MBLAQ still has the stigma of being known as "Rain's group" in Korea, even though Rain hasn't been involved with the group for a while. Rain's shadow is a dangerous place to be these days- however, with the recent announcement that he'll be returning to the industry with Cube Entertainment rather than J.Tune Camp or JYP Entertainment, MBLAQ has a prime opportunity to distance themselves from their controversial mentor. Seungho's turn on 'Dancing with the Stars' along with Mir's participation on 'Laws of the Jungle' and 'Real Men' left very a positive impression on the public. The two members (and, by extension, the rest of MBLAQ) were painted as hard workers and upstanding young men with likable personalities. Distancing themselves from Rain paired up with growing positive public opinion makes right now the perfect time for MBLAQ to step out and re-establish themselves.
MBLAQ's latest effort, 'SEXY BEAT' takes an unusual path towards this goal by bringing on a handful of songwriters, composers, and producers from indie hip-hop label Amoeba Culture for the lead single "Smoky Girl". Amoeba tested the waters of idol music earlier this year with INFINITE-H's 'Fly High', which went on to sell nearly 100,000 physical copies- a little low by INFINITE's now lofty standards, but 'Fly High' still outsold '100% Ver.' (MBLAQ's most successful album to date with nearly double the sales of 'Mona Lisa') by around 18,500 copies. Could the guys of Amoeba be the key ingredient to MBLAQ stepping out of Rain's shadow and taking their group to the next level?Primary and Zion.T, who composed and produced "Smoky Girl", love their funk music, and they brought it full-force to "Smoky Girl". However, while they would normally blend funk with hip-hop, they swapped the hip-hop out for a clubby, Usher-style dance beat and occasional dreamy synths, a style that works really well for a dance group. MBLAQ's singles tend to either feel very urgent and dramatic ("Stay", "It's War", "Mona Lisa") or very happy-go-lucky ("G.O.O.D luv", "I Don't Know"), and there's not usually a whole lot of in-between. "Smoky Girl" brings a new laid-back vibe to the table, and it's nice to see the group try something more grown-up and less aggressive. That said, the chill nature of this song is also its weakness- adding a big vocal moment somewhere or a couple of more complex lines to Mir's rap would have given listeners something to hold onto other than the repetitive chorus and could have taken "Smoky Girl" to the next level. The catchy chorus almost makes up for it, but there's still something missing.
The rest of 'SEXY BEAT' keeps up the low-key, sexy vibe, but in a more lounge-like and less clubby style than "Smoky Girl". While none of the tracks from the mini album are especially outstanding, the songs are good and there isn't a significantly bad song. It's worth noting that Mir, G.O, and/or Thunder contributed to the songwriting and composition of every album track except "Celebrate". It's surprising that J.Tune Camp hasn't done more to hype MBLAQ's involvement to further capitalize on the public's good feelings toward the group. Even without that extra push, however, MBLAQ is in a great place right now. Historically, each of their albums has performed significantly better than the previous, and there's no reason why the pattern shouldn't continue with 'SEXY BEAT'. Let's hope the guys can keep up with that positive image and make this the biggest hit of their careers to date.
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