Review: Block B–“Tell Them”

Block B throws an awesome waterside party with the help of their friends at Tropicana.


Did you like the song?
Reviewing a slightly older music video today by request! Created by rapper/hip hop record producer Cho PD, Block B is a rookie hip hop group who debuted with the impressive “Freeze!” and later released this song, “Tell Them.” No joke, despite being just rookies, I feel like they completely hold their own even with veteran Kpop artists in the hip hop genre.

However, just as in other Kpop rap songs (particularly Jay Park’s, but BIGBANG sometimes has this issue, too), it seems that while Block B certainly excels at rapping during the verses, the song loses energy and focus during the chorus. Even during some of catchy lines in the chorus, I wanted the song to get back to the great, fast rapping in the verses. (I didn’t particularly care for the “oh~ oh~” parts in the chorus.)

B.Bomb, Kyung, Zico, Jaehyo, P.O., U-Kwon, and TaeIl.
What was your favorite part of the song?


This part.
Oh, fine. I clearly liked the raps best, but I also liked P.O.’s “Moyo moyo, yeogiro moyo” (“Gather, gather around here”) part. And, yeah, not gonna lie, it’s because that low, T.O.P-like voice always gets me by making everything sound sexy. (It’s okay, even though P.O.’s the maknae, he’s 18!)

Does the English make you want to rip your eardrums out?
With most groups, heavy accents on English words are usually the problem. With Block B, it’s actually more word choice than pronunciation. Zico is affecting a kind of gangster accent, and although it’s not there yet (“boyz and gurlz” was kinda cringe-worthy), I think with some practice he could actually get it. On some lines he sounded really great. But, yeah, the word choice towards the beginning needs work: “You must up / B.L.O.C.K. is bang,” “trouble make.”

(First column:) Zico, Kyung, Jaehyo, (second column:) U-Kwon, TaeIl, B-Bomb, and P.O.
Did you like the video?
While in real life this is sadly not always the case, in movies and music videos, if you want a party, you will find one quickly and easily—and there will be hot girls there. However, in Kpop MVs, there will never be any drinking unless they want the song to be banned, so Block B takes some extra-careful measures here. The very first shot is of a can of Tropicana orange juice—which the can specifies to be “sparkling.” Where I come from, “sparkling” is just a euphemism for “non-alcoholic” (and fizzy) so I found this particularly amusing.

“Tropicana: for all your wild party needs.”
Sparkling orange juice…as opposed to what? Spiked orange juice? Mimosas? What kind of a party is this?


Yeah, you rock that sparkling lime, Zico.
Anyway, clearly Block B was traumatized by having “Freeze!” be banned for suggesting unwholesome dating methods. “What might that entail?” you ask, waiting gleefully for the gory details. Well, clearly some unholy mixture of whips, watersports, roofies, unprotected sex, altar boys, prostitutes, handcuffs, two senators, and a goat, of cour—oh. Okay. Well, yeah, I guess that these two lines could also do it: “Send all of your friends home” and “I’m waiting for you right here.” Man, what a letdown.

Was there a storyline? If so, did it make sense?
A bunch of cool kids are hanging out, drinking their sparkling lime juice, when the Block B gang crashes their party. They do some bike tricks, flip off of some walls, and get into a massive fight over the microphone and a girl, which eventually leads to a threesome.

It’s the happy solution to Twilight!
Now I’m all for threesomes, but shouldn’t the Committee of Youth Protection be paying more attention to that than lyrics suggesting a boyfriend and his girlfriend want some alone time?

Anyway, the threesome breaks up pretty quickly (via voting by applause or something? I didn’t really understand this part) and everyone gathers around the chain-link fence and dances (or, in Zico’s case, actually climbs the fence).

My main question is: where did they film this? Because to me it looks like it’s set in New York on the ocean or Chicago on Lake Michigan.

Is there somewhere in Seoul that looks like this?
Was the dance cool and distinctive?
Hmm, it looked slick when they were dancing in the MV, but after watching it lots of times, I still can’t remember any moves except the thumbs-up shoulder dance and this:


The mouth-wipe dance.
Do the members look good?
What is up with the clothes here? Who is designing Block B’s wardrobe? They’re good-looking guys, but almost everything looks weird. :/

Also, I might as well come clean: the reason I didn’t get into Block B when they debuted, despite how professional and polished they were, is because the group (like 2PM and BIGBANG) doesn’t have a stereotypically pretty member. I’m super weird like that, guys; I need my stereotypically pretty member. That doesn’t mean I didn’t like them or their music, it just means I couldn’t instantly pick out a bias, so there wasn’t an instant attraction to the members (except Jaehyo, hee hee).

(Top:) Kyung, U-Kwon, Jaehyo, Zico, (Bottom:) P.O., B-Bomb, and TaeIl.
And now to discuss Zico’s hair!

Which member stood out the most?
There’s no way you can give this to anybody but Zico’s hair ahem, Zico. Even if some of the dreadlock styles are crazy and look ridiculous, he somehow manages to rock them. It’s his supreme confidence that does it, I think; I’ve rarely seen that kind of swagger, and especially not in a rookie. And even if you don’t like his hair, it certainly has the advantage of making him stand out like whoa.


The first time I’ve seen a guy wear pigtails in a music video. Heechul didn’t even go there.
Do you like it enough to buy the song?
Both Block B’s MVs had me just on the edge of wanting to listen to them all the time. Maybe if they were a bit catchier, I’d be hooked? But not yet.

Any ending thoughts?
No way, Block B and B1A4 teamed up for an MTV reality program together?! That must be so entertaining…

Boyfriend’s one-liner:
“What’s with the smiley faces? They look like greeters at Wal-Mart.”

B-Bomb says, “Welcome, Valued Customer.”
Thanks for reading! I hope everyone takes a moment to wear poppies and observe Remembrance Day (or Veterans' Day), on this 11-11-11. Please comment, subscribe and request a review if you’d like. :)