Greatest Hits:: BADVILLAIN: BADVILLAIN

 Alright, Champions, buckle up. I'm full of fire and vinegar over this song. If you remember back in June, I posted One Spark by TWICE because I watched a video on YouTube of the worst releases of 2024 and I took particular umbrage at One Spark being on the list (there was an ITZY release there as well, which I also am incensed about, but I still have to figure out how to bridge the regular reviews with the Expanded Offerings posts, since we're now officially at a time when I could start covering songs I've already reviewed). It was not the only song on there that I immediately wanted to yell about, but I waited for an opportune moment. To the person who made the video, this song is not "boring, idk". The month of Spookening felt like an ideal placement for BADVILLAIN in the same vein that true crime is technically classified under horror, and as the song is now two years old, I mentally slotted it into October. However. Then I decided that I wanted to have September as a retrieval and preservation month for the nugu and the forgotten. The list was originally longer, but I apparently needed to give myself a break from these posts, so both August and September got cut short. Am I disappointed? Yes. But it happens. I've also been watching with much interest the implosion that is happening at the company, because that's where Ren is and I've been so worried about him getting out because while everyone was not getting paid, he was in the military, so there were no schedules for him to not get paid for. But as I was watching the list of artists and groups leave and/or sue, there was one group that has gone suspiciously unremarked upon. Eventually, my concern boiled over, so here we are with a group that I refuse to let just vanish. This is a good song, and the group does not deserve to just vanish without a word just because they had the misfortune of debuting at a company that couldn't manage to do the bare minimum for its artists. One spark, baby. So, here I am, stomping angrily to the microphone the internet has provided for me, pleading with y'all to listen to me about this song.

BADVILLAIN debuted in 2024 under BPM Entertainment as a seven-member group with Chloe Young, Emma, Hu'e, Ina, Yunseo, Vin, and Kelly as the members. Normally I don't name the group members unless there was a line-up change, but I'm so angry on their behalf that I need to be loud about each one of them right now to bleed some of that out before I get to the actual song.

BADVILLAIN is the title track of their debut single. Buckle up, dearest readers, because this is a long list of contributing names. Alright. Here we go. So, for starters, we have a lyricist only: Bufobabas (only BADVILLAIN and The Boyz). Then we have the lyricist and composers: Villain36 (who did the company-wide Christmas song in 2024) and Niallivdab. For the composers-only, we have EastWest (MC Mong, TURBO, JBJ, GOT7, Astro, IZ*ONE, 9reat, Lee Mujin, VIVIZ, T-ARA, Doyoung, Apink, SoYou, JO1, Lee Seung Gi, Hyolyn, Alice, Sistar, WOOAH, BAE173, ILY:1, Nature, DIA, Ailee, Sonamoo, Turbo, Girl's Day, and MAP6), JUNZO (Lee Mujin, Kwon Eunbi, Lee Seung Gi, WEi, Golden Child, Lovelyz, Weeekly, DRIPPIN, Park Boram, Jeong Sewoon, Mighty Mouth, GOOD DAY), Woo Taewon (Girl's Day, BAE173, Jeong Eunji, Apink, Kim Jaehwan, Sistar, SPEED, MOMOLAND, Hwang Minhyun, Lee Bada, NATURE, SONAMOO, MAP6, WAKER, and The Wind), and Olivia Marsh (Kiss of Life, Loossemble, Kep1er, NewJeans, Miyeon, BoA, IS:SUE, Wheein, Hwasa, and OH MY GIRL).

• Group: BADVILLAIN
• Debut Date: 2024 June 03
• Company: BPM Entertainment
• Status: Inactive
• Album : OVERSTEP
• Song: BADVILLAIN
• Release Date: 2024 June 03

If I had been reviewing songs when this was released, this would have ended up on my list of best songs of the year. As it is, I didn't listen to this one at debut, and somehow managed to keep missing it until I watched that video, so I'm grateful to it for actually introducing me to it.

