KPOP CONFESSION #5: Thoughts on Red Velvet
KOREA★4RANGHAE
Red Velvet via Happiness Era (without Yeri)
Red Velvet via Ice Cream Cake era (with Yeri)
I like Red Velvet. But there's something holding me back from getting really into them... probably because they're called Red Velvet. Not a very cool name.
-"Hey, what're thinking about?"
-"Red Velvet."
-"Cool, the cake?"
-"Nah man, the band."
When I was getting into EXO, this video called "Red Velvet- Happiness" kept showing up in the suggestions list. I ignored them because of their name. It's not that appealing for a band name and makes itself a prime example of how kpop groups are manufactured and not given proper or unique names (Fun Fact: they were supposed to be called "German Chocolate Cake" but it would've been awkward since none of them are German).
One day, I finally cracked and watched it. The song was good and so was the message. The MV was pretty cool for a box-styled MV. They were like Orange Caramel and f(x) had a baby. OC has 3 members and f(x) has 5 and the average is 4 members which RV has. They had the cute, fun concept OC has yet they still have an edge like f(x). Going back to asian stereotypes, I couldn't really tell the members apart from their different colored hair dyes at first. I also didn't know their exact positions but this is what I thought it was:
- Seulgi-Oldest, Leader, Lead Vocalist
- Wendy-2nd Oldest, Main Vocalist
- Irene-3rd Oldest, Main Rapper, Main Dancer, Vocalist, Face
- Joy-Maknae, Lead Rapper, Vocalist, Visual
And what they actually are:
- Irene-Oldest, Leader, Main Rapper, Main Dancer,Vocalist, Visual
- Seulgi-2nd Oldest, Lead Vocalist, Lead Dancer, Face
- Wendy-3rd Oldest, Main Vocalist
- Joy-Maknae, Lead Rapper, Vocalist
After watching the MV, I did some research on them. They were apparently made to replace one of SM's older girl groups, CSJH The Grace, which has a more mature, R&B feel to them. Red Velvet showed their more mature sides in "Be Natural" and "Automatic". Since they're relatively young, they can still make fun pop songs but once they R&B starts creeping in the back, their voices start to sound more mature and sensual and I love it. It's nice to see a girl group who can take on two different genres and sound really good with both.
2015 comes along and Red Velvet comes back with new title tracks ("Ice Cream Cake" & "Automatic"), new album, and a new member, Yeri, whose older than me by about 4 months which surprised me since she looks 12. Even though I liked their comeback, I felt threatened by them. I like their new member, I just didn't like the fact that SM added a new member. Like I mentioned before, they have an edge just like f(x) does. Not the same edge, but an edge regardless. I felt like SM was trying to kill two birds with one stone. They put the CSJH The Grace in them through their music (and previously having the same amount of members as them) and put the f(x) in them by having the same number of members as f(x) and by the fact that they have an edge. Since f(x) stopped promoting early for "Red Light", I guess Red Velvet was supposed to be another source of income for them since promotions ended early. I'm going to be upset if RV gets an official fandom name before f(x) does. I'm not going to be upset towards the RV members since it's not their fault, but SM's. They did the same thing, giving EXO an official fandom name and everyone went crazy over it bashing EXO saying they didn't deserve anything they got when it was all SM's fault.
As for the members themselves, I don't really have a dislike towards any of the members, which is rare. The only girl group where I liked all the girls instantly was 2NE1. Even with f(x), Luna kind of bothered me at first. It wasn't that I didn't like her, I just didn't care for existence, I was extremely neutral towards her. I think Seulgi's face, especially her eyes, are gorgeous. Joy is the lovely maknae whose impossible to hate. Wendy is the vocal powerhouse of Red Velvet who was my bias at first because blue, her designated color, is my favorite color so she caught my attention. Yeri seems very promising talent and variety wise. She's also an MC. She's very social and likable and can bring some serious popularity to Red Velvet. Irene is highly charismatic and she catches my eye sometimes. I'm also highly impressed for by her's and Joy's rapping skills since the only other SM girl group member that could be considered good is Amber.
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