#and thats just cause the chorus bit is catchy and some of the visuals were cool

[blauregen]

fav ♀-releases in 2018 (in no particular order)

so, since i started this list like this last year too, here we go: i know little to nothing about music, i have weird (may i say b a d) taste and my reasonings are - as expected from a subjective list - Super personal ,, also i dont follow every female k-artists so there are definitely blind spots for me too! that said ... LETS GET GAY! LETS GO LESBIANS!

Wind (바람 ) - Heize

suprise surprise, its Heize again. i was rarely this excited about a comeback this year as i was about Wind ... i adore this mini. i really love Heize’s voice, especially now that she is playing around with rapping And singing more than ever, its just ,, i hear her voice and i just, immediately calm down and feel a warm glow in me rising and --- this is getting really cheesy, isn’t it.

my fav tracks have to be Sorry and wish you well (feat. DAVII), however i can listen to this whole album without a problem - of course Jenga as the title was amazing as well, Dahye’s voice works really well with Gaeko’s as well. additionally i loved the ~design for this album, the photoshoot is stunning and the whole aesthetic is very much up my alley.

AND SINCE WE R ALREADY TALKING ABOUT DAHYE:

+ First Sight (첫눈에) - Heize

as expected, i love her winter single release as well. again, a Lovely mixture of her singing and a solid very groovy amazing rapping part. i did like her mini a lot more lyricwise (lots of it is really sad but Sorry has such smart lyrics!!!), however as a “”simple”” winter release that is meant to fit this season, this is amazing.

...... also have i mentioned how Beautiful she is, jfc.

Deine - Ha:tfelt

Oh Boy. Here we go.

this is hands-down my Favorite Release of this whole year. i don’t know if its clear, but i adore yeeun. i adore her as the person park yeeun, who is an activist and very outspoken about her position of a woman in the industry, her experiences in one of the most successful girlgroups Ever, her views on feminism and sexism, the fact that she collabed with a drag organizer for her exhibition, etc etc etc. however, i also love yeeun as Ha:tfelt and adore her music. Pluhmm is such a sensual, fun and soft and yet strong song about her Own Desires and a woman that Wants to flirt and be in love and have fun and Be sensual and its so so so lovely and warm and playful and confident? i died a little at the MV because Ha:tfelt is a Woman and is portrayed as such, she is sensual and sexy and its portrayed by yeeun dancing around a flat in the sexiest dress and feeling herself and. its just Wonderful. so wonderful. i love her. Cigar is super touching too, very smooth and slick and polished and yet it has a vulnerable touch to it and is just ,, such a good song ....... thank u yenny.

Warning - Sunmi

ANOTHER AMAZING WOMAN. if i had to choose a soloist that is more active and actively promotes and performs on music and award shows etc, i’d definitely go for Sunmi. first of all: sunmi is outstandingly hardworking, talented, tough, brave, but also so so so kind and sweet and self-aware (seriously her twitter account is my social media highlight of this year, she is beyond ADORABLE and wonderful and funny) and of course she is fucking beautiful. this album is AMAZING - i can listen to the whole tracklist without skipping a single song. i adore Siren (aesthetically its my favorite title track of hers, though i do think Gashina is a little more catchy, esp together with that choreo - but i Love Siren’s horror-esque MV with the, well, siren-mermaid-imagery, so good!) but personally my favorite SONGS are ADDICT and Black Pearl - both sound very different actually, one being completely in English, but it just shows how well Sunmi can pull of different styles. god ... have u seen her on stage? shes a m a z i n g.

KHAN - I’m Your Girl ?

I started following Euna and Minju already before they debuted ... but what really made me fall in love with both their voices, be it singing or rapping (cause both are quite good at both ,,) was their DNA cover! generally the fact that they keep posting really cool covers on their youtube channel is beyond lovely and these two really managed to make me like a version of DNA ... (probably my least favorite BTS title track, lmao ,,)

their actual debut was just lovely. the song is great, soothing and super smooth and groovy and easy to listen to, their voices are stunning in it, the MV is VERY GAY, the choreo is fun and their outfits for promotion stages were such a lovely fresh wind and i really enjoyed seeing them perform a LOT. i just really like that KHAN already is quite unique and m so so so looking forward to future comebacks!

