Battle of the B-Sides:: Monsta X: Hero

 We just had a whole lot of b-sides for July, but a bunch of those were buried tracks. This one, this one is iconic, so iconic, in fact, that when I was thinking about what songs to do for August, that was when I found out that this and another one that I'm planning are both b-sides. I genuinely thought it was a title track. These two songs are also songs that you regularly see pop up in the K-Pop compilation videos that get posted on YouTube, so if you're like me and watch those regularly but also haven't actually heard this song yet, here's your chance to find out why it's in all of those videos delivered to you on a silver platter. I've done all the groundwork for you here. The other kind of funny thing is that both songs I was considering started off life as a b-side and then became a Japanese debut for the group. What's the other song I'm talking about? You'll find out. You can blame the order of these posts on my EXO-L friend (and now Baby Stay and I'm trying to drag her into the Atiny and Carat life too) because I asked her which one I should do first. So, here you go. 

Monsta X debuted in 2015 under Starship Entertainment as an seven-member group, and they're part of the major cluster of groups from 2015 that have gone on to do really well for themselves. 2015 was a good year for groups, especially the boy groups, like 2014 was for the girl groups. 

Hero is the second track from their second mini album, RUSH, released in 2015.  We have Punch Sound (Flowsik, VINXEN, Rain, D.I.P, and Jessi) on lyrics and compositions. For lyrics only, we have Rhymer (AB6IX, Shin Jimin, NU'EST, Yezi, VIXX LR, Bumkey, Eunsang, T-ARA, I.O.I, Lee Hyori, Block B, Younite, Ailee, SISTAR, Cross Gene, Mighty Mouth, MXM, 4Minute, 9Muses, Kassy, Seo In Guk, Infinite, Raina, and Shinhwa), Joohoney (Cravity, DKB, SISTAR, Y teen, NS Yoon-G, and Mad Clown), and I.M (Moon Sujin, THE NEED, Heize, and Y teen). Funnily enough, despite the fact that this song has the highest number of streams on several streaming websites as well as the most views of any other music video they've released, this song does not have a win. Just goes to show that wins are simultaneously very important and also mean nothing (any number of factors can affect what song gets a win and so many amazing songs don't have one).

I debated about whether or not to give you just the track because this is basically a performance video and doesn't even really pretend otherwise. But since this is the big important song, you do get the video. I just won't talk about the choreography yet because there is a dance practice. 

First of all, I want to acknowledge how scary this probably was for Wonho because he's scared of heights and while this was filmed in the middle of the rooftop, he's still on top of a rooftop. 

You know what, personally, I'm a huge fan of the moments when they grab the camera. Joohoney shows off his dimples at :29 when he grabs it (which is actually the top rewatched parts of the music video), and then again at 2:09. Wonho has duck lips at :49. Minhyuk is looking fierce at :54. I.M gestures behind himself at 1:53 (slightly before that there's a very video game, triumphant little toodle) and grabs it again at 2:06.

Yeah, Joohoney grabbing the camera has a bigger bump in watched spots than either Shownu lifting his shirt and showing abs (which is the moment everyone uses) or Wonho lifting his shirt, which I didn't realize he did, and showing his abs. Thank you for the laugh, Monbebes. 

For the record, this is a top tier shower song. There's enough low, grindy bits to the instrumental (part of that is courtesy of a slightly dramatic brass instrument that I think is a saxophone) to give you a good sensory grounding and the combo of the slow bass beat with another higher one that kicks up its heels a little like an overexcited colt to work really well with the water spray. Also, it's got the higher squeaky bits that are the most recognizable part because they show up in the space before the chorus, which are prominent enough to carry over the sound of the water well. And because showers often have some of the best acoustics in the house, you're going to sound really good while singing it.

This section is going to be quite short just because I'm itching a little to talk about the choreography, which is in abundance here, but I will also say that there's an EDM dance break that instantly makes me happy, and also some incredible vibrato at 3:35 from Kihyun. 

Bad news, I'm not giving you a stage with the members' names attached. Good news, it comes with a translation, courtesy of Music Bank! I thought that would be an acceptable replacement.

The fans are screaming almost the entire performance, which is fair, you know? We see abs from several of them while they're in suits. That is a lethal combination. But I think most of them start with their shirts tucked in, because if you look at :01, the five right there with their white shirts visible all have them tucked in, including Joohoney, and the two behind him at :08 also do, but Joohoney's has already started to get pulled out and by :19, his shirt is fully loose.

Interestingly, even though the main two from the music video to lift their shirts are Shownu and Wonho, we have a surprise Kihyun lifting his at 2:10, which caused the screaming to erupt like Elvis from his Hound Dog days showed up and is by far the most viewed spot of the performance. There is a tiny bump earlier, but nothing like Kihyun. Apparently, he's one of those that's very shy and would rebutton shirts if the stylist popped too many. This is how you break a fandom. Obviously.

Also, I'd be willing to argue for this being live vocals, because you can hear a difference between when Kihyun is singing with the mic up to his mouth and when he pulls it away and the backtrack keeps going right before he breaks the Monbebes. And Joohoney is late coming back in after he pulls his mic away from his mouth for his rapid fire "Bang bang bang bang" part at 2:27. 

It's always interesting to see what part of a performance people enjoy the most when you're looking at several different performances of the same song. Joohoney makes a sound at 3:15 that reminds me an awful lot of a crow. I'm not sure why he did that, maybe to prove mics were live, but that's the most viewed part. 

This one comes out of Simply K-Pop, currently one of the last remaining homes for the smaller and younger groups to be able to perform, and at three months old when this all was released, Monsta X certainly fit that bill.

We've got some arms on display from the members who are going to end up being the biggest in the group in a few years (Shownu and Wonho), courtesy of some tank tops.

