Kpop Hip-Hoppers M.I.B released their single Let’s Talk About You at the beginning of December, after postponing it from it’s original release date of early last month, November 2013. There has been two separate translations of this title from it’s Korean title 너부터 잘 해 (Feat. 윤보미 Of 에이핑크). Both ‘Worry About Yourself First’ and ‘Let’s Talk About You’ have both been tagged as names of this song on articles, lyrics and videos. The digital single is listed on iTunes as 너부터 잘 해 Let’s Talk About You (feat. 윤보미).

Before I start in on this video which is 4 kinds of yuhkejahng yummy (That is a spicy Korean beef dish–I was saying they are hot man meat. Got me, k?), I have to say that I was really thrown because I think the last time I got delivered something this soft and poppy in video form by M.I.B would have been Only Hard For Me, which is still a song I love. I find it strange though when M.I.B releases something that isn’t meant to make you party in your pants. Songs like this and Hard For Me make me feel a little shiny inside where my heart is.

This video and song is a great cuddle, cry and break my freaking heart song. I’m a sucker for Cream, he’s my M.I.B bias and I think he is just the thing in this MV (well in all of their MV’s too–he’s just always ‘THE’ thing with me). The video begins with 5Zic’s, who is the amazing maestro and maker of this lil’ diddy, moody spoken intro about a fading relationship with the verse:

Baby talk about me
Baby talk about you
Baby talk about us
Yeah, we endured through all this way
But now, everything is so confusing

Yoon Bo Mi one of the lovely singing songbird lead vocalist for the group A Pink lends a melodic pop influence to M.I.B’s funky style in a awesome way that adds to the layers already created by M.I.B members. KangNam’s smokey sexified lyrics alongside Yoon Bo Mi’s voice make incredibly soulful musical feelies. I think what I’m saying is together they make lyrical note-like song babies that joyfully gather together to bellow out a lament that says, “Stop it, worry about yourself first.” And, “I’m sorry Babe, I didn’t do anything wrong Babe, You made me like this.” –But they do it at different times and quite equally. But many many song babies.

Going back to my love for Cream. He and SIMS have the real rapping hunk of this song. These two have very distinct styles. I am leaving out 5Zic for the sake of this song only because of the fact that the majority of the heavy rapping is done by the others and I’ll cover 5Zic’s contributions at the end where I will also give him gold stars for being awesomesauce and make comments about how much I hated how the wind ruined his hair.

Cream has the first verse in the song which opens the story of this bitter lullaby. That hip hop style I love of “I-know-I’m-Damn-Good-Baby”, which drives me crazy, is something Cream has that makes my flip-flop inside my chest do it’s flip-flop. That shrug and laid back, cool and slick, thing is something I love and for the verse that is saying:

Baby talk about me, What
You and I, are half done already
Even the stacked up letters changed
Like a scribble that is half ripped off
Now it becomes another impossible promise to keep

It makes perfect sense because he is basically saying chick, ‘I don’t know why shiz is all effed in the eh but… I’m gonna shrug here, look sexy and hot and shake my damn handsome head and say that baby, I tried and you break my heart, ooooo.’ I Gestalted all of that.

Now the second verse is SIMS, who is an entirely different style in normal times and in his delivery here he is very staccato and forceful, because he has major fro-fros! While I’m not going to sit here and wax poetic about how I love him, (no offense dongsaeng!) since that is not where my SIMS respect comes from I will say his ability to make the soft sounds of the Korean language sound hard is impressive (I would explain that but unless you know the differences in Asian languages or are truly interested it would waste my time on a huge scale. And if one more person ching chongs me, I will draw blood. You are wrong–all of the Asian languages are vastly different–I WILL STAB YOU IN THE EYE, ADA). What SIMS is saying explains the harsh delivery though and calls for the aggression. This verse is more or less the crescendo of the relationship. This is when the blood is pumping and strong words are being said.

Yeah where should I start from
I don’t know, the problem is probably me again
Your frowned face
Firmly closed lips
Meaningless time with many mistakes

Although it is simply sensible to have KangNam sing the most emotive parts since he is an incredibly emotive vocalist, I really like that 5Zic  raps the most emotional lyrical parts of Let’s Talk About You. Because Idols are trained for so long as singers, dancers and entertainers sometimes there are lead vocalists who have exceptionally beautiful voices but something is lacking when they are singing. KangNam is not one of those Idols, and, goodness me,  the man’s voice is smooth like sinful yummy expensive hot chocolate. It’s like sex on a stick–well if sticks were vocal and stuff.. I could listen to just him sing the alphabet for hours and be happy. Digression back to 5Zic… I like that the verse he raps is the one, two punch of the most painful and sorrowful last verse to the song with the lyrics:

The street on which we met for the first time
Welcome, Hi, with blushed cheeks
My smile spread like paint on a paper
The next day is an R-rated day, marked on a calendar,
were our memories
That is what I hold on to hopelessly
We can’t deny the end to our relationship
Yes, we are standing at the end of it

Let’s Talk About You really shows an incredible depth for 5Zic. The music is a lot more palatable for kpop masses than M.I.B’s general discography might be and this shows growth and musical diversity for 5Zic as an artist beyond just being a marginalized hip hop performer. While this is still not likely to be a song that will find a great deal of success in Korea popular mainstream, the fact remains that 5Zic could increase the audience base of M.I.B by diversifying the sound of the Idol group. And in my opinion this band has a great deal of potential being as all the members are very talented.

M.I.B’s last release was actually one of my favorite songs of this past year. Nod Along! got stuck on rotation on my iTunes and the video was one I downloaded to watch off of YouTube. I really love Let’s Talk About You and I haven’t become as obsessed with it, but it did find a place on my Best of 2013 Playlist.

I hope someone likes this new review section. I have mad plans for 2014 and I see no reason not to indulge all my loves. M.I.B is represented by Jungle Entertainment. Some of the members can be found on Twitter: KangNam, Cream and 5Zic. Cream also has an Instagram account.