K-POP Reviews

GOT7 - Just Right [K-song Review #1]

I thought that reviewing this song now by GOT7 would be fitting as it's currently number 1 on my chart.

GOT7 is a seven-member hip-hop group from Korean. People not familiar with K-POP may consider seven to be a large number of people in a group but it's not uncommon at all. They are not all solely from Korea itself, some hailing from Hong Kong or the United States. Its members' names are Mark Tuan, JB, Jackson Wang, Junior, Choi Youngjae, BamBam, and Kim Yugyeom. Just a side note, I love BamBam's name. Just like the best thing out there since sliced bread.

So, 'Just Right' has just over 9.5 million views on YouTube and rightly so! It is an amazing song coupled with an equally awesome video with a great message. And (thank you JYP) it has subtitles so you can read and understand the lyrics. Good on ya JYP!

The video opens with a beautiful melody and a small girl sitting at a vanity desk, cleaning her face. She's looking into the mirror, crying and she just doesn't look like she appreciates how she looks. That is basically the message in the video as GOT7 try throughout the video to explain to her that she is, as the title suggests, just right and does not need to change.

And then the quirky beat kicks in (another side note guys, does anyone know what the 'milk' and the music symbol mean beside their names?) and things just go up from here basically. The little girl's desk drawers start to shake when the "Baby...you are...just...just right" sounds.

The video follows with some fun, quirky images and it is just a joy to watch basically. The members of GOT7 are shrunken down and are all around her room. She's obviously shocked because there are a bunch of hot, tiny guys singing to her (and who doesn't want that?). I think the opening rap sequence is my favourite. Now, I am not extremely familiar with this group so I don't know the members by name. So if you could point out who is doing this part down in the comments below, that would be mighty fabulous of you.

When the singing starts before the chorus, it is just sublime. Like, these guys' voices are amazing to say the least. But the dance at the chorus is my favourite part of the video. It takes some balls to be able to pull that off and avoid being totally cute-sy and showing off over the top aegyo style stuff. But GOT7 pull this off and it is perfected down to the T.

As the song progresses, the little girl starts smiling and enjoying herself and it is kind of amazing to watch this. I especially love the little ET moment that they throw in there. Might I add that this was top-notch shooting and CGI or whatever it is. Like, it looks high quality which is always a plus when it comes to videos.

So then as the chorus comes in for a second time, the girl finally lets the lyrics sink in and looks at herself in the mirror. "That unpretty spot that you keep talking about, I can't see it at all". At this point she takes off the glasses. It's like the glasses were making her see flaws in herself where they weren't any and by taking them off she was removing this outlook that she had. It's such a beautiful message that not a lot of songs are talking about now.

Once the girl forgets about her 'flaws' (that no one noticed or seen because they weren't there in the first place), she is able to be herself and let go of any restrictions that she might have felt. That wall that she had put up, she let down and she let loose and joined in with the dance. The following shots are so fun to watch. Like, honestly, I hadn't seen this much fun in a video in quite awhile.

I love the scene where one of the members is licking cream off his hand and it's all seductive. You think 'ah, they had to stick some fan-service in the mix for good measure'. Then it zooms out and he's standing by a packet labelled 'sweet roll' and he does this weirdly, amazing hip dance. And the fun is back on, as if it was never off in the first place.

The girl starts jumping on her bed and throwing her pillow around and feathers are flying everywhere. It's a wonderful show. And her lying down on the bed smiling is a beautiful end to a fabulous and catchy song.

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So, overall, I don't think you can really ask for much more in a song. It was on repeat for me for a long period after I first heard it and I still replay it despite the fact that I get bored with songs very easily.

Personally, this song is probably my favourite of GOT7's and 'Just Right', the album, is one of my favourites too. 'Stop stop it' was previously my favourite song of theirs (as I was rereading this I thought of the song 'I Like You' and I am unsure of which I like more now) but I think the overall package that comes with this song; the video,message, just makes it that much more enjoyable for me. As I love something that sounds good, I also love something that is visually appealing and this definitely was. Though I did love the 'Stop stop it' video but that is a whole different story. The outfits in 'Just Right' are a bit nicer too (in my opinion).

As girl groups are becoming increasingly sexualised and wearing less and less clothing, it's nice to listen to something that is about women being themselves without having to do any of that. For me, it's a sham that girl groups don't sing about this too and leave it to the boys to do it. Like, I am not saying that there isn't any empowering groups or solo acts who are female for women to watch and relate to out there. I appreciate groups that speak about issues that not a lot of people would raise, about women and sex basically. Like Ga-In, who is the first person that pops into my head. Or even Stellar and their new song 'Vibrato' which seems to be about a woman losing her virginity from what I seen in the video and those very visual pictures (I didn't read the lyrics or anything so don't quote me on this). I could go on for a long speal about this, but I won't. To put it simply, I appreciate GOT7 for speaking up with this message (or even whoever wrote this song).

Furthermore, I am so happy that the members aren't wearing school uniforms. Like most of the members are old enough to be finished school and out of these damn uniforms! Stop putting them back in it, please. From what Wiki is telling me, Mark Tuan was born in 1993 which makes him 21. He may have a baby face but he is too old for this stuff! This concept which loads of groups use just gets to me now. BTS uses it on occasion and every other girl group does it at some stage. Just a pet peeve of mine when the members are too old.

But overall, love this song, love this music video, love this meaning and beginning to love this group a lot. And by a lot, I mean a lot. They just keep upping their game and I am hugely impressed. It is by no means easy what they do, but they make it look easy and freakin' good at the same time. That takes skill and these men have it in dozens.

I think I seen an article where PSY (I think) spoke about how their was a difference between being a star and putting in lots of time, effort and work. Anyone with that much dedication could put in all their time, effort and work but that doesn't make a star. But I think GOT7 has this special something and I think they will survive the long road ahead of them, like their seniors BIGBANG, Super Junior and INFINITE. And I, for one, am looking forward to watching them achieve this.