TW: mention and discussion of cultural appropriation, racism, and the n-word. Deeper discussion in a separate post.

SHINHWA was formed in 1998 and is currently the longest running k-pop group in history, breaking the so-called 7-year curse three (and a half) times over. They have six members: Eric, Minwoo, Dongwan, Hyesung, Junjin, and Andy, who have been together since the beginning, and are one of the most formative groups of k-pop’s 1st generation.

Here are my credentials: uh…none? I can name about three SHINHWA songs off of the top of my head, which is slightly embarrassing. I know of course about their incredible legacy, but similarly to BTS, I’ve been a k-pop fan for half a decade now so I figured it’s time to get to know such an important group better. 

(Part Two)(Part Three)(Part Four)

Album #1: Haegyolsa / Resolver

Haegyeolsa (in English, “Resolver”) is the first single from the first album, which follows the more Western idea of several singles per release rather than the one or two more common in K-pop now. It’s a statement right out of the gate, combining the sound of rumbling thunder, strings, a rock guitar, a piano, and a very 1st / 2nd gen sound. I’m not the biggest rap person, truth be told, but even I can admit that there’s some great flow here, and I ended up nodding along. It’s more on the R & B side than I expected given SHINHWA’s image, and I was pleasantly surprised by how much I liked it. It’s very 1998, of course, but in a warmly nostalgic way (she says as though she was a teenager in 1998). 

Sidenote: I have so many questions about the music video. What in the name of all that is dark and unholy are those sparkly gold…Juicy Couture-esque tracksuits? Why are they on a swinging pendulum? Why’s it in slow motion? What is this terrible lighting? Why are there famous photos in black and white? I can’t decide if this is horrible or the best thing I’ve ever seen. Maybe it’s both? Maybe I’ll make up my mind by the end of this review.

Eusha Eusha! is a little more what I was expecting in terms of the breakneck-speed tempo, but with its bright synths and high voices, it has an overall happy vibe that surprised me. I enjoyed this one more than Haegyeolsa, definitely, and was surprised by how k-poppy it felt, especially in terms of structure. I can see why many people consider this album the birth of what’s now classified under 1st gen. It’s a bit of an odd little track, with the reggae (?) influences, vocalizing, and beat drops, but it’s very charming. The MV also made me laugh, but is much more what I expect from k-pop, and is quite cutesy with terrible quality (and way too many male gaze-y shots of the women in bathing suits). But it’s also a lot of fun.

Sharing Forever also feels like k-pop in its very early form, albeit more on the R & B ballad side, and is a little forgettable, but still nice. I think that it’s probably partly my own assumption from the image that “powerful” boy groups now tend to have, but as mentioned, I was very surprised (pleasantly, mostly) by how gentle and vulnerable their singles so far have been and how much English is there too.

From the first album, Haegyeolsa / Resolver, I enjoyed the quirky, surf-rock beat of Rock & Roll Summer, the vocalizing in the background of Kiga Jalatsseoyo, the sample and catchy beat of Bisanggu, and the jazzy R & B of Thanks. Also, special shout-out to the incredibly dramatic spoken English in the ballad Neul Naega Weonhaneun Geoseun, because I got a little bit of a chuckle out of that, truth be told. It’s nice to know that not everything in k-pop has changed. 

~~Interlude: Discussion Of The N-Word~~

So, I wanted to put in a warning right here: Noonmool (Tears) has the n-word in it, spoken at the very beginning, and I nearly choked on my water because it felt like it punched me in the face out of nowhere. I try not to include any discussion of controversy with songs because often it’s either contrived or not relevant to the song itself (as infuriating as it is that an idol is wearing box braids in a video again, that’s normally the fault of the stylist or company and usually doesn’t translate to the music), but I feel like it’d be a disservice to every black k-pop fan if I praised the song without even mentioning it. 

What angers me the most about it being here is not just that it’s racist (which, I sincerely hope I don’t need to say that it is) but that it’s so unnecessarily so, in a language that most of the song isn’t even in. It just feels like effort was taken to make it that way, which is even worse.

Album #2: T.O.P. (Twinkling Of Paradise)

Yo! is a very angry song right out of the gate, much angrier than most k-pop gets these days (it starts with a “we return to the battle ground; we are SHINHWA”, for starters), and channels the very specific vein of rage that only people under 25 seem to have. After saying that, it seems that SHINHWA is incredibly determined to surprise me, because this song is all about living your life for yourself and having confidence, albeit not without a fair share of angst because this was 1999. 

