Review: 777 (Triple Seven) - Presente
Co-Ed K-Pop groups are rarely ever seen. While this makes no sense, in theory, it makes total sense when one understands K-Pop culture. K-Pop idols are not only musicians but they are youth symbols in Korea. Their target market is barely over 12, to the early 20s. As such, a good chunk of a group's profit comes from the appeal the members have on the youth, usually those of the opposite gender, many of who have crushes on the idols. The other comes from marketing and ads for products for the youth, many of the same gender and culture as the idols. Thus, Co-Ed groups are a risk few agencies are willing to take minus the occasional collaborations.
Most Co-Ed groups thrive on two things: the foreign market, and endless, torturous fan shipping. Up until a few years ago, the foreign market was not open, limiting co-ed groups. CO-ED School was an early attempt, but it failed, and the group split. Sunny Hill soon lost all its male members and became a girl group. Only Koyote has lasted and gained decent success, despite them not gaining severe success in modern times.
KARD was indeed the first proper attempt at a co-ed group in modern time, relying heavily on the international market. They thrived in their first year with an internationally-aimed Latin sound and excessive promotion. However, it soon fell entirely apart, as DSP entertainment was unwilling or unable to continue to spend the money, and KARD soon fell out of the spotlight, especially after an enlistment and bullying scandal.
Now, GH entertainment has pulled together their female group, 3YE, and their male group, B.I.G for a special unit. This clearly is intended to be permanent if they gain a fandom, but overall the reaction has been pretty silent. This is quite simple to explain. The group seems to be aiming for KARD's market, blending KARD's early sound with some 2018-19 Super Junior for Latin pop, abandoning the classic funk sound of B.I.G and the twisty electro-pop of 3YE. Thus, neither fandom has fully embraced the new group. Nonetheless, the views are better than the most recent tracks of each group, and thus we might see more of 777. More than anything, however, I am glad to get some confirmation that B.I.G is not dead yet.
The members' vocal performance, particularly of B.I.G, has been altered to clone KARD to a certain extent, which actually works to a certain extent. During the rising verses (with an obligatory 'La Vida Loca', used in every single non-Latin Latin-esque song), even if I wished the song built a little stronger, with some more instrumental flourishes, it does nothing outwardly wrong.
The chorus is the song's trump card, pulling together for a large refrain, not too dissimilar to Super Junior's underrated 2018 gem One More Time (Otra Vez), while still playing the vocals off each other better than ever. Each hook plays off the generic but strong production excellently.
Unfortunately, the post-chorus opts for an out-of-place brass riff, which completely derails the track's momentum. No one moment has been this terrible in a pop song for a long time. It leaves the song lacking, and it derails so much, the rest of the song plays catch-up after the arrival of the riff each and every time. Thankfully, it is not played after the final chorus
Overall, Presente is one of the most frustrating K-Pop songs in a while. It has some truly cathartic and galvanizing moments, salvaged from abandoned and weak trends. However, during the songs weaker moments, the melody is completely abandoned, derailing the whole track. It is hard to judge Presente's achievements without noting its flaws, but the best parts of the song are incredible.
Comments
Post a Comment