As if I wasn’t already absolutely in love with Hwasa’s music, her first full solo EP- María, has been one of my favourite releases of the past year. Though the title tracks are absolute bops on this album, I fell in love with I’m bad too (ft. DPR LIVE) and I haven’t been able to stop listening to it.
I’m such a sucker for lo-fi songs, so to hear something with soft acoustic guitar and flowing vocals from Hwasa was like a dream come true for me. It feels like one of those late-night driving songs that you can just lose yourself in as you listen to it.
DPR LIVE’s rap style fits the song perfectly and packs that little bit of extra flavour into the track. I was already such a massive fan of both Hwasa and DPR LIVE so to see them team up for this song was absolutely awesome. Their dynamic on the song is so refreshing and feels very laid back to match the chilled vibe of the song.
In regards to the lyrics, I love that Hwasa seems to challenge the notion that female idols have to be delicate and cute to be successful in the kpop industry.
“I’m bad too (I’m bad too)
Are flower roads the only roads?
Comfortably play and fall asleep yeah”
To me, this comes across as Hwasa saying that the flowered roads are the prim and delicate expectations that are expected of most female idols. She considers this “comfortable” and dull enough that she would fall asleep because of it. In this EP, Hwasa is outwardly defying this idea and carving her own way through her music career. I’ve always admired Hwasa for her outspoken nature as an idol and I love that she has used this EP as an avenue to express that even further.
For both the brilliant production on the song and the message that it represents, I’m bad too has firmly taken the top spot as my Song of the Week. If you haven’t listened to this song or EP yet, i’d absolutely recommend it.
Check out this live performance of ‘I’m bad too’ below and let us know what you think!
