As we’ve been doing for the past three weeks, instead of our normal Playlist Sunday we’re listing our weekly K-pop faves from this week. With so many releases and comebacks, it was hard to choose. But hey, someone’s gotta make these hard decisions. “3 Strikes Out” by LABOUM (album released on April 6) Starting their […]
https://kultscene.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/04/Untitled-design-1.png7681024KultScenehttps://kultscene.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/02/KULTSCENE-LOGO-2018-TRANSPARENT-RED.pngKultScene2016-04-10 19:36:172016-04-10 19:36:17Weekly K-Pop Faves April 3-9: Chen & Heize, Mamamoo, NCT U, & LABOUM
Bringing their charisma and typical flare, Teen Top hyped up audiences aplenty in New York City on Saturday night. The RED POINT 2016 Teen Top US Live Tour brought Niel, L.Joe, C.A.P, Chunji, Changjo, and Ricky to Terminal 5 to perform in front of their dedicated fans, reuniting the group and New York area K-pop […]
https://kultscene.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/04/Teen-Top-NYC-2016-19.png7291100Tamar Hermanhttps://kultscene.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/02/KULTSCENE-LOGO-2018-TRANSPARENT-RED.pngTamar Herman2016-04-06 05:07:202016-04-06 05:18:37Teen Top Spoke to KultScene & Delivered an Exciting Show in New York City
As we’ve been doing for the past three weeks, instead of our normal Playlist Sunday we’re listing our weekly K-pop faves from this week. With so many releases and comebacks, it was hard to choose. But hey, someone’s gotta make these hard decisions. “3 Strikes Out” by LABOUM (album released on April 6) Starting their […]
https://kultscene.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/04/Untitled-design-1.png7681024KultScenehttps://kultscene.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/02/KULTSCENE-LOGO-2018-TRANSPARENT-RED.pngKultScene2016-04-10 19:36:172016-04-10 19:36:17Weekly K-Pop Faves April 3-9: Chen & Heize, Mamamoo, NCT U, & LABOUM
Bringing their charisma and typical flare, Teen Top hyped up audiences aplenty in New York City on Saturday night. The RED POINT 2016 Teen Top US Live Tour brought Niel, L.Joe, C.A.P, Chunji, Changjo, and Ricky to Terminal 5 to perform in front of their dedicated fans, reuniting the group and New York area K-pop […]
https://kultscene.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/04/Teen-Top-NYC-2016-19.png7291100Tamar Hermanhttps://kultscene.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/02/KULTSCENE-LOGO-2018-TRANSPARENT-RED.pngTamar Herman2016-04-06 05:07:202016-04-06 05:18:37Teen Top Spoke to KultScene & Delivered an Exciting Show in New York City
As we’ve been doing for the past three weeks, instead of our normal Playlist Sunday we’re listing our weekly K-pop faves from this week. With so many releases and comebacks, it was hard to choose. But hey, someone’s gotta make these hard decisions.
“3 Strikes Out” by LABOUM (album released on April 6)
Starting their third year as a group, LABOUM continue with the colourful and cute style they are used to. Since debuting, they have failed to hit the heights of their first two singles, but have been consistently solid. Their latest mini album “Fresh Adventure” does little to change this but has one nice B-side that can be singled out. “3 Strikes Out” is busier than lead single “Journey to Atlantis” with pianos, synths, and all manner of percussion sounds. Each element twinkles with just the right amount of sweetness, never straying into sickly territory. The vocal range is also superior to the single, with similar chants but more variations and some rapping which works well. It also has the best stupid spoken English intro I’ve heard in awhile, “Oh let me introduce my boyfriend, he’s a jerk”.
Seemingly out of nowhere, SM Entertainment slayed the internet with its newest group NCT U and their single “The 7th Sense.” As a group, they’re a mix of SHINee’s look and tight choreographies, with EXO’s buttery R&B vocals and interactive moves, and iKON’s hip hop sound. Even if the members are kids, there’s just something incredibly sensual about “The 7th Sense” that makes it irresistible. It’s like a The Weeknd-meets-EXO song with better rappers (yes, I went there). Oh, because that’s a new development: SM has good rappers now, yay! Mark and Taeyong are just… *fire emoji x 100* Plus, I don’t know if they’re writing their own lyrics, but I think it’s public consensus that “And that’s a long ass ride” is probably the best English line in a K-pop song ever. Why SM decided to make this a subunit of their of their massive group project thing (does anyone even understand what they really want to do with that though?), and not have these kids promote and be a legit group is beyond me. I am, however, very happy this exists and will take what SM gives me.
— Alexis
“Lil’ Something” by Chen (EXO) & Heize (released on April 7)
The latest weekly release from SM Entertainment, “Lil’ Something” is a delightful track with an adorable music video. Featuring Chen as a lovestruck backstage crew member and Heize as a fashion show designer, the music video showed their developing romance and was successful thanks to the great acting of the two singers. At some moments Chen even gave me Baek Seung Chan vibes (Kim Soo Hyun’s character in “The Producers”). The instrumentals of this song were as rich as Chen’s vocals and Heize’s raps suited the upbeat tempo relatively well. While her raps could have been more prominent in the song, it was a good collaboration and I’m definitely looking forward to the next release.
Although it’s only a promotional song for LG, “Woohoo” is set to be one of Mamamoo’s most memorable tracks of 2016. The melodious upbeat style of the song suits Mamamoo’s vocal line perfectly while the bright concept matches the spring weather Seoul is experiencing. The funk and synth-pop elements fit in smoothly into the rest of Mamamoo’s repertoire, which has grown immensely in the last few months thanks to this and their latest album. Moonbyul’s rap comes across as anachronistic from the song upon first listen and downright jarring, to be honest. But she doesn’t disappoint even though it’s a bit out of place amidst the overall sunny song the swag-filled rap portion ends up falling in line with the rest of the parts of “Woohoo.” Spring-time songs do well in South Korea (I’m looking at you, “Cherry Blossom Ending”), and the all around musical sound and visual concept of “Woohoo” makes this something I’d love to see doing well.
