Greatest Hits:: Jewelry: Back It Up

 Boy, are y'all in for a treat. An absolute treat, I tell you. This one is because I found the music video on YouTube and went "I need to share this with people." I'd actually intended this one to be slightly earlier, but I had a submission that was time sensitive and wanted to get that one completed first. Jewelry, in case you're unfamiliar with them, was a first gen girl group who, on paper, kind of epitomized the strangeness and fluidity of the first gen groups. I've mentioned this before, that the first gen groups have lineup changes like the cast of the TV show Doctor Who (or, if I haven't said it in those exact words yet on here, it's how I describe the situation to people who are not "with the K-Pop" yet.). By the time Jewelry disbanded, they hadn't had an original member in five years, but when they disbanded, they were the longest running girl group with more than two members and the group had fourteen years worth of songs under their name. For this particular comeback, the members were Eunjung, Baby J, Semi, and Yewon, and apparently they're referred to as Jewelry's 4th generation. Ah, first gen K-Pop having generations within a single group. Gotta love it.

Jewelry debuted in 2001 as the first group under Star Empire Entertainment (also the home of V.O.S, ZE:A, 9Muses, SoReal, IMFACT, NASTY NASTY, and Ariaz). Back It Up was a digital single released in 2011. The writers for this song are Kim Eana (IVE, IU, Taeyeon, Eric Nam, Brown Eyed Girls, EXO, Zion T, MAMAMOO, VIXX, Billlie, BOYNEXTDOOR, Oh My Girl (interestingly, both Abracadabra and VOODOO DOLL show up in her credits)), Ryan Kim (A.C.E, TVXQ!, EXO, BamBam, ZE:A, Jonghyun, SF9, Shinhwa, Primrose, and HyunA), Chris Golightly (I have a sneaking suspicion I'll find his name in more places, but I only could find EXO), and someone called Blue Apple Global, but I can't find any information on whoever this is. Also, something that's impressive is this song hit #7 on the Korean charts. Not bad for a group having gone through a full line-up change.

Hilariously, if I dig into their discography more, I can almost guarantee I'm going to love them. Why, you may ask? They're a March debut. My first five groups were all March debuts, and I consistently love other March debuts, even before I find out they're a March debut.

• Group: Jewelry
• Debut Date: 2001 March 30
• Company: Star Empire Entertainment
• Status: Disbanded
• Album: Back It Up
• Song: Back It Up
• Release Date: 2011 January 27

I told you this was a treat. I already have a stage where I want to talk about some of those heels, but I'm not going to yet. Just know that it's coming.

There's a wonderfully Big Band feel to this song that reminds me a little bit of the Andrews Sisters or the McGuire Sisters. It's that same energy, and the intro really sells it with that announcer introducing them like that. (I'm also reminded a little bit of CBZ by BSS but that's not the point, although I absolutely adore that song and my day brightens immediately as soon as it plays) (I also have to agree with the comments that say that the song reminds them of Single Lady by Beyonce; the vibes are with it). "Ladies and gentlemen." "Hey, boys. Hey, girls." "I'd like to introduce to you-" "Jewelry." It kind of reminds me of Grease a little, but more female barbershop quartet, which is just a long way to say that this is proper swig music, and we get the instrumental on its own so I can just bask.

There's a four part harmony at one point, technically, because Baby J does a quick little rap while the other three are stacking the vocals like a Jenga tower, and it's fantastic. This song is three-and-a-half glorious minutes of bright energy that's so catchy. Who here is also going to have "Back it up, back it up, back it up, baby" running through their head from now on? I'm fully raising my hand for that because it's just so catchy.

And the costuming helps with the feel of the music too. It feels very 50s inspired, especially the look of Eunjung in her white top, and the black-and-white shoes for that costume set for all four of them. That same costume set gives Yewon a version of a poodle skirt and it's adorable. The Americana and the...it just occurred to me that I don't know what the term for the British version of that, is also very appropriate for that aesthetic and the rockabilly vibes. 

Again, I'm going to talk about the heels later, but the red and blue dress that Yewon has on with her red heels? You can see so much of the muscle flexing in her legs, and I'm 100% going to go into more detail on that in a moment.

