How LOONA’s “So What” Signals the End of the “Girl Crush” Concept
Quote me now: 2020 is the year of the girl group, and LOONA is setting the stage.
Since LOONA’s new release “So What” dropped on February 5, I have listened to the song approximately 57,000 times, and it just keeps getting better.
The latest title track from the 12-member Korean girl group has been described as a “rambunctious, high-energy dance track” (Billboard) and a “thumping, electrifying anthem” (MTV). These are accurate descriptions, but I want to talk about what the song means for Kpop in general, and the seismic shift that we’ve been seeing girl groups begin to take in 2019 and now, 2020.
That shift is taking the “girl crush” concept and making it a “empowering women” concept.
Hints of this theme have begun to emerge in releases by Itzy, Mamamoo and others, but LOONA is definitely taking the concept to the next level.
Made to Break Boundaries
Reaching a new frontier in the Kpop scene is fitting for a group that was founded on breaking the mold: LOONA officially debuted in 2018 only after releasing a music video for every single member of the group.
Their debut alone pushed the boundaries of what a Kpop girl group could be, as they built a “universe” (sort of like the Marvel cinematic universe) around the mythology of the girls coming together to create LOONA. This kind of epic storyline was something that had only previously been done by boy groups like BTS and EXO, and never on the scale that LOONA achieved.
So with all of this build up to becoming a boundary-breaking group, I admit I was disappointed with LOONA’s debut release, “Hi High.” It has its quirks, but it’s ultimately a song that plays to the cute concept that most girl groups embody at some point, usually at the beginning of their careers to draw attention and popularity within the established norms.
But this proved to be a good thing for LOONA, since it gave them something to push back against for their second release “Butterfly,” which is a much more contemporary, EDM dance-pop track, featuring an equally contemporary choreography with complex formations and unique movements.
The music video also featured women of different body types and colors from around the world, incorporating the group’s audience directly into the MV. Pushing back against the cute concept and embracing the women in their audience would set LOONA up for their third comeback with “So What.”
An Unplanned Hiatus
After the release of “Butterfly” and the repackaged album “x x,” LOONA disappeared for a while due to some legal issues involving their company. While many were worried for the group’s survival — since most new Kpop groups these days will try to create as much content as possible in their first year or two to pique the public’s interest — I would argue that this break was well-timed for their concept development.
While they were gone, groups like Itzy and Mamamoo dropped powerful comebacks (“Dalla Dalla” and “Icy” and “Hip”) around the theme of women’s and girls’ independence, embracing the differences that make you unique, and rejecting the status quo.
These tracks, while amazing in their own right, also certainly influenced LOONA’s next release, “So What.”
The Confident Dance-Pop Masterpiece That Is “So What”
“So What” feels like the culmination of these new style of songs, not only encouraging girls to be independent but to “burn yourself,” (no, not literally duh): burn away the facade that society wants you to be, burn away the gendered expectations, until you’re left with your true self.
This is how they do it.
1. Referencing the OG Kpop Bad Girls, 2NE1.
The song opens with the stacked harmonies from the whole group singing, “I’m so bad.” This, along with the first few lines of the song (translated to English): “Always the obvious answers / Talk too long blah blah blah” is a reference to CL, the leader of the now disbanded Kpop group 2NE1. The line is rhythmically very similar to the opening of CL’s song, “Hello Bitches.”
And if you’re at all familiar with second gen Kpop, you’ll also remember CL’s “MTBD” with the famous callout, “Where all my bad girls at?”
With a chorus of “I’m so bad” ringing throughout the whole song, LOONA’s got your answer CL; they’re here, and they didn’t come to mess around.
No girl group has quite changed the game like 2NE1 changed the game, but LOONA is building on their legacy of breaking the image of what a woman can be.
2. Building on the Efforts of Other Contemporary Girl Groups
Remember when I said groups like Itzy and Mamamoo dropped their own independence, rejecting-the-status-quo-themed tracks last year while LOONA was on hiatus? Well it’s undeniable that LOONA has been influenced by those groups in the production of “So What.”
The song combines the shouting and yet playful tone of Itzy’s two 2019 releases as well the stacked harmonies and powerful vocals utilized so effectively by Red Velvet in many of their title tracks.
The latter comes as no surprise since the track was produced by Lee Soo Man, CEO and leader of SM Entertainment, Red Velvet’s label and one of the “big three” entertainment companies in Korea. This is a big deal for LOONA, since Lee Soo Man has never worked with groups outside of his company before. Reportedly, he decided to work with LOONA because he saw their cover of NCT 127’s “Cherry Bomb.” NCT is SM’s newest boy group.
The result is a sound that is both recognizable and brand new, the key to any great popular song.
3. By Girls, For Girls
It quickly becomes clear from the lyrics of the track that this is a song by girls, for girls, referencing songs made by girls that came before and paved the way for this kind of strong, preconceived-image-destroying anthem. Wham, bam, yes ma’am.
