seauxfientertainment

[seauxfientertainment]

[Concept Challenge] The Perfect BTS Halftime Show

[August 8, 2020]

Concept Challenges are posts where I create a concept (ex. award show performance) and then I make a post with the material corresponding to the concept (i.e. set-lists, outfits, etc.) And you can feel free to make your own post with your own ideas for that concept.

Concept: Halftime Show

The Challenge: create a Halftime Show performance of any K-POP group of your choosing, keeping the set list (# of songs) to only 15 minutes (I went over, oops) while also considering the demographics (primarily male) for the Super Bowl.

I just spent an entire afternoon coming up with this and I’m both disappointed in and proud of myself.

Without further ado here is the Perfect BTS Halftime Show:

I took a lot into consideration while making this set list. I tried to mix in some crowd favorites; hype songs and more vocal oriented ones. I also tried to make it so all the members have a moment to shine and won’t get lost in the background.

This Halftime Show will have three guests: Halsey, Becky G, and Steve Aoki.

This is going take some imagination so bear with me. 

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INTRO: IDOL x WE ARE BULLETPROOF PT. 2

For the intro I decided to do a mashup of two songs, Idol (more specifically the “Oh oh ooh oh” parts, similar to the 2018 MAMA in Hong Kong) and We Are Bulletproof pt. 2 (the first verse with Jungkook and the “Click,click, bang, bang,” parts.)

This will play for about 40 seconds as the members get on stage. (Hence, “Intro”.)

---

FIRST SONG: BOY WITH LUV (FEAT. HALSEY)

This is probably BTS’ most well-known song in America since it got a lot of radio play. I think it’s best to start these kinds of performances (in front of people who aren’t all too familiar with a majority of their discography) with the most familiar songs and then from there move on to the more “wildcard-like” songs.

Halsey would perform with the members as she did for other performances. The song would skip from the first chorus to Namjoon’s (RM) verse and then play out to the end of the song. 

---

SECOND SONG: SEOUL TOWN ROAD

Similar to “Boy With Luv” this song was extremely popular in the US. Even the fact that it’s in English will be comforting for those who don’t typically listen to K-POP.

This will be just the choruses and Namjoon’s verse. I also thought that Taehyung (V) could do Lil Nas X’s part (” Can't nobody tell me nothin' / You can't tell me nothin'.”) I think the part would suit him and he’d be a good counterpart for Namjoon. The two would be on stage with some back up dancers. 

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THIRD SONG: CHICKEN NOODLE SOUP (FEAT. BECKY G)

Besides being a very upbeat song, this track features three languages (Korean, English, and Spanish.) It could appeal to a whole other demographic, and with Becky G and a bunch of back up dancers (perhaps even some of the same dancers from the music video) it would make for, at least in my opinion, a phenomenal performance.

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MASHUP: SERENDIPITY/SINGULARITY/EUPHORIA/EPIPHANY

I arranged these songs accordingly not just by preference, I also thought through the logistics of the performance. For example, while the other two previous songs are being performed Vocal Line (Jungkook, Jin, Jimin, and V) would have time to prepare for this part of the performance. Outfit changes, water break, getting to where they need to be, etc.

I choose this mashup in particular because I thought it would give the vocalists (especially Jin) a good chance to showcase their talents. I think this portion of the performance will most likely be a “wildcard” because it does bring the adrenaline down. However, it serves as the beginning of the buildup towards the finale. 

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DANCE BREAK: FAKE LOVE x BLACK SWAN

This would just be a dramatic instrumental for Jimin (maybe with some back up dancers) to do some of his attention grabbing contemporary dancing. That’s pretty much it for this one.

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MASHUP: SUGA’S INTERLUDE/SHADOW/AGUST D/ UGH! (FEAT. HALSEY)

I’m not going to lie, I am very Suga biased. I love it when he gets to just rap on stage and doesn’t have to worry about choreography. I believe of he was given the opportunity to showcase that more “serious” rapper side of him to a more mainstream audience he would pleasantly surprise a lot of people and gain a whole new group of listeners who will start to think of him as more than a K-POP idol rapper.

This mashup also gives Halsey a chance to perform again and I think the two would mesh well for a performance like this. 

The end would morph into UGH! bringing Namjoon and Hoseok (j-hope) back out and bringing back that adrenaline. I also just really want to hear Rap Line perform this song live. Everyone in the stadium would be shocked to find out how hard BTS can go.

