Review: BAP - One Shot

BAP is back (actually for some time now) with a new album One Shot. Further good news is that I finally took my laptop to the repair shop and it is once again alive and kicking. Huzzah!!!

Music Video
Man, BAP is taking quite a depressing turn in their music videos lately. After I reviewed the very emo video of Rain Sound, the next video that they released is just as gloomy. Let's see, Warrior and Power were totally badass music videos. Crash and Stop It were toe-curlingly cute and aegyo. Now Rain Sound and One Shot are depressing videos which features the members getting shot at. Hmmm, I'm sensing a pattern here. My guess is, when they release their next music video, they will go full on beast idol and start ripping their shirts off.

killerfilm.com

Like this, but less green and with mikes in their hands.

This video was really long, almost seven minutes. It starts off with all the members on a fancy boat surrounded by foreign bikini women, having the time of their lives.  But then it cuts forward to Jongup getting beat up by some thugs in front of Yongguk who is given a pendrive revealing that those thugs kidnapped Yongjae and wants a ransom of 10 million won. Gasp, the scumbags!! Anyway, Yongguk's gang manage to scrounge up the money by robbing an armed security truck and head off to save Youngjae. This is when the music video is split into two alternate endings. The first is where all of them are killed in a shootout which started after the bad guys killed Youngjae. In the other ending, Youngjae is the bad guy when he reveals that he is an undercover police officer. Both gangs get arrested and Youngjae heads off to live happily ever after.

This video had a lot of potential. It had a great storyline, and all the members of BAP acted really well, probably because they were totally in their element with this plot. And they dance in front of a gigantic, robot version of BAP's mascot which was also surrounded by castle ruins and tanks. Tanks and robots, how cool is that?? So I do like the video. I probably would have liked it a lot more though, if it didn't confuse me so much.

I feel like I'm missing some sort of back story here, because there are huge, mind-boggling questions about this video, starting with how much money they actually have. If they were penniless street thugs who lived in a garage and had to steal money just to rescue their friend, how exactly did they afford the boat? Did they steal it? If they did, what about those hot foreign women? Did they steal them too?

"Of course not. We stole the boat and they just happened to be on it."

Regardless of how they got it, why couldn't they just sell the boat to get the money? I'm pretty sure it would have been a lot easier than robbing someone in a back alley. But then again, considering how easily those two security guards got jumped and knocked out by four unarmed kids - Zelo wasn't even covering his face in the beginning, they could have done it just for the kicks and still have gotten away with it.

 

"Let's do that again!"

So the video has two alternate endings. I'm not sure why, but it could be to placate the fangirls who were sobbing in despair at seeing their biases getting shot and killed. Although if you ask me, the first ending, while being a lot more depressing, actually wraps up the video really well. While the second ending only creates even more confusion for me.

In the second ending Youngjae reveals himself to be a police officer who went undercover to arrest both gangs. But wait, judging by how worried Yongguk was about Youngjae being kidnapped and his utter relief when they rescued him, I would assume that they had known each other for a really long time. Just how undercover did Youngjae have to go to trap a bunch of street thugs? And how could the others not have found out? In fact, when Youngjae was caught trying to slip a pill-shaped camera into Yongguk's jacket, Yongguk just brushed it off like it was nothing. So either Youngjae is the smoothest talker in the world, or Yongguk is the most trusting gang leader ever.

Song and Lyrics
Anyone who has been following my reviews so far (No one, sobz!!) knows that I never comment on the English in the song. Being Koreans, Kpop idols are naturally given the freedom of having oddly pronounced and oddly placed English lines. However, the English here was so bad that it ruined an otherwise amazing song, and I will hold my silence no longer.

So Yongguk says things like "You only get last chance, you know?" No Yongguk, I don't know, because sentences like "You only get last chance" and "Get your mind out for the gutter" makes no sense to me whatsoever. I don't know if it was Yongguk who was just bad in English, or if the song writer had a personal vendetta and was getting back at him by giving him bad lines, but the other members also have a few English lines and those are perfectly fine. I really like BAP, and Yongguk is probably my favorite after Daehyun. But seriously dude, your English needs work.

Shooting me doesn't help.

Okay, besides the atrocious English, this is a great song. BAP is one of the few groups I know who constantly produce songs about breaking free from society's restraints, or standing strong through challenges, and that makes them stand out from the sea of Kpop idols who always sing about seducing girls/boys. This song basically tells people not to the let fear or unwillingness to act keep them from achieving their dreams. Because they only have one shot in life, so they have to reach out and grab it with both hands.

They once produced a similar song called Unbreakable in their Warrior album, which talked about the hardships they faced as trainees and how they managed to overcome them in the end. Although it didn't have a music video, the lyrics were in the same genre as One Shot. Songs like these are what I listen to during bad times, so I am always thankful to any artist who produce those songs.

Dance
After the last review where Shinee's mike stand dance blew my mind with its awesomeness, I was convinced that it would be a long time before another group came up with an equally mind-blowing choreography. But then BAP came along. Well, technically they came along sooner, but...You know, anyway.

Okay, the dance for Warrior and Power was great, but this dance, with it's foot stomping and wild arm movements and floor action, was incredible. Seriously though, I think half of the time the members were either on their backs or doing aggressive push ups on the floor.

 Cuz dancing upright is for wimps.

On a side note: Those push ups they were doing are called the scorpian, and it is really difficult to execute, as you can see by how the members' muscles are straining while they were doing it. Usually a Kpop group would leave the more strenuous dance moves to the best dancer of the group. However in BAP's case, pretty much their whole choreography was difficult and all of the members had to deal with that. But they pulled it off and in their live performances, they even managed it while singing and they didn't even sound out of breath. You seriously need to tell me how you're doing it, BAP.

Jongup's leap-frog over Himchan was awesome, but Zelo was the true star in the dance. I have no idea what it was called, but his solo was so awesome I found myself replaying it over and over again.

 This awesome solo.

It was so badass and he does it so effortlessly you would never guess that he's actually still just a kid. I have not seen break dancing moves in Kpop since 2PM and I've missed that so much. So BAP, you did a great job. Start to finish, the dance was solid, I have no complaints whatsoever.

Fashion
Since their fashion disaster in Stop It, it seems that BAP are playing it safe by sticking to black leather and badass accessories. Seriously, BAP has the most awesome collection of accessories ever. Still, eyeliner, guys. Tone it down.

While I really like their outfits, I can't help but worry about the amount of leather they're wearing. I mean, aren't they hot? Hot, as in the temperature, not hot as in how they look (Although they are also hot). I once watched a 2PM concert (Always with the 2PM references, what's wrong with me?) where they wore leather, and I spent the entire time worrying about them getting heatstroke. Maybe Korea is cold enough that they don't even feel the heat. But BAP, if you ever come to my country for a concert, please don't wear leather. You will die. Seriously, don't.

 

Pictured: Not kidding.