tempo." Since their debut, NU'EST has been a group that brings in new styles of music and new musical innovations in their tracks. However, that kind of experimentation can usually make the public audience feel uncomfortable with their music. Therefore, NU'EST's and Pledis Entertainment's struggle to becoming #1 in the general public's heart is trying to be innovative without being too off-putting.

For this comeback, their song, concept, and video are very public-friendly. "Love Paint" has a softer and smoother foundation with the R&B and classical orchestra mix, but still provides an interesting twist with the inclusion of future bass. Their music video also follows the recently successful trend of combining pastel-colored room sets with curiously shot camera angles. Their silk-pajama-like outfits also follow the recent pajama-inspired fashion trends while emphasizing a dream-like, aesthetic, and ethereal concept.

"Love Paint" has a strong public-friendly base because of the familiarity the public feels with the R&B and classical orchestra mix. However, NU'EST stays true to the group's overall innovative and experimental concept by intertwining future bass and trap elements throughout the song. The musical buildup leading into Baekho's high note in the chorus, followed by JR's trap-inspired rap and flow, makes for a really interesting combination tied together by the overarching R&B feel of the song. This mix gives the song an overall familiar and public-friendly feel while still being a bit experimental.

Aside from the song, the music video is also public-friendly in that it sticks to some common features of recently successful music videos. The pastel colors in each set are aesthetically pleasing and may remind viewers of recently successful music videos with similar color palettes, such as AKMU's "200%," Big Bang's "Let's Not Fall In Love," and Zion T.'s "Eat." Along with the color scheme, are the sets of the music video and the camera angles used in filming. The scene of JR in the car and standing next to the table, as well as Ren's scenes in the different mansion-like rooms, are very reminiscent of the same scenes in Red Velvet's "Automatic," Ladies Code's "Galaxy," and Black Pink's "Whistle." Therefore, the music video may also give NU'EST that added interest during this comeback because it uses successful trends in music video production that the public has already enjoyed.

The concept for "Love Paint" is also very agree-able because it is a dreamy and ethereal kind of concept. Other idols have managed to increase the public's interest in their groups through dreamy concepts and music videos. Lovelyz's "Destiny" and Oh My Girl's "Closer" dream-like comebacks provided them with a much needed increase in their fanbase so, it's understandable that NU'EST and Pledis work with this concept in order to try and secure a music show win. They further emphasize the dream concept and appeal to the public by wearing silky pajama-like shirts in order to follow the recent pajama-shirt fashion trend in South Korea.

It seems like NU'EST is trying to be as public-friendly as possible with this comeback, and even though they're running the risk of becoming almost too standard in following fashion trends and music video trends, they're still managing to keep some of their debut identity with their song's mix between R&B, classical orchestra mix, future bass, and trap-inspired rap elements. Hopefully, the effort they're putting into being as public-friendly as possible will increase their fanbase and lead them closer to winning their first music show.

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"Who You?" Idols

누구? 
Nugu?
Who you?

As the popularity of Korean pop music increases, more entertainment companies try to get a successful start in the music industry by investing in the training and debuting of their idols. As a result of this increase in popularity and music industry investment, there’s a huge influx of bright, new, young and talented idols every week.

With this mass quantity of new idols, most of the idols are unknown to the general public and referred to as “누구” or “nugu” idols. These nugu-dols are usually rookies with big dreams who have been working as hard as they can with whatever resources their small companies can afford them. They don’t have the same support that idols from bigger companies have, but they work just as hard in search of that first ever music show win.

A music show win, whether it’s a win from Music Bank, Inkigayo, Show Champion, or Music Core, means that these idols have finally obtained a big enough fanbase and made a big enough impact with their music to be a recognizable name for the general public. So, for these nugu-dols, that music show win is their first step into true celebrity recognition.

However, before that first music show win is an everyday struggle. Since these idols are unknown, they have to perform their songs whenever they can and anywhere they can (whether those locations are at the set of their music video, or outside at a local park, or at a high school music festival event). They also have to capture as much attention as they can on their debut, and get that interest to carry over onto their next comeback. 

A good example of a nugu-dol working their way to fame is Jellyfish Entertainment’s boy group VIXX. Before their first music show win, VIXX’s company only ever had enough power to get them to perform on music shows and invested any extra income into the next comeback concept and music video. Eventually, VIXX had built up a big enough fanbase to obtain their first music show win for their first full album Voodoo Doll.

Another good example of the struggle from nugu-dom to fame is the girl group EXID. AB Entertainment and Shinsadong Tiger created an original lineup for the group yet faced the hardship of member changes and were still able to have a successful girl group. With a big enough fanbase, they were able to get a particular fancam to skyrocket the public’s interest in the group and maintain it with good songs. EXID achieved their first win with their hit Up and Down.

In order to give these idols the interest and support they need to make it big, this blog will keep up with rookies, like Vromance and Cosmic Girls, along with underrated or underappreciated idols, like Nine Muses and Nu’Est, who have yet to win their first music show. Every week, Nugu-Dols will review these up and coming idols’ songs, videos, outfits, and concepts, in an attempt to figure out the approach they’re taking to win that #1 spot in the public’s heart.

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