Usually we stick with the big name groups, but I just couldn't resist suggesting this funk-ed up and whacked out music video when I found it... So pack your bags and get ready for an acid trip with Icon- Rockstar
This video came out on June 30th 2013 and had 117,918 views as of Sunday July 7th.
Overall impression:
Em: So this video was awesome. Here we were, wondering what
to do for this week’s MV, and Ruby came across Icon and his new song Rockstar.
What’s not to love? No Min Woo is cast as a gamer who falls into a video game
and becomes a rockstar, and his clothing fits the part, with a low cut graphic
tank top, a ton of gold jewelry, dark skinny jeans, and futuristic shoes. He also has another
outfit that’s very similar in style, with a bedazzled baseball cap to complete
the look. His transformation into a futuristic rocker is completed when he
finds his band members, who have fitting accessories like a red Mohawk and epic
sunglasses. There’s also a super
dramatic red cape outfit.
'Scuse me, move along folks, nothing to see here....
Sailor Rockstar.... wrong again right?
my flowing red cape, because that is what all great warriors wear
Ruby: Yeah, the whole video is a rocker gamer fusion that I
think really resonates with pop-fashion right now. Min Woo plays the lead
rockstar, with a ninja and a futuristic warrior by his side. Pretty awesome
tag-teaming, I think. Probably the best part in my opinion though, is that he
designed all of this himself. He picked the outfits and the styling, along with
having written and produced the song. I think it really benefited from a pair
of fresh eyes. It felt new, different and super funky, which are all huge
pluses in my book.
decked out hats, graphic tanks and a very happy wrist guard
Other promotional Materials:
Em: They had a lovely photoshoot shot for a teaser featuring
the bandmembers in their outfits from the MV and Noh Min Woo in a much simpler
outfit. I liked that they gave hints at the MV without giving it all away…it
was cool enough to want to watch the video, but didn’t reveal the best part
(his outfits). Also, the one on the left looks like a ninja. The video teaser
had him in one of the outfits from the MV (the baseball cap one) playing one of
his guitars.
Teaser photo featuring toned down versions of the mv
From the teaser, min woo in black and white accessories...
And a full body shot with guitar and (well placed) parental advisories
Ruby: He’s performed some stages and its been pretty
consistent. His band, the drummer and synth player, stay pretty consistent,
wearing the same hair, clothes and even makeup from the mv (love the lipstick,
boys). Min Woo himself seems to have changed it up, but kept within the themes.
I mean, leggings and high socks are an interesting fashion choice for a dude,
but I guess if you can pull it off (….min woo.), then its up to you… But in all
seriousness, super cool. Super different. Gotta love it.
Leggings and sport socks? I guess if you've got the goods....?
Yo Bro, I think the aliens are here, got your silver lipstick on?
Continuity:
Em: No complaints about the continuity in this, not because
the outfits weren’t all different, but because the concept they chose framed
the choices well. There was a baggy sweatshirt and giant glasses in the
beginning, but it fit with the storyline of him as a gamer. The dramatic red
swoopy outfit matches with the final boss battle idea as his final, most
fantastical transformation. His choice of guitar for that outfit was a little
odd though, it looked really acoustic (I’m counting it as an accessory in this
case) and the idea of an acoustic guitar in this context makes no sense.
Pre transformation gamer get up
That sir is an acoustic guitar....
Ruby: As we’ve talked about before, concept can give a band
a lot of wiggle room in fashion choices. By playing it up as a video game, it
gave continuity to the really different clothing choices that they made…. I
also think that the simplicity helped. There are only 3 of them, and only Min
Woo really changed clothes. The things he wore were really all over the map,
but it was the map for the same video game, so I guess it worked.
The three video game characters gearing up for action!
Band’s Overall Image:
Em: WELL. This was an amusing one. This was No Min Woo’s
first single album, but he has been in a band before. TRAX, actually. In fact,
he was Rose. I mean, it’s not that he hasn’t done futuristic or rockstar-esque
looks before, he just did it a little differently before. Okay he was
completely unrecognizable. GOOGLE IT.
Trax, can you find No Min Woo?
Yeah, that one's Rose. Aka No Min Woo....
Ruby: No, really, GOOGLE IT. PLEASEEEEE. More recently, he’s
been acting and toned down his image a lot. He actually has ramped it back up
into the weird factor for this comeback, and I really appreciate it. Not that I
want our pouty, blonde-blowout beauty back… but seeing that he’s matured
without losing the funky, unashamed side of kpop-fashion makes me happy. Also,
how are you 27. This isn’t fair.
A recent shot of Min Woo during his acting career
A little eye jewel tucked into a whole lotta eyeliner, quirky, but not Rose.