BBIBBI - IU

no highlight list without Jieun. the lyrics to this track were solely written by her and it shows - IU is an outstanding songwriter, i adore her hard work and experience and talent. the sound of the track itself is fun and bubbly and groovy and Very catchy, but my highlight is how this conflicts so beautifully with the lyrics that are quite ... critical and rough and basically show a very very sweet lovely middle finger to the rumour-netizen-culture around her ,, i am super excited for future full releases from jieun, though i still listen to Palette a lot and think she should take all the time she needs!

Bad Boy - Red Velvet

sadly, i didnt not really enjoy Red Velvets later release this year and neither did i really dig their summer release, but what i do adore to the moon and back is their The Perfect Red Velvet - The 2nd Album Repackage, though thats a lil bit of cheating since i already mentioned their Perfect Velvet album last year ,,

Bad Boy is my favorite title track of theirs this year, the styling is OUTSTANDINGLY GOOD MY GOD and the sound is just, smooth and cool and sexy and just ... damn.

also, Red Velvet definitely has some of my favorite jacket photoshoots of this year, the quality and beauty of their photos is amazing, i could spend hours just looking at those ......... and maybe i did.

What Is Love? - TWICE

the nations girl group powered through this year and released so many catchy awesome songs that i had a hard time choosing one ,, but What Is Love is definitely my MV highlight of the year and also the song itself is so so fun and lovely and cheerful and just makes me feel happy ... thank u for making me happy, TWICE!

You And I - Dreamcatcher

i have to admit: Dreamcatcher is not really my sound. their tracks remind me a little too much of Very Loud Stressful Anime Openings, so i accept that its just not my music taste ,, HOWEVER i actually really really like You and I. the song is very catchy and has this one part right before the chorus that i really love, its a very cool mysterious “dark” awesome track. moreover though i love the Whole Package that is Dreamcatcher (again, this horror-esque style of theirs is Really Up My Alley) - their styling and choreos are so clever and SEXY and goth-y and different, its just so fucking fun to watch them perform, especially the Choreo to You and I is so so so so so cool!

(also they r somewhat of a lesbian cult and m Very Appreciative of that, my god.)

LOOΠΔ - just, the whole thing.

SO - it took me until this year to really get into Loona. i knew them beforehand and was intrigued by the unique pre-debut “schedule” that their company was doing and checked out some songs but never got into them deeper. however, this year i truly listened to the Broad Amazing Variety that Loona offers and i just Have to include them here. all the girls and the subunits are super interesting and diverse and i love how especially the solo songs all sound different and lots of things were tried out and the AESTHETICS ARE OFF THE CHARTS. their full group debut was a little too ... they played it too ~safe for my taste, however i still adore lots of LOONA songs and can only recommend them!

(my favs are So Boring, i love Egoist and Heart Attack and Singing in the Rain and New and ... i’ll get back to this once i develop an actual Interesting opinion lmao)

i Can’t possibly end this list without some honorable mentions, because girls are amazing:

- (G)I-DLE are amazing rookies and performers and just such an awesome new girlgroup. Soyeon’s stage presence is just ,, wow, she is such a good rapper and performer, but the other girls are also so amazing and m so glad they are so successful and loved so far. favorite track of this year is def HANN (Alone), though all their songs are mighty good.

- Oh My Girl. maybe i dont listen to their songs as much but m in deep love with their visuals and stages and man ... call me, Yooa, please, m free almost every night.

- fromis_9 had such a cute quirky hyper Love Bomb comeback, i loved it!

- Momoland similarly had such catchy fun songs, i gotta mention them too!