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FINAL SONG: MIC DROP (FEAT. STEVE AOKI)

I imagine Steve walking up alone to a turntable like in the music video and then he’d “start” the song. The lights would go crazy and back up dancers would show up. There would be an instrumental intro before the members get on stage.

Namjoon would appear and start with his verse (second verse). The song would play out as normal but at the end when the crowd thinks it’s over the beat would come back in. Halsey and Becky G, as well as all the other dancers would come out for one last time. Of course, the song would finish with Suga’s iconic “mic drop”.

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VIDEO:

I made a concept video to give you guys a better sense of my Halftime Show idea.

I started this post earlier but took some more time to create the above video.

[seauxfientertainment]

Is "How You Like That" by BLACKPINK worth the hype?

[July 11th, 2020]*

It's been only two weeks since BLACKPINK (BP) released the seemingly hit or miss, record-breaking single; "How You Like That" (HYLT). It is the pre-release single from their upcoming debut studio album and there has been a lot of talk surrounding it.

People seem to either hate it or love it for a multitude of reasons. Reasons I will explain in this post.

I'll be talking about the song itself, the aesthetics, the music video and the controversy it incited, as well as the records it broke, and then I'll give my final thoughts on the song.

So if any of this interests you, you can continue reading. I'd appreciate it if you did.

*this post was originally written a couple weeks ago for a different platform.

                                                            •••

                1. CONCEPT PHOTOS AND PROMOTIONAL ASPECTS

The hype for HYLT actually started about a month before the name of the track was even revealed (longer if you consider the year long hiatus BP took between the "Kill This Love" EP and this new comeback.)

On May 4, 2020 reports came out stating that BP had finished recording their first full length album and then on May 18 YG ent. projected a June 2020 release.

The first teaser poster was posted on social media on June 10, confirming that the release date would be June 26.

Finally, the Blinks' more-than-a-year-long wait for a comeback was coming to an end!

On June 12 YG ent. released a prologue to BP's new reality show "24/365 with BLACKPINK" on the BP YouTube channel. In the video Jisoo gave a spoiler to HYLT saying, "if our previous songs gave off the vibe of being strong and powerful, I think this song is more hip [hop], that shows us our swag." (Translation comes from the in-video captions.)

So, at this point we'd been told that BP would be taking an artistic turn from their previous discography. Things were going good. For those who were complaining that most BP songs were essentially the same song, now were being promised something different.

Then things started to look really good.

From June 15 to the 21st YG released individual posters, concept photos, and videos promoting the single.

And everyone was excited for the new comeback. The previews were nothing short of enticing. It seemed like we were getting a dark concept. Jennie had red smudged tear stains. Lisa had deep red hair. They all looked so stoical. Maybe this comeback was going to be a serious one?

YG dropped the Music Video teaser on June 24 and everyone was hyped.

Although the theories were flying and everyone seemed to have differing ideas for what this new song would have to offer, in general everyone was happy. We might just get something unlike the typical BP comeback and the hype built up from there.

                                                            •••

                                                      2. MUSIC

Now let's discuss what we actually got.

On Wikipedia, HYLT is credited as a blend of trap and hip hop, but I would include electropop into that mix. To start, the song is fairly short, barely making it to three minutes long (a little bit more about the hastiness of a couple parts on the track later), a common theme that has been occurring in pop music in the past several years.

I listen to this podcast called "Tiny Meat Gang" (it's done by two comedians, Cody Ko and Noel Miller), and in one episode they mentioned what they believed was the direction the music industry will take in the future. They believed that TikTok was pushing the music industry in a direction where all songs can be shorter since only 10-15 seconds of the song actually goes viral instead of the whole track.

(The clip is from 38:25-41:40, if you're interested)

HYLT definitely has the elements needed to go viral. Something I'll continue to point out throughout this post.

The song opens up with an orchestral instrumental beginning, then slowly builds with Jennie, Jisoo, and Rosé's vocals to the bass drop and into a chorus, which to put it nicely, leaves something to be desired by those who were expecting a drastic change of pace from BP's previous comebacks.

The recycled beats and the over use of tag lines and onomatopoeia are just some of the reasons why people have been critical of this particular BP comeback and previous ones.

mera (Youtube channel), her video titled "The Real Problem with Blackpink" goes way more into detail on this topic of repetition in BP songs. I highly recommend you check it out.