— Tamar
What’s your favorite K-pop release from this week? Share your picks and thoughts in the comment section below and be sure to subscribe to the site and follow us on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and Tumblr to keep up with all of our posts.
https://kultscene.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/04/Untitled-design-1.png7681024KultScenehttps://kultscene.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/02/KULTSCENE-LOGO-2018-TRANSPARENT-RED.pngKultScene2016-04-10 19:36:172016-04-10 19:36:17Weekly K-Pop Faves April 3-9: Chen & Heize, Mamamoo, NCT U, & LABOUM
Bringing their charisma and typical flare, Teen Top hyped up audiences aplenty in New York City on Saturday night. The RED POINT 2016 Teen Top US Live Tour brought Niel, L.Joe, C.A.P, Chunji, Changjo, and Ricky to Terminal 5 to perform in front of their dedicated fans, reuniting the group and New York area K-pop lovers for the fourth time in three years. Moreover, in a special pre-show interview, KultScene spoke to the act.
[Read the full interview at the bottom of the page.]
“Are you watching our performance today?” Asked Niel through a translator in the middle of the interview. “Scream loud and get excited.”
Starting off the night draped in passionate red suits with “It’s No Joke (Rocking),” the six twenty-something K-pop idols launched into their two-hour long set that switched off between frenetic dance songs, crooning ballads, and some show stopping hip hop numbers. The connection between the group and their fans was apparent as purple fanlights waved by hundreds of Angels, Teen Top’s official fanclub, lit up the concert hall as Teen Top performed old and new hits alike. The energy was clearly there, living up to a promise made by Teen Top earlier that evening.
“What’s different from our last time we were here [is that] we’re promoting our new songs and on top of that each individual has songs that they’ve written or produced so we want to perform that to for the fans in NY,” said Teen Top ahead of taking the stage. It was a lot to promise, considering that many concertgoers had seen Teen Top perform during the group’s 2014 tour and twice in 2015, during a free concert and KCON NY.
The six members of Teen Top carried through on their words, with each song, from the beautiful rendition of ballad “Day” to the debut New York performance of their newest song “Warning Sign,” were presented in a fresh way, highlighting Teen Top’s maturity as a K-pop act that had reached the sixth year of their career. Although they were suffering from jetlag, Teen Top had Angels cheering with delight through songs like pump up anthem “Hot Like Fire” and the fan-dedicated “Angel.”
“This tour, we’re looking forward to providing energy to our audience,” said Teen Top. “We want to return the feedback we’ve gotten from our fans and give it back to them.” And Teen Top did just that, despite being visibly exhausted from their transcontinental flight and hectic tour schedule. Interspersing powerful group numbers with individual solo stages, Teen Top took the night at a steady, businesslike pace while offering up a variety of different interpretations of their iconic sleek sound and style.
The highlight of the night was clearly the solo performances. While coming across as a cohesive group during their group routines like “Ah-Ah” and “Don’t Drink,” Teen Top’s individual members spent much of the night reminding the crowd of the specific skills that make Teen Top’s members worthy of being members of a popular idol group.
L.Joe’s English took center stage as the rapper MC-ed the night, broken into group performances and solo stages, like Niel’s springtime “Affogato,” Chunji’s melancholic power ballad “Dream of a Doll,” Ricky and Changjo’s cover of Crush’s R&B tune “Sofa,” Changjo’s solo of “I Fancy You,” and C.A.P’s powerful ad-lib filled take on Action Bronson and Chance The Rapper’s “Baby Blue.”
With 27 songs, including encore song “Clap,” Teen Top’s show took New York Angels on a journey that ended far too early. But the fans there at the intimate concert that night were some of Teen Top’s most dedicated fans this side of the world and are sure to remember it for the rest of their lives.
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Our interview with Teen Top below.
KultScene: Welcome back to New York City. You’ve been here several times. How have you prepared something new for the Red Point tour? Teen Top: What’s different from our last time we were here [is that] we’re promoting our new songs and on top of that each individual has songs that they’ve written or produced so we want to perform them for the fans in NY.
KS: Can you tell us a bit about “Warning Sign” and how it’s something different from your other singles? Teen Top: The difference between our new song and our previous songs is that they have different characteristics and different styles of music and different physical concepts.
KS: What are you looking forward to this trip? Teen Top: What we’re looking forward to this tour is providing energy towards the crowds, we want to return the feedback we’ve gotten from our fans and give it back to them.
Niel: Are you watching our performance today? KS: Yes. Niel Scream loud and get excited.
KS: What does Teen Top have planned for the rest of the year? Teen Top: For the rest of 2016, you can expect individual members to perform solos and star in dramas and musical. Very excited to see individual performances.
What do you think of Teen Top? Have you ever seen them perform live? Who else would you like KultScene to interview? Share your thoughts in the comment section below and be sure to subscribe to the site and follow us on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and Tumblr to keep up with all of our posts.
https://kultscene.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/04/Teen-Top-NYC-2016-19.png7291100Tamar Hermanhttps://kultscene.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/02/KULTSCENE-LOGO-2018-TRANSPARENT-RED.pngTamar Herman2016-04-06 05:07:202016-04-06 05:18:37Teen Top Spoke to KultScene & Delivered an Exciting Show in New York City
