'Spotlight on...' is a feature I plan to run on smaller k-pop artists. These won't necessarily be people with a new record out, just artists who haven't had as much attention or made it super-big yet. The first person I'm going to feature here is Fat Cat (I have also seen this written as 'The Fat Cats' even in material by her record company. However, in the logo version of her name it's Fat Cat/Fatcat so that's what I'm going with – it makes more sense for a solo artist too). She doesn't have a huge body of work as, just after her career was launched, she was admitted to hospital with oedema. She is now recovered and fans are awaiting a come-back. It will be very interesting to see what direction her management take, as her work and her image have been slightly eclectic so far.
Her first single 'My Indifferent Love' is not one I'm keen on musically - the backing music is a repetitive grindy electro noise and there was nothing that really drew me in. Fat Cat had a fairly gothy rock style for the performances and CD art (no video was made for the song), which looks good but I much prefer her style in her later videos. Don't get me wrong, I've got nothing against goths. I am one. But she isn't. I also like aegyo and Lolita style, and one of the reasons I follow k-pop is to get my fix of that. If I want to see someone looking like a goth, I will go watch music videos of goth bands. If I'm watching k-pop, it's for my cute fix. And she delivered on this in her subsequent two singles, both of which have videos, and which I absolutely love.
'Is Being Pretty Everything?' and 'It's Like a Dream' are both quite slow songs, definitely in the pop genre and with a really cute image in the accompanying videos. The instrumental backing to both songs is a lot more tuneful than 'My Indifferent Love.' Both songs make use of a particular instrument in the introduction – we have soaring strings in 'It's Like a Dream' and twinkly piano in 'Is Being Pretty Everything?' - and, in the case of the former, these are used to highlight the chorus.
The songs have a similar structure in that they have quite fast paced verses which are quite speaky but with really soaring, emotive choruses that show what an amazing voice Fat Cat has. This is especially evident in 'Is Being Pretty Everything?' which builds more towards the finish, and where she sings several parts which are layered over each other. I'm not a fan of ballads and for me I think it's this variation in pace between the verses and the choruses that keep these songs from counting in my mind as ballads, and which keeps them interesting.
In 'It's Like a Dream,' Fat Cat has a really sweet girly image, with lots of white dresses and floaty fabrics. However, this is contrasted sharply with bright colours for things like her tights and accessories, or with contrasting textures such as a demin jacket with lots of studs on it. I love contrast like this in aegyo outfits - I nearly always wear frilly skirts with Doc Marten boots. I think the twists to the outfits really help to make her stand out and give a suggestion of a fun and playful personality, and I think the vibrancy of the colours really helps with this; she hasn't just thrown a bit of green or pink in there, they are the brightest versions you could find. This look is mirrored in the set of the video, which is a predominantly white and cream house but which is brought to life with bright props and lots of flowers.
'Is Being Pretty Everything?' stood out to me the first time I even saw the song title because it's an unusual stance for a pop song. Most, whether you take k-pop or Western pop music, is about getting together with someone or breaking up with them. Sometimes they're about partying. Rarely, you get a song aimed at making people feel good about themselves, just as they are. It's still within the context of wanting to be thought attractive by guys rather than being happy in and by yourself but it's asking for a guy who will look beyond someone's face and value them for the person they are inside.
I also think this is a really good example of a video which enhances a song. Even though I listen to k-pop without always watching it, for me it's also something visual and the video is a huge part of the song. An example of where that's gone really wrong for me is 'Heart to Heart' by 4Minute. I was listening to one of their albums and it came on - I thought it was really catchy and wondered why it wasn't a song I'd latched onto before. When I looked up the video, I realised I had seen and heard it before, but that the video had put me off. It's a very strange and probably supposed to be humorous video where a group of girls play increasingly dangerous pranks on the boyfriend of one of the girls, in order to get him to come back to them. And it works. Or that's what I took from the video anyway, which I found an incredibly confusing concept. Note, hair-spraying someone's sandwiches so they're solid, or swapping their shaving foam for whipped cream = lighthearted tom foolery. Messing with someone's car engine or getting them arrested = seriously psychotic and dangerous messing with someone's life.
Fat Cat's video, however, is not a whole bunch of crazy. It's visually interesting, and reinforces the message of the song. She wears a couple of different doll costumes, which ties into the video's theme of being judged as something purely aesthetic. Initially, one of the dolls is tied up but she rejects this, tearing off her ribbons and walking out of the dolls house, showing rejection of just being there to be looked at. In other scenes, Fat Cat is depicted inspecting rows of suitors who try to buy her with pretty presents, or in an artist's studio painting on women's faces. I think the video is another thing that keeps this song out of the ballad category for me. It's chock full of whimsy which, for me, justifies the song's pace – it's slow because it's fluttery and whimsical, not because it's a ballad.
As they put the effort into making music videos for these two songs, which they didn't for 'My Indifferent Love,' I hope this is the image they're focussing on for her as an artist and is a style they'll continue when she makes her comeback. However a lot might have changed in the time she's been away; rap and hip-hop seem to be really popular styles to mimic in k-pop at the moment. Let's hope she's back soon and that her management pursue image they were working on establishing in these two videos, rather than jumping on the hip-hop bandwagon.
Somewhat ironically, given the nature of the song, I'm hoping to do another post later in the week where I do the pink doll make-up from 'Is Being Pretty Everything?' so I hope you'll come back for that.
See you,
Su Ji.
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