WJSN THE BLACK - Easy

It hasn't been long since we last saw WJSN, with their recent comeback UNNATURAL awarding them yet another music show win, but their return this time is a special case, for we're getting the debut of their second official sub-unit. After WJSN Chocome, which saw the group's "short line" debut with a whimsical bubblegum pop track reminiscent of 2nd generation K-Pop queens Orange Caramel last year, Starship Entertainment's resident girl group is taking a drastically different concept with WJSN THE BLACK's first single album "My Attitude". Comprising of what some might consider the group's visual line (Seola, Bona and Eunseo) plus their main rapper EXY, WJSN THE BLACK exudes a far sexier and classier vibe than anything we've seen from the girls before so without further ado, let's dive into their title track Easy. 

Meaning: Easy is dark and sensual, with the girls singing about slowly seducing their partner as they fall in love. What I find especially interesting is that while this track could be a description of falling for a dangerous woman (which is presented in the MV as a criminal), you realise that they're very clearly exploring queer undertones and concepts, not just with the lyrics but also through the MV itself (although I'll explain more about this later). The members exude sexy confidence as they croon about "only [picking] what [they] like" and more importantly the song's hook goes on about how the girls will "look good for [their lover]". If it wasn't clear already, they're singing about another female and the sexual tension is present not just through the lyrics but also many shots in the MV. 

The double entendre here is pretty much cemented with Bona's bridge line, "this is me, I don't care about what others think". It would be easy (no pun intended) to interpret this as how she doesn't care about what others think of her engaging in criminal activity but delving deeper, you could very well say that it's a representation of her being comfortable with her sexuality regardless of what others think. The single album's name, "My Attitude" does appear a couple of times in the lyrics, with the members asking their lover "how's [their] attitude", reiterating the dangerously seductive nature of this title track, and while I'm in no way trying to assume the members' sexuality, it's quite obvious that this is what the songwriters were trying to go for. 

MV: I mentioned up top that there's a criminal aspect in this MV and that's actually a big part of its storyline. WJSN THE BLACK's four members are split into two teams, Seola and Eunseo being detectives hunting Bona and EXY, who are essentially high class robbers going under the name "The Black". Apart from the usual individual and group dance sequences as well as visual shots, the story pieces are included in a very interesting way, somewhat similar to arranging a movie's frames during the editing process (although I'm no professional filmmaker so do take my words with a grain of salt). In every storyline shot, we see what number frame it is and the location of "filming", for instance, we open with frame #07, an interrogation room where Eunseo interrogates EXY and Seola faces off against Bona to uncover their crimes. Other examples include #01, The Black's hideout, #03, a museum where artifacts have been stolen from, and #04, a police office.

The MV leads us to believe that The Black are always one step ahead of the detectives, with the latter outsmarted at every turn and unable to catch up to these criminals. However, as the MV goes on, we find out that (cue shock and horror) Seola and Eunseo are in cahoots with the criminals, presumably only pretending to investigate their fellow crewmates only to join up with them later on and revel in their loot. This brings us to the end of the story, where the four robbers are now back together in frame #08, simply labelled "somewhere", and enjoying their ill-gotten goods in #09, the party room. What a twist ladies and gentlemen.

Crafting the MV's storyline to have a cops and robbers feel to it was a good move, complementing the chicness of the song. With the exception of the story set pieces, which obviously need to have more detail to tell the story, the sets that show the girls in their group dance sequences are all quite minimalist, with few things in the background. The first dance set is in the museum, only showing a painting and some small exhibits in the background, with predominantly black walls and some white lighting. The second dance set has the group in a largely white room devoid of any visual "noise", somewhat similar to the first group dance set shown in DREAMCATCHER's Odd Eye MV. The final one is in #08 or "somewhere", where the girls dance in front of their getaway sedan with a tropical sunset in the background. See the trend? All three dance sets have as few things to distract you as possible, allowing viewers to focus their full attention on the girls' slick dance moves. It's a good creative choice by the MV directors and is woven in well into the MV's narrative. 

I mentioned in the previous segment that queer elements are prevalent throughout the song and the MV showcases that in the storyline scenes. Apart from the obvious inclusion of criminal aspects, there's a lot of sexual tension evident in many of the scenes where the detectives confront their adversaries. Even something as little as Bona flirtatiously taunting Seola by eating chocolate as the older woman struggles to pin a crime on her is evident of this tension. 

