Sunday, October 9, 2022

Music critic Kim Youngdae talks about Baekhyun's music and vocal



(T/n: The whole translation below is compiled by all the audios and texts I have found. I skipped information that is not related to Baekhyun. Please feel free to correct me)

Which artist are we going to talk about this week? This artist is at the highest level of idol. His idol ability is at the highest level in the idol world. (Host: Totally agree) Actually, I wonder where this person's idol ability has come from. He has a reversal charm. His vocal is incredible. It makes no sense. (Host: He is R&B master). He is Baekhyun-nim of EXO. There is a variety. Because I feel like from SM's point of view, Baekhyun is so good at singing that they want to express their pride in him everywhere that with only Baekhyun, he is in charges of various positions like the main vocalist of EXO, main vocalist of SuperM. His idol ability is at the highest level in the idol world as well as he is the master of vocal. 

(T/n: both Kim Youngdae & the host's words) Baekhyun this person lacks nothing. In 'Bambi' MV, he dances so well. Actually, it is true that there is nothing he cannot do. He sings very well, too. He is like the standard. His attitude toward fans is good. He is active on SNS communication. He is kind to others, sings well, and dances well. I think that lacking nothing is his strength. He has a reversal charm like such voice coming from a baby face, then he doesn't appear/doing poses like he would dance well like ~I'm a dancer~, but he has unexpected powerful dancing skills. To me, that is his strength and he brings me new surprises every single time.

#10 'UN Village'

The 10th place is 'UN Village'. (T/n: The host said 'UN Village' is #1 for him, 'UN Village' and 'Bambi'. KYD didn't give more comments on Baekhyun and 'UN Village' on this part, the host also said there wasn't more information, so I just skipped this part)

#9 'Diamond'

I heard this song in his first mini album. It is 'Diamond'. This song is a work of a famous overseas composer Darkchild and an awesome Korean producer DEEZ. I already knew that Baekhyun is good at singing and he already proved it himself. Somewhat I have high expectations for him. When I listened to 'Diamond', even though I like 'UN Village', I was totally surprised like "Oh, so Baekhyun can also digest this type of song!" It gives me the feeling of the original R&B. Especially, at the part ~come on, come on~ where there is a shift from minor key to major key in an instant. That part is interesting. Above all, I was like "Oh, so Baekhyun can sing to this extent with his vocal!" I was so amazed. At first, before the release of his (first) album, I thought he would do a common and public-friendly song because it is popular, but I felt like I was betrayed. I think the intro of the song is very cool. 

#8 'Bambi'

I think this is the song that gives me the feeling that Baekhyun wants to say "I has sharpened the knife, and I will show you." There are 2 different (way Baekhyun sings) ~bambi~ (t/n: KYD tried to sing in 2 ways and could only do the first one, he failed at the second way) Anyway, this song is kind of slow, isn't this? It is slow, but it is good. Baekhyun did so well, seriously. We can hear the way he pronounces ~bi~ well. For the slowness like hypnotic feeling in this song, if he didn't do it well, it would certainly be greasy. But, Baekhyun is always good at handling this tone softly. That is why he is skilled. He is experienced and relaxed, but should I say that he handles it in a refreshing way? I really liked that part. (Host: For this song, we have to watch the MV as well. I thought of Chris Brown in the past, Baekhyun danced very well there) This is the song that was done by famous composers DEEZ, SAAY. I will just say again that this song gives me the feeling that Baekhyun wants to show us his work properly, to show us his determination.

#7 'Bungee' 

We are going to the next song. It is a b-side track 'Bungee' from his 2nd mini album 'Delight'. The composers are Royal Dive and Oiaisle. This song is kind of easy-listening, right? We can see this style of song a lot on the music charts. When I listen to the song carefully, I realized that Baekhyun-ssi is really something. I got that feeling when I listened to this song. Because usually when it comes to a good singer, we could tell that person is a good singer because they sing a very difficult song very well. But, a real good singer, in some ways, would be how they can do the grove easily, how to make that flat? groove interesting and lively. In reality, I think that is how a good singer sings well. It is the same here. If we listen to him carefully, we don't get bored because he handles the vocal arrangement very sensibly like he goes up to a certain point and cut it off at a certain point. Baekhyun is really good at singing. It is more difficult to make an easy song become more interesting. I think people who don't know would be surprised, they would think easy-listening song would be easy, but in fact, it is difficult. He's good at controlling the tempo accurately and catching the points well. I don’t think it is because he is asked to do it, but because his own sense is significant.

Nowadays, when idol vocalists come out as soloists, it is fun to do various genres. But, if they do one genre, can they not make people get bored? It is not easy to release just one genre and not to make it boring. It is different between having a ballad song in an album and having the whole album full of ballad songs, right? In that sense, I think Baekhyun is doing very well. He keeps releasing only R&B style albums, but still in there he is expanding himself at the same time. 

#6. 'R U Ridin'?' 

I like the beat. The song is 'R U Ridin'?'. Listening to this song, the old-school feeling and split-beat have skillfully become a match. The rhythm is good. I like Baekhyun's vocals, however, the song is so good as well. When it comes to Baekhyun's R&B, on one side, the vibe is a bit sticky, relaxing, and warm; but this song has the chilly vibe. It is kind of dry and chilly. In terms of the vocal, it is the restrained vibe. I think it is very well-suited to the song. It would be in the past when many people liked this type of song. People might think that it is a maniac song, but I think it shows another charm of Baekhyun's vocal. His rhythm sense is good. Listening to this carefully, he shows off the difference here, he reacts carefreely when it comes to slow songs, on the other hand, he reacts rhythmically and tightly in this type of fast songs. When I noticed that he also did well on this area, I realized that he is so good at singing. As expected, I see him in a new light once again.

