~Review Candy: G-Dragon - Heartbreaker~

Okay, well after all of the plagiarism accusations and a personal love for the album, Heartbreaker has topped my list of "things to review." But first, before we go any further, let's list all of the accusations in order from "most serious" to "least serious."

-"Heartbreaker" accused of plagiarizing "Right Round" by Flo-rida
-"Butterfly" accused of plagiarizing "She's Electric" by Oasis
-"Boy" accused of plagiarizing "Not Ur Girl" by Katharine McPhee
-Concept art accused of plagiarizing a Lee Jun-ki photo shoot
-Album art accused of plagiarizing Spiritualized's 2001 album art "Let It Come Down"
-"The Leaders" accused of plagiarizing "Drop It Like It's Hot" by Snoop Dog
-Album title "Heartbreaker" accused of plagiarizing Kanye West's album title "808s & Heartbreak."

That's a pretty bad list of accusations. (The last two accusations I've just heard randomly through forums, and are not widely supported by a large fan and/or anti base.)

But what does Sony ATV music have to say about this? (This company owns 10% of the rights to "Right Round" and 100% of the rights to "She's Electric.")

All 10 composers to "Right Round" have not all expressed their opinion on this issue. We have sent samples of G-Dragon's songs to the parties involved for the two songs "Right Round" and "She's Electric." There are indeed similarities between "Heartbreaker" and "Right Round" and "Butterfly" and "She's Electric," but it's hard to say if it's plagiarism at this stage. We will all go with the final decision of the composers to the songs. (Information from K Bites)

So now, we just need to wait and see what the composers of the songs say before it can be considered plagiarism or not.

Now onto the review!!

Tracklist:
1. A Boy
2. Heartbreaker
3. Breathe
4. Butterfly (feat. Jin Jung)
5. Hello (feat. Dara)
6. Gossip man (feat. Kim GunMo)
7. Korean Dream (feat. Taeyang)
8. The Leaders (feat. Teddy and CL)
9. She's Gone (feat. Kush)
10. One Year Station

The opening track A Boy definitely gets you hooked from first listen. It's one of the "funkier" songs on the album, with an interesting series of electrobeats in the opening. G-Dragon's voice sounds wonderful on this, and the melody of the chorus is addictive.

Heartbreaker is the title track and the second track of the album. It's the focal point of the whole G-Dragon plagiarism deal. But beside this well-known fact, G-Dragon's voice blends beautifully with the electronic sound of the music and sounds wonderful! The bubbly chorus makes you just wanna dance. The MV is absolutely amazing, though! For me, the song isn't complete without its surreal music video partner.

Track three is Breathe. The first few seconds of this song was played on the music video for Heartbreaker. This song is definitely one of my favorites, with its uplifting chorus and catchy verses.

Butterfly is completely different from every other track on the album. It's purely acoustic, minus a few electrobeats at the beginning of the chorus. G-Dragon wrote the song to describe the feelings of first love. It's definitely a pretty good song for that, too. The powerful lyrics combined with the music reminds you of the one you love the most. As GD says, close your eyes and think of them.

Hello is my favorite track on the album. The chorus is definitely the catchiest off the entire album, and you always wanna get up and dance to it. The spoken intro is golden. This song features Dara...and her voice totally steals the spotlight. When you get to her part in the chorus, you just want to keep listening to her for the rest of the song. G-Dragon can't really compare to Dara here.

Gossip man was the first full track from the album that was leaked. It's relatively nondescript, but it can also get stuck in your head from days on end. The beat for this song is like just about every other one on the album--you wanna get up and dance to it.

Korean Dream is a great song, for sure. The first thing you'll notice about it is that it's a collaboration with fellow Big Bang member, Taeyang. The melody is so, so, so great. My favorite part? "One, two, step and turn left, to the right 바로 서!. Ladies and gentlemen." =3 I absolutely love the chorus. =P

The Leaders is track eight on the album, and a collaboration with other popular YG singers Teddy and CL. It seems much shorter than it is, really. I didn't even think that it was nearly four minutes when I first listened to it. The song really wouldn't be anything without CL in it. Once again, the 2NE1 girl steals the show. I love the spoken parts at the end. ^^ This song has such a great beat--perfect for blasting in the car.

She's Gone is one that I never really listen to; it's not much of an attention grabber. It has a nice enough beat with it, but it isn't one that I would have put on the album. ^^;;;

One Year Station is another upbeat dance track. The melody is really cute, but around this point in the album you're getting tired of upbeat dance tracks. ^^;;;; Either way, it's still pretty nice.

Overall Rating:
4/5

Recommended Tracks:
Heartbreaker
Butterfly
Hello
Korean Dream
The Leaders

~Review Candy: 2NE1 - The 1st Minialbum~

After listening to this mini-album, I wanted to do a review for it. Although I'm not one to write music reviews, I feel like I just had to do it for this mini-album.

Track List:

1. FIRE
2. I Don't Care
3. In The Club
4. Let's Go Party
5. Pretty Boy
6. Stay Together
7. Lollipop (bonus track)

Okay, let's start with FIRE. This track is definitely the best on the entire album. It has that strong, independent, catchy, "I-wanna-dance-to-it" sound. This was 2NE1's amazing debut track, and I was hoping that they're style would stay so strong like this.

Sadly, my hopes amounted to nothing as the second track of the mini-album, I Don't Care, immediately goes into a softer, slower pop/dance sound. It sounds just like your mainstream pop music--there's very little individuality with it. I was horrified when I listened to it for the first time.

In The Club is a little bit better, except for the fact that it's also a slow pop/dance track. Actually, it reminds me of a cross between Bi (Rain)'s songs Only You and My Way from his Rainism album. =D Honestly, this song sounds like it belongs on one of his albums. Either way, 2NE1 seems to pull it off pretty well. It's great for playing in the car when you're driving around with your girlie friends on a girls' night out.

As I hear Let's Go Party, my hopes for this album are falling...falling...falling. It's ANOTHER slow track! Apparently, 2NE1 loves those types of songs. I'm listening to it, and slowly falling asleep, and wanting to change the track. This song is pretty easily overlooked (and rightfully so) and it seems to get old--especially if you've listened to I Don't Care and In The Club before it.

After getting entirely tired of slow tracks, I get a great surprise in the form of Pretty Boy. This is another strong, upbeat track, just like FIRE. With the strong, sharp staccato trumpet notes that you hear throughout the background, along with the group's rap-ish vocals, it's definitely a great song, and gets five stars from me.

Aaaaaand...we fall back into slow tracks. Stay Together is pretty nondescript. It sounds like a normal, relaxing R&B tune. Actually, it's pretty mainstream R&B--especially in the United States. If 2NE1 ever debuts in the States, Stay Together should be their debut single, I think.

Now it's time for the bonus track, Lollipop. I absolutely adore this song. And since I'm a huge fan of Big Bang, hearing them in the song just makes it even better for me. It's easy to dance around to, and has such a catchy beat. If you're anything like me, you'll listen to it over, and over, and over again.

Overall Grade:
C+
3/5 stars

Best Tracks:
FIRE
Pretty Boy
Lollipop