Styling: The styling team has without a doubt knocked it out of the park with the styling for this debut because everything the girls are decked out in truly match the concept to a T. Heck even their backup dancers are dressed nicely. In the storyline shots, the members are of course dressed in outfits more representative of their role as detectives and criminals, with Seola and Eunseo in professional dress shirts, ties and suspenders, while Bona and EXY dress more playfully with brighter colours and slightly more provocative outfits. Of course, I must wax lyrical about the outfits worn during the dance sequences because those are oh so gorgeous. What I like is that those dance outfits don't require the girls to flaunt a lot of skin or have short skirts for them to be sexy because even when they're dressed in suits, they look amazing. The choreography also makes it hard for them to wear skirts/dresses anyway (especially Bona's lines in the second verse). 

There're many people who consider WJSN the queens of "suit dances" and this sub-unit is proof of that, especially with the first dance outfit we see, with the girls decked out in pantsuits (it's even featured on the MV's thumbnail). The other two outfits see the girls in midriff-baring white tube tops and blue blazers plus pants, as well as dressed in largely leather clothing representative of their "criminal identity" as far as the MV's narrative goes. Like I said up top, they don't need to show off too much skin like a lot of girl groups do with sexy concepts, instead WJSN THE BLACK goes with a purely mature chic design which exudes sexy confidence through their dance and powerful styling. 

As far as their hairstyles go, I'm all for them. There's little complaint I have except for one particular nitpick of mine. I tend not to be such a big fan of braids, which is why I didn't find EXY's hairstyle when they're in their blue outfits flattering at all. First off, I do like her hair colour here because I think the red and blonde mix together very well. However, in just this particular instance, she's given twin braids that don't hang down her back but instead sort of protrude out in a very strange manner. It gives off a far more childish vibe of sorts that doesn't gel with everything else. Other than that I'm fine with everything else. 

Song: Easy definitely has a concept that WJSN hasn't tried yet, adopting a dark disco-like sound somewhat reminiscent of older K-Pop. The song's groovy arrangement perfectly encompasses the sleekness of the concept and definitely gives off a more mature vibe than anything we've gotten from the girls before. At many points in Easy the song requires the girls to be very breathy in their line delivery, with them using their head voice and while this does add to the seductive nature of the song, I do think it's a lot harder to replicate this in live performances. If we've learnt anything from WJSN's live performances of UNNATURAL, they definitely have trouble hitting high notes while dancing and granted, Easy's choreography is not as powerful but based off the music show performances so far, the breathy verse lines are being lip-synced by some of the members. 

Something that I consider a standout for this song is that EXY actually sings in it. We've had EXY sing in a couple of WJSN songs in the past but they were mostly talk-singing with her using the same vocal pitch that she uses when she's rapping. Easy marks the first time that we actually hear our main rapper singing lines that aren't a precursor to her rap, instead she actually gets lines in the verse. Absolutely amazing to hear EXY's voice reach areas that I never thought I would hear from an WJSN title track. It makes total sense for her to get "sung" lines as part of WJSN THE BLACK though, since there really are only four members. 

Line distribution: Just by listening to the song, you can tell that Easy's line distribution is unbelievably fair, with the difference between first place Seola (28.3%) and last place EXY (22.4%) being less than 6%, while Bona and Eunseo come in 2nd and 3rd at 25% and 24.3% respectively. With the exception of EXY, the other 3 members get a whole chorus for themselves and all 4 members get a share of the song's two post-choruses. As the only one in this sub-unit who's a part of WJSN's vocal line (being a lead vocal), it makes total sense for Seola to have the most lines here, probably cementing her position as the sub-unit's main vocal. She also gets all the adlibs in the final post-chorus plus the only high note throughout the song, so it's pretty clear she would've gotten the most lines. As for EXY, we all know where she's going to shine and that's with the rap (since she's main rapper and the only official member of WJSN's rap line), and she definitely delivers in that aspect.

For me personally, Easy is definitely Bona and Eunseo's era, I mean they fit this concept perfectly out of the four members. In my opinion I think that Eunseo probably has my favourite lines in the entire song, namely her two pre-choruses. There's just something about those lines that tie the rest of the song together and blends everything nicely to make a coherent product. I don't know how to explain it really but safe be it to say Eunseo's pre-choruses were the best lines. In truth, we don't have official confirmation at the time I'm posting this review of WJSN THE BLACK's positions but everything seems to check out in terms of the line distribution, with the stronger vocalists getting more lines and the rest being split fairly evenly. 

Final thoughts: With 13 members in total, it's quite surprising that WJSN hasn't had official sub-units debut earlier (although they've grouped their members into multiple "units" in the past for different comebacks). WJSN Chocome was a breath of fresh air to many K-Pop fans, bringing in a nostalgic vibe from their debut and now that WJSN THE BLACK is around, we're once again shown a brand new side to the girls (or at least some of them). Ujungs like me are definitely happy to see the girls delving into new territory and I'm sure that it'll be Easy for this sub-unit to be greeted with much success. Thanks for reading.