And there's a dance practice. Thank you, SHINee. There's also another dance practice I found that I want to share because it makes me happy, and thank you JYPE for this one.

Let's start with a Music Core from a little later in promotions. This is your first proper look at the choreography because the music video started with the choreography, but then it fell off a little.

I've also spent an inordinate amount of time staring at Baby J's legs trying to decide if I also had those shorts back in 2011, or if I just had some that were very similar, and I am happy to report because of that amount of time that, especially if you look at that ending formation they have, you can see the line of her muscle in her thighs. It's such a healthy look. 

But you know who looks the best? Yewon. Between the choreography and her heels she's wearing, her legs look so good, and the fact that we get to consistently (as you'll see) witness the power she's got to do this choreography that well because she's always in the skirts. Her calves especially. Amazing. 

Even the camerawork here feels so musical with the movements and the zoom-ins and everything. The video feel is quite good.

I cannot believe Baby J has her name written on the back on her jacket. I don't care that her jacket is yellow. It's very Pink Ladies of her.

There's a spot starting at about 3:11 where you can see Semi mouthing the words along with Eunjung. That's so endearing, and this was very soon after the song was released, so it's not even like they've been performing this for weeks already. She's apparently a musical actor now, which honestly, that fits.

Baby J has her name on the back of this jacket too. That's great. That particular outfit on her combined with her hair style looks really good, even if it's highlighter green.

Look, I have no defense for that. You should have seen some of the skinny jeans my friends wore. For some reason the neon colors from the 80s came back hard during the late 00s and early 10s. 

I just want everyone to know that even at this point, having heard it at least twenty times now, I'm still sitting with my toes tapping and just vibing to the song. 

We're going to take a break from the performances (I've still got one and then the dance practices) to hop forward a bit to 2013 and some live vocals. The adorable thing about this is they're still doing the choreography and laughing about it and mouthing the lyrics along with each other (especially Yewon with Baby J's second rap section), which two years later is a strong indication that they genuinely enjoy this song.

I like when the artists still like their own music.

They're adorable. I recognize that they're all older than I am, which is fine, but they look like they're having fun. Baby J is the most active of the bunch with Semi very close behind in energy levels. They're vibing like this is a stage performance inside a small radio room, and it's very cute when Baby J leaps and then Semi just about falls over from laughing at her. 

YouTube tried to put this in 360p. Sigh.

Remember how I said that ZE:A were their labelmates? This was a special Valentine's Day performance where they came out to join Jewelry for a really cool dance break and then to do their final chorus with them.

I saved my favorite performance of this for last because the pink with the black and white looks really good (costuming excellent), and also because the addition of the guys lends such a strong flavor to an already solid performance.

I was debating on the order of the dance practices and decided that I'd share TWICE's first. Apparently, Sana, Tzuyu, and Dahyun from TWICE (and Minyoung who left JYPE after the survival show) had a dance practice for this, although interestingly, while that quartet did form a team, this was not the song they performed when they were a team.

Okay, now I can talk about the choreography. There's so much hopping around and dropping to the floor and doing the splits that I'm in awe. And for their performances, they're doing all of this in heels. 

I think one of my favorite parts of this is when they're kind of miming a living museum, because it's evidence that there are built in spots for them to catch their breath, so I have to give that kudos to the choreographer, who, if the comments are correct, was Honey J, leader of a pretty famous dance crew. 

It's super impressive. And, again, they're doing it in heels. Go back up to the first stage I shared and look at those shoes. I have a pair of heels that are comparable and while I'm pretty comfortable with walking and even running in them, I'd probably trip and break my neck if I tried to do anything more than that. My respect for them is so high.

So, overall, this is an incredibly flirtatious song that's so catchy that if I don't find myself humming it often over the next few days, I'll be shocked. The choreography is also delightful impressive and will likely give you very strong legs if you decide you want to learn it. Which you should. Because just look at it.

Thank you everyone for reading! I hope you enjoyed the song!

If you have any suggestions for me, drop a comment, send a message, or you can always use The Form for completely anonymous submissions unless you choose to drop a username for me to specifically get it to you.

Have a lovely day!