In the second verse Lisa raps over this Arabic sounding beat that's actually really cool. By far my favorite part of the entire song and was the only part that really stood out to me and was distinguishable from other BP songs. Lisa's style of rapping fits the song well in my opinion.

Up until this point the song had been fine, it wasn't the best thing ever but it also wasn't the worst. This is where things started to seem rushed. The bridge, with Rosé and Jisoo, was barely there and then we go into the usual beat switch outro with chanting.

                                                        •••

                                                 3. LYRICS

The lyrics are quite vapid, at least in my opinion. The message of the song isn't ground breaking and doesn't really tell us anything about who they (the members of BP) actually are or how they feel.

In essence, the song is a revival track. At quick glance it may seem that the song is about coming out of a bad breakup feeling empowered despite the circumstances (which make sense since that was essentially the same concept used in "Kill This Love"), however, according to Genius, the meaning is actually 'deeper' than that.

Apparently, the meaning of the song is that the girls were in a dark place with all the hate they had received and now they're back stronger than ever.

As mera so colorfully says in her video, BP's music suffers from "forget to write the chorus" syndrome. All they do is repeat the same phrases over and over again. I will say this though, the chorus can easily make it a viral song. It's simple and easy to sing along to, as well as the dance isn't super difficult.

They also stick in seemingly random phrases. Such as the reference to the 1950s "Adventures of Superman" with the line "Look up in the sky It's a bird, it's a plane". Some had mentioned that it's a play on their group name.

Bird = B

Plane = P

BP = BLACKPINK

But I think there are visuals that better support these lyrics in the music video.

As for the line distribution, it's pretty good for BP standards. Rosé and Jennie together make up more than 50% of the song, each finishing with 29.4% and 29.3% respectively. Lisa's in third place with 23% and Jisoo is last with 18.3%. However, what Jisoo lacks in lines she gains in screen time in the music video, so in my opinion it levels out.

From what I understand there is a small group of people that make BP songs but prominently this man, Teddy, is the main producer and lyricist for them. He's made songs for them for basically their entire career.

Personally, I think YG needs to either find someone else to make their songs, someone with new ideas, or have Teddy and the others on the team work with the members themselves. Let the members write some of their own stuff so that it seems more personal. Many groups do this and it adds an authenticity to their sound.

This is only the first song released from the new album, so who knows, maybe the other songs are very personal. But until then, HYLT is all we have, and things don't look too promising.

                                                          •••

                                         4. CHOREOGRAPHY

I'm not going to lie, I actually really like the choreography.

I know a lot of people complained that BP uses 'recycled' dance moves. I did some research and they've used the same choreographer, Kiel Tutin, for their past couple title tracks ("Kill This Love" and "DDU-DU DDU-DU") so that's why things might seem familiar.

Side note: Kiel Tutin has choreographed for a ton of K-POP artists. For example, 4minute ("Crazy"), TWICE ("Feel Special", "Fancy", and "More & More"), Big Bang ("Bang Bang Bang"), and he also even did Jennie's "Solo."

I think the choreography matches the tone of the song. It's fun and not super complicated yet it looks elaborate with all the staging.

My personal favorite parts of the choreography is Lisa's little body roll movement in the second post-chorus:

And when Lisa and Jennie make an little arch with their arms for Jisoo to walk under:

I don't really have anything else to say about the choreography. It's just good.

                                                          •••

                               5. MUSIC VIDEO AND AESTHETICS

The music video is gorgeous, who is anybody kidding? Nothing too mind blowing but just beautiful to look at:

The sets were so intricate and gave atmosphere to the song. Rosé in the flowers, the arctic oil field, the tropical jungle, the staircase with the wings, the street market, the pink world dome. It's all so aesthetically pleasing.

However, the music video wasn't just nice to look at. It did reveal a lot more to the story told in the song.

Jordan Orme, a music video editor made a video breaking down all the little details the director and editor(s) used to show the story written in the song. I found it very useful to better understand the meaning of the song and the visuals. Check it out if you want.

Some of the visuals that I appreciated the most were the umbrellas during the second pre-chorus with Jennie and Jisoo.

Jordan had spoken about how he thought the umbrellas represented protection or being shielded from the hate. And then with Jisoo the umbrellas are burning because they no longer need protection, they can take on the hate themselves. It was just a little detail I enjoyed.