It’s not about love or heartbreak or “being bad” to get the attention of a boy, or breaking up with a boy, or somehow involving a boy in any way.
It’s about “being bad” as in the opposite of what society tells you that you can be as a woman, or a young girl in South Korea, for instance.
Here are some of the lyrics (translated to English) for you to get an idea of what I’m talking about:
- Chorus pt. 1: Being sharp, so what?! / Being cold, so what?! / Being fearless (Bad) / For what?! so what?! / (Ba-ba-ba-bad) / Take that, so what?!
- Bridge pt. 2: Let’s burn more fiercely / If you want it all, have it all / Because it shines without a break / Bad bad so what? / More overwhelmed / Open up your possibilities / So that no one can stop you
- Final pre-chorus: Eh your intense heart burn / Oh it’s getting hotter (Hey!) / A glass wall that trapped my heart / I’ll show you breaking that wall / A shining world, further / Follow me
The bridge leading into the final pre-chorus is especially awesome, and “the glass wall that trapped my heart” sounds real similar to the proverbial “glass ceiling,” doesn’t it? They know what they’re saying.
4. Comeback Concept
The concept for the comeback, as I mentioned earlier, is to “burn yourself.” There is also an ongoing “dark side of the moon” theme. The music video opens with different girls, some of them members and some not, turning slowly toward the camera, while a female voiceover says, “Do not accept the fate of the moon. Get off the track. Reveal to the world the hidden side. Burn yourself.”
As fans have already noted, the dark side of the moon concept has some really cool implications. One fan commented on the Form of Therapy review of the MV and song,
“I kind of interpreted this as EMBRACING being the “dark side of the moon”. As in, embrace your darker elements, be dark, be rebellious, “show the hidden side”. The fate of the moon is to be this idyllic light, but also has no light of its own; it reflects the light of the sun. It feels to me like they’re rejecting the idea and are both identifying with the hidden side of the moon, but also “burning themselves” in order to burn a light that exists on its own.” — dev
Now combine that interpretation with the traditional association of the moon as female and the sun as male, and what do you get? A refusal to continue “reflecting the light of the sun,” a refusal to continue reflecting the traditional roles imposed on women by patriarchal society, and instead, burn a new light that stands on its own.
If you look at it that way, LOONA is making a big statement not often seen in the Kpop world.
5. Video Production
The music video looks like a superhero movie, complete with meteors falling from the sky. There are scenes in a desert, a subway car, even some kind of classical government-type building, among many others. The video echoes the song by saying, go out and conquer these places with your bad self.
The video also consistently uses a fiery red light on the girls individually and in group shots, echoing the idea of “burn yourself.”
Fashion is always important in Kpop music videos, and while the general aesthetic in the individual and subgroup shots of members seems to go for more of a street or punk style, there are still members that wear flowery dresses, suits, even school uniforms. The message seems to be: whatever your style is, wherever you are in life, whatever you wear on the outside, project your authentic self from the inside.
Get mad about the restrictions forced on you, and break them.
5. Intense Choreo
LOONA proved they could handle one of the hardest boy group choreographies when they covered “Cherry Bomb.”
While the choreo for “So What” might not be quite that level of insane, it’s still pretty intense, with lots of complex formations and level changes.
As with everything else about the song and music video, it’s meant to be confident and in your face, always coming at you and never letting up on the intensity.
In Kpop, a lackluster dance performance can drastically undercut a song, but for “So What,” LOONA perfectly matches the powerful message of the track with an equally powerful choreography.
The Final Result
The 2NE1 tribute, building on the songs of other girl groups, the clear message of rejecting society’s standards aimed at women and girls, the epic concept and video, and the killer choreo — what does it all add up to?
It feels like a shift in the image of girl groups has been taking place for a while now, and this is it: moving from the “girl crush” concept to an “empowering women” concept.
The “girl crush” concept is basically a label that has been slapped on anything produced by a girl group that is somewhat darker and edgier than the standard cute concept many have embodied.
Those were really the only two choices, cute or girl crush (maybe also a funky concept, but usually with a lot of cute elements), especially for younger groups. And they are all about the male gaze.
That’s why “So What” feels so revolutionary; it’s speaking directly to, and only to women and girls, and it goes beyond the “girl crush” and cute aesthetics. In the girls’ outfits in the MV, there are elements of both styles and more: sport, street style, even professional.
It says, “Hey, look, you can be anything, do anything. Throw off their expectations, kick ass and take names. You can be beautiful and angry and passionate and cute and soft and hard and speak your truth. Go out there and rule the world.”
With “So What,” LOONA has marked an empowering, confident turning point in the girl group image, and I think we’ll only be seeing more of that image from girl groups in 2020.
Are you a Kpop fan? Did you love “So What” as much as I did, or do you think it’s a confusing mess? What do you think about the girl group concepts in 2020 so far?
Thanks for reading!
