2PM - Tired of Waiting

Putting aside the DBSK + SM Issues for a while, here's a review! Yay. 2009 has been a very, VERY busy year for 2PM - the release of Again and Again, their shooting to super, extra fame because of it and finally Jaebom leaving over the whole MySpace comment controversy months back. A lot of buzz has been surrounding the release of this new single or rather the release of any material at all because the 2PM that was 7 is now 6. Of course no one's sure if Jaebom's back or anything because there obviously is no video out yet and no promo shots - just the song. I personally think this is how to do things in pop music - who cares about pictures or videos or whatever other things the industry releases to make more money, things should always, ALWAYS be about the music and nothing else. For that I respect JYP, the guy may have created the crap that are the Wonder Girls but at least he knows how to treat his boybands.

So ANYWAY, on to the song. When I first played Tired of Waiting I thought it was good - 2PM were back and they were doing it exactly how it's supposed to be done in Kpop. Auto-tune, a loop of an instrumental and the song as a whole sounded very current and something that would certainly be a gigantic hit now or in the near future. (I've heard that it's already storming online music charts)

As I kept it on loop like I always do though, I noticed some little things in the song. The second guy who sings (not sure who it is because the song's so heavily processed) sounds a heck of a lot like Onew SHINee - that was the very first thing I noticed. The comparison with SHINee doesn't end there I'm afraid - the verses of the song sound a lot like something that could've been on Year of Us. They really do. Actually the entire song does.

Now I know this one I'm about to say is a finer point but the percussion at the start REALLY, REALLY reminds me of DBSK's Survivor and I mean REALLY. When I hear the start I'm ready to burst out humming the instrumental to that rather than the 2PM song which can be a bad thing for me. But if you're not totally submerged in DBSK and don't know their entire discography like the back of your hand, I wouldn't worry. Hahah.

This is NOT a slow burn - it's not like Genie or It's You that take time to sink in. In fact, it's more like Ring Ding Dong (Here we go again with the SHINee comparisons. I'm sorry, OK? Hahah). The more I listen to it the more generic it becomes but I bet if I stop listening for maybe a day or 2 I'd love it again. It's that kind of song.

This song reflects the state of K-pop right now - everyone sounds like something else and the songs that sound like other hits eventually become hits. Look at what SeeYa have done. It's uncreative and all, I know but I'd rather have these guys respect the music, respect the artists and actually have music out rather than what SM is doing to DBSK. (sorry, just HAD to put that in!)

I think it's safe to say that 2PM are truly back - with or without Jaebom. The song will become a hit whether I like it or not, the way they're bringing it out has given me even the tiniest bit of hope that there are people in the industry who still actually care about the music and fans have been responding very warmly to this. What's more to ask?

4/5