Champions, I need y'all to understand that the five seconds or so I heard on that video was enough for me to say "Absolutely not." My ears perked up like a hound dog when you open the treat bag. And then I listened to the whole song and was very upset with myself for about three hours for not listening to it for almost two years.

And then I remembered that the girl groups I really like tend not to last too much longer after I discover them, or go on hiatus soon after, and I was upset all over again. I was having a lot of big emotions that day in a rollercoaster of them, but I just knew that I needed to do this song when I came out on the other side of the big emotions.

The fact that the instrumental is so dramatically orchestral in a way that almost feels classical makes the song feel like a heist, even when you're just listening to it, but that's slightly ignoring the fact that the entire music video is basically a heist of the Ocean's Eleven variety. Starting off with them getting arrested is kind of fantastic and a bold way to introduce the group, but the amount of utter not-caring that they're exhibiting is brilliant. And their shadows behind them on the police line-up wall at :13 are stunning. It gives them all Batgirl ears (Batgirl regularly joins the criminal side in the comics, which makes this even better.) I recognize that they're probably meant to be horns given the symbol spraypainted onto the elevator camera at :41, but I'd also point out the Catwoman mask at 2:20. So we're definitely in the DC genre of comic book characters. I also adore that in their mugshots, their mugshot boards have their names or stage names on them. Way to introduce the group. Perfection.

We also get a flash of those horns at 1:47, but you have to be paying attention. I tried three times to catch that shadow and didn't manage to, though I also admit that I didn't want to spend more time on it or turn it to half speed to try to actually catch the screenshot.

And this is a debut, a debut that Taemin posted about and if you remember my post on Advice, the man knows his business.

I could scream off the rooftops about the wasted potential because we've got a girl crush concept and instead of the normal loud aggressiveness, which absolutely works as a one-two punch, we got strings and brass instruments. The combination of the absolute sass and attitude in the vocals and the classiness of the instrumental is fantastic, but then we've got both things going on in the choreography as well. I'm looking forward to the dance practice.

I love the twist on the stereotypical walk-in closet shot, where they're all wearing pretty colored gas masks and some of them are in gowns, but instead of having clothes and shoes and various accessories in the walk-in closet, we've got a range of guns. Who said you have to choose between looking pretty and getting to work? Definitely not Buffy with her line from the first season "I may be dead, but I'm still pretty. Which is more than I can say for you." BADVILLAIN is kind of embodying that level of confidence, sass, and unbridled elegance. 

Also, is anyone else getting Wonderland by ATEEZ vibes starting at about 2:25?

I absolutely adore the line "Mobbin' with the bad girls, you ain't even gang". There is a very specific female character that shows up in fiction that makes me so satisfied with life where they're the leader of a girl gang (we get a version of it in Final Fantasy X-2, which is why no matter what else is just bonkers about that game, I will always love sphere hunter Yuna with incorrigible rogue Rikku and traumatized goth muscle Paine). That clot of characters is regularly designed to be similar to a pack of lionesses, and that's what that line is. 

I would have made this song my entire personality for a couple of months when I was a teenager. Y'all do not even know. 

I'm actually not going to start off with a music show performance first because I really like the camera angles and the styling of the Studio Choom version.

You know what? They're the girl version of ATEEZ. I'm going to figure out exactly why I've decided that later, but know that that's the conclusion my soul has come to.

I'm coming back to this about an hour later, after having digested several stages. It's the attitude. It's the whole "We could take down the government if we wanted to without breaking a nail" combined with the weaponized beauty to distract. If ATEEZ and EXID had daughters, that would be BADVILLAIN. 

But you want to know the real reason why I'm giving you the Studio Choom version first? Kany was one of the choreographers for this song. Kany (who is actually a former artist at the company). Dearest readers and Champions, we love Kany in this house. First of all, any time a member of SHINee films anything with her, it's one of the funniest things ever (especially if it's Key). Second of all, it's not often that I can give you the full list of choreographers and I feel like they don't get the credit they probably deserve from the general public. So I'm happy to share Kasper, Kany, and Shuri with you.

