Pentagon’s Hui enters his solo career with the wind at his back, boosted by prominent Boys Planet promotion last year. He’s the rare idol soloist who can confidently compose his own material, though I’ve felt he often gives his best songs to other acts. Hmm Bop sees him taking on a boisterous funk personality, and I’m not sure it works.
First off, a nineties kid like me will only think of one thing when they see the title “Hmm Bop.” I don’t expect Hui to go full-on Hanson, but wouldn’t that be interesting? Instead, Hui casts his inspiration even further back, embracing a vocal persona reminiscent of James Brown. The thing is, not many people can make this style work. That’s no knock to Hui. It’s very difficult to get it right. Hmm Bop wants to be freewheeling and fun but comes closer to repetitive and irritating. There’s just not much of a song here. It’s mostly Hui careening through the brassy instrumental, lodging exclamation after exclamation our way.
Listening to the highlight medley of his album, the rest of the songs feel much more suited to his talent. So, let’s just call Hmm Bop an indulgent experiment — hopefully a step toward stronger material within this same genre.
| Hooks | 7 |
| Production | 8 |
| Longevity | 7 |
| Bias | 7 |
| RATING | 7.25 |
The Bias List // K-Pop Reviews & Discussion 
Me! Me! My mind went to Mmm Bop. I think we had the cassette single, the “cassingle”, somewhere at home, maybe technically my little sister’s. I believe the kid brother is or was the youngest grammy winner ever for Mmm bop, until Beyonce put baby Blue Ivy on one of her’s (a cheap shot there). Also the brothers have lived off this hit for their entire career, including such spin offs as their own beer called (ready for this) “Mmm Hop”.
Hui’s rendition is pretty good. The problem to me is that it sounds like he is trying too hard to have fun. Maybe he will loosen up when he performs it. Or maybe it should have been more bonkers from the get go, more weirdo like Super Junior can get on their fun singles, viz Wow Wow Wow.
That said, I would give it closer to the high 7’s.
Then and now (or a few years ago)
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Another good version from even younger days. The kid brother singing and drumming like Karen Carpenter and Phil Collins did back when!
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I read the bias list reviews to know if I’m going to like a song or not. If you don’t like, it generally means I’m going to love it, asis the case with this song
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Fair enough! Haha happy to be your opposite 😉
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It’s very easy to appreciate this track just from the sound it’s going for. I haven’t heard it in a while from kpop. That said, the track lost me since it didn’t have a central refrain. I felt like the “hmm bops” actually built good tension but the pay off wasn’t there. I’ll keep an open mind but how can a song grow on me with no real lines to catch my ear.
As far as the video, I was confused by the aesthetic. It was giving more kino than hui, but I suppose that means I have to reevaluate my expectations of hui next time
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JAY B from GOT7 went down the funky groovy genre with GO Up on his Be Yourself album and did the genre real justice!
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Me whenever I see a white person in a kpop mv
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I was going to ignore this debut because i’m annoyed with how Cube “managed” Pentagon’s career after kicking out Edawn. This song/vibe just screamed Ha Sungwoo to me, who I thought pulled off the funky aound extremely well. This was okay but nothing special. As someone mentioned, Kino would fit this to a T.
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I like this song, but I’m hoping for something stronger when he makes another solo comeback.
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The song is slightly above average, but the video is an instant party. I’ll be watching that a lot. Also the red-bearded guy was God in Taeyong’s shalala I’m a Yeti video.
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