Song Review: G.NA's "Oops!"

G.NA has made a comeback with her fourth mini album "Beautiful Kisses." This album has a total of five songs: "Oops!" (feat. Ilhoon of BTOB), "Hate it, Can't Stand it", "First Kiss", "Oh, Good!", and "Mind Sync" (feat. Hah Gak).

The Song:

Pinki: First off, this song has nothing to do with making mistakes. This song is about when a person likes another person...A LOT. This song starts from a guy's point of view, then the girl responds during the chorus. The guy happens to be younger than the girl because the first line of the song is "Nuna, you know you're the bestest right?" "Bestest" is not a word, while "Nuna" or "Noona" is a Korean term used to call an older girl you respect or admire, and it is also used by males when calling their older sister. The rap part of the song goes on about how the younger guy is "head over heels" for the older girl. The girl responds by saying she is a beautiful girl, what she likes, and to not tell her to do anything she doesn't like. For example, in the song G.NA says, "I'm a beautiful girl, I like to wear jeans, don't ask me to wear short skirts." This song is bubbly and upbeat, but with a sweet melody. There is also metaphors and similes used in the rap, which make me laugh. "Ha ha ^^~"    

Niki: Elaborating on what Pinki has said, G.NA's new song is a portrayal of the "Noona-Dongsaeng" (older woman-younger guy) relationship that has been so popular in K-pop lately. It depicts the older girl to be clever and confident. She know that guys can pretend to gain her trust, but she's not easily swayed. Meanwhile, the guy is depicted as a more impulsive and naive character hopelessly enamored by the older lady, probably because of her confidence and mature aura.  This is a portrayal that's commonly done and is a more stereotypical view of such a relationship. 

The song's lyrics are split into two parts, Ilhoon's raps and G.NA's singing, and takes on two different perspectives. I really like how this is arranged because it sets up a dialogue between two people and creates a somewhat interactive song, making it more fun and different. 

Regarding the title of the song, it does seem out of context and random, but my interpretation is that the noona is flirting with the younger guy. She is leading him on to get close to her, but then pulls away before he gets too close, thus the flirtatious sounding "oops oops". However, it is more likely that the "word" was put into the song as a simple hook.

The MV: 

Pinki: The MV is cute in a way, but it mainly reveals a sexy side of G.NA. It starts out with a guy and his cat. Don't know the purpose of the cat though, as it was just there through out the whole video  Then...BAM! Ilhoon comes out with his awesome rapping, and then G.NA gets out of bed and does the sub chorus  After that, her dance kicks in. I am not very fond of the dance as there is just something I don't like about it. It's cute and sexy but not really to my liking. That's pretty much the whole video. It's her rolling around in bed, Ilhoon rapping, and more of the cat. Then, I got very confused at the ending. It shows the guy that is in the very beginning of the MV, and G.NA dances with him and suddenly disappears  Then the guy look for her but doesn't find her, and when he enters what seems to be his house, he smiles. I don't know what the reason for that smile was. Was G.NA is his house? Then it shows the cat again and that's how the video ends. 

Niki: The cat in the video intrigued me, because I was confused in the beginning as to why a cat was there. But it donned on me afterwards that the cat was an allusion and they were comparing the Noona-dongsaeng relationship to that of a cat and dog. G.NA is being referred to as a "cougar" (an older woman who prefers to date young guys) for going after the younger male character. Connecting back to the lyrics Ilhoon's rap had a line that said "Because of all the packs of wolves around you. I wanna be your jindo dog," which implies that younger guys are seen as loyal an innocent. In a Noona-Dongsaeng relationship instead of having guys chase after the girl (like dogs usually chase after cats) the older lady is teasing and attracting the guy's attention.

The MV also shows the different sides to a woman's personality. The cat in the beginning and end comes to the guy in a calm manner and is seemingly docile, however when the cat transform into human (which always happens in real life right?...your crush is really your cat...totally! It makes total sense....) she reveals a sexier and more seductive side.

With the plot aside, I personally don't like the crossover between cute and sexy that G.NA has been donning for her image. Those are two different if not opposite images and purposely mixing the two would only end up as an awkward image. It also doesn't fit G.NA's personality very much as a confident and strong young lady. I prefer the more natural image she had when promoting "Black and White" and "I'll Back Off So You Can Live Better".  

Overall:

Pinki: I like the sound of the song and the lyrics are very fun. The video however wasn't really my thing. It didn't really "blow me away". But, I still like G.NA and her music, and won't start hating her just because she released one single I did not like.  G.NA FIGHTING!!!! ^^

Niki: I'm not very fond of the style or the message of the song and it's not really the type of music I prefer. However, I agree with Pinki that this is an overall fun song with a quirky MV that you can maybe bounce around to in your house. G.NA is still one of the K-pop artists I fairly like, I just wish that she would recover her initial image soon.