ALBUM REVIEW: YUGYEOM 'Point Of View: U'

3 MIN READ

Kim Yugyeom, who recently made his debut as a Korean R&B solo artist, is widely known as KPop group GOT7’s maknae (youngest member), main dancer & sub vocalist. From being a member of GOT7, to the JUS2 sub-unit with band member Jay B, Yugyeom’s creative side has always been on display. Now his brilliance shines through his debut EP “Point Of View: U”, released on June 17th. After GOT7 announced their departure from their label JYPE, the members (while still being a part of GOT7) left to pursue solo careers. Yugyeom then joined Korean rapper Jay Park’s label AOMG earlier this year in February. Breaking away from being a band member for so many years to then pursuing a solo career can go either way - a hit or a miss. Fortunately for Yugyeom, things worked out well enough for him.

This EP consists of 7 tracks with 5 featured artists, who are all well known solo artists themselves along with being Yugyeom’s new label mates. He even got assistance from two of the top producers in the industry, GRAY and Cha Cha Malone. They all helped Yugyeom shine brighter on this album instead of grabbing the limelight for themselves despite being such prominent names in the industry. The album’s main theme revolves around the ups and downs of a relationship presented through a musical journey of R&B with hints of hip-hop, trap and some synth pop - befitting Yugyeom’s soft yet strong personality and image.

The opening track on this EP is “I Want U Around” featuring DeVita, which was the album pre-release along with a music video for it. The lyrical interplay between the two vocalists expresses lovers’ longing for each other and wanting them close by themselves. The mood in the song and music video is somewhat gloomy but still trendy. Being the only female feature on this album, their vocals complement each other quite well on this track.

This is followed by “Running Through The Rain” which almost continues the story from the previous track. The lyrics talk about how one is willing to go to any lengths for the person they love. It is one of my favorites, as it’s also quite reminiscent of the late 90s/early 2000s electro-synth pop. Musically, it’s more uplifting yet laid back. There's a lot of synth sounds blended with R&B, and the outro of this song is also quite unique.

With the title track “All Your Fault” at #3, the album reaches a turning point in its narrative. The song is featured & also produced by GRAY. Yugyeom now sings about the lows in the relationship, while GRAY adds his rap verse in between groovy instrumentals and nifty electric guitar throughout the song. The accompanying music video, featuring both artists, is set as a noir, mafia-themed mini movie, giving Yugyeom a chance to showcase some of his acting skills too.

The next 2 songs “All About U” featuring Loco & “Love The Way” featuring Jay Park & punchnello are feel-good summer tunes. “All About U” is another one of my personal favorites & you can just hear it has Loco written all over it. Despite their contrasting vocal-rap styles, the song flows so well and is very light & enjoyable. On “Love The Way”, there’s a certain similarity in the vocal textures of both Yugyeom & Jay Park so their vocals seem to blend well on here.

The closing two tracks on this EP are more calm as opposed to the other production heavy songs. “Falling In Love” & “When U Fall” are ballads highlighting more of Yugyeom’s soft, airy vocals complemented by slow tempo beats. I also love “Falling In Love”, especially all those parts where Yugyeom lays down beautiful harmonies to his own vocal melodies. The album ends with the mellow “When U Fall” which has a very swing feel to it that one could perhaps even waltz to.

This is yet another exciting, new beginning in Yugyeom’s career and it’s safe to say he’s off to a great start. Being a part of AOMG would definitely help him in developing & further enhancing all of his artistic skills with the support he has around him. Point Of View: U is a wonderful display of his singer-songwriter & performer abilities, and looks like it’s only going to get better from here as Yugyeom unravels more of his creative layers.

RATING: 8.5/10

- WAJIHA WAZIR