Trends in K-POP:
Em: One of the things I’d seen before in this MV was the red
cloak. A different one showed up in Junsu’s Tarantellegra, and it worked really
well at the time because of the way it moved while dancing and the color. It
also looks pretty fantastical, which is fun to see in MVs. Another thing this
reminded me of was G-Dragon. I know, trends are usually trends in clothing, but
G-Dragon’s style is almost a trend in itself since it’s so distinctive, and I
think Icon was channeling it to some extent (without attempting to copy). For
instance, Noh Min Woo has a few different hairstyles that I think GD would
actually have (which is saying something if you’ve seen his hair).
GD from BIGBANG's "Fantastic Baby"
Junsu (Xia) in Tarantellegra
and his red cape!
Ruby: Surreal settings carry through a lot of recent kpop
like Exo’s comebacks and VIXX’s work as well. Sweet Dream by MFBTY also plays
the surrealist card very well, and although the approaches are different, I
think they’re both really cool. Bands with instruments tend to operate
differently as well. Although Icon took a really unique approach, I think there
are some similarities between them and LEDApple from songs like Time is Up,
which relies on comic book styling and video editing.
A slightly surreal shot from MFBTY's "Sweet Dream" with a car-bed.
Cartoon wings from LEDApple's "Time is up"
Conclusion:
Em: Overall, this was wonderful. Quirky, off-the-wall style
that was still accessible enough to appreciate. This is what I like to see in
kpop fashion. Also, major props to the artist who not only produced the music
but also the fashion…no wonder it had such a distinctive style. He designed
what he wanted and then actually wore it...no wonder it worked. He also has
insane attention to detail…did you notice he had one of his nails done? I hope to see him make more MVs in the
future.
I see you and your bedazzled fingernail, Min Woo.
Ruby: I think I would have to give this video props no
matter what just because the artist styled it. I mean I think it works so well
with the song and concept because the same brain created it all. Beyond that, I
loved the creativity and the energy in the clothes. They really used them to
their full potential to create characters and story-lines that didn’t need
extra explanation. It was zaney and visually assaulting and just really fun to
watch. As we dug deeper there were just these amazing wonky details that popped
up, like the lipstick or the flashlights on one jacket. Not everything in it
was brilliant, but it was just too fun to resist.
Jacket with flashlights? Great! They're like headlights for you shoulders.
quirky and different, keep it up no min woo!
Daily Dose of Daebak:
Backup dancers done right.
Car safety lessons with Icon….
(ruby is totally breaking the rules, but the creepy dolls
couldn’t not be here….)
Leave us a comment and tell us what character you'd like to be in MinWoo's rockstar video game!!!! Or just leave us some lovin'....
Em is taking some time off and will be gone for 4 weeks (AND SHE WILL BE MUCH MISSED)
in light of this fact, there will be a very very special guest admin....
Please welcome Matt! He will hopefully be able to help out for the next few weeks.
It came out on June 3rd, 2013, and as of June 30th, 2013 it had 1,594,522 views.
Overall impression:
Em: So this MV, at first glance, seems like a bunch of guys
in suits. Sexy, sure, but is it interesting enough to do a review on? WELL.
Just wait until 2:30, when this random girl drops her drink and everything is
an explosion of happiness and rainbows (okay what was actually in her drink
guys? Guys?) In all seriousness though, MBLAQ’s Smoky Girl was a
well-put-together MV with a variety of interesting styles. They started with
sleek black suits, then smooth white suits, then they got neon rainbows on
their white suits (which glowed fantastically under a blacklight) and then
finally more colorful outfits at the end. Plenty of dapper details to keep it
interesting like snazzy hats and sunglasses.
Dapper as all @#%& in black suits
Acid is bad, folks.
White suits + blacklight + neon paint = this awesomeness
Ruby: I really think that this mv was all in the detailing.
I mean, normally we see mv’s of suits and are like, well don't you guys look
dapper and snazzy… and I’m bored. So for us I think this mv was really
refreshing. Yes, it was suits, but it fit the cool and suave concept for the
dance and song. And they were sooo well done. And I’ve seen the neon paint
thing a few times recently, but this worked really well under the blacklights
and I think added that unique spark to the mv. Unique is the wrong word here,
but standout definitely still applies.
Corset detailing...file under sexy
Sneaky bits of color that made outfits much more than just boring suits
Glowing suits. Yes.
Other promotional Materials:
Em: MBLAQ did an oddly beige teaser photo where they wore
tan and off white. The only color was their hair, which was rather distinctive
in the MV itself too. It’s interesting how these vague, noncommittal colors
play off of the stark black and white contrast and bold colors throughout the
actual video. The video teaser was just clips from the MV.
Looking at the MV, I'm kind of confused
Ruby: Honestly, as much as the suits were amazing in the mv,
something got miscommunicated to the stages. Don't get me wrong, some of their
suit sets were really clean and quite dapper…. Others edged on just a bad idea.