T.O.P. (an acronym for Twinkling of Paradise) starts with a gentle string section lifted from Swan Lake, before going into the kind of slow R & B hip-hop that I’d expected. It seems fairly standard by the era, but it was a nice track, all in all. I enjoyed its later moments more than its earlier ones, definitely, since the instrumentation gets more fun and unique, and…spacey, maybe? 

Remember how I said that I hoped I didn’t have to mention the n-word again? I spoke too soon, because here we are again, and I’m not going to repeat myself because if I do then I might throw something, but suffice to say that I’m seeing red and feeling sick right now, and I’m not even black. I can’t even imagine how someone who is would feel, because this is horrifying. I’d love to hear your thoughts if you are, though. 

From the second album, T.O.P., I enjoyed the mix between the breathy hip-hop and surprisingly harsh-rock yells in the pre-choruses of Cycle, the rushing intro of Breaking the Silence, the smooth vocalizing in Desire, the interpolation of brass in To.G, and especially the swirling electro of Grief. And again, the incredibly dramatic English intro in Nothing made me laugh, so kudos.

~~Interlude: Discussion Of The N-Word 2~~

(The least anticipated sequel in history)

And just when I was ready to say that this song is great…I realized that it also includes the n-word, this time in the damn chorus. (I didn’t realize before because there’s a word in Korean, “naega”, that means “I” and sounds very similar.) Come on, guys. What makes this even sadder is that I genuinely do love this song; it’s incredibly catchy and it’s got a great message, that it completely undermines by using one of the worst racial slurs four times. 

Look, I know that this was a quarter-century ago. I know that they were teenagers in Korea and I doubt that they knew the incredibly painful history of the word. I’m not saying that they’re horrible people. But that doesn’t mean we should shrug our shoulders and give them a pass. I’m glad to hear that they censor it in live performances now (after the highly publicized cover by RM, i believe, correct me if I’m wrong), but it shouldn’t have been there in the first place. Let’s hope that this is the last paragraph I have to write about this.

Album #3: Only One

We left off just before a break-through hit in Perfect Man, and we’re now…still in 2002, oh my god. I hope they got some sleep. Perfect Man is one of the few songs that I already knew of SHINHWA, since it’s very widely covered and pretty popular still in the world of k-pop. It’s considered a classic, and for good reason: it’s catchy, it’s angsty, it blends their signature hip-hop, 90’s / 2000’s pop, synths, and rock influences together, and it’s also a love song, meaning it was basically destined to become a hit. This is, genuinely, a great song, and I really enjoyed it.

Only One is most similar to T.O.P. from the songs so far; it’s incredibly 90’s, reliant on the hip-hop and R & B common for the time, and thus isn’t the most engaging track without others. However, its harmonizing is great and makes for a much better song, especially in its last minute and final chorus (and made me appreciate their voices much more).

All Your Dreams’ opening feels tailor-made to a dance floor with gentle strings and a soft piano, then decides to just go for it with a guitar riff out of nowhere. I confess I liked this one more from the start; its driving beat, catchiness, and more engaging vocals won me over even before the first chorus. I even enjoyed the rapping, and found myself nodding my head. SHINHWA’s voices are very suited to this kind of rock style. First Love, unsurprisingly, is very classic in the realm of ballads; “this one’s for you” is in the spoken word intro. It’s very pretty, but ultimately forgettable. And it definitely doesn’t need a rap.

From the album, Only One, I enjoyed the rock guitar riffs mixed with the interesting strings from the Intro and I Wanna Be, the excellent driving beat of Jam #1, the background vocalizing of Never Come To Me, the build-up in Change, and the beat in Vortex (which really reminded me of I Need U by BTS, or, I suppose, that reminds me of this). 

~~Interlude: Discussion Of The N-Word 3~~

For the love of Christ.

I sincerely wish that I didn’t have to mention this yet again, but the song Soul again mentions the n-word, several times, something that’s particularly egregious as it’s a love song and also includes the phrase “this goes out to my homeboys and brothers up there” in an all-English verse that was clearly inspired by American rap / hip-hop and black culture, without the incredibly important centuries-long context that that culture was born in, something that’s also incredibly disrespectful to all of the artists that they’re “taking inspiration” from. 

Imagine if an African-American person used specific Korean words from the Japanese Occupation period that have a long history as slurs against Korean people. They would be justifiably furious. We’re now in the year 2000, by the way, three years and four albums into their careers, and this is the fifth song that’s featured the n-word, although due to the word similarity I’ve mentioned earlier, there could be more that I’ve missed.

And here’s where we’ll leave off for part one! It’s…definitely a mixed bag so far, that’s for certain, but I’ll leave my final thoughts until the end. I have a feeling (call it intuition) that this is going to end up being a three parter, so we’ll have to see.

(Part Two)(Part Three)(Part Four)