Review

Song Review: Daesung (Bigbang) – HANDO-CHOGUA

In addition to his career as a singer, Daesung has continued to be a reliable variety star — especially with his own YouTube series. This takes advantage of his jovial side, which wasn’t always allowed to flourish as part of his group’s more serious hip-hop work. After a serious comeback of his own earlier this year, he’s flipped the switch to full-on comedy with new single HANDO-CHOGUA (한도초과).

One of the lowest-level trolling responses I often get on this blog is readers admonishing me for “not liking fun.” I don’t really know what that’s supposed to mean, but in my mind I delineate “fun” and “schtick” pretty clearly. Anyone who knows my very pop-oriented taste can see that I prefer upbeat, fun music to dark, brooding fare. However, one thing I’ve always bristled at is the idea of “forced fun.” People who constantly try to be funny through gimmicks and mugging tend to irritate me, and it’s the same with music.

HANDO-CHOGUA is like one long exercise in mugging. Its existence as a trot song gives Daesung a lot of leeway to be silly and his chops as a performer ensure the track is professionally delivered, but too much of it (and especially its accompanying video) remind me of a bad SNL sketch. I just… don’t find it remotely funny, which kind of makes the whole exercise collapse before it can even get started. I felt similarly about 2014’s Look At Me, Gwisun, but that song was much catchier.

Hooks 7
 Production 8
 Longevity 7
 Bias 6
 RATING 7

Grade: C-

12 thoughts on “Song Review: Daesung (Bigbang) – HANDO-CHOGUA

  1. It sounds like every trot song ever to me. Every couple years, Super Junior or some subset of SuJu come out with a trot song too. SuJu have even done trot arrangements of their regular songs, just for fun, because they can – eg Super Show 9 encore.

    Trot is one of those country culture specific things that just eludes everyone else, like marmite or lutefisk or chitlins or … I’ll just stop there. To me, trot sounds like Sabado Gigante crossed with polka. I find it entertaining in about 3 minutes bites.

    I watched last weekend’s SNL with Melissa McCarthy, and I kept wondering if this was actually funny or was this just her doing her thing for 5 or 10 minutes straight.

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  2. it’s dumb and fun but still pretty unmemorable. Which is weird. It’s no Bad Girl Stupid Boy or even Juicy Go! But Daesung is likeable enough.

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  3. “but too much of it… remind me of a bad SNL sketch” aint that most snl sketches these days? lot of them have the problems you laid out in the review

    but yeah this song isnt good and the music video annoys me, though i appreciate the sana cameo

    (p.s bowen yang annoys me to no end, hes like the amy schumer of the gaysian community)

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  4. I’d say the openning part of the video was a little cringe, but I enjoyed the rest of it and it did make me chuckle a couple times. I get that its a little gimmicky, but daesung is a more outwardly comedic presence in comparison to other idols who have transitioned into being media personalities. Certainly it makes more sense than super yuppers by wjsn chocome

    The song is a trot song. I can’t say there’s a trot song I’ve heard that I didn’t like, but I can’t say I’ve ever been obssessed with one. I was singing along on my second listen though. Not a huge fan of the number ratings for myself (It’s so hard when you listen to music in different ways) but I feel towards the song the way nick often describes 8-8.25’s

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  5. This is great trot! His “jovial”, over the top delivery really works for me. Didn’t watch the video. This is up there with Sunmin – YO.YO.YO. from last year.

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  6. I find Daesung’s variety persona cringe and fake most times, it just doesn’t work for me, but in the heightened context of the MV and the run-of-the-mill trot song, it worked for me! The song itself is not for me, but I chuckled here and there with it+the video. And Sana is always a welcome view 😌 I feel like her also quite heightened persona fit the tone of the video well, they make a good pairing tone-wise!

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