Asian Junkie Asian pop. Without discretion.
Just a little over a month after their official debut, Gang Kiz - the seven-member outfit housed under GM Contents Media (a Core Contents Media spinoff that also manages Co-Ed School) – has released the repackaged version of their underwhelming first album (“We Became Gang“), titled “MAMA“. And as many observant fans have noted, this repackaged EP and its title track also share the same name as EXO-K‘s debut single. Whether a clever marketing tactic to drive more search traffic to Gang Kiz or purely coincidental, I’ll leave it up to you to decide.
In light of the unimpressive chart performance of “Honey Honey“, it’s interesting that GMC, rather than change tack, is sticking to its guns in this latest release. Not that “MAMA” is bad – if anything, it’s catchy, with the same elements of the retro-trot-meets-Italo-disco-at-a-Korean-nightclub flair that characterized the tracks on “We Became Gang”.
In fact, so overt and obvious are these resemblances that it might almost be more accurate to characterize “MAMA” as remix of “Tonight” (which, interestingly, does not make an appearance on this mini). With its sultry, spaghetti-Western whistle hook and breathless ruminations on heartbreak (“What do I do MAMA, MA MA MAMA/What do I do, it hurts, hurts/I think of you oh oh tears come oh oh/I didn’t forget you, like a fool“), listeners who enjoyed “We Became Gang” will find that the “gang” hasn’t strayed to far from their first album. Which is fine – unless you’ve already heard “Tonight”.
Even the choreography for this single — which, in all fairness, is much better than the “Honey Honey” choreography — is a watered-down version of the original, which you can see here.
Net Assessment: Essentially, “MAMA” is a remix of “Tonight”. A little catchier, but not worth the download if you don’t like trot, or if you’ve already heard “Tonight”.
Every time I see their name I end up reading it as “Gang Kidz”. Ah well, not like I actually need to remember their name anyway since they’re going to be just another flop group.
I think they already are a flop group.
I think it’s still a tad early to call them a flop. if ccm just keeps pushing gangkiz out to the public and puts them on a super intense promotion/comeback cycle – which it basically looks like they’re doing now – it can be done. Mere exposure effect…
I think if they want to be popular, they need to kick their music up a notch, not just incessant promotion.
@xmacchanx that’s what i think too , but then there’s the ccm school of thought that prescribes bombarding the public with ehh music until they give in and start to believe that they like it lol.
When is Rania coming back
Supposedly July.
Why do I get AKP vibes from reading this?
because this was also posted on akp :D
So akp let’s you write for other sites? wow
yerp!
it’s not entirely w/o precedent – mcroth’s posts for akp were reposted on the site too, i believe, and another writer, prophet, regularly reposts his posts – in all their unedited glory – on his personal site
How else are they going to get talent?
They can’t scout it themselves.
i think the biggest problem with this is not that its technically “bad” but its so forgettable. its not the type of song that you want to play over and over like a lot of catchy pop songs.