At a certain point, a specific K-pop sound becomes so ubiquitous that it’s difficult to write about with any originality. Such is the case with this blah blah blah, la la la “girl crush” style that has invaded the industry over the past two years. I’m not a fan of this style in general, but there are exceptions. Debut-year ITZY is a major one. Unfortunately, not every group comes from an agency as wealthy and well-connected as JYP. And when smaller acts attempt this boisterous sound, the results can feel quite muddled.
This is the case for Bling Bling’s Oh Mama, though it’s not for a lack of trying. The song bends over backward to deliver hooks at all costs. They come in rapid succession, cartwheeling in and out of the track. From the chanted chorus to the multiple beat drops to the quick blasts of vocal breakdown, there isn’t time to breathe.
This Frankenstein approach can be a real treat, and has become one of K-pop’s calling cards. But the problem with Oh Mama (and so many songs of its ilk) is that none of these hooks really sink their teeth in. They’re catchy, yes — but in a disposable, surface level way. There’s only so much excitement you can wring from giddy exclamations. At a certain point, Oh Mama needs that shot of pure melodic bliss to give it an anchor. Its titular refrain doesn’t quite rise to the challenge, even if it will be rattling around my brain for some time. In the end, the song is like a buffet. Everything tastes good in the moment, but it’s not until you get home that you realize you’re both stuffed and unsatisfied.
| Hooks | 7 |
| Production | 8 |
| Longevity | 7 |
| Bias | 7 |
| RATING | 7.25 |
The Bias List // K-Pop Reviews & Discussion 
The song, melodically, is fine. However, it sounds muffled to me. Almost like I’m hearing being played over in the next room; through a wall. Too much compression? Poor equalization? Both?
The video, production-wise, is fine. However, it seems out of sync all throughout, and there are some parts where it looks like their not singing the same lyrics. Poor editing? Song changed after video was made? Both?
Altogether, MV/song, it’s fine. I like it? I don’t? Both?
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The soundtrack of the M/V is mono, I confirmed this with a stereo imaging meter. The Spotify version is stereo. Collapsing a stereo soundtrack to mono will cause phase cancellation and make it sound hollow. Someone at 1TheK messed up big time!
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By jove, you’re on to something! However, I’m not sure the blame rests solely with 1TheK, as the same audio issues exist in the video posted on the official YOU Entertainment channel. It may be the fault of the video production team itself; which would also explain the sloppy lip syncing/editing.
I did manage to hear the normal version (stereo). Now, if I had heard that version in the MV and the “lips moving vs singing” sync issues in the video were cleaned up, then my comments would have easily been more favorable.
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Link to the clean audio version (from the Bling Bling channel); if anyone’s interested:
Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VjeHzIdu1eA
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hi, nick! off-topic question, but what do you think about the gfriend situation?
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I’m mostly trying to live in denial…
For me, they’re one of K-pop’s top tier girl groups. I’d hate to have them gone forever 😦
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I hear ya, BUDDY! 😦
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It’s really heartbreaking news. When they put out 3 comebacks last year, that was a really nice treat! Little did we know that those would be some of their last
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A few thoughts come to mind
1) They really are tired of the kpop industry and are done. OK, fair enough, its a really hard job.
2) They really don’t like either Source Music and/or their new overloads at Hybe.
and/or
3) They got an offer worth refusing.
But what really caught my eye was that once again, an agency with a very big group didn’t bother to trademark the group’s name until now. What were they waiting for, the group has been around for so many years. Its not that hard to get a trademark – in the US its about $2k-3k for the filing fee and patent attorney costs, and takes maybe 4 to 6 months of filing the paperwork and drafting the responses back to the examiner. I have a small company and we own 6 trademarks for the product names we sell. Not that hard.
This happened to T-ara too – the agency tried to trademark the name and stage names after the group left. The Korean IP organization (KIPRIS) denied the company all rights and title, and left T-ara essentially in the public domain. This may or may not be precedent for GFriend here – it could be the examiner was a stan or something and did something extraordinary. So, we shall see what happens.
Back when Big Bang was renewing in early 2020, there was talk about how YG owned the trademarks for the band name and all their stage names, and if they don’t renew what would they use. But of course everyone knows GDragon and TOP, and that GDragon is Kwon Jiyong and TOP is … actually I don’t know TOP’s real name but he is who he is and whatever he might change it to people will follow along. There is precedent too in the US for people to change groups and names and the stans following along just fine. Prince – the Artist formally known as Prince – Prince. Jefferson Airplane – Jefferson Starship – Starship.
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wait is Gfriend disbanding?
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Oh, the song here.
The girls are fine. They hit every single mark set for them.
Once again, the kpop industry is really cranking these out. We are almost at the point where we were last year with new debut boy dark theme, a new release every other day and each one thiscloseto to the previous. Really, what font of songwriting is cranking these out, and why. What costume closet do they all rent from? Does the choreographer look at her calendar and say, if its Tuesday its this agency and Wednesday that one. Oh right, because they are getting paid, and since everything sounds so much alike and looks so much alike, just keep turning the crank, and any claims of plagiarism is moot.
Rant over.
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I’ll take girl crush over most girl group concepts. This is kinda catchy. Also, red-haired girl’s vocal are a big yes.
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Same here. Girl crush usually results in really uptempo songs with a bit of a heavier beat than cute concepts, so I appreciate this trend.
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This song weirds me out man…
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I LOL’ed in RL; true story!
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It’s not completely awful. I think the melodic parts work the best of course. So the pre-chorus and bridge basically.
The hook just doesn’t really work. It’s weirdly filtered through something. I think that’s what kills the song. Everyone’s voice except for the red girl is just not fully there. The song might have worked if the vocal mixing wasn’t awful, but sadly it is. The hooks aren’t the worst, but there wasn’t enough meat in the chorus despite that.
I wish I had more to say, but I do like parts of the song, just not enough.
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bit disappoint…
still can believe that STEVEN LEE, Mayu Wakisaka, Joe Lawrence was behind this..
i mean they are who made SSFWL and its album…
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