Review: Woman Power–“Hate You Hate You”

Three former soloists form a trio of woman power.


Did you like the song?
Two of the top contestants from “Superstar K2,” Kim Greem and Lee Boram, joined together with soloist Suki—who had previously debuted with a collaboration with After School’s Kahi called “One Love”—to create this trio of Woman Power.

This song alternates its rhythm and style in each section, with the verses having a slow, Spanish guitar sound and the chorus being faster. So, predictably, I loved the dance number parts and disliked the ballad parts.

I guess my main problem is that this song doesn’t scream “powerful women” to me. I appreciate that they’re not highlighting their sexuality or anything, but at the same time, they’re not really doing anything. And standing in front of flowers doesn’t usually suggest confidence to me. On top of that, the lyrics of the song suggest that the ladies are angry at their ex for leaving them lonely and alone. Not exactly the stuff of celebrating femininity.

Powerful women to me signifies songs where women declare their confidence and independence: songs like the ones in which 2NE1 declares that they’re the best, the Brown Eyed Girls fight against oppression, 4minute tells detractors that they’ll do whatever they want to because they’re on the top, or SNSD lets their cheating boyfriend know that half the world is men so it makes no difference if he’s gone. (Heh, I should do a post on these songs.)

Maybe the “Woman Power” title is coming from their voices instead of their concept, but I’m sorry, if you pick a name like that, you have to know that people will expect a certain message from your songs, and it’s not standing around moping because your man left you.

Suki, Kim Greem, and Lee Boram.
What was your favorite part of the song?
I love the entire chorus. It’s super catchy and had me really excited for the song, but then it slowed way down, and I lost my enthusiasm for it.

Does the English make you want to rip your eardrums out?
I don’t think there was any English in this video.

Did you like the video?
Pros:

• Very inexpensive to make!
• We get an excellent look at all the members. I now feel like I know them really well.

Cons:

• It’s essentially laughable and dull, dull, dull.
• When the most exciting thing that happens in your video is that the background changes, that’s a problem.

Seriously, though, I’m a bit harsh on this. If they really don’t have the funds to make a debut music video with a more creative concept, this is certainly better than nothing. And it is cleverly edited with some swift transitions to go with the music.

Was there a storyline? If so, did it make sense?
Hahahaha, N/A like whoa. Let’s have another picture instead:

Kim Greem, Suki, and Lee Boram.
Was the dance cool and distinctive?
Well, the members have the finger wag down pat. I was having flashbacks to C-REAL’s “No No No No No” from, uh, yesterday.

The finger wag!
Do the members look good?
For all my joking about their lack of a concept, I feel like Woman Power is at least trying, though not succeeding, to live up to their name. And in an industry where either the infantilization or hyper-sexualization (or, disturbingly, both at once) of women seems to be the rule, that is much appreciated.

Which member stood out the most?
Greem really, really stole the show here. She is just so gorgeous, wow. And such expressive eyes. I’d put her in the middle of the group, too.

Suki, Kim Greem, and Lee Boram.
Do you like it enough to buy the song?
No. I wish they’d stuck with the faster pace of the chorus.

Any ending thoughts?
Honestly, I wouldn’t have reviewed this without the requests, so thanks to you guys! :)

Boyfriend’s one-liner:
“Don’t you just hate when you only have a budget for fake flowers?”