Se7en – A “Dgital” Bounce

This week we are looking at Se7en, real name Choi Dong-Wook, who started training at the age of 15 with YG Entertainment, after 4 years he debuted in 2003 with his 1st album “Just Listen”. This album produced 3 singles for the singer. “Come back to me” ”Once, Just once” and “Baby i like you like that”. The album didn’t have a good start but gradually rose to have its highest position at #4 in the Korean Monthly Album Chart. For the end of year chart of 2003 the album actually surprised many for a rookie and positioned #10.

Se7en then had his 2nd album “Must Listen” released in 2004. Then in 2006 for the first time, Se7en was allowed to contribute to his songs by writing and composing lyrics for his 3rd album “24/Se7en”. Lastly he released another album in the later part of 2006 called “Se7olution”.
Se7en has gotten his name known all around Asia, particularly Japan, Thailand and China. Not only Asia but also in the U.S.A performing in Los Angeles (at the Hollywood Bowl), New York (Madison Square Garden) and Washington in D.C.

There was going to be a English album released in 2007, yet due to somebody leaking information about his American Debut song “This is my year” which featured Fabolous, it seemed to have caused some changes in his U.S Debut. Se7en isn’t new to the American scene, as many have heard him before but probably did’t know of it. Se7en was actually featured on Amelie’s “Because I Love It” album back in may 2007. He was listed as a featured guest on the song “Take Control”. You may also have heard of his English single release called “Girls” which featured Lil’ Kim. The song has a very chilled RnB beat and with the range of vocals Se7en delivers it makes it a very good cruising tune. Lil’Kims presence in the song i say wouldn’t have been necessary, but her presence in the video definitely gives it that kind of PG13 type of sexiness.
Se7en isn’t only a talented singer and dancer, he has also done acting, and more than noticeably in one of the biggest Asian drama spin offs “Goong S”. Although Se7en got slated for his acting skills, I still believed it opened up a new window for him to fall back on.

On July 21st 2010 Se7en released his newest Korean album “Dgital Bounce” as well as the single of the same name and another single from the album “Better Together”. He has collaborated with Big Bangs T.O.P (insert fangirlie scream here) and can honestly say that “Dgital bounce” is one of the best albums im lucky to own.. Obviously any new song that is released from an artist that I haven’t heard from in a long time gets me excited. And even if I’m not a Mahoosive fan of Se7en, the vocals and beats in this album will definitely get you up and boogieing, i even let my parents hear this album, and got the comment i always want to hear “its not too bad” lol

Track 1) Intro - Reset - The intro song is what you definitely call a intro with style. It sets the scene for the whole albums style and flow, and leaves you begging for more. its a very techno beat with se7ens vocals over the top, and as soon as you hear his voice, you know he means serious business with this album.
Se7en - Intro - Reset

Track 2) Dgital Bounce (Ft T.O.P of Big Bang) - Obviously as soon as i saw and heard that T.O.P was a part of this song, i knew instantly it would be a hit and something i would love and adore. And i wasnt wrong, Again keeping with the Intro's theme of club like techno beats, it has a very computer programme disco party feel. Se7ens vocals definitely bring more to the beat, and with the added vocals of T.O.P's rap piece, it makes the whole song a dance worthy track, and definitely shows the world is going digital. This song is one of my favorites on the album for dancing to.
Se7en Ft T.O.P - Dgital Bounce (Live)

Track 3) Better Together - I have a thing for songs that have sirens in them, and with the use of different vocal patterns and sirens in this tune, it keeps you hooked and wanting to hear more. It starts of very computerized, but then turns into a ballad with a beat like song for the chorus, which brings me back to the 90's style pop ballads. In total its a mix of Computerisation and 90's pop ballads.
Se7en - Better Together MV

Track 4) Im Going Crazy - Unfortunately this isnt a winner for me, and is one of only 2 songs i am not really liking on the whole album. It seems for this song he has gotten back into his old routine of doing a song that would appeal more to the American fan base. Its a typical slow RnB ballad, the same beat and slow rhythm, the only thing i do like is the lyrics.
Se7en - Im Going Grazy

Track 5) Money Cant Buy Me Love - originally i didnt like this song, but it has actually grown on me a lot. This is more of a informational song, and is sung in English. It has a very "Justin Timberlake - Cry Me A River" feel to the whole song, with a possible added bonus of some cute pronunciations of "Engrish".
Se7en - Money Cant Buy Me Love

Track 6) Drips - The start reminds me of a game that your waiting to start, the lyrics are a little bland, but the beat and rhythm of the song really gets you wanting to dance. The chorus is something you could definitely dance to in a club. The whole song seems to burst with some kind of sexual innuendo.
Se7en - Drips

