Review

Song Review: MAVE: – What’s My Name

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MAVE - What's My NameI just can’t with these “virtual” groups. I’m already irritated by how industry titans like HYBE use effects to strip away all character from their artists’ voices, slowing turning K-pop idols into pretty, performing robots. But crafting an entire group from CGI is another level entirely. With so many acts already vying for attention, I don’t see why anyone would opt for a fancy cartoon (unless the music was reeeeaaaaally good).

What’s My Name is not really good. Just as the avatars who perform it, the track is generic enough to feel like an AI-composed facsimile. You can almost hear the pieces of other artists fed into the algorithm. A little BLACKPINK here, a little Red Velvet there. Whoever they’ve got performing the track does a fine job (Google pulls up Tyra Banks as the group’s rapper, which… I don’t think is accurate), but behind the dull glaze of CGI eyes these vocals lose all connection.

If K-pop must venture down this virtual world, they should leverage the expansive potential of animation to deliver music and visuals that are truly out of this world and not simply bare minimum, boiler-plate idol pop.

Hooks 7
 Production 7
 Longevity 7
 Bias 7
 RATING 7

Grade: C-

35 thoughts on “Song Review: MAVE: – What’s My Name”

        • Nobody “offered” you anything because you’re the one who made the decision to check out MAVE when you didn’t have to and you are hating on the girls behind MAVE/the people who created the characters by calling the group “garbage” when you can easily ignore the group and not listen to any song they release, so don’t even.

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          • It is garbage though.
            And they’re putting it out in the world, showing up in my feed, music shows I watch, and blogs I read.

            Furthermore, how would I know it’s garbage without listening? I listened and called it as it was. Garbage.

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            • That’s a personal problem that can easily be worked out by you clicking the “not interested” button on any content of MAVE that appears in your feed or you can go as far as to block their official accs if it’s such a big dealto you. You didn’t just call their music garbage though. You called the entire group garbage, so you were hating on the members and if you think their music is garbage, then whatever. That’s your opinion, but your opinion isn’t a fact because music is subjective.

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              • This isn’t a big deal to me, it’s garbage and I named it as such.

                Don’t care if it’s real people of the ps2 graphics of this MV have a life of their own.

                I’ll call out garbage music when it comes on.

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        • Yes, there are real girls behind the MAVE members that sing/rap/talk for the members and they wear motion capture suits to dance/move for the members.

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            • Some people enjoy having normal lives. Not everyone wants to be famous and have their name and face out there. Some people have mental illnesses that can’t deal with all of that. I’m not sure why people are making such a big deal about these virtual groups? It can help a lot of real talent get out there in a comfortable manner, and it’s also giving a lot people jobs and a way to make money. There is only positives to groups like this. It’s not a big deal.

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              • Because the AI visual is in the Uncanny Valley territory. Vtuber and Hatsune Miku hologram works because it’s cartoony that you know it’s not real. K/DA also works this way. Mave isn’t as bad as Eternity did but their MV using fast and dynamic transition with virtual background certainly didn’t help their case here because now they have identity crisis if they’re supposed to be real or cartoony.

                At least Superkind works for me because even if Saejin is noticeably ‘clean’ and ‘synthetic’ sometimes he blends with the other members and background that is real to damp it. This MV to me feels like a CGI company showing their portfolios by how good their rigging/VFX skills by putting as many dance moves and effects as possible.

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                • Replying to myself because I forgot to add my favourite ‘virtual’ kpop group Feverse from Girls Reverse!!! they worked because you know it’s not supposed to be realistic and that there are actual idols behind it. Listen to my favourite track from the show here:

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              • Only positives is putting it a bit…

                Shouldn’t they be credited though? And K-pop idols still have normal lives, depending on their popularity. If anything, it seems like the company has said to the people behind the idols that they have to have these personas. This doesn’t seem voluntary

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  6. Points to whoever they got to supply the vocals. (Same with Rozy, whoever is singing for Rozy is actually really good. ‘https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tnHop6WSIk8 )

    Minus bucu points for everything else. Its the ChatGPT result from “Make me a girl crush kpop song for 4 members”.

    Fun fact: the classic movie musical Singing in the Rain, which is about the transition from silent movies to the “talkies”. The Debbie Reynolds’ character becomes the singer dubbing for the Jean Hagan character. During the last scene in the film, Debbie Reynolds is singing “Singing in the Rain” behind the curtain while Jean Hagan lip syncs in front of the curtain, and it all goes wrong until it goes right again.

    Except Debbie Reynold’s didn’t sing all her songs, and for that last song she was dubbed by Jean Hagan. So that last scene is Jean Hagan lip syncing to Debbie “dubbing” who was herself dubbed in the studio by Jean Hagan. poof, mind blown.

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  7. speaking of ai, someone made an ai singer named anna indiana, and they generated whats quite possibly the worst, most banally generic taylor swift-esque song ever made, you gotta see it to believe it

    oh yeah they kinda violated the terms of service of the voice provider they used

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  8. As a huge ST☆RISH and Quartet Night fan from the Uta no Prince-sama franchise in Japan, I think I have a pretty open heart when it comes to “fictional” idols, but I feel with those groups at least there’s much more emphasis on the voice actor/singer, and developing the character, back story, and distinct singing style. You definitely feel the human work that goes into it, but it’s such a distinct experience that it doesn’t feel like it’s trying to compete or completely mimic IRL artists. These AI artists just feel like soulless cosplays of real artists without even coming close to hitting the mark.

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    • I am not as familiar with many Jpop “vocaloid” AI acts, but the ones I know (eg Miku) tend to stay on the far side of the uncanny valley, where Kpop attempts are firmly in the middle of the uncanny unnerving creepy valley.

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  11. It seems the kpop formula these days is debut with or release something powerful then follow it up with ‘acceptable’ music. Nothing outrightly bad but also not interesting. Pandora was already pushing it but was at least catchy, this has no energy and drags on.

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