#5 'All I Got' 

(As soon as Baekhyun hit the high note) Ahhhhhh this is it! This is it, right? This is the note I cannot hit because it is so high. The song is 'All I Got'. I remember that I was really shocked like "Did Baekhyun-ssi do this?" This song is from his 3rd mini album 'Bambi'. When everyone has an eye on 'Bambi', this song is in my ears seriously... He does so well. In a sense, it has the old soul vibe, right? Talking of old soul, artists like D'Angelo, etc. (as the genre is called 'soul') the way it feels like they really bewitch a person's soul. (The high note) feels like it doesn't come from his throat, but it is raised from the lower part of the abdomen. What's with his outstanding techniques? I think he practices technique a lot. When I look at Baekhyun, his vocal is the type that he can develop it into any kind of vocal he wants to in his own way. Listening to this song carefully, in all respects, there are times when traditional old soul vocalists have very deep aspects, there are times when they don't have very delicate aspects. But, listening to Baekhyun carefully, Baekhyun can also achieve those delicate vocal aspects. There is the difference between his delicate aspect and intense aspect. That difference in emotion makes people get extremely fluttered. 

#4. 'Privacy'

How different he is! It feels like the person who sings the previous song is totally a different person. In my opinion, it is Baekhyun's unique charm. Baekhyun's songs usually have the boyfriend vibe. He has sweet-boyfriend songs. It can be romantic. One of my favorite songs from him is 'Take You Home'. It has that vibe too, and when we listen to it, it's not just an easy song, but it brings out the jazz feeling. I'm saying this again, if they do this kind of jazz feeling in a wrong way like trying hard to do it well, it would feel greasy. I was wondering how could he pull off this song. First, I realized that he manages the tone well, then adds vibrato/vibration well, so he doesn't make it feel greasy and even livens up the whole mood of the song. His falsetto is very warm and soft. Unexpectedly, low voice is used a lot, and in fact Baekhyun's low voice sounds very warm, but I think it is underrated. (listening to the song) I think he is cute, too (Host: He is cool). He is versatile, right?

#3 'Candy'

I like the song. It is perfect. There isn't much about the song structure, but picking the point is important. This song is like that. The song is 'Candy'. It's the title track of his 2nd mini album. In terms of the final production, this is my most favorite title track of him. I listened to it a lot. Because for me actually, to the point that I think it is safe to say this song is one of the songs in on Billboard Hot 100. It is a song that builds with the simpleness and the charm of his voice. I really like the song. It is so good. It feels like there is no unnecessary elements at all in the music arrangement, but only the essence of good music. His voice also brings out the simple vibe. I already talked about this, but thanks to that simple vibe of him and the tone he chose to match with each moment, as expected he is able to make the song, which could become sticky and greasy, sound clear. People might say that is the charm of K-Pop, but I wonder maybe it is more suitable to Baekhyun. I think this level of sensibility is a perfect fit for Baekhyun. His vibe isn't greasy, but reasonably warm, soft, and romantic. It feels like he can exactly pick out the essence of good music. I think it is the identity of Baekhyun.

#2 'Love Again'

It is 'Love Again'. It is a hidden masterpiece. Colde is both the composer and lyricist of the song. There is the vibe of Colde. We can see that Baekhyun expressed the essence of Colde's music well, but as expected that Baekhyun digests the song so well. Having this acoustic feeling is rare. Listening to this song carefully, honestly the most surprising point to me is the vocal, rather than the song itself. In this song, from the beginning to the end, Baekhyun doesn't strain his vocal cords to be firm even just once. He sings very comfortably. He is like "Should I ease the song down then sing?" He just sings with a scratchy sound that comes out naturally when he is completely relaxed. The way he sings like that is very attractive. He does it easily, but still sounds solid. And the earnestness that you can't find in other songs? I know every songs is different, compared to other songs, Baekhyun leaves out the pleasantness and shows the lonely heart like he sings in a mature way. I thought that he would challenge more various things in the future.

#1 'Underwater'

Now is the #1 song. It's 'Underwater'. There is the underwater vibe, right? For this song, out of all the Baekhyun’s songs, I think it's a master class in terms of vocals. I feel like he is teaching a lesson... for many of our K-pop applicants/aspirants. He sings proficiently. When it comes to a song, there is the position of the note, position of the vocal cords, he moves it constantly and uses every time he needs it, it's totally the domain of his own sensibility. Maybe (people who do) the guide or demo sing well, but I don't think it's possible to sing along with those. He understands the advantages and disadvantages of his voice and he cleverly changes the position of the notes. Then why does he sing that particular part clearly and simply like that? because it is under water, so he has to sing that way. He sings in a relaxing way to make it dreamy, and inputs the essence. It is not easy. Those skills can't be explained by words in any ways. In reality, it is difficult. I think he has the vocal skills, he also makes a lot of efforts, then he has the gifted sensibility.

I usually listen to his songs, but I don't think I have ever suddenly gathered them all and listened to them altogether like this. Anyway, he is really good at singing. 

Singer Baekhyun is a hard-working genius. Born-to-be singer. His voice is gifted. His vocal range is gifted. Somewhat it is something cannot be trained. Compared to his early days with EXO, he has been changed quite a lot. When he was with the group, it limits what he could show. So during his solo activities, he has been showing many things he has never showed us before. And in fact, he is a genuine singer that has both simplicity and skill.








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