I also quite liked the buildup to the outro and the outro itself.

Each of the members stood in front of the wings as Rosé and Jisoo sang:

"The day I went down with my wings lost / Those dark days when I was trapped / You should have ended me when you still have a chance"

During the Superman reference ("It's a bird, it's a plane") they showed the heads of the Trojan horses and then later showed their wheels, rolling in, when Jennie yells "Bring out the boss bitch!"

It's the little details that get to me.

Although now I know that the Trojan horses represent the BP members passing themselves as a gift to the music industry but in actuality they're preparing to 'attack' (supposedly with their upcoming album), when I was researching the meaning behind them I found this user on Quora, Hamedah Badmus, who while answering the question "What does a Trojan Horse means in the latest Blackpink video clip 'How You Like That'?" gave their interpretation of the music video using Greek mythology. It's amazing how people can imagine things that others can't. They created a whole other storyline.

The music video for HYLT appears to be universally liked. However, there is one problem with the video. Which brings me to my next topic.

                                                          •••

                                           6. CONTROVERSY

In the scene where Lisa is rapping on a throne in a North African street market, there is a statue of the Hindu deity Ganesha:

This upset many followers of the Hindu religion, and rightfully so. There's no excuse for making fun of someone's religion. It's personal and should be taken seriously.

From what I understand Ganesha is the Hindu God of New Beginnings, Success, and Wisdom, and the Remover of Obstacles. In regards to the statue, the proper way to display Ganesha is on an alter. You are not supposed to place the statue on the floor or in low energy areas, such as the bathroom, garage or laundry.

I'll probably talk about this in more depth in my next post about Agust D's new album, because he dealt with a separate but similar situation, but here I'll simply say that ignorance, such as haphazardly using a religious icon in a music video without real knowledge on how to properly display said icon, is unacceptable. Especially with a group as popular as BP who reach millions of people from around the world.

This isn't the first time BP has upset followers of the Hindu religion. In "DDU-DU DDU-DU" Jennie was criticized for wearing a Bindi, a decorative mark worn in the middle of the forehead by Indian women. Jennie's, I believe, was a jewel one. And in the "Kill This Love" music video when Jisoo is shooting an arrow she's wearing an Indian headpiece.

I've also seen clips of the members mimicking traditional Hindu dances. It's tasteless and done out of ignorance. Like any other instance of cultural appropriation, it must be addressed and learned from.

                                                          •••

                         7. LIVE PERFORMANCES AND FASHION

The live performances have been a bit lack luster for me (so far.)

The members just don't seem that into it. The dancing was uninspired to say the least. Lisa's always giving it her all, but the other members are just going through the motions. And it hasn't even been a month yet.

The Inkigayo Comeback Special from 0628 was by far their best performance. They got to do a short intro and the set looked like a jungle temple. I also really liked the costuming during that performance. Lisa has these red boots and all the background dancers were wearing cute pink tops with jeans and their hair in braids. It all looked great to me.

They also looked stunning on Jimmy Fallon. (They wore the outfits similar to the top photo down below). I liked Jisoo's bell sleeves and her little pigtails.

In general, the outfits for this comeback have looked really nice and complement each other well (except for Jisoo's purple dress in the bottom picture from above. A lot of people said they liked it, that it made her stand out but I didn't care much for it. I think it clashes with the other outfits.)

(BTW did not notice Lisa's yellow glove in the winter scene of the M/V)

This comeback also has many different looks. It would be nice to see all of them with slightly different sets similar to the music video during their live performances.

I believe that this era is Lisa's era, at least fashion-wise. I mean Jennie's modernized Hanbok is nice and everything, she's definitely been given some pretty amazing outfits:

And the hair, you can't forget about the hair. From braids, to blonde streaks, to a shoulder length cut, the stylists seem to be giving Jennie everything.

But Lisa's outfits are killing it.

My favorite look from her, and probably from the entire comeback, has to be the jewel-beaded top and blue (denim?) pants she wore during her rap in the music video.

Also she looks gorgeous with that black bob cut hair.

(She also looked great in her LILI's FILM dance performance but that's on the side)

I did very much enjoy their encore performance. There's something about watching them in a relaxed environment where they don't have to worry about messing up the choreography. They can just sing and have fun.

