It’s the final Friday, and I can’t get away with making that Rebecca Black joke again. Even though I want to. Soloists week has been an intriguing one thus far, with probably the biggest differences in styles from different artists, as well as a pretty varied timeframe. And speaking of time, we’re about to push the furthest back that we’ve gone on this project thus far, so strap in for a journey into the wilds of the early 2000s. Today, pals, it’s BoA.
Who is BoA?
Another lady here, BoA is a South Korean singer (and actress, songwriter, and record producer), who debuted under SM Entertainment (who I seem to be unwittingly sponsoring at this point) in 2000. Yes, that’s right, 2000. Back when people were just single-celled organisms and dinosaurs were a distant dream. The distant past. When I turned eight. BoA herself was only thirteen years old when she debuted, a concept that, in South Korea, is much less worrying than it would be here in the West. Many K-pop trainees will begin their preparation to be a star as teens or even pre-teens, and BoA was no different. This also means that, in 2020, she’s only thirty-four, so still not old in the eyes of anyone outside of this youth-obsessed industry. She was never in a girl group, her name is just a stylisation of her actual Korean name, Bo-Ah, and she didn’t come up through any TV program or competition. So that’s nice and easy. Her story is just the good ol’ fashioned ‘accompanied someone else to an audition (her brother), got noticed and signed instead’ tale. The traditional method of attaining stardom.
You know an artist is significant when they have a ‘legacy’ section on their Wikipedia page, and BoA’s lists her as the ‘Queen of K-pop’, such is her influence. Perhaps unsurprising given that she’s been hard at work since thirteen years old. One of her most notable achievements is her level of success in Japan, not a given fact for a K-pop artist and especially not back in the 2000s. She is apparently most influenced by hip-hop and R&B, though dance tunes, electropop and urban pop (which sounds problematic but hey I just work here) crop up in descriptions of her music as well. She’s also covered Westlife’s Flying Without Wings in her time, so she’s obviously not intimidated by raw power. Being a soloist, there are ballads in her back catalogue, though my fingers are crossed that I don’t have to deal with too many of them. All of this is good hype, so there’s nothing really for it now other than to see what the Queen has to offer.
The First Song
As mentioned above, BoA’s first single was released when she was only thirteen years old, in August, 2000. This means she’s only six years older than me, though at this time, I was on my summer holidays getting over the magnitude of finishing Year Two. Clearly a big time for both of us. I’m slightly apprehensive about how much I can enjoy something sung by a literal child, but hey, I haven’t heard it yet.
OK, now I have. This song is an absolute standard for a pop starlet coming up in the late nineties/early noughties- think Britney, think Billie, we’re very much in that zone here. We have a driving beat, deep violins acting as our bass whilst higher pitched strings answer back, electric guitars, a tight rhythm, catchy repetitions in the chorus, belting in the bridge, even a little faux-choral moment. There’s also a little touch of vocoder for your nerves. The video echoes these vibes, with BoA in simple two-piece monochromatic outfits dancing in formation in large, ugly sets with nothing in them. It’s just so of its time and genre, but it’s fun pop, no denying that. The ending, leaving just the beat and the deep strings, could be something from a Spears song, and hell, it probably is. I will say that BoA’s voice is a little shaky at times, probably something to do with her being a wee baby who’s just starting out, so we’ll forgive her.
Five of the Big Hits
Reddit? Yes. Also YouTube and a little Spotify? But of course. I’ve gone for (the amazingly named) Atlantis Princess, Only One, Woman, One Shot Two Shot, and Kiss My Lips. Let’s get started, because I want to find out exactly what an Atlantis Princess is.
So let’s do that one first. This song came out in 2003, so it’s still an oldie. The person who recommended it on Reddit said that it was ‘pure 2000s’ and boy, were they right. Opening with gentle piano, the drum machine swiftly comes in, and a bouncy instrumentation full of joyous violins and oh so 2000s production takes over. There are nice, subtle harmonies in the sing-a-long chorus that just radiates the simple happiness of bubbly pop at this time. BoA’s voice is notably stronger here, especially when it gets delicate and high. The video seems to choose only odd angles and soft focus to film BoA dancing on a rooftop, and in a field surrounded by running children. It’s all very charity-video-appeal, and I am not going to talk about the Indigenous American-style outfit she’s sporting for a significant section of the song. Aside from that, the whole thing is charming. I’m no closer to realising what this has to do with Atlantis (the video didn’t have English subs), but hell, who cares?
Next is Only One, where we take a big jump forward to 2012. This song is mostly interesting in how different the song is from the video I watched for it. The song is effectively a standard K-pop ballad with a stronger than usual hip-hopesque drumbeat powering the instrumentation. We have gentle, tinny synth, gentle piano hooks, and yes, I think there are acoustic strings too. But then we have the video. There was a ‘dance’ and ‘drama’ version of this, so obviously I went for the former. In it, BoA dances with six male dancers on a shopping street set, and, like, wow. I can’t work out if the dance style works with the song or not, but the quality of what she does is so good I’m not sure if I care. The choreography is pretty straight-up street commercial, with clever formations, amazing isolations and impressive creativity. I don’t think I would have guessed they were dancing to a song like this if I’d watched it on mute, but gosh darn it the dancing is just so cool, it kind of makes it work. In the video, it gives the song an edge it lacks in just the audio version, but, as K-pop is a largely visual medium, I have no problem with this.