- Hyuna - i love Hyuna and i wish her all the best and happiness and love and success and i hope to see her on stage again soon! (i especially loved her in Triple H, since i was actually quite a fan of that trio and the retro funky sound they went for ...... big sigh @ cube)

- Yubin ... again, not really my sound, but man. kill me Yubin, just do it, cmon.

- EXID is back to OT5! m so happy!!! I Love You was really fun, but I definitely enjoyed DDD last year more ,, but i still wanted to mention them, such a fun, diverse, different girlgroup that offers lots of different sounds and visuals and stands out to me a lot, so so good!

- Chungha ... m still in the process of falling in love with Chungha but oh god .... have u seen her? her dancing skills are out of this world, her beauty is stunning, she is so so sweet and kind and tough and her songs m so eager to properly discover and also a rly niche point but: I LOVE HER ALBUM DESIGNS SO SO SO MUCH.

- Minseo is another new amazing soloist ,, i discovered her at first through my fav photographers instagram (@ mu_gung) who took just. outstanding pics of Minseo but i also Adore her voice and she has done Amazing covers as well, her Why So Lonely is my absolute favorite and id dare to say i like it just as much as the original ... check her out, her MV visuals and concepts are Super interesting and beautiful and fun as well!

and many many many many more that i missed or forgot!

just know: girls are the best.

#heize #hyuna #ha:tfelt #iu #exid #yubin #momoland #oh my girl #gidle #loona #dreamcatcher #red velvet #sunmi #minseo #chungha #text

[theoneboywho-blog]

