Although I predominantly cover singles on here, I’ve always been an avid consumer of albums. More often than not, this results in some songs that I adore but others that I detest. As a remedy to this issue, please welcome an all new feature, Beast Sides! These songs put the Beast in B-side and are either stronger than their accompanying title track or songs that are just too solid to leave out.
Welcome to the first edition of Beast Sides! A feature where I’ll be looking at some of my favourite album or reality show tracks that haven’t been given a music video. I tried to go the first few months by only shining light on b-sides through my album reviews and monthly roundups. This left a lot of tracks that I desperately wanted to talk about in the dust. So as a solution, I’ve chosen to implement a feature inspired by The BiasList‘s ‘Buried Treasure’ series to shine light on some of these hidden gems.
The first song to get the full Kbopped treatment, is Jang Ye Eun’s incredibly funky and enjoyable Barbie from Mnet’s Good Girl. Although I’ve enjoyed some of CLC’s work, I never thought any of the members would make convincing soloists. I also didn’t think that a show aimed at rappers would provide any songs that would cater to my tastes. Well, this song and performance have singlehandedly proved me wrong. Not only is the track just great but Yeeun proves that she’s a star performer given the right push.
I’ll always be an advocate for upbeat fun tracks and Barbie fits right into that wheelhouse. It’s not trying to be overtly cute or indulge in high shrill aegyo, it’s just a fun track that makes perfect use of Yeeun’s unique vocals to create a song that’s just an overall great time. Other than a few oddly downbeat breakdowns, Barbie is a surprisingly streamlined song, build all around that sugar rush of a chorus. It’s an incredibly catchy hook, hitting listeners instantly with an engaging melody. The rhythm guitar and pounding bass during the verses is also wonderfully refreshing. No time killing, murky verses here, just great songwriting. It’s great stuff and the type of track I would like to see more of as we head into summer.
Verses: 8
Chorus: 10
Production: 8
Performance: 9
Final Rating: 8.75 / 10
KBopped 
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