And while I can't get a good look at Kihyun's throat, there is such a clear audio difference when he's lip syncing and when he's singing at 1:09 that I'm pleased. I'm not sure why he doesn't do the second batch of "Whoa"s because he hasn't done it in either performance so far, but I assume it's so he can catch a breath.

Also, Hyungwon and Minhyuk have the absolute fluffiest hair that it's almost triggering the cuteness aggression from me. I just kind of want to squish their heads a little because of how fluffy their hair looks. At :58, just look at Hyungwon and look at Minhyuk at :32 and tell me that they do not have fluffy hair without lying. 

Also, this one is a relic of old times (relatively speaking) because this is the original song and choreography, not the remixed version that was later released that most of the other performances you're going to see are.

For the record, I'm not going to be using this dance practice for the choreography. It's also far too early in the post for it. But, instead of having this next to the one I'm going to do, I'm going to lighten the mood a little and give y'all the Halloween Dance Practice they did where they are dressed as [checks notes] vampires. 

"I can be your hero."

Vampires.

That actually would have been a really cool concept if Monsta X had gone the VIXX route. Alas. 

Special shout-out to Hyungwon at 2:50 though. He got the most viewed part of the video for having the center for the lifting of the shirt part! That was slightly hindered by the fact that he stepped on his own cape and started laughing at himself, but again. I love what the Monbebes have decided is their favorite part of each video.

Carry on.

So, this performance is from 2019 and their Seoul concert of their We Are Here tour and this would be the last tour that Wonho would join the group on as later this year, he'd be removed from the group following false allegations.

I'm not annoyed by that at all. 

Moving on, :40 has a very cute little Shownu smile

At 1:03, leading into the first shirt-raising part, we've got a couple of members doing the hype thing that I love to see at concerts. Oh, and the crowd goes nuts there. Joohoney is hyping the audience up like that's his job, in English no less which is mildly surprising considering that the concert was in Seoul.

Also, I told y'all that at 1:31, it sounded like a video game. The LED backscreen says "Start New Game", and then it transitions into an 8-bit video game during I.M's part.

At 2:23, we get some more Joohoney hyping up the audience, or the members, but there's something special that we get this time. Along with Wonho's abs that we get every performance, we get a little bit of Hyungwon's abs, and this time there is no cape to stop him. 

Joohoney's part starts at 2:52, and I'm pointing out that entire section because he starts growling there at the end. I saw a Monsta X performance, fairly recently, and it struck me how similar Joohoney and Hoshi are. A pair of performance machines those two are. And then, of course, Joohoney makes that sound again, the one that sounds like a crow.

I don't know why this specific detail struck me, but at 3:09, Shownu and Joohoney's gold necklaces are bouncing with the choreography. 

For those who are interested, here's an abs compilation.

KCon LA fancam from 2016!

First of all, congrats to the fan who took the fancam because that is a steady hand they have and they were in a great spot to film this. 10/10 cinematography skills.

I like how they introduced the song to much screaming and excitement from the audience. Joohoney took the lead in the introduction, and obviously takes his job as Hype Man very seriously.

Wonho also takes his job as Hype Man very seriously because he yells "All right lets go!" at 1:27 right before he raises his shirt. 

I'm seeing in the comments that a few future fans got caught by this specific performance, which brings me joy because that's what festivals like KCon are supposed to do, especially for the younger and smaller groups and Monsta X was only about a year old at the time. 

Dance practice time!

First of all, there's a comment in here that's like "Find someone who loves you as much as Wonho loves showing his abs." Considering his solo work, it's entirely possible that this continues to be true. And you should. I want that for you. 

No, really. 

The jeans they're all wearing do very good things for their figures. Shownu gets praise for his jeans (his whole outfit, actually, has been deemed very impressive), but he's not the visual star of the show. That honor belongs to Hyungwon.

There was a comment on one of the previous performances about how hard the bit of choreography is at 1:36, when the members are twisting to go down into a push-up position, to have it be synchronized. I paused at 1:37 and Shownu still has his leg straight up in the air. I'm not going to be too persnickety over the synchronization because that little sequence of moves is actually quite difficult to maintain such tight control over the body there (although Shownu may make a tiny extra step at 1:42, but that's just a balance correction).

One of my favorite parts of the choreography is at 1:22, when they link their hands together in front of them. It kind of reminds me of a shield, and considering the lyrics there are "I can be your hero, I can be your man," it's actually quite the good pairing.

I also love the synchronized dancing around Kihyun at 2:15. It feels a bit like a smooth clockwork, with some clockwork soldiers. 

It's also good to know that the crow scream is just part of the song at 3:08, but it also looks like part of the choreography for the others as they close ranks around him as they have their arms raised like bird wings.

At 3:14, they all do a little jump, and it's incredibly satisfying to watch that in slow motion (I definitely did not drop that to half speed to watch the jump, and I do not recommend doing that as well (this is sarcasm)). 

It's also incredibly satisfying at about 3:17 when Minhyuk and Hyungwon part to reveal Shownu standing as a bulky sentinel as Kihyun leaps up from behind him to do his ad-libs. It kind of makes him feel like the final boss, which is appropriate considering that's Leader Boy.

And lest I forget to mention it, speaking of Minhyuk, he's holding up a peace sign at :04 at the very beginning of the choreography. And it's cute.

Thanks for reading, Champions! It's a big b-side strolling into town this time around with a whole lot of abs showing and even more very sharp choreography. But it's also pretty well-loved enough generally that this is a staple of their discography despite, or even because of its status as a b-side-turned-Japanese-title-track.

Remember that if you've got a song that you'd like me to cover, feel free to drop it in a comment or submit it to The Form. Any songs that get submitted that I don't get to will be done in December. It'll be fun! Give me songs! 

Have a lovely week!

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