K-Pop Ranter

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My Playlist Fridays: The Rookie Edition

When a rookie group debuts, it will always be either hit or miss (but mostly miss) when it comes to whether or not they'll manage to garner some attention for themselves. Whether or not they manage to squeeze their way through the sea of other groups to get a chance at the limelight, some groups actually release some good songs. Throughout the year, I've been paying attention to new groups in the hopes of finding something new and interesting, Some have scarred me for life while others give me hope for the future of Kpop and this My Playlist Friday features those groups.

Ladies Code - Bad Girl

Ladies Code is possibly one of the most successful rookies to debut this year with their hit debut song Bad Girl causing them to skyrocket in popularity. Later, when they released Hate You, they almost lost their groove but when they came back with Pretty Pretty, they not only redeemed themselves but managed to shoot their popularity up even further.

Bangtan Boys - No More Dream

Bangtan Boys have proven to be not only talented rappers and singers, but they've also been involved in composing and writing their songs. Perhaps this is why nearly all of their songs have some type of meaningful message to it, specifically pertaining to kids being forced to follow the dreams of their parents rather than their own. No More Dream is not only catchy but meaningful. Their song N.O. isn't as good but it's still worth a listen as well.

LC9 - Mama Beat

Who doesn't love some gruesome senseless violence with an insanely catchy song playing in the background? LC9 can provide you with just that with their music video for Mama Beat. This particular group comes from Nega Network, home of groups such as Sunny Hill and Brown Eyed Girls which gives me high hopes for this group in the future.

History - Dreamer

History is another group that seems to be on their way to becoming a successful group with their song Dreamer being a tiny little blip on the Kpop radar but their more recent song Tell Me Love (which isn't that great in my opinion) was a bigger success than their debut song. Honestly, I think Dreamer is the better song with it's smooth vocals and harmonies that are extremely pleasing to the ear.

Global Icon - Beatles

I'm not going to expect Global Icon to be one of the groups of the year that will survive. Their debut song Beatles was a success and is actually quite catchy, though it could do without the massive amounts of auto tune. I was wondering if they were going to release another song or if they already have and today I discovered their second song under the title of Booshit.... booshit... which is probably why I hadn't heard of it (censorship and all that jazz).

Honorable Mentions

There are none. I've made sure to watch every music video debut for the first half of the year and only these five really stood out. I went through this pain for you guys because I love you.

But if you really want to see something horrid, watch Heart Rabbit Girls' Round and Round and Delight's Mega Yak.

Do you think there was a group that debuted in the first half of the year that I might have missed? Who has shown to be your favorite so far? Comment below!

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Tag : my playlist, my playlist fridays,

My Playlist Fridays: SHINee's Misconceptions of Everybody Edition

With all the drama concerning KARA this week, it's about time to take a break, sit down, relax, and listen to some good music with this week's My Playlist Friday's featuring SHINee.

Earlier in the year, SHINee released a big ass album separated into three different sections, each with their own theme to distinguish them from each other. Each were titled Misconceptions of You, Me, and Us, respectively. So apparently nobody can understand each other. Since there is a large number of songs to choose from, I decided to do a My Playlist Friday on this album alone, excluding Dream Girl and Why So Serious.

1. Punch Drunk Love - You

This is by far my favorite song out of all three “albums”. It has that bouncy, swing your hips type of feel to it. It has an extremely smooth roller coaster vibe that goes up and down in such a fun way when you listen to it. If you don’t listen to any of the other songs, I highly recommend you at least listen to this one.

2. Beautiful - You

This was actually one of the songs that SHINee sung alongside their Dream Girl promotions during their concerts. I actually first heard the song when checking out one of their live performances. The song has one of those calming effects and the meaning of the song is like the title: beautiful.

3. Orgel - Me

The Misconceptions of Me album had a much more darker feel than the light and energetic feel of Misconceptions of You “album”. Orgel took some time to grow on me, but after a few listens, I began to fall in love with it’s dreamy, spin me around type of feel. This song is actually on the playlist I listen to when I go to sleep because of how calming it is.

4. Evil - Me

This song is actually quite unique compared to the other songs on the “album”. It starts off with a soft dreamy feel then builds up into something somewhat more energetic. It’s distorted and weird in a good way and I’ve listened to this particular song many times and I haven’t gotten tired of it yet.

5. Dynamite - You

Dynamite is the only bombastic and highly energetic song I have on the list so far. It’s not a type of song I would dance to, really, but it’s very pleasant to listen to and gets your blood pumping. If you’re looking for something to lift your mood, I recommend listening to this song.

Honorable Mentions

I mean. Look at it!

Honestly, most of the songs on these “albums” are pretty good. If you don’t have it on you, I recommend buying it right away. I didn’t mention anything about Misconceptions of Us because that particular one only has two songs on it and they’re not all that great. Plus the artwork looks like someone was on LSD and decided to scribble down their hallucinatory visions.

So what were your favorite songs in the Misconceptions of Everybody albums? Comment below!

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Tag : my playlist, my playlist fridays, shinee,

My Playlist Fridays: The 4minute Edition

Welcome to your newest weekly playlist of all types of songs from groups that pump out my personal favorite songs and still enjoy to this day. Each week I will be bringing you a list of 5 songs that I recommend you give a quick listen to from a certain group or artist so that you may expand your own personal Kpop playlist, starting with 4minute.

4minute isn't the most popular group in the world of Kpop but I will say that they are one of my favorite girl groups to date (with the inclusion of Brown Eyed Girls). They are known for their quirky, electric, and charismatic sound and have released hits like What's Your Name and I My Me Mine. And without further adieu, I bring you the first of many My Playlists.

1. Mirror Mirror (거울아 거울아) - 4Minutes Left (2011)

Admittedly, Mirror Mirror isn't 4minutes best song but I thought it deserved a mention despite it's low budget music video. This video is what helped me realize that I loved Gayoon (I was leaning towards her before but the sparks flew here) as well as Jiyoon (who I already loved before), and how awkward HyunA now makes me feel. At that time, the other two still remained nameless in my head.

2. I My Me Mine - Hit Your Heart (2010)

This is absolutely my favorite song released by 4minute and possibly the best they will ever release (you never know though). I My Me Mine has an amazing flow to it, an addictive bass line, and an extremely catchy chorus. I have probably listened to this song over 100 times and it has yet to grow old. The music video isn't half bad either.

3. Black Cat - Volume Up (2012)

This particular song was from the album Volume Up and was never featured as a title song but is still excellent in its own right. Black Cat followed that dark vampire-like theme of the album perfectly, seeing that they were vampires or something like that in the music video for Volume Up. Unfortunately, I cannot say that this is a better song than Volume Up but it's still good.

4. Domino - Name is 4Minute (2013)

Yet another song that was never featured as a title song. Domino is what I believe to be the best song in 4minute's latest EP Name is 4minute with Gimme That following suit. Unfortunately, neither of those songs were featured as their comeback song of the year. In my opinion, it would have been much better for them to use either of those rather than What's Your Name instead of following the trend of disjointed and confusing songs. I find that Domino has a very excited feel to it that can easily get you up and dancing to the beat.

5. Volume Up - Volume Up (2012)

This is the song that actually got me to start looking into 4minute further. I've heard some of their songs before but Volume Up was kind of the spark I needed to fall in love with them. It turned out not to be my favorite song by them but everyone still needs a little Volume Up in their life. It's a solid song with a sexy saxophone instrumental that seems to never grow old. The music video had a very high budget and you can tell from the scenery and the designer clothing that they're wearing. If only they utilized that budget to make an actual plot line and not the confusing mess they slapped together.