Listening Party: G-DRAGON 'Übermensch' EP
Added 2025-03-12 13:00:09 +0000 UTCComments
Your grimace face during bonamana was so funny 😂 like I knew it sounded like some sharp lyrics but good to get confirmation
Liv
2025-03-15 21:09:43 +0000 UTCThis video made me join the patreon again hellooo
nam
2025-03-13 21:03:57 +0000 UTCHere's my ranking: 1st tier: Drama / Bonamana / Home Sweet Home 2nd tier: Power / IBELONGIIU / Gyro-Drop 3rd tier: Take Me / Too bad But all the songs are non-skippable. In Gyro-Drop, he actually dissed the 2023 false drug accusation in his verses so the "ride me like a carousel"chorus is more about the way he was "screwed over" by the media being unfair. And "gyro drop" is a ride that never falls all the way to the ground. It almost touches the bottom and then bounces back to the top. Likely symbolism referencing his career. In terms of Bonamana, "Am I weird? No doubt, obviously. Am I the one at fault? Isn't it clear?" This chorus always reminds me how the media/netizens were judging/spreading baseless rumors about him. It was so easy for someone to say "look at the way he moves or walks, of course he is using d**gs". Even in his early careers, there were malicious comments like "he's an idol of course he didn't make his own song. If the song is a hit, obviously he plagiarized from western artist". The word "bonamana" has a negative connotation to me. It almost feels like he's intentionally making the lyrics scandalous and uncomfortable to the listeners. This is just my interpretation of the song and I'm not a korean speaker. So I'm curious to see how other Korean speakers interpret the song.
swankeeper
2025-03-12 15:44:35 +0000 UTCthe first 2 lines of take me sounds like "eyes, nose, lips" to me. haha and it's my favorite track🫣
Jewi
2025-03-12 14:48:38 +0000 UTCThe proper pronunciation of Übermensch is a bit different. In the international phonetic alphabet is it like: ˈʔyːbɐmɛnʃ But I am not sure if that is helpful for you… It is hard to write it in hangul, because although the very first sound is like 이, it is not the same, because you have to go down and deep with your voice. But it would be something like: 이버맨시, but the 이 at the end is not pronounced, I just did not know how to make ㅅ sound like Sh without adding something to that, I tried to look for the transcription to hangul and I found this, which is also really similar, although it makes it look/sound like as if the first letter was supposed to be W, which is not the case…: 위버맨쉬 Home Sweet Home: I said pretty much everything everywhere already… I will just say the first four songs are like: “doing what fans and the current Kpop fans would appreciate and like” and this song is basically saying: “This one is for BIGBANG and VIPs”, which makes it the perfect song to start this whole experience! Power: In this case this song reflects his solo career as a rapper. Just straight up full on rap song with references to everything you can think of about him. Despite me saying before Power is the best pre-release song you can think of to get you hyped and wanting for more, I think it being the second track and not the first is somehow better. It perfectly fits to his career in the way of: “I debuted with BIGBANG and then my solo happened”. Too Bad: This song is the title track for newer (Kpop) fans/more leaning to the western market, but still having the G-Dragon vibe there. At first I was not so much into this song, but I have slowly gotten to it and I appreciate the idea of this song being here, just maybe… maybe I am still not sure with it being a title track OR if this had to be one of the title tracks, I would appreciate here one more (third) title track, but I get to that at the end. Drama: This song is basically Untitled 2.0 showing his vocal and ballad focused style. Besides this being the best for fans, who like his ballads/singing voice, it is also a song, which is meant for the eastern/Korean fans. Which is a bit interesting considering it being mainly in English, but it somehow creates an interesting balance with Too Bad, which is for the western market (despite on the other hand being way more in Korean… like G-Dragon’s parts, not Anderson’s, obviously 😅😅). IBELONGIIU: Here we starts the second part of this journey of him showing way more what he wants regardless of any expectations and wishes from fans and the public. I am not sure if I have more to say, it is just interesting that so far the tracks are like “pairs”, which complement each other. Home Sweet Home & Power, Too Bad & Drama, IBELONGIIU & Take Me. Take Me: At first my favorite b-side from here was Bonamana, but lately THIS SONG makes Bonamana run for its money!! There is a strong feeling of nostalgia, but at the same time it is SO FRESH!! Bonamana: I liked the song even before any English translation being published… and the lyrics make it even more unique 😅😅 Here is the dirty part if anyone is interested: “Get on top of me and rub me, push me hard, scream, girl Sonata of Love, hit-and-run chart, fans only stream, girl Dig inside, let the madness shine As the shadow falls, pleasure follows (Ding dong daeng) All day long” That “ding dong daeng all day long” is somehow really funny to me ㅋㅋㅋㅋ Gyro-Drop: This is the only song I am not sure how to feel about. I like the song, but it being the last song here feels so weird. Everything is so great (both music and the track