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For the first of my (planned) 3 retrospective posts, I've chosen the one song by The BOYZ (TBZ) that still has me in its grip: 2018's "No Air".
Y'all, like, I can listen to this on repeat for hours and never get bored. Hell, the first time I played it, I kinda ONLY listened to it for abt 4 days. (Yes, I deffo mean it was the ONLY song I listened for that period of time. I can't explain it either!)
"No Air" is a good example of a Moombahton song--a subgenre that emerged back in the early 2000s. Moombathon is a combination of house music with reggaeton. You can't help but groove to it. This makes "No Air", despite the potential overall (sappy?) message, a great, feel-good song.
It's pretty standard from a lyrical standpoint; TBZ sings and raps to the listener abt a kind of happy bewilderment at realizing their depth of love for the listener (ideally a Deobi).
Trigger warnings for the MV: heavy camera-work (panning, zooming in/out) that's mostly 'keeping a beat', i.e. at times it'll feel like the video is pulsing (like a heartbeat) alongside the song; really busy graphics on a big background screen (this happens in at least 1/3 of the video.
My ultimate favorite part in the video happens at 2:45: as the melody slow down, TBZ continue their choreo while a series of cuts make their movements appear more fluid than it's possible IRL. It's such a short yet visually-pleasing moment.
Trigger warning: this is one of those 'moving camera' practices. The camera is steadier than expected, but I figured it'd be good to give a heads up to folks who might have motion sickness issues.
Firstly, let me tell you that I'm in AWE at seeing these 12 (yes, TWELVE!) dudes doing their steps so well in what amounts to a small dance studio. This was back when Hur Hyunjun (who used to go by the stage name of Hwall) was still in the group (he'd leave approximately a year later.)
ANYWAYS, splitting them 12 dudes into smaller groups, each walking in and off camera, but still in excellent synchronization is pretty clever. Even better is the way the dancing re-interprets that 2:45 segment from the MV. The jerkiness + slowing down makes for a really beautiful (if all too short) visual.
And, since it's the final TBZ Wednesday for this month*, I'm going to include not one but TWO performance videos.
Trigger warnings: The camerawork is on the kinetic side (lots of tilting, some panning). It gets a bit intense during the rap sections as the camera tries to match the enthusiasm of the song, I guess.
NGL, I wasn't even 10 seconds in when I knew I had to add it to this post, haha.
To begin with, altho nearly everyone is wearing a combo of black & white, the pastel background does help differentiate one member from another. It's also v. soothing AND fits the overall mood of the song.
In addition, by using a camera crane, we get to see the clear lines of the group formations as well as enjoy the sequences between the smaller crews. I really like the "floating down" camera movement that happens throughout the video. Also, yeah, it's v. edited (all of those individual shots inserted here and there) but nothing ends up coming across as jarring.
Finally, I also love the soft close-ups. Especially Chanhee (New)'s.
Here's a performance with a live audience.
Trigger warnings: Korean music show camera-style (zooming, panning, etc); lots of lights; some happy screaming from the fans.
Yes, they're wearing the same clothing as in the previous video, heheh. In any case, I do like the energy onstage. And, camerawork fuckery aside (why are they filming a group walking in from a sideways angle??), I like seeing everything coming together.
* The BOYZ will return for the last week of the month. ;D
Y'all, like, I can listen to this on repeat for hours and never get bored. Hell, the first time I played it, I kinda ONLY listened to it for abt 4 days. (Yes, I deffo mean it was the ONLY song I listened for that period of time. I can't explain it either!)
"No Air" is a good example of a Moombahton song--a subgenre that emerged back in the early 2000s. Moombathon is a combination of house music with reggaeton. You can't help but groove to it. This makes "No Air", despite the potential overall (sappy?) message, a great, feel-good song.
It's pretty standard from a lyrical standpoint; TBZ sings and raps to the listener abt a kind of happy bewilderment at realizing their depth of love for the listener (ideally a Deobi).
Trigger warnings for the MV: heavy camera-work (panning, zooming in/out) that's mostly 'keeping a beat', i.e. at times it'll feel like the video is pulsing (like a heartbeat) alongside the song; really busy graphics on a big background screen (this happens in at least 1/3 of the video.
My ultimate favorite part in the video happens at 2:45: as the melody slow down, TBZ continue their choreo while a series of cuts make their movements appear more fluid than it's possible IRL. It's such a short yet visually-pleasing moment.
About that dance practice...
Trigger warning: this is one of those 'moving camera' practices. The camera is steadier than expected, but I figured it'd be good to give a heads up to folks who might have motion sickness issues.
Firstly, let me tell you that I'm in AWE at seeing these 12 (yes, TWELVE!) dudes doing their steps so well in what amounts to a small dance studio. This was back when Hur Hyunjun (who used to go by the stage name of Hwall) was still in the group (he'd leave approximately a year later.)
ANYWAYS, splitting them 12 dudes into smaller groups, each walking in and off camera, but still in excellent synchronization is pretty clever. Even better is the way the dancing re-interprets that 2:45 segment from the MV. The jerkiness + slowing down makes for a really beautiful (if all too short) visual.
And, since it's the final TBZ Wednesday for this month*, I'm going to include not one but TWO performance videos.
Trigger warnings: The camerawork is on the kinetic side (lots of tilting, some panning). It gets a bit intense during the rap sections as the camera tries to match the enthusiasm of the song, I guess.
NGL, I wasn't even 10 seconds in when I knew I had to add it to this post, haha.
To begin with, altho nearly everyone is wearing a combo of black & white, the pastel background does help differentiate one member from another. It's also v. soothing AND fits the overall mood of the song.
In addition, by using a camera crane, we get to see the clear lines of the group formations as well as enjoy the sequences between the smaller crews. I really like the "floating down" camera movement that happens throughout the video. Also, yeah, it's v. edited (all of those individual shots inserted here and there) but nothing ends up coming across as jarring.
Finally, I also love the soft close-ups. Especially Chanhee (New)'s.
Here's a performance with a live audience.
Trigger warnings: Korean music show camera-style (zooming, panning, etc); lots of lights; some happy screaming from the fans.
Yes, they're wearing the same clothing as in the previous video, heheh. In any case, I do like the energy onstage. And, camerawork fuckery aside (why are they filming a group walking in from a sideways angle??), I like seeing everything coming together.
* The BOYZ will return for the last week of the month. ;D
