Review: Block B–“NanlinA”

Jaehyo reveals his amazing talent for playing with fire.


Did you like the song?
Block B is back with an addictive new song. I’m kind of an idiot, so when Zico was sitting at the bar and that tinny song came on, I was like, “Whoa, I really like that song! I wonder what it is. I’ll have to look it up after this is done.” Yeah. *facepalm*

On another note, I love that little “brrrragh” at the beginning. It reminded me of 2NE1’s “I Am the Best.”

B-Bomb, Zico, Kyung, P.O, U-Kwon, Jaehyo, and TaeIl.
What was your favorite part of the song?
There’s no question, the main chorus with “yongyong jukketji (yayaya), ttara wa baby” (“Trying so hard will kill you; follow me, baby”) is amazing. I also love that escalation to the “nananana” part.

Does the English make you want to rip your eardrums out?
“You know what time it is? It’s Block B time!” Then Zico makes a bunch of references I don’t understand, like “BBC” (assuming he’s not referring to the British Broadcasting System—EDIT: apparently this is the name for Block B’s official fanclub. Really?) and “Delly Boy.”

But there is a lot of English throughout this song, and in general it is pretty decent or, like, deliberately wrong for stylistic effect, as native speakers do (i.e. “We rock rock rock rockin’ now”). I just had a bit of a complaint with B-Bomb’s questionable “I’m so groove, so special” and the “I don’t know, but I’m hot, hot” line, which sounds like “I don’t know, but I’m hard, hard.” (I’m pretty sure there is medication for that sort of thing, Block B, but thanks for sharing.)

A translation I found said that the title, “NalinA,” means creating an uproar, like causing a disturbance.

Did you like the video?
So Block B is back in front of a chainlink fence. This video was okay, not great. I didn’t completely understand the story. It seemed like a lot of preening around sets that were not that interesting or that just reminded me of other Kpop music videos where the same elements were used better. (BBCs are going to kill me for all these comparisons, I know. But I can’t help it.)

For example, the rooftop scene reminded me of the…rooftop scene from 2PM’s “Ultra Loverm,” and the lights on the roof reminded me of SHINee’s “Ring Ding Dong.”

Lights!
I was really digging the face paint, though, and was going to say that at least that element was completely original…and then I remembered U-KISS’ “Bingeul Bingeul,” where basically the same body tattoos were used in a more sexy and effective way.

U-Kwon demonstrates the cool face paint.
(My bf said this was the most godawful video he’d ever seen. But he does tend to exaggerate a bit with Kpop, especially when there are no hot girls to keep him distracted.)

Was there a storyline? If so, did it make sense?
TaeIl plays Zico’s leg like a guitar. Nothing else matters.

*hearts*
And Zico is a master of control over coin spinning and handcuffs. And Zico beats up a guy who was mean to the female bartender…

Impromptu Bouncer!Zico saves the day.
…whom Zico later handcuffs for no apparent reason. (Seriously, what is the reason for that? Does anybody know? What am I missing here? Is Zico just kinda kinky with a penchant for carrying handcuffs around?)

Oh, what, you want a real storyline? Okay, Jaehyo plays with his Zippo lighter. But doesn’t actually light anything on fire. See, the last time I saw somebody play with a Zippo, it was the actress in Secret’s Song Jieun’s “Going Crazy,” who (uhhhh, *spoilers*) freakin’ burns her boyfriend alive in her car using her Zippo and some kerosene. Nope, Jaehyo fiddling pointlessly with a lighter just isn’t going to cut it anymore.

You do have really lovely hands, though, Jaehyo.
Hmm, maybe this would make more sense if I understood Korean…

Anybody care to translate? EDIT: Apparently this just signifies the confrontation meeting time, written by Team Red Tiger. (Thanks so much, Drayycos!)
All right, all right, so the real storyline, as far as I can tell, is that two rival gangs, Team Black Dragon (led by Jaehyo) and Team Red Tiger (led by Zico), have the most weird and pointless confrontation ever. Nobody brings any weapons. Nobody actually fights; they just push each other and drag chairs around. Zico uses his supernatural powers to knock everybody except Jaehyo on the ground, then there’s a buildup to the final confrontation, which never actually occurs. But I’m guessing this will continue on to the next Block B music video? I would have preferred an actual dance-off or perhaps rap-off to determine gang superiority.

Whatever, have some scorching hot Jaehyo & Company:

Kyung, TaeIl, and Jaehyo.
Was the dance cool and distinctive?
I can, ahem, reliably report that it requires a lot of willpower to listen to the “yayaya” part of this song without waving your hands spastically in the air.

Put yo’ hands in the air like you just don’t care...
My bf likened this dance to SNSD’s “Mr. Taxi,” except in the air. Super Junior’s Heechul tweeted that it was “Planet of the Apes cool,” and I think he’s referring to the dance. And yet again Heechul hits the nail on the head, because this dance reminds me of gorillas with the weird hairy arms and stuff. Here is the “gorilla dance version” of this song:


Sooo, I don’t know if the dance really matches the theme of the song, but I like waving my arms in the air during that part. And clearly they should team up with Secret and do their baby gorilla dance from “Starlight Moonlight.” :)

(Top:) Zico, B-Bomb, (middle:) U-Kwon, TaeIl, (bottom:) Kyung, P.O, and Jaehyo.
Do the members look good?
Unffff, Jaehyo, how are you so attractive? I didn’t catch it in previous Block B MVs, but I’m getting it here for sure.

*fans self*
I do have to say, though, what’s up with TaeIl here? Everybody else is all *swag overload*, and here he is looking really adorable.

TaeIl looking cute.
Which member stood out the most?
Can you give this to anybody but Zico? A case can be made, I think, for U-Kwon or P.O and his eyebrow of doom or Jaehyo, but that’s probably about it. Zico is just too charismatic and gets too much of the screentime for anybody else to steal his spotlight. Turns out it wasn’t about the dreads after all. :)

Too swag for words.
Do you like it enough to buy the song?
Yup, and it’s on iTunes so I have! (Please, Kpop companies, for the love of God, follow suit and put your artists’ music on iTunes.) I liked this one right away.

(Top:) TaeIl, U-Kwon, Zico, B-Bomb, (bottom:) P.O, Kyung, and Jaehyo.
Any ending thoughts?
Zico apparently composed all the songs on this album, wow. He’s got to be one of the best hip-hop artists out there right now.

Boyfriend’s one-liner:
“Hey, you’re pretty. I’ll handcuff you and save you for later after I do my random muscle dance.”

Thanks for reading! And Happy Valentine’s Day tomorrow, everyone! <3