U-KISS is a newer K-Pop group from NH Media. U-Kiss consists of members Alexander, Soohyun, Kibum, Dongho, Kevin, and Eli. Kevin and Kibum are former members of the group Xing. All members are multilingual, being fluent in languages such as English, Chinese, Japanese, and even Portugese. English is frequently used in their songs and they have even did a cover of Backstreet Boys’ “As Long As You Love Me”. They released their first single titled N-Generation, standing for New Generation, on September 3rd with the title song being “어리지 아노아” which translates into “Not Young”. Here is my review for their first single.

Track 01: Pump, Pump (Intro)
Intros are probably one of the most important parts of the album, and luckily this single has a very catchy one. This track is upbeat with nice vocals. The boys are proudly declaring this single as theirs by singing, “U-Kiss in the house, we touch the sky”. I think it’d sound a little cooler if they had a different group name, though, hahahaha. I wish this track was longer, because it is my favorite track on the single.

Track 02: 어리지 아노아 [Not Young]
First thought that popped up: Soulja Boy. Can you say, “uh-oh”? Well, that’s how the song starts out (I didn’t realize it until after I typed that last sentence). The influence of American music is usually apparent in many Asian songs, but the influence in this song is just ridiculous. I thought of Soulja Boy’s song “Soulja Girl” the whole time. The beat is so similar. The boys are even chanting “heyyy!” and “YOOOUU!” in the song. In their music video, they even do similar dances. So, as you can see, I think this song is pretty ridiculous. The beginning narrative kind of makes me laugh, and it’s funny that they’re saying they’re “not young” when the youngest member, Dongho, is age 14 (1994). Was I too harsh? I have to admit that this song is catchy, though.

Music Video:

Track 03: Give It To Me
This song is more of my taste. It has a hip-hoppish feel with the synthesized beat. I don’t know what else to say about this track, besides that it’s pretty good and something you can dance to.
“Don’t stop the beat, move your feet” =P

Overall: The single isn’t very original, but hey, what is original these days? Although it lacks originality, it’s something fun to listen to and I recommend it to those who like upbeat songs.

U-KISS
[1st Single] N-Generation
September 03, 2008