Okay. I know that this Music Bank performance is not the most watched one, but I really love these outfits. They're giving strong Girls' Generation vibes in the best way with the matching cyborg bodysuits. Or possibly Overwatch (I've got a video game by my gaming Brits on the TV right now and it's one on seven times game developers doubled down on bad decisions, and Overwatch 2 got brought up, which is why even though I originally got the cyborg vibes and still stand by that, I am reminded of the one Overwatch character that is iconic and not voiced by Matt Mercer). It's been a hot minute since we've gotten fully matching outfits for a group. These aren't fully matching but they're close enough that I'll accept it.

There's such a cute moment where Ina and Emma interact at 1:54. Emma makes a monster face and gesture at Ina, who makes the shocked expression. While smiling. That's what makes it really cute. It's so cute, which is such a contrast with how intense this song is. That's a good detail.

And if you notice, during the intro, the lyrics are on the LED screen behind them. That's an excellent thing. The other really cool part of the LED screen at the beginning is that the light directly behind them moves based on the choreography. 

At 2:10, there's a really cool swoop with the camera as Yunseo crouches down for Kelly's part. I love it when the choreography does that though, where the members crouch or part or bend to reveal another member who was hidden behind. 

Because of how the dance practice is, I'm going to spend some time on the stages with the details you can only see with the close-ups. Just so y'all know.

And first on that list is the "la di da di da" at 2:49 before the last big burst. I love the gesture they make for the word "villain" with their forefinger and pinky pulled across their face. It reminds me of, I don't know which group, but there's a group that fishhooks themselves as part of the choreography (probably several but there's a specific girl group song I'm thinking of, but I don't know and I don't want to waste time trying to figure that out). But the way their hand is pulled across and then the little flip of their wrist feels so genuinely powerful. It's almost like a "talk to the hand" which I think went out of fashion before any of the members were born, or when they were very young. 

And speaking of that last burst, hello, fanchant! You don't hear it much throughout the song, but you definitely hear it at the very end and it is so loud!

Again, I love the outfits. They're reminding me a bit of a post-apocalyptic desert wanderer outfit. 

But I'm going to start with Hu'e's hair getting caught in her mic at 1:07 because she hit her hair with her hand. I love random little moments like that. 

And it sounds like one of them purrs at :32. I'm going to check the actual track really quick.

Okay, there is a purr in the studio track, which is funny because I've heard it probably twelve times or so just for writing this review, and that means that it's just part of the backtrack. I don't know why this particular stage has it so loud. 

But this performance is so playful. At 1:50, Ina pulls Emma over to her and you can see a quick grin on both their faces when she does. That entire little exchange is kind of adorable. I love Ina's braids in this stage as well. They're very odd with the three of them, but I love them.

And Chloe Young has a moment at 2:42, where she looks behind herself and throws some hearts to two of the members behind her. I like the smiles. 

Hu'e also tosses a heart to the audience at 2:37 when she's got her duo dance with Kelly. Like I said. This stage is very playful.

I also really love Vin's hair. Again, it's a little odd, but it reminds me a bit of Lightning from Final Fantasy XIII, but if Lightning had a pair of braids instead of her hair loose. (I'm also a big fan of her stage name because it's the same name as the main character from one of my favorite book series, and also the reason I became a proper fiction writer because I read it and went "I can do that too". My magnum opus is directly inspired by that book series.) But she seriously looks like a JRPG protagonist. Even her costuming. She looks like she came out of Zanarkand.

There is a comment on here that said that most of the debut stages had live vocals on here, so we're going to go hunt one of them down next and take a look and a listen.

But also, the fanchant. Well done, y'all. Well done.

Okay. Debut week. This one was from five days after debut on Show! Music Core. Also, NewJeans was apparently up for first place that week, and a quick check reveals that this was the program that they got a triple crown for with that song. So that's what the competition for the debut song was.

