My entire love for Kpop was started when I first started listening to Super Junior. These boys are ultra-talented, and they know how to work a crowd. It also helps to boost their popularity that they are considered the largest single functioning boy band / male idol group in the world currently composed of 10 active members (although there is another larger group now, A-Peace, that's composed of 21 members; they're supposed to be split up into three different sub-groups similar to what JYP did with One Day when they split them up to 2AM and 2PM).
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The boys of Suju --- (L to R) Upper Row: Ryeowook, Donghae, Siwon, Leeteuk and Sungmin;
Bottom Row: Yesung, Eun Hyuk, Heechul, Kyuhyun, and Shindong |
The boys have extended their popularity beyond Korea, and are considered international superstars in Southeast Asia (including the Philippines... they're a big name here!), Taiwan, and China (through Super Junior-M) and now in Japan. Their latest efforts in promoting their brand of Kpop is focused on Japan with the release of the Japanese version of "Bonamana" --- "Bijin".
"Bonamana" was originally release in Korea middle of 2010, and was an immediate hit to follow-up their success from their iconic single "Sorry Sorry" in 2009. Bonamana was an immense success not only in Korea, but also internationally. A very good example of that success was in Taiwan, where the track topped their charts for nearly 40 weeks!!! Golly... people were listening to that song non-stop for nearly a year! That feat pretty much solidified their position as international stars in the forefront of the Korean Hallyu (which refer to the wave of popularity of Korean pop around the world).
I liked "Bonamana" because of it's unique sound. The song is wrapped in heavy bass beats, which makes it highly rhythmic and easy to dance to (which was very similar to what they did in "Sorry Sorry", but the execution was distinct and fresh). Apart from excellent production values, the fact is that the boys of Super Junior have wonderful and unique voices that make them easy to appreciate both as a group and individually. It's amazing how 10 people can fit in individual singing parts in a 4 minute song, and still be able to harmonize as a group.
I'll be posting both the Japanese and Korean versions of the songs. Let me know which one you like best by posting a comment!
"Bijin" by Super Junior (Jap ver. MV only)
"Bonamana" by Super Junior (Kor ver. MV with Eng Subs)
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