[Single & MV Reviews] MOBB - 'Hit Me' & 'Full House'

MOBB, composed of Song Min Ho and Bobby, are the next hip hop duo from YG Entertainment to keep a close eye on.

Expectations were pretty high for Mino and Bobby to really bring it, and bring it hard. So did the two idols succeed in doing just that and possibly more? They did...to a degree. "Hit Me" and "Full House" both went hard, but neither fully hit enough for a memorable impact. The songs were sort of what I was expecting from the two: "gettin' turnt" anthems in which they revel gloriously in the fleeting grandeur that is youth.

I don't mean to say the songs are bad; in fact, Mino and Bobby stand less as K-Pop idols and more as hip hop artists through MOBB, flagrantly flaunting their flippant attitudes and living every day like it's their last. But living so precariously on the edge all the time gets awful tiring fast, and these songs may grow to feel the same.

This was especially the case for "Full House" for which Mino and Bobby get extremely shout-y and aggressive. And I mean just that: they are just shouting their verses with unchecked abandon. The composition for "Full House" is actually catchy and pretty consistent, grabbing a tight hold of the listener's attention with a mixture of zig-zagging synths and a deeply sonorous bass that rumbles throughout, moving back and forth between fast-paced verses and a noticeably slowed down refrain.

It's the rapping style that grates at your nerves. Mino and Bobby heedlessly douse themselves in a night electrified by carnal desires. Let me remind you that the half the song are repeats of "Get on me girl," "Let's rock girl," "Let's go to Hong Kong all night ("going to Hong Kong" is basically a weird Korean euphemism for having sex)," and, at one point, Bobby says, "Climb me, I'm like King Kong." What can I say, Mino and Bobby like to get straight to the dirty deed.

Ultimately, yes, it is a party song that's all about--big surprise--partying and getting turned up, but expressing this party hardy attitude should not go hand-in-hand with such a tiring false-front of bravado. Maybe it's precisely in this manner that MOBB intended to deliver the 'let's-just-get-wasted-and-have-a-good-time-because-why-the-heck-not-we're-young' mindset, but just because they intended it and fully channeled it does not mean that I should force myself to like it and/or praise it. I was expecting something less trite and overdone from MOBB, particularly because both Mino and Bobby are talented K-Pop idols.

Thankfully, "Hit Me" left me with less of a hostile impression, mostly because I really like the beat and melody. Plus none of the insufferable bravado present in "Full House" was there. Or at the very least, it was dialed way down. The melody's got a sort of old school vibe to it, a catchy dance tune with hip hop influences. Now this is a track that I can bump to day in and day out! It doesn't get easily tiring or grating to your aural senses. I also got hints of Jinusean's "Tell Me One More Time" and Big Bang's "We Like 2 Party" from "Hit Me," except "Hit Me" is more reliant on a faster paced dance/synth-based melody. It's still a laid-back party tune that's enjoyable without the cringe from a dull "bro" type of party anthem.

MV Reviews:

Mino be lookin' like the Asian version of Sideshow Bob.

Always take a bro with you to the toilet because you never know when you'll run out of toilet paper.

As with any MV from a top K-Pop label like YG, everything from the visuals to the makeup and hair is off the charts. Well...maybe not so much with the Sideshow Bob-inspired, mop-like do. Even handsome boys like Mino and Bobby can't pull off such an abominable excuse of a hairstyle; YG really needs to have a talk with whoever they hired to do the boys' hair. Abominable hairstyles aside, the video is impressively put together and directed, featuring hazy, static shots that give off the feeling that MOBB are high... on life of course!

I actually really like the colors in this one, as they shift from black and white to warm pop art tones and colder, muted hues of red and blue. And that scene of Mino as a modern version of a feudal Japanese lord? Pretty sick if I may say so myself. Unfortunately, as sick as the MV was, it had little to do with the lyrical content. It was just Mino and Bobby swaggering about, looking cool, making a bunch of weird gestures and expressions at the camera, sometimes with or without hot girls by their side.

Going derp in the back seat of a taxi, classic MOBB style.

"Hit Me" MV was actually somewhat relevant to the lyrics, as the song is about MOBB looking for a good time with their friends and finding that good time they were so in desperate need of on the streets of Itaewon. It was not as artistically driven as "Full House," but it closely followed what was expressed in the lyrics. MOBB are seen in the beginning of the MV as if they are just about to expire from boredom. But they take it upon themselves to "gather up everyone" like the lyrics say and let the good times come naturally to them. It's a feel-good MV that doesn't require much thinking, and why should it? It's a chill tune that you can, well, for the lack of a more florid descriptor, chill to.