These outfits (despite the fact that they look straight up like they're out of an anime and there are people griping about them in the comments, but they're fun and science fiction-y, so people need more of a sense of whimsy) are not the best ones to look at throats because a lot of them have covered throats. But. Emma has an exposed throat. So, this requires an intense study of her neck because she doesn't have an Adam's apple. Half speed it is. At :57, it looks like there may be some neck movements, but the flexing for her entire part right there could be the result of the choreography. But specifically, it looks like there might be the movement I'm looking for.

At 1:10 and at 2:06, it sounds like those may be live vocals from Yunseo. They could be live AR of course, and I can't get a good look at her throat because she's got a high collar on. But that's at least possible. Ina also sounds like she may be singing live at 1:03, but again, there's a high collar.

I will say that there is something audibly different about this performance than the two later ones that we've already looked at. I almost wish there was a proper missed note or a voice crack, or alternatively a spot where they do something silly like what happens when BTOB and MAMAMOO try to lip sync and just forget the lyrics. Of course, if they did that, then they'd be ripped apart online for not being able to sing and being untrained, which hardly feels fair because a live performance is messy. But, I will however say that I'm not going to rule this one out. They've got decent mics, and that feels like more evidence that they are singing live, because unless they're extremely dedicated, the company wouldn't have given them better headsets if they weren't going to let them sing, you know? That's a lot of money to spend on an illusion. So, I'm going to deem this a solid maybe leaning yes for live vocals. It also could be that for the later two stages we saw, they did sing live on the day, but the audio track in the video is different from the one they performed.

Dance practice!

As a side note, I love how Chloe Young's hair looks with the two-tone and I'm sad that wasn't kept for debut. I also love that they're wearing loose, comfy clothing. 

I love that we can hear the stomps and shoe scuffs (1:31 starts a part there that has so much of the shoe sounds, for instance). It's one of my favorite parts of dance practices. The fact that this room has a basketball net is a little amusing, but it's a good extra bit of exercise for the idols that isn't dance related. 

But the stomps. We've got them at :21, :25, 1:24, 1:31 (my favorite part with the stomps because that's so satisfying), 2:12, and then the big finale at 2:56. If that finale was at KQ, the lights in the practice room would be shaking. I don't care that BADVILLAIN is lighter than either ATEEZ or xikers. The camera here shakes a little bit during this part, so you cannot tell me that the lights wouldn't be too.

I'd also like to point out how how much they're enjoying this. This is their debut, the single most important moment in their career, and you've got Emma looking over at Chloe Young at 1:50, and they just grin at each other. Do y'all know how amazing that is? Even with the terrifying pre-debut nerves, they're still enjoying themselves enough to do that. I'm assuming this was filmed pre-debut so that post-debut could be spent with the music shows and actual interactions with fans.

I paused at 2:51 out of curiosity because that part looks like they're fully in sync. And you know what? Close enough. There are only two of the seven that have different angles on that held up hand and another one has her foot up, which I think is adorable. 

The part starting at 1:15 is such a power move. The arm movements leading into the leg movements are just big, and I am here for this, especially with what the instrumental is doing right there. 

This however is what I'm going to leave you all with. I see a video labeled "dance practice behind" and I go "Oh, this is an actual practice and learning of the song! Excellent. Seems a little short, though." I click on it and, well, this was the most literal interpretation of a dance practice behind that I've ever seen. But this is a view that we don't often get, which means we get to see what's going on at the back of the formations.

Also, when they're waiting on the sides, they interact with the camera. It's very cute.

I feel better now. I don't want BADVILLAIN to be forgotten because whatever else is going on at the company, they don't deserve it. And I know this was supposed to be put in September and I'm not finishing it in September, but I'm counting it for September for when it comes time for the monthly wrap-up. I haven't been bitten at work in a while so I should be a little bit less stressed. Whatever. It's fine.

Champions! Bring me your songs! Drop them in comments or send them via The Form! I want them! Happy Month of the Spookening!

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