[MV & Album Review] Seungri � 'The Great Seungri'

AKP STAFF

SEUNGRI � 'THE GREAT SEUNGRI'

Track List:

1. 1, 2, 3!
2. WHERE R U FROM (Feat. MINO)
3. LOVE IS YOU (Feat. Blue.D)
4. MOLLADO (Feat. B.I)
5. SWEET LIE (Feat. DANNIC)
6. BE FRIEND
7. HOTLINE
8. ALONE
9. GOOD LUCK TO YOU

Big Bang's Seungri has just dropped his new solo album 'The Great Seungri.' It's been five years since his second solo outing, so fans have been chomping at the bit to hear this one. That much is obvious, as this one topped the iTunes album charts in 15 countries.

The title track is "1, 2, 3!," originally intended for Blackpink. It's a rocker, with a guitar riff and a chanted chorus. Well, maybe shouted -- which is just part of what makes this a great jam, as well as the sense of humor with which this tune was written. "WHERE R U FROM" opens with some bendy synths and a danceable beat. The great thing is that Seungri uses his voice differently here than on the title track. MINO brings his signature style to this track as well. "LOVE IS YOU" is pure R&B with a beautiful deep bass line and a bouncy beat. YG trainee Blue.D joins Seungri on this track, and they both combine to make a great duet here. You can hear the soulfulness in both their voices.

The Latin-inspired "MOLLADO" features a tropical house beat�and the inimitable B.I from iKON. This is definitely a catchy tune, and the rap just makes it even better. If you wanted a party tune for your summer celebration, you could do worse than choose this one. "SWEET LIE" starts out deceptively soft, but soon sheds that for club banger aesthetics. He teams up with producer and DJ DANNIC to make this one. I love how seductive this tune is, with a happy synth blast�to make your day.� We return to smoothness on "BE FRIEND." I got some serious Big Bang vibes listening to this one. From the pounding beat (with some sampled claps) and a big, noisy chorus, this one's guaranteed to have you at least nodding along.

"HOTLINE" is a pure club-banger, and has some hip-hop and big house influences here. He even references Drake in here (probably expected from the title), and this is a fun, playful tune. "ALONE" has that billowy, inspiring vibe to it. The finisher vibe, that leaves you with a message of hope as the disc ends. Except that we have one more song. "GOOD LUCK TO YOU" is a bouncy, upbeat tune. It starts with strings�and had kind of an R&B feel to it initially. The synth blasts quickly dispel that feeling, and it becomes sort of a house tune. It's not bad, but a little generic.

This is a good album. It's meaty, too, with 9 songs here there's something for everyone. The songs seemed to be drenched in synths, and here it works. The songs are filled out and slickly packaged. And I like some of the techno influences here -- it's a genre I enjoy, so it's nice to hear it used more. And it's always interesting to see what the young men of Big Bang can do apart from their band, and in Seungri's case, that means delivering a high-quality product. Every song's a bop.

MV REVIEW

The MV for "1, 2, 3!" is 1950s-tinged, with all sorts of icons to that bygone era, from jukeboxes, classic cars, and even outfits and hairstyles to match. Not only that, there are nods to classic movies as 'Grease' and 'West Side Story.' There are as many interesting shots as there are surprises, like when he goes behind a screen and the scene turns into a 1950s TV appearance�until the screen is removed and we see it in living color.

The dancing here is quite good. Props to the choreographer, as they used some challenging dance moves that are throwbacks to popular dances of the '50s. It's not 100% accurate, but they're close. It's meant to remind you of that period, and, in that, it does the job.

Full of explosions of sound and color, not to mention some clever sight gags, this MV is definitely fun to watch. Maybe it's because I like the song, but I wholeheartedly give this MV my seal of approval.

Score

MV Relevance...........8
MV Production..........9
MV Concept..............9
MV SCORE: 8.6

Album Production.....9
Album Concept.........9
Tracklisting...............9
ALBUM SCORE: 9.0