BIGBANG’s very own Strong Baby is back with his brand new solo track, Gotta Talk To U!
Concept
Gotta Talk To U sees Seungri coming back with his own individual and signature look, and the MV contains a slightly darker, more mature and grown up concept.
The MV is dark, sleek, and incredibly well produced, and set in what looks like some impressive apartments and fancy venues, and it mostly contains near-gratuitous solo shots of Seungri – looking smouldering and manly – and the female lead, combined with some dancing scenes. There is little-to-no storyline in this MV, and as such, not much really happens other than seeing Seungri doing little more than following a woman and watching her but not getting close to her. I mean, Seungri looks great, the setting, camera work and everything look amazing, but in some ways I felt that the lack of anything really happening in the video was a bit of a shame, because with Gotta Talk To U having such a controversial teaser, I had been expecting something perhaps more daring and fast-paced than this.
Seungri and the female lead only interact at the very end of the MV, and not for very long. If we go by the song title, it seems that he wants to talk to her throughout the whole video, but when he finally gets to her…well, that didn’t look like talking to me. Tut tut. In some ways, this MV strongly reminded me of Justin Timberlake’s Cry Me A River, as it appears that Seungri has just been watching her all this time…in her house. It all looks very sleek and cool, but it doesn’t make much sense to me because he clearly knows her, so why is he just watching her and not talking to her? A little bit creepy?
In-keeping well with the overall grown up concept of the video, the style used in this MV is simple and quite understated as Seungri mostly wears dark coloured and monochromatic suits. This was a very good choice as Seungri looks very handsome and mature, and at the same time it is the kind of simple style that holds a universal appeal; Seungri gets to look pretty sexy and baller, all the while, this is the kind of fashion that might be worn by male artists here in the UK. So, while the clothing is spot on, the makeup Seungri wears in the MV is pretty heavy and smoky, and this could be a little off-putting for UK audiences who aren’t used to seeing guys wearing obvious makeup.
UK Potential: 3/5
Choreography
You don’t actually see a huge amount of choreography in this MV, but what you do see seems to contain energetic and fast-paced moves, combined with some slightly slowed-down and sexy choreography points that match up well to the overall concept.
One of the notable moves in the routine is during the chorus, where we see some subtle side-to-side body waves. This move looks pretty laidback yet impressive, and it is definitely one of the most memorable parts of the choreography that also looks pretty simple; it is just begging to be copied by people.
UK Potential: 3/5
Song
Gotta Talk To U is a fairly solid pop tune with an electro beat, and while I can’t help feeling like it has no particularly distinctive sound to it, it isn’t far off the kinds of music we hear playing on the radio here in the UK. The last minute or so of the song contains a much stronger ‘clubland’ feel as the electro sounds become much more full-on, which gives the track a little bit of an interesting edge.
With the lack of diverse and varied vocals or an edgy or unusual arrangement to the track, it feels like this song runs the risk of being not particularly memorable or interesting in comparison to other more immediately attention-grabbing songs being released recently. But despite all this, we’re actually left with a surprisingly soothing and charming track, that while it’s not the most interesting song I’ve ever heard (and therefore pretty inoffensive), it most definitely has the potential to have a strong appeal to a wide audience here in the UK.
This song has a very different feel to the music BIGBANG produces, which was a very wise move as we get a better feel of Seungri as an artist as opposed to Seungri-the-youngest-member-of-BIGBANG, and shows what he’s capable of himself. This track is less edgy and experimental comparatively to BIGBANG’s signature style, and it contains more of a mainstream sound which is certainly going to help appeal to many more people all over the world.
The only English used in this song is ‘hustlin’, hustlin’, I’m hustlin’, hustlin’, which if I’m completely honest, I didn’t realise that this was what he was saying. It’s not that it’s particularly badly pronounced, it’s just that there is literally no other English and it’s a bit out of the blue. It’s probably best that there is little-to-no English in this track anyway, because as far as I’m aware, Seungri’s English isn’t the best, and good English when used is paramount to appealing to the UK market in my opinion.
Luckily, I don’t think English will be needed for Gotta Talk To U to appeal to people if it were released here in the UK, as it has the kind of sound that will probably grow on you despite the language barrier.
UK Potential: 4/5
Highlight: – Those glittery brogues Seungri is rocking at the beginning of the MV. Awesome.
Overall UK Potential: 10/15 – With great fashion used, sleek production and an overall quite charming track, I fail to see how Gotta Talk To U wouldn’t hold some kind of appeal to the mainstream audience in the UK.
Haven’t seen the MV yet? Check it out below!