Track 7) Roller Coaster - The beinging of the song reminds me of the feeling when you see the videos and intros of the roller coaster you are goin on, and the feeling when you get locked in and your heart is beating fast waiting for the ride to start, the chorus then brings you that feeling of actually riding the roller coaster. The beat and repetitiveness of the actual lyrics makes this a song you cannot forget. As for a ending song, it definitely leaves you wanting more, and kind of down that the album has finished, but if your anything like me then you will have the whole album on replay for a good few days.
Se7en - Roller Coaster

Well this has been my Review for this week have a check of some of Se7ens works, if you’re into RnB with a little bit of a dancey chillout tunes, then you will like Se7en. I was actually torn between reviewing Se7en and Shinee, and went against my inner fangirl and chose Se7en. But do not fear, i shall be reviewing Shinee next week as they have released their newest album “Lucifer” (Yes Please Insert Girlie Fangirl Scream Here!)

If You have any questions, or suggestions please don’t hesitate to reach me on either facebook under the name “Kpopkimi-Chan” or my hotmail address "Kyoheikun@hotmail.com".
Thank you for reading. And look forward to seeing you all again.

안녕 – Goodbye
Xx Kimi-Chan xX

What is K-Pop?

Well just like J-Pop, K-Pop is a shortened word for Korean Pop Music, Specifically from South Korea.
At the moment there seems to be a big increase of Korean music spreading around the world which is now know as the “Korean Wave”

My love for Korean music started back in the year 1998 with the band known as Shinhwa at that time I was heavily into the J-Rock scene and had only clicked a anime music video on YouTube to hear a most amazing song to accompany the video.
Obviously I had to go and search for this band and see if they had anything else I liked, after finding out about all of their music I then found out that they were Korean and not Japanese, this then led me to search for other similar Korean artists.

My fandom of Shinhwa wasn’t a big one, but it led the path for my fandom of bands I found after.

In 2003 DBSK (Dong Bang Shin Ki) translating to “The Rising Gods of the East” came to light with 5 members U-Know Yunho, Hero Jaejoong, Xiah Junsu, Max Changmin, Micky Yoochun, this band was signed under one of the biggest talent agents in South Korea, SM Entertainment.
To date “The Rising Gods of the East” are one of the highest ranking Korean bands as well as one of the biggest grossing bands to be known worldwide.

The problem with K-Pop is that you don’t just like one genre, or one group/solo artist but you find yourself loving one or two groups a little more than others.
The difference between Korean, Japanese and English music isn’t that big, but then they all have their sections in the music industry.
The Japanese have awesome Visual Kei/Heavy Metal/Punk music, English have some amazing Rapping/Ballad/Dance music, where Korea seems to have a awesome line up for Boy Bands/Girl Bands/Pop/RnB.

Korean bands all seem very similar, yet they all have their own quirks, for instance 2PM are known as the beastly and manly boy band, Showing off their muscular bodies, doing back flips, and break dancing; where as the boy band Big Bang are known as trend setting fashionistas, their fashion sense is always a hot topic, as well as not doing many dances but excelling in their rapping skills.

At the moment I do have a couple of bands that I am a little obsessive over.
One is actually in the Guinness Book Of World Records as having the “most amount of members for a boy band in the world”. This band is known as Super Junior and consists of 13 members, 15 members if you include the sub groups of Super Junior.
The band debuted in 2005, they have earned seven music awards from M.Net Asian Music Awards; eleven from the Golden disk Awards and are the second singing group to win Favourite Artist at the 2008 MTV Asia Awards.

The band is very well known in Japan, China, Philippines, Malaysia, Thailand, and even in America with their 3rd album “Sorry, Sorry” had over 150,000 copies pre-ordered, and was in the number 1 spot in Korea, Japan, and Malaysia for over 30 weeks.
On the first day of sales over 30,000 copies was sold making the album release one of the biggest albums in the bands career.

The “Sorry, Sorry” dance has become a big thing all over the world, and was a very big topic on most websites, the dance is very addictive as well as the song itself.

I did notice whilst walking around the London MCM Expo stalls that a few are now selling
K-Pop posters, stickers and even DVDs, photo books and other great merchandise, obviously I bought a heck of a lot of the stuff that was for sale, and am really looking forward to seeing more at the next expo.

Well I hope you have enjoyed reading a little bit about the reason I’m in to K-Pop and I hope that you will follow my weekly blogs of up to date information of new and upcoming acts in the K-Pop world. I will be reporting on all the news and gossip, as well as reviewing many new songs with a few reviews of older songs and albums.