Noma : Joy. 2016 was an excellent year of good music and a couple of firsts.Beyonce dropped the bomb on us yet again with an unprecedented ‘Visual Album’,Rihanna sold a million units in a day(I don’t care.It was a great business acumen thats not offered to a lot of artists),Frank Ocean came back from his hiatus and Nasty C finally dropped his long awaited “Bad Hair” album on an international streaming site Audiomack, landed the number 1 spot beating international greats that held the position (Future and Gucci Mane to be precise),then,we received our First Black Female SA Idols winner after what seemed like forever. Joy marks the Debut Album from Noma since clenching her Idols 2016 Winner title at a 50K difference out of a mammoth of 13 million votes that came through.I guess statistically,the margin was quite close…a whole 50K though does leave room for debate,but thats for another day.I was taken aback by the release of her album on how,arguably,premature the release was,I mean,anybody caught wind on when the release date was? This made me concerned for 3 reasons  :  1. When did she ever really take a break to fathom the drastic shift in her lifestyle from being Zero to Hero?From being ordinary to extraordinary? 2. Idols is never known for being a smooth stretch till the end.So,emotionally and physically,did she even have time to rest? 3. More importantly so,Has she found her Identity as an artist?Not only locally in SA,but universally?A sound we can immediately say,"Ey,That's Noma!"? Well anyway,despite whatever reservations one may have,’Joy’ has been given to us. The album kicks off with the Title Track ‘Joy’ which is a smooth afro jazz fusion that is blended well.Contrary to the meaning of the word(Joy),the song caused bit of controversy when she was outed to have stolen the piece.Rather upsetting that the Prosecutor(Disebo) had it in for Noma instead of challenging the song writer(Pablo) she worked with who was unanimously reported to have 'stolen' the song and Registered it as his own.Possibly the most controversial incident for an Idols Winner fresh out of the competition.The track has blissful lyrics which preach about over looking adversities and focusing on positivity.With lyrics like “Live for today and never worry ‘bout tomorrow” to “Joy through the storm”,Mother Theresa would be proud. ‘Want it to feel like it did with you(Sheesh what a mouthful of a title!)’is the lead single of the Project & whilst at first I really didn’t identify with the song at all,It became one of those ear worm of a track that grows on you at a snails pace overtime .Admittedly so,it would not be the song I reach for in my iTunes,BUT,with that being said,should the player shuffle the song on,I rush to skip it.What shines through for me the most is Noma’s excellent vocals,the technicality in how its well written and the insanely catchy melody.The issue?The arrangement of the song.Its too uptempo and its massive potential is lost in the 808 translation that is the ‘Boom clap,boom boom clap’ we're fed.I want to love the song for what it is.Really I do,but I can’t help feel that given a large drop in tempo,the song would be MUCH more relatable.Truthfully,these pop styles haven’t settled in in SA yet,which leads me to ‘Say What You Wanna Say’.Not really the most shining moment on the album.I tend to gravitate towards the ‘Idols Journey Reflections’ of her Live Recordings taken from her time on Idols.One cannot shake the ‘High School Musical’ bubble gum feel,like people are going to pop out of bins and start dancing on roofs of buildings and a yellow bus(despite being in South Africa) will pull up before your eyes and you’re apprehended by bulging eyes and the hugest,never ending smiles with arms extended to you…cheesy?Exactly.Yet again,Noma’s vocals remain the only source of note. Bringing the flavour back home,’Love Me’ is a sweet song that speaks of Noma asserting her man to love her after she had had her guard up for some time.What draws me to this track is the effortless blend in vernac and english without it having to sound…rough(just to be diplomatically correct).It is particularly the zulu that brings the romance to the song interestingly enough,given Zulu can be quite the abrasive language.Short,sweet and direct was probably the production mandate for the song,Even though a great part of me feels she could’ve pushed just a bit more on the vocals,but I was okay with the end result.The greatest attribute about Zulu songs is that they could NEVER be cheesy,take ”Ngifuna Owami” for instance.Given an english interpretation,the song would drown in a Well of cheese id bet.The chorus is the perfect ‘sing along’ melody and is a great contender for the top spot in Vernac tracks of the country.The strength in the song is the honesty and vulnerability of the lyrics.The song has that emotional appeal coupled by the delivery vocally that cannot  be ignored!It would be no surprise to hear it in heavy rotation at Wedding ceremonies. ”God Made A Woman” is the contender for the strongest song off the project.Yeah sure there is a heavy resemblance to “You Earned It” by ‘The Weeknd’,but given the choice between the songs Id chose Noma’s track.It is a stellar song that has enough drama so that Noma doesn’t have to bring much vocally.Her runs,her depths,her texture and vocal dominance adds much conviction to her content.What captured me about the song is its sense of mystery and how it glorifies the creation of a woman as the solution to the worlds turmoil.Its such a beautiful song that I believe reminds us why the idols title was rightfully hers.Learning that Sketchy Bongo would be collaborating with Khumalo for a song called “Moving On” was an odd surprise,but having heard the final production,the song is pretty DOPE.It has to be one of Bongo’s most consistent productions and its no surprise that the song's greatness is elevated by Kyle's production appearance given it was ‘Back To The Beach’ that placed both of these two gentlemen firmly on the map.Its quite the critical song that more or less defines her dramatic shift in what her life was to what its meant to be.The balance of the song is excellent because it subconsciously gives credit to both producer and singer.Not exactly the dance floor filler,but the ‘feel good’ effect is just as moving. 7 years is quite the stretch for,to a certain degree and justification in some instances,monotonous version of events.For you to end that cycle of ‘predictability',you really have to deliver something that is top notch.Noma did exactly that.She broke both the cycle of male dominance as well as the record for most votes collected for a winner on Idols, and her talent is testament enough why she deserved so.Looking back at the females who narrowly missed the crown(Melissa and Mathema who actually were the closest),Noma truly had a more monstrously refined voice that we hadn’t heard in a long time and,the fact that she hasn’t really understood how good she is,makes me excited for the time she has fully masters her voice. “Joy” is a solid body of work from an amateur artist with expected hit and misses here and there.Given that the album came almost a heartbeat after winning season 12,one can forgive a lot of shortfalls from the album,which aren't much actually.Her voice is addictive and is the saving grace that remains prominent throughout all the tracks,but for her next project,I will be expecting a bit more. Good Job Baby Girl.Your boy got mad love for you.Kill Em All. #Noma #Joy #TheMusicIsSafe

#Noma #Joy #TheMusicIsSafe