FEATURE: Kim Jaejoong’s Mini Album “I”

Despite being fond of the Korean music for more than 10 years now, I still find interest in anything with what I regard as the “it” thing. “It” meaning awesome in every way having that x factor, whatever genre or language used. My playlist varies from Korean-pop/indie/ballad/etc, Japanese songs, a couple of Spanish, British and American songs, as well as songs from unsigned artists and even youtube-ers.

Last week, Kim Jaejoong’s One Kiss was pre-released and it was an instant hit for me. I listened to the song for almost 3 hours straight. To tell you the truth, I’m not a fan of Jaejoong… until I heard his song. Kim Jaejoong’s “I” EP was released in Itunes today. There are 5 tracks including One Kiss, Mine, 내안 가득히, 나만의 위로 and All Alone.

My favorite track is definitely One Kiss. This song showed how powerful his vocals are and the emotional build up is superb. I love how the song started with the rock part and the violin, i think, adds a lot for the dramatic effect. He started singing with his smooth voice and slowly getting to the climax of the song with his powerful vocals. It’s as if he’s saying to us “Here’s my story, listen to me”. I was holding my breath on certain parts of the song and the line 천국의 비친 그대비친 그대 / Heaven shine’s down on you stuck with me.

Mine is hard rock. It honestly reminds me of Japanese rock, like Asian Kung Fu Generation and Gackt. Jaejoong sounds like he was born to be a rock star. It’s weird that I can actually imagine him performing on stage, rocking the song, head-banging and /somewhat/ abusing the mic. Yes, those things that rock stars do. And the music video is definitely a large-scale production. There are several sets where they shot the video and some scenes seem like a part of a gaming world came to life. I wouldn’t deal with the “symbolization” of certain parts and elements of the video and how the video connects with the song. I still believe that I can’t assume anything unless, whoever conceptualized the music video spill the beans.

내안 가득히 is a modern rock ballad that showcases Jaejoong’s vocals. I love how the beat and vocals compliment each other, not the beat compliments the vocals or vice versa. The 4th track 나만의 위로 is my other favorite on the list. The sweet melody and the sad lyrics goes well with each other. This is a song that definitely pulls heartstrings. It’s the kind of song that you’ll find yourself closing your eyes and absorbing every emotion carried by each note. Last is All Alone, it gives a soothing feeling and some parts remind me of Nell., which is a good thing by the way. All Alone and 나만의 위로 made me all emotional.

All in all, Jaejoong’s writing ability is superb. He deserves every praise for it. Same goes with his vocal ability. If he thinks that he needed to prove anything, he exceeded it. No doubt with that. I think that this solo album “I” opens a new door for the industry and he just made a mark on it.

You can buy his EP here: Itunes + Yes-Asia