Asian Junkie Asian pop. Without discretion.
After a teaser that pissed me off, Block B‘s “A Few Years Later” turned out to be not nearly as bad as I was anticipating, even if it wasn’t what I generally look for from them.
On one hand, I was surprised by how much I didn’t hate it and actually found myself humming along. On the other hand, this still wasn’t the type of upbeat bop I was looking forward to after they’ve been kept in the dungeon by Zico for years. I’m not mad, I’m just disappointed.
That said … I sorta enjoyed it? This is right up the alley of the market they’re immersed in, because it’s essentially a coffee shop rap ballad. When I say that I usually mean it in a derogatory way, but “A Few Years Later” is executed about as well as the genre can be.
While the concept isn’t one I usually enjoy, the immersion is certainly there and it’s assisted by a theme-appropriate music video with polished visuals. Additionally, the instrumental certainly helps break my resistance in that it’s not a static snorefest, but actually switches up the sound quite often by adding and subtracting elements. The gentle tone of the vocal throughout has peaks and valleys, with a highlight coming towards the very end, and the rapping is about what one would expect from Block B.
As such, I begrudgingly give “A Few Years Later” a thumbs up, even though this definitely wasn’t what I was looking for when I read Block B was having a comeback.