placement/order of songs-wise), but then it all ends with Gyro-Drop. I do not have a proper answer to the question of which song here I would prepare to be the last, but if this song was somewhere in the middle, I wouldn’t have had anything to say. Maybe just the fact that there are someone else’s vocals, but it is not mentioned as featuring or anything, which caught me off guard. And so… here is the thing I wanted to say earlier! I understand he loves to play with the number 8 and referencing it everywhere (him being born on the 18th of the 8th month of the year 1988 and 8 being the lucky number…), so he wanted this album to have 8 tracks. But… since this whole comeback is in the vibe of OMFG IT IS HAPPENING & NOSTALGIA IS ALL OVER THE PLACE, I would highly appreciate if we got Crooked 2.0 song here. Not to sound like that type of fan of liking only the most popular song, but since we got Drama as the Untitled 2.0 and other songs referencing the old times and previous songs, Crooked 2.0 would have been just perfect end for this whole journey and it would have been mind blowing if it was not only the last track here instead of Gyro-Drop, but if he made it as the third and final title track like: “Artists make double title tracks? Pff… let’s do 3!!” You talked about the album art, so to appreciate that as well… The album art is the most beautiful album art I have seen in a long time! I am planning a new logo for WiseSmellyLegs, because next year it will be the 10th anniversary of mine (me using this nickname) and I am thinking about using the idea of legs being around and above the text for it. Also… the color scheme is so beautiful too, it fits the vibe so well! For the end… I am trying to rank this album with the rest of his discography. At it is so hard, because I do not want to give it the first place just because of Home Sweet Home… The thing is I like a lot Kwon Ji Yong as the whole product from A to Z. Also it being a mini album about “him him” and showing his true and honest Kwon Ji Yong persona (which is a bit funny now, because he said looking at it back, I does not want people to listen to that as much, because he thinks it is too “raw” and maybe too personal 😅😅). On the other hand we have Coup D’Etat, which is just one big statement and industry push to the scene and it was the first thing I got to know from him very back then. Like Crooked is probably the best “first thing you hear from an artist” ever!! But I admit, it is not like I would listen to the whole album all the time and to every song on a regular basis. Then Heartbreaker is really great and maybe also the best first album/solo discography for an artist coming from a group, but I dare to say he has surpassed it with the other albums in his career. One of a Kind is the last place for me. I just do not come back to this mini album that much. Maybe just the title track here and there. Now reading this all I have written, I guess I made my ranking: 5th - One of a Kind 4th - Heartbreaker 3rd - Coup D’Etat 2nd & 1st Kwon Ji Yong/Übermensch With Coup D’Etat being really close to Kwon Ji Yong and Übermensch. Like… defitenily Crooked and the timing for me getting into Kpop back then play a big role, so since I am not saying Übermensch is straight up winner just because of Home Sweet Home, I cannot place all three albums on the same place. But if Übermensch had Crooked 2.0… that would have been total no brainer 😅😅😅😅 Also what I appreciate about Übermensch is that G-Dragon said on You Quiz on the Block that back then him making a comeback was more like: “I should do a comeback, so I created new music, but this time it was that I truly wanted to”. And to that he also added he does not want to take a break this big again. He spoke there about him being in the industry for… well… pretty much his whole life. He was in the kids group Little Roora, then Lee Soo Man took him to SM, where he trained (well he said it was not the full on training, but he was already “being prepared to join the game”) and then he left, because SM did not fit his style (him being able to say that and know that, when he was younger than 13 years old!) and then he appeared on the 2001 Hip Hop Flex album, where Korean rappers joined to release sort of a compilation album and he became a rapper at the age of 13, YG took him under their training, he trained there for 6 years and then debuted with BIGBANG and his solo career was happening pretty much at the same time as BIGBANG’s, like… if there was a year BIGBANG did not have a comeback, G-Dragon had his. So by this long retrospective deep dive I want to say it was understandable he wanted to take break even if there were not scandals. And him feeling his own need to come back makes this album valuable to the same level as Kwon Ji Yong being such a personal piece of discography. Alright… I am done 😅😅 Ādy [아디] is out! 🫡🫡 Feel free to share your ranking of his discography!
WiseSmellyLegs
2025-03-12 14:48:12 +0000 UTCMy favorites are Bonamana and Gyro Drop
Miranda
2025-03-12 13:51:52 +0000 UTCBTW the guitar solo in Take Me is from THE Nile Rodgers
Miranda
2025-03-12 13:38:17 +0000 UTCI’m curious about what you think about his voice change. I saw so many negative comments on his voice this year. Though I still prefer his voice from Bigbang era, it is what it is now. I’m happy as long as he still makes music
Miranda
2025-03-12 13:29:36 +0000 UTC