YG should include more moments like these in their performances.

                                                         •••

                                         8. INITIAL ACCOLADES

One of the biggest reasons why HYLT is garnering a lot of hype is the amount of records it's breaking and how much success it's gotten since it's release.

HYLT has broken five Guinness World Records:

—most viewed YouTube video in 24 hours

—most viewed music video on YouTube in 24 hours

—most viewed music video on YouTube in 24 hours by a K-POP group

—most viewers for a premiere on YouTube (1.66 million concurrent viewers)

—most viewers for a premiere on YouTube for a music video

They received what they call in South Korea as a 'perfect all-kill', charting #1 on Melon, and charting on Genie, Naver, etc.

HYLT debuted at #12 on the Gaon Digital Chart. (The Gaon Music Chart is essentially South Korea's version of the Billboard Chart.)

On Spotify, HYLT debuted #5 on the global chart with 4.073 million streams and #10 in the US with 762k streams. Although that's not that surprising since BP is the most followed girl group on Spotify.

                                                         •••

                                          9. FINAL THOUGHTS

So, is "How You Like That" worth the hype?

The short answer: probably not.

The song itself isn't bad, it's just repetitious. Like we've already heard this song before, and we kind of did with "Kill This Love" and "DDU-DU DDU-DU", among others.

I think the song fits it's purpose; a fun song for people to dance to and make videos with. It has its catchy tag lines ("How you like that?", "Look at you, now look at me", etc.) and its electropop dance beat. It doesn't really need anything else.

I was reading many of the opinions on Reddit, one person had suggested that if the outro was used as the chorus the song would have been better. Everyone's saying the song would have been better "if Jennie had her own rap", "if Rosé got a high note", or "if the song went on longer."

Another person said that if HYLT was sung by another artist it wouldn't be receiving the same amount of hype. That's probably true.

I don't know, man.

Those who like BLACKPINK songs will keep on liking them, those who don't will keep on complaining. And that's that.

                                                            •••

I believe a majority of the problems BLACKPINK faces is due to their company YG. They have the money and the resources to make unique, sentimental music. They just decide not to. Rather, they make budget cuts, putting the least amount of money into the group and maximizing capital. Especially because, just like this comeback has proved, BP can put out anything and it will sell. Only further encouraging YG to put in the bare minimum.

I don't dare to question the talents of the BP members when it comes to song writing, because, honestly, I don't think they've even been given the chance to try. Like I said earlier if YG had Teddy work with the girls to write songs and get their input into the creative process they could release innovative and inspired songs.

I hate to make comparisons because I don't want to say one particular group is better than any other. In actuality they're all talented, they just need the support from their company. That being said, I do look at groups like BTS who were given a whole lot more reign when it came to the creative process. And it certainly has never hurt them. If anything it increased their popularity since more people could relate to the deep meanings in their songs.

You can't feel empowered all the time. It's only human that we feel weak and vulnerable at times. I want to hear about those sides of BP. It would humanize them rather than being idol robots that do whatever they're programmed to do.

Anyways, thank you for reading this post. I put several hours of research just to write this, no joke, but I enjoyed it.

This type of project would probably be better suited for YouTube but I'm just not a sit in front of a camera type of person. I enjoy writing though, so this seemed like a better fit for me.

Please, leave a comment on what you thought about BLACKPINK's "How You Like That" and maybe leave a suggestion for what K-POP topic I should review next (songs, albums, idols, groups, videos, etc.)

Until the next one,

Seaux Fí

                                                       •••

                                                 SOURCES

Wikipedia

Genius ("HYLT" English Translation)

BBC NEWS (BP: HYLT scores the biggest premiere in YouTube history)

kieltutin.com

guinnessworldrecords.com (BP's return sets new YouTube records with HYLT)

scmp.com (Did BP's HYLT video insult Hindu religion? Plus 4 more times K-POP's biggest girl group stoked controversy)

allkpop.com (forums: Jennie's Bindi Controversy)

kpopmap.com (BP talks about the choreography for HYLT, fashion and thoughts on breaking records)

r/unpopularkpopopinions (Mega Thread: BP - HYLT)

thespruce.com (The Proper Way to Display Ganesha)

[seauxfientertainment]

K-POP COMMENTARY

A well thought out and surprisingly detailed compilation of my opinions on various K-POP related topics.