I mean, I understand, you had the altered suits in the mv, but those already
walk a thin line of being stripperish or looking like a mistake. They seem to
have driven an army tank over the line and declared war against modesty with
the comeback stages. I understand where they were coming from, but come on
guys…..
Sure this is fine, nice and clean, they look like a group
Wait is that a slit in your shirt?
They appear to have run out of fabric
Continuity:
Em: Smoky Girl was unique in that usually kpop bands have a
few different outfit sets to switch between throughout the video, but in this
one there were two sets for the first half and then two sets for the second
half after the drink spilled, which marked the transition from black and white
to Wonderland. Despite this jump in the middle, the level of dapper stayed
pretty consistent throughout the MV. The white suits were essentially carried
over, but transformed, and the other outfits tied in with each other nicely.
The band ALWAYS looks like a cohesive band.
Sunglasses in black
Sunglasses in white
Ruby: I agree, I think the suits themselves really acted to
keep the band consistent. I guess I would have liked to not have the street
clothes set. It wasn’t bad but it lost a lot of its appeal when placed next to
these extremely clean, sexy and classy suits. Also, for me, colored hair is
great. I adore brightly died hair but it has to match the concept. That pink is
just to much for this mv, its like, all I can look at…. Can’t…. look… away….
Street clothes--acceptable, but just not the same
What is the first thing you see in this picture?
Band’s Overall Image:
Em: MBLAQ has definitely done the sexy men in black and
white thing in the past, and they do it well. They’ve also done colorful
patterns before…it always makes a statement visually, so they’re using what’s
worked for them in the past. It’s not that they can’t be cute, they just
usually focus on sexy concepts.
Sexy, b&w concept from their album Y
Some colorful patterns like in the street clothes
CUTE WORKS TOO OKAY
Ruby: MBLAQ does sexy well. I mean they do the whole like
black, sexy manly man man concept pretty much all the time. Although they’ve
got cuddly and silly personalities they definitely pull it off well. Usually I
think they’re a little wilder including elements of punk style or maybe color
accents, but this comeback I think the new buzzword was classy. Not that they
were not-classy before, but that this reaches new levels of classy for not only
kpop but male pop star fashion in general. They just look good, okay?
Shot from the MV This Is War
Classy.
Trends in K-POP:
Em: Suits have always been a thing, and hopefully always
will be a thing. They’re classic. In fact, even Lee Hyori wears them when she’s
crossdressing, and looks just as dapper. Not actually kidding. Kpop fashion
also has a liiiiitle bit of kink thrown into it. MBLAQ did it with a corset
shirt thing. Ukiss did it with rope in a photoshoot. It gets snuck in.
Lee Hyori in Going Crazy
U kiss and their rope thing. Yeah the whole band did this too.
Ruby: Please let suits never go out of fashion. Like well
fitted, black, non patterned suits. ON AN UNRELATED NOTE the paint thing has
been in kpop-yester-comebacks. You can go back to 2ne1’s Ugly in 2011 or look
at 4Minute’s What’s Your Name from this year. MBLAQ uses the trend well here
and I think it can be really fun if done right. Also, when setting MVs in night
clubs I think they tend to struggle with the background clothing, but I liked the
really stark, fairly conservative approach with the white. I think it worked
and really reduced the visual noise in those scenes. This SHOULD be a trend…..
;)
2NE1's Ugly MV with neon paint
What's Your Name by 4Minute
Simple white nightclub outfit fits the MV
Conclusion:
Em: This was a good showing from MBLAQ. The suits were
sleek, well fitting, and were interesting without being too ‘creative’ to the
point of trying too hard. They managed the tough balance in men’s clothing
between color and manliness by keeping the details subtle and countering the
color with an overall classic appearance. Partly dapper and partly good for
clubbing too.
This is not MBLAQ. This is SHINee, after being attacked by their stylists.
Don't do suits like this. Just don't.
Better.
Ruby: MBLAQ nailed it. This song and
dance and clothes match really well. This isn’t a concept to use all the time.
It wasn’t super exciting in some ways, I’ll admit it. But the song was really
asking for that classy with a twist attitude. Plus we got the fun parts later
with the paint and the black lights and our hints of sexy with the eyeliner,
hats and shades. I could have done with different hairdos in some cases, but
there was just so much yes in this video, I can’t really complain.
Guyliner and is that lipstick too? but he still looks good, maybe it's the hair
Hellooooooooo
Daily Dose of Daebak:
Sometimes stylists go crazy with scissors. Sometimes we let
them.
Mir, glasses, hair back, eyeliner…. We don't have a like,
SEXXYYYYYY category. But this can go in that category….. on top…. Of the list….
Drools
So what did you think? Were they as classy as we thought or did they miss the dapper boat? Let us know in a comment!
