(Please note – this is a real-time review, meaning I am typing down my exact thoughts while checking out each artist.)

On March 12th, ROSÉ (of BLACKPINK) made her solo debut with the single album – R –. Let’s check out the two songs on the album, and since I am fashionably late, I get to watch the music video for the B-side as well.

I love the visuals for this music video. ROSÉ looks stunning in every outfit and sounds equally beautiful. From the look of things, this song is entirely in English. “On The Ground” sounds like something that would get good play on Western radios. It’s a cute song, and I could see myself coming back to it a few times.

This music video also has fantastic visuals. “Gone” is more on a mid-tempo, and I love that the base instrument is a guitar. I enjoy ROSÉ’s vocal colour on this one more because it sounds raw and unfiltered. I will be playing this song a lot more than the title track.

---

WayV released their 3rd mini-album, Kick Back, on March 10th. I will react to the title track first and follow up with some brief thoughts on the album.  

My babies!!! I’ve been itching to check out their comeback. I can already tell that the choreography is about to be sickening just from the first few seconds. Xiao Jun’s vocals, though! He gets me every single time; I love his voice. The chorus is quite catchy, the vocalists did a beautiful job during that section, + the choreography is fantastic. When this song first started, I wasn’t feeling it that much, but after hearing the chorus and vocal arrangement, I’m all in. Is it my favourite title track from WayV? No, but I LOVE IT.

I enjoyed the vocal quality on this album a lot. The way they layered the vocals, to how well each singer and rapper mixed on each track, every aspect of the production was beautiful. I sense some growth from WayV in this record. Kick Back gets a 10/10 from me and my favourite songs in no particular order are “Action Figure” – “Horizon” and “All For Love” 

---

Up next is SOYOU. She released a single titled – “Good Night, MY LOVE” on March 11th, so let’s check it out.

The music video is interesting. I love how it starts like a short film before the actual song comes in. Soyou deserves more recognition. She has a great voice, and her MVs come with beautiful visuals, so it’s either her company is slacking on promotions, or people are sleeping on her talent. “Good Night, MY LOVE” is a relaxing ballad, and whoever did the backing vocals on this song served awesomeness on all levels. The way the singer’s voice melts into Soyou’s is impressive to hear. I love everything about this song.

---

Following up is a collaborative single from Young K (of DAY6) and PARKMOONCHI titled “What A Wonderful Word”.

From the few seconds of the instrumental intro, I can already tell that I will enjoy this song a lot. Young K’s voice is so smooth. The man has a fantastic set of pipes, + he looks good. “What A Wonderful Word” is a chill R&B; I love it. Also, PARKMOONCHI did great on the keyboard. I have to check out more from her.

---

JUN. K (of 2PM) released his 5th Japanese mini-album, THIS IS NOT A SONG, on March 10th. The title track is “Moon Light, 2003” but since it doesn’t have an official music video, I will go straight into sharing my opinions on the album. Before that, here’s the MV for the pre-release single – “THIS IS NOT A SONG, 1929” –

This album is pure R&B goodness with the combo of smooth and powerful vocals from Jun. K. Also fantastic production on the instrumentals for each track. Therefore it gets a 10/10 from me. Honestly, it’s hard to choose a favourite based on my first listen because every song has something fresh to offer. However, if I was recommending songs on this record right now, it will be “THIS IS NOT A SONG, 1929” for the vocal delivery and “River Flows, 1971” for the comforting message. 

That’s all for now, and I hope you all enjoyed reading this post. Feel free to give me your opinions on each artist in the comment section🥰.