[Review] [Single] Kim Jo Han With MBLAQ’s Mir & Lee Joon – “Do You Remember”

• Style
• Vocals
• Production

This week, SOLID‘s Kim Jo Han (90s K-pop boy band) has employed MBLAQ‘s Mir and Lee Joon to drop a few lines for his recent remake release, “Do You Remember“.

Would I have chosen Mir or Lee Joon to contribute to anything? I don’t think so. Did it work out? We’ll see.

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Out of all of K-pop, I think it’s safe to say that MBLAQ’s a little lacking in the talent department. Member Thunder can’t sing a note in tune to save his fucking life (still my bias though), Mir’s rapping is…passably funny, and Lee Joon is below average. The only members that really carry a semblance of vocal competency are G.O and Seungho. Thanks to them, MBLAQ’s still making music. So suffice to say, I was kind of skeptical about Mir and Lee Joon pairing up with a monstrous talent in Kim Jo Han because…lolwut.

To my surprise, the whole thing turned out hunky dory.

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The fact that the song isn’t loud and obnoxious gave Mir and Lee Joon a lot of room to diversify themselves as pop artists. They toned down the theatrics, and in doing so were able to welcome a more sophisticated R&B performance. They actually held their own with a legend, which was nice, but as much as they tried, Kim Jo Han stole the fucking show.

Kim Jo Han made Mir and Lee Joon sound magical, which I think was part of the idea of having them on “Do You Remember” in the first place. Kim Jo Han enters in the chorus and simply elevates the whole thing off the ground. The piercing intensity in his singing matches really well with the direction of the song, and there are even moments when I wish Mir would shut the fuck up for a second and let Jo Han do his thing. As for Lee Joon, I think he did a fine job of singing backup.

“Do You Remember” is a soft R&B ballad that is perfectly emotional without getting angsty. It’s verging on OST territory, but executed finely enough to stand on its own.