After only a few weeks since their last MV, B.A.P. are back once again with their new track, Badman!
Concept
This time around, BAP are back with a darker concept, and true to form, they are addressing an important issue through their music; in this MV, people are rioting against some kind of authority. The video is set partially in what seems to be a post-apocalyptic wasteland and flashes back to what looks like a time before the fighting and rioting began. The flash backs seemed to me as if they were serving as reminders that the people who are rioting aren’t the bad people that they have been portrayed to be. In mainstream media, rioters quite often tend to be dehumanised and disregarded as bad people who want nothing but to incite violence, but with scenes showing some rioters spending time with loved ones and doing everyday activities, this MV is a stark reminder that these are people just like everyone else.
You even see a striking scene where we flash between two situations; two men doing some kind of illicit deal in a back alley and one shoots the other as he walks away, and an armed policeman firing at the rioters. It seems like an important comparison to make, because these are both acts of terrible violence, but one of them would be government sanctioned while the other is punishable. Whether this was the intended message behind this part of the MV or not, to me it was a very interesting and important point to be raised.
The majority of the MV is set in a wasteland outside of a falling down building, giving the MV a bleak and almost austere feel to it. This wasteland is where the fighting between the two sets of people happens with the BAP members standing amongst them. In these scenes there is a lot of fire, explosions and general violence between the rioters and authority, although it’s not clear why there’s a fight. I assume the reason behind the violence isn’t the point, but the violence itself is. There are also scenes inside of the building, which shows a decaying decadence as it is also in disrepair, which mainly consist of the members together or individually.
In keeping with the dark concept of the MV, the outfits and style worn are mostly dark in colour. We see a mix of styles throughout the video; stripy outfits, leather garments, and unusual accessories such as fishnet face masks. All this combined with the war-like face paint worn at times throughout the MV comes together to create a very strong, rebellious feeling, and it matches very well with the overall concept and sound of the song. I think the outfits worn actually match up very well with the MV to the point that despite some of the outfits being quite unusual and perhaps bizarre (the striped outfits…even I raised an eyebrow), they really don’t look out of place. As such, I don’t think they would be that off putting to potential UK viewers.
On a slightly different note, this looks as if this is another video that they shot in the time that they were in the US for part of the Pacific Tour, which amazes me because that means that they shot three MVs among other schedules in the week or so they were there. Colour me impressed!
This MV is very different to most of the videos we see released by bands and artists who are popular here in the UK, especially boy bands, and as such I think it would easily be very memorable if it were ever officially released here. I can imagine the action in the MV appealing to guys quite easily!
UK Potential: 3.5/5
Choreography
You don’t actually see a huge amount of the total choreography as the majority of the MV focuses on the rioting and fighting taking place outside of the building, but what little you do see is strong, forceful, and striking.
One of the most notable moves in my opinion is when they stand mostly still with their arms stretched out to the side, as if on a crucifix; it almost gave the feel of judgement and martyrdom, which matched very well with the dark concept of the MV. There are also some pretty impressive flips and spins executed by the main dancers of the group, and it will be very interesting to see the full choreography when this is performed.
UK Potential: 3/5
Song
At first listen, I found that Badman sounded slightly jarring as the melody sped up and slowed down without warning between the chorus and verses. Badman is a mix of hip hop and R&B with electro synths sprinkled throughout, but at times it felt like the song couldn’t quite decide what genre it was. They have done this kind of mixing of genres before, even as recently as Hurricane, but this time around it felt like it hasn’t been blended as well together as previous times which can lead this song to being quite unremarkable and unable to be easily remembered. That being said, after listening to the song a few more times I came to find that I absolutely loved it; I found the change in tempo and unusual synths added throughout to be quite appealing and almost the charming point of the song, and the track actually started to sound like it flowed much better than I had initially thought. With the mix of cool hip hop combined with soulful R&B moments; it combines to create a badass sounding anthem that makes me feel inspired, empowered and like I can change the world. I’m a bad man. Yeah.
When I took a look at the translated lyrics, I saw that Badman was about pretty much what I had guessed it to be about; social justice against corrupt authority, and not standing idly by when you see wrongdoing. Upon seeing the lyrics the end of the MV made much more sense to me, as I had been confused as to why everyone who had been fighting had ended up falling down to the ground around BAP. This had confused me because I had assumed that BAP were on the side of the rioters who seemed to be fighting for some kind of justice, but the lyrics suggest that everyone involved in the riot, be it authority or rioters, is guilty of some kind of crime and no excuses are accepted.
There is more English used in this song then I had originally realised, because as I have said before, BAP’s pronunciation of English words isn’t always the best. I was happy to see that there are no mistakes in the English used this time round, it’s simply that the pronunciation isn’t always as clear as it could be, and that’s the only reason why I missed some words here and there. Some of the English used is; ‘I got a feeling’, ‘give it up’, ‘because I’m dangerous’, and ‘I’m a bad man’.
I think that because Badman sounds really cool and has a very strong feeling, and the message in the music is refreshing and uncommon in pop music, it should be very memorable and I think appeal to a lot of people. Sometimes the world feels like a very scary, violent place, and music addressing important issues like this gives me some hope. It’s very easy and tempting to turn a blind eye to the bad things in the world, but anthems like this shed new light on important issues and make them more difficult to ignore. We need more music like this.
UK Potential: 4/5
Highlight: – Despite Him Chan and Jong Up still having very few lines, this BABY was very happy to hear Him Chan singing more than rapping!
Overall UK Potential: 10.5/15 – I think the social justice and change aspect to Badman could catch the attention of a lot of people, seeing as rioting and corruption are very real problems in many parts of the world. Badman has a distinctive and unique sound, and the overall concept is fierce, brutal and pretty unforgettable. I would love to think that this song would appeal to a lot of people here in the UK, but I think a large part of the appeal might come from peoples understanding of what the song is about, and seeing as the English lyrics don’t give much away about what the Korean lyrics mean, this song might not catch as much attention as it would deserve.
But what do you guys think of this song? Have you seen the MV yet? If not, check it out below!
