Asian Junkie Asian pop. Without discretion.
Bang Yong Guk‘s “AM 4:44” is a rare idol rap track that actually has a lot of lyrical substance, specifically in terms of him talking openly about the struggle he and B.A.P are having with their company, TS Entertainment. Thing is, “AM 4:44” is even rarer in that it’s an idol track that has a lot of substance but not much else going for it.
If performed by a superior idol rapper with a better flow (like Zico or something), I think this could’ve been absolute gold, but Bang Yong Guk still hasn’t done anything to shake my impression that the primary reason people/fans take him seriously as a rapper is because of his deep, husky voice that he generally uses to exude maturity or presence to compensate for skills that just aren’t there yet. It’s fine on idol tracks like “Going Crazy” because it really is just about how it sounds for mass appeal, but stuff like this does need/deserve something better than a deep voice that’s … uh … just talking to you.
Look, fans will love this just because it’s him and because of the subject matter and I don’t necessarily blame them. It’s an emotional song with a quality message that’s well worth releasing just as a matter of expression. Even for me, there’s no way I’m gonna give this a negative review because I do respect the lyrics and even what he’s representing with the music video (no image, just a silhouette, symbolism, yadda yadda yadda), I just … wish he was better at rapping it.