Now it’s Woman’s turn, a much more recent song from 2018. I was suspecting good things from the title, and the video thumbnail of BoA in a very chic wide-brimmed black hat. And I was not disappointed. This is another classic style, this time the self-empowered funky pop anthem. A funky bassline runs through the song, as does a sharp beat, the backdrop building just enough until the brassy chorus where BoA declares that it “feels good to be a woman”. There are some really cool vocal flourishes here: I love the word ‘woman’ in the chorus being spoken by a man, a clever twist, and the sudden high notes in the first part of the verses are a nice left turn. The video backs up this confident funk, with BoA proving her dance prowess in red latex, slinky black hotpants, and, of course, leopard print. There is a move at the beginning of this video where BoA is held upside down by her dancers and struts, which must really be seen to be fully believed. I’m getting the title of Queen now.
Now we have One Shot Two Shot, which turns out to be the single that immediately preceded Woman. This song is in more of the dance groove genre: the beat is smooth, and gentle electronica underpins a clapping rhythm that leads to a minimalist chorus. The central hook is the chirpy singing of the title’s ‘one shot two shot’, and the song is fun if ultimately less impressive than Woman. The video on the other hand. Wow. BoA is clearly an exceptional dancer here, as the work she does both with her dancers in the studio scenes, and the performance she gives in the narrative scenes, is captivating. The storyline here is her and a male office worker being on adjacent platforms in a subway station late at night, who essentially just start dancing at each other. The moves are expressive, the drama is built well, and the sharpness of the moves in the intercut studio scenes compliment it beautifully. She’s also wearing a lot of velvet and sequins, presumably from the same stylist who styled Red Velvet in Peekaboo, and I love it.
Last up is Kiss My Lips from 2015, which one Reddit user referred to as her masterpiece, a tall order to say the least. I wouldn’t say exactly the same myself, but this song is a great slice of disco funk, with grand, wide synths in the opening that fall quickly in line to support the groovy guitars and insistent yet soft beat. The chorus is openly seductive, not building to a climax, but instead maintaining a steadiness that allows BoA’s whispered beckoning to “come and kiss my lips” to pack the fullest punch. I have to mention the dancing in the video again here, because, once more, it adds so much to the song, here in its distinctive shapes. BoA girl, you can dance and I love it.
The Latest Song
In December 2020, which is nearly three months ago (hahaha the passage of time is terrifying), BoA released her latest single, Better. This feels like Kiss My Lips’ big sister, as the bassline is stronger, at least in the verses. The pre-chorus and chorus get a bit too over-produced for me, but the verses, damn they are beautifully minimal. Just a beat, a bass, and smatterings of electric guitar accompany BoA’s confident singing. It’s slightly ironic that the chorus end with the title-including line “you’re better than this”, because that’s how I feel about this song. The verses are better than the chorus, so, BoA, you’re better than this. The latter half of ‘this’ anyway. Of course, the video absolutely slaps, as is obviously a consistent factor with BoA: I’m not sure why, but I just can’t get over the confidence and skill of her dancing. This isn’t something I’ve seen highlighted too much from the soloists this week, Jay Park aside, but good god this woman has power. Her performance ability is insane, again, probably from having over twenty years to perfect it.
The Latest Album
Gosh darnit it’s an actual album this time. It’s OK, I have a three-day weekend coming up (thank god for the Korean Independence movement!). It turns out that Better is actually from an album of the same name, also released in December of 2020.
The album opens with Better, and is followed by the more bravado Temptations, utilising pizzicato, distorted synths and a wonderfully cascading melody in the second half of the chorus to achieve its cocky effect. Cloud is next, a much more slow groove that really allows BoA to flex her vocal ability. The next track, All That Jazz, echoes its name well in the fast hand-drummed beat underlying the main one, with piano and electric guitar allowed to go a bit more up-tempo here. It’s not mind-blowing, but it’s the best version of what a jazz-influenced album track could be. Towards the middle of the alum we have L.O.V.E, a disco track full of violin flashes, heartbeat rhythms and shimmering disco instrumentations. The track that follows, Cut Me Off, is its groovier sister, driving its minimalism home through quietly pulsing electronic beats, a calm, seductive vocal and wonderfully restrained chorus. Got Me Good finishes off this mid-point retro trio, with a stronger rhythm emphasised by the chorus’s title refrain. In all three of these songs there is a total smoothness in the groove created in the instrumentation, and BoA knows exactly how to compliment this with her vocals here. God I would love to see her dancing to these.
In the album’s final section, we begin with the more generic Honey & Diamonds, but the following song Start Over has a satisfying melody, BoA playing here in her lower range. The beat has a nice echoing size to it, though the song itself is calm. The overall effect is jubilant. Gravity is next, the ballad of the album, but with enough soul elements in the piano and guitar to give it more intrigue and flavour. I particularly like the staccato-esque singing in the bridge, playing up BoA’s love for R&B styling. The album closes with Little Bird, which uses a military style drumming rhythm, trumpet-like hooks and electronic keyboard accompaniments to liven up what is again, essentially, a ballad, or at least a much more chilled-out vibe of a song (clap-along bridge notwithstanding). These elements keep it interesting, though it doesn’t even touch the heights that this album reaches in the middle, when BoA is not afraid to lean fully into a sultry funk groove.
Thoughts?
I completely see why this woman has the title of the Queen of K-pop. Her work has clearly developed over the years into a confident, powerful style that takes from the best elements of electropop and R&B. I liked all of the later stuff that I heard, and was still impressed by the earlier work. BoA’s dancing also makes the most of the potential a great soloist can have in this medium: she shows off sharp and expressive moves, that always lead her formations with backing dancers exceptionally. She’s been working in K-pop for nearly twenty-one years and it shows: you can see a lot of the artists today in the songs she’s created. Queen BoA, I bow down to you. You know what you’re doing and do it well.
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