The Queen of sass, attitude and sexiness has made a fierce comeback with her third mini-album “Nuna”.
“Nuna/누나” is Korean for “Older sister” and is also the title track of this roaring mini album. Looking back at Jessi’s previous songs, they usually reassure her fans that being different is the best thing one can do. Jessi does not fit into the mould of K-Pop and she embraces that, making her stand out in an amazing way from a lot of female idols. She does not follow the stereotypical “pretty girl” look that is inherited by some girl groups and she is proud that she can form her own personality without being held back.
Nunu Nuna:
With a catchy chorus and a simplistic choreography that started the “Nuna Challenge”, Jessi’s new title track anthem really puts her “scandalous” personality on the frontline and we are loving it! The entire song serves as an “I don’t care” to the people who don’t like her for being herself and breaking that mould of K-Pop. Wearing her tight fitted clothing and short shorts, saying “PSY oppar gave me the green lights” it really shows the lack of limitations she has being under her recently signed label Pnation.
The entire music video really captures the fun Jessi had in her new comeback, which was really refreshing to see. Although it kept her sexy trademark, “Nunu Nuna” seemed to have more of a cute and energetic element, a lot different to her previous music videos which focused on the sexy elements of Jessi.
In one of her previous songs “Animal” the line “The Oppars call me Nuna” is rapped, which came to mind when thinking about the title song. She is the Goddess of rap and knows she is above those who attempt to belittle her. In her new title track, she even refers to herself as “that Nuna”, implying that she is that idol who couldn’t care less about what others think of her.
Star:
From the offset, the song is a complete contrast from the previous song “Nunu Nuna” as the tempo is slowed down and an acoustic guitar starts the song. The lyric video comes across as quite angelic, a perfect scene to coincide with Jessi’s heavenly vocals. Once again, the lyrics relate to her journey as an out of the mould idol, stating how she “Fought this battle on my own”. The song is delivered more like a story, a story revealing the years of struggles Jessi had to go through to climb to the top and in my opinion, finally finding that self-love. This yet again makes Jessi more admirable and of an inspiration to those who are singled out for being different.
A line that really hit me was “I refuse to be fake. I’d rather be that b****” and that really summarises Jessi’s personality. She is as real as it gets and that is something rare to come across in the music industry, let alone the K-Pop industry. She doesn’t want to change herself to make others happy but instead stays true to herself.
Numb:
With a similar slow tempo to “Star”, “Numb” once again reveals Jessi’s more vulnerable and timid side to her, proving that she is still human and feels negative emotions. These emotions are extremely compelling too and are delivered through her powerful vocals, certainly putting those who tell her she cannot sing to rest.
The song tells the story of a breakup and those in denial feelings that still remain. Although Jessi knows they were a bad influence, she still waits for their calls and to cope with that not coming true, she drinks. Once again, Jessi is proving that these feelings and emotions are natural and are felt by everyone after a breakup, normalising those feelings.
Put it on ya (Featuring BM of Kard and Nafla):
This is a collab that I have been wishing for since I discovered Jessi. Herself and BM would work so well together, and in “Put it on ya” they certainly do deliver. The song follows the typical Jessi trend of lyrics and instrumental. It is a more sexual song with a club vibe and setting. With its upbeat and slowed-down tempos, it really proves to be a party song favourite!
Who dat B?:
Royalty, royalty, royalty! Give her a crown!
This music video is by far my favourite, with its perfect visuals, setting and Jessi’s jaw-dropping outfits. Once again, she proves she is not bothered by her haters in the slightest, reminding us that “No matter how successful I am, I stay loyal”. This is important, as a lot of artists in the music industry, commonly forget that their fans supported them and their success, then the connection between artist and fan is lost.
Jessi makes a connection with her fans “Jebbies” and tries to inspire them to be themselves, preaching “F*** em what they say about you”, showing that her success was doable by ignoring those who said it couldn’t be done.
Drippin (Featuring Jay Park):
Once again, another collaboration that had to happen as soon as Jessi step foot into Pnation! Both artists work so perfectly together and I could not think of another artist who could work so well with Jessi! (Maybe besides Hwasa and Hyuna, let’s hope they will collaborate in the future!).
The music video once again screams Jessi, it is totally her style and vibe! With the little clothing in some scenes and rap-style outfits, bizarre special effects and simple but smooth dancing she stays on brand. Without a doubt, Jay Park’s rap slides in perfectly and adds to the idea of riches and fortune, climbing his way into the music industry and making his own name known, something Jessi had done herself… Dancing in the background of some shots, with his face covered by a mask, is dancer, DJ and choreographer Monsterwoo (Young Woo). I identified who this mysterious dancer was through his signature movements and tattoos on his hand, it was amazing to see his first music video feature!
Overall, this album exceeded my expectations! It has been a while since Jessi has released a mini-album and when she announced it I knew it was going to be a success! Although there were only a few new songs in this album, it was pleasant to see how the songs already released coincided with one another and related to the new songs. The entire album represents her struggles as your not so typical K-Pop idol as well as her self acceptance and lack of care for those who badmouth her.
We cannot wait to see what Jessi has in store and hope for a full album while she is under her new label Pnation!
