Doom Da Da

These past two months have basically been TOP-mas. The Commitment was released, which led to a whole bunch of photo shoots and magazine interviews that I devoured like mad. And now, we have the Badass One's first solo single since "Turn It Up" back in 2010.

Everyone has ever been on my now-deactivated Facebook account likely has seen the barrage of TOP-related links and photos that certain friends of mine have constantly posted on my timeline, hence presenting the image that I am a crazy TOP stan. Though I am fiercely loyal to the Badass One, I must also make clear that I am not one of those fans who blindly loves everything that their beloved artist churns out. I've made fun of the Badass One's wardrobe choices and hairstyles in past blog posts (see: Idol Worship). And though I was fond of songs like "Blue" and "Bad Boy" during the ALIVE era, I was underwhelmed by the Badass One's performance during that period overall. Granted, he was shooting a movie during the weekdays and touring all over the world on weekends (meanwhile, I got tired from traveling merely states away for interviews last month), so it's understandable that he must have been exhausted. But that doesn't mean I have to like his performances during that time, which felt almost detached and bored to me. In fact, I found myself going back to a lot of the group's older songs, where he was younger, cockier, and just more emotional.

Meanwhile, my affection for YG has declined somewhat over time. I was largely unimpressed by CL's solo and 2NE1's two singles over the summer. G-Dragon has always been a mixed bag for me, and so far the only song on COUP D'ETAT that I've liked enough to listen regularly is "Black." Taeyang came out with "Ringa Linga" not too long ago, and though I loved the dance choreography, I was fairly unmoved by the song. For better or worse, GD's fingerprints were all over that track, and frankly the electro-dance style seen in songs like "Fantastic Baby" is generally not my cup of tea.

So when the news began to leak that not only was the Badass One planning to release a new solo, but also that he would have total control over the artistic direction (with the warning that some might love it, but some might hate it), I felt conflicted. On one hand, the idea that he would be putting out something artistically polarizing made me hopeful that there wouldn't be another GD-styled song. On the other hand, TOP's musical sensibilities had become such a mystery to me that I honestly had no clue what he could possibly be scheming. The fact that the song was titled Doom Da Da just made me even more puzzled. Dadaism-inspired music? What on earth was gonna happen?

I wish I'd done a live blog of my reaction to listening to "Doom Da Da" last night, because I can't remember the last time I reacted so viscerally to a song.

The first time around, my reaction throughout the whole song could be summed up in three letters. It wasn't even a matter of like or dislike. At that point, I couldn't even process what I had heard, because my ears had never encountered anything like it. It was like the lovechild of a Bollywood soundtrack and American hip-hop with an explosion of rapidfire rapping at the end. It was, quite literally: W. T. F.

And here's the thing--after that first listen, I didn't think I liked it. I was like, Whoa there. Too far out for me. But then I listened to it a second time after I saw the English translation of the lyrics. Then, I was like, Hey the DOOM DA DA is actually kind of catchy. Then before you knew it, I found myself playing the track on repeat.

There isn't much I want to say specifically about the MV, which was very much reminiscent of "Turn It Up" and was a delightfully weird and artistic counterpart to the song. I feel like I would grasp the imagery better if I understood the lyrics as a native speaker. Rather than dissect the video, I'm going talk about why I've grown rather fond of this track concept overall.

As a solo, this is very much a song characteristic of the Badass One. It's weird in a restrained way that distinguishes it from some of GD's crazier tracks. I am not a K-pop guru by any means at all, but I can't imagine any other idol out there who would release a song of this flavor. To me, this was a complete breath of fresh air. It actually reminded me of two other artists whose off-kilter musical styles wowed me in high school--OLIVIA and Bjork. By the same token, I grew to love this song because for the first time in a long while, I saw a glimpse of what drew me to His Royal Badassness in the first place. The heavy hip-hop bass line, that wicked third verse where he raps with a ferocity reminiscent of his emotional live performances of "Act Like Nothing's Wrong."

In sum: Welcome back, O Badass One.