Henry: Yeah, yeah I've been there.
(Cloud: Really?) I've been there.
Henry: I've been in all these scenes.
Umu: So now you're reacting to the solo artist Zico,
who is a member from the boy group Block B.
And you're reacting to his 2019 song called 'Any Song' that
explores the idea of music being an escape from the stresses of the world.
It doesn't matter what the song is, as long as it's an upbeat song
with a good vibe that lets you dance without caring about anything.
The song has become incredibly popular not just for the music, but also because of the #AnySongChallenge!
Which I'm going to make you guys do after you react to this video.
Aaron: Oh...
Umu: Many Korean celebrities have made videos of themselves
participating in this challenge and it's gone viral in Korea!
(Aaron: Oh, Cool!)
This song is composed by Zico and Poptime. (Aaron: Cool.)
James: Okay.
Brianna: Oooh love that.
Kevin: Oh cool, I wasn't sure what the downbeat was.
That's cool.
Seiji: The 2-5 is the foundational chord progression in jazz music.
Seiji: ii
V
(Dominant)
I!
And vidom which is the V/ii. Now we're back at ii and now we're back at V.
I.
Kevin: Oh, so they take the lyrics and give it a more lighthearted approach.
I thought it was going to be more somber.
[reading lyrics] "I wanna laugh my butt off today"
Okay, not crying but laughing.
Brianna: I love how when more like rhythmic like...(James: Yeah)
When the piano comes in and the bass and the drums come in, multiple voices come in as well.
Henry: Ooh!
I like the piano harmony there.
Kind of Latin.
Seiji: They're playing with fire. They need to know that they're playing with fire there.
(Stephen: Yeah...) They're really—It's dangerous.
Stephen: They didn't fully do it though [He's referring to a montuno.]
Seiji: They were close, though.
Elizabeth: I like this.
There's a lot of off-beat work here.
Elizabeth: Ooh, do you hear that guitar in there?
Kind of noodling around~(Owen: On the left? Yeah. It's been doing that for a good while)
James: That bass! Oh my god. (Brianna: Yeah.)
James: The breakdowns are good! (Brianna: Oooh, yeah.)
Henry: Ooh!
Cloud: I really like the last time that was there too.
Henry: Saxophone!
Cloud: Is that a sax? Henry: Yeah that was a sax!
Henry: It's nice and subtle!
Tasteful!
Henry: Yeah, yeah I've been there.
(Cloud: Really?) I've been there.
I've been in all these scenes.
Nick: Yeah, it sounds like a little bit like steel drums.
Aaron: Yes, there are a lot of cultures...
being represented in here.
Is he teaching himself how to dance?
This is cute, this is like me though.
Henry: Oh my goodness...
He needs to clean his house.
Cloud: And now there's an electric guitar instead this time,
Cloud: ...instead of the sax Henry: Oooh I didn't catch that.
Cloud: Maybe.
Elizabeth: Ooh I like that!
Elizabeth: I like when the non-diegetic music becomes diegetic.
Kevin: Oh they're clapping on the off-beats but I thought that was the—WHAT THE
—Oh I thought he just vanished and it was like some really depressing existential...Okay, okay.
Brianna: Why is he running like that?
James: Ohhh
[both singing along] Brianna: Is he doing all these background vocals? (James: Interesting.)
James: I love this!
Brianna: Wow
Henry: I like that.
Kevin: Yeah. I really, really enjoyed that. It's awesome.
It combines the pristine qualities of
what Zico is known for with some really raw...
like some of the guitars, they sound a little messy
a little...impromptu, almost. Yeah.
Isaac: Yeah, because when you listen to the texture of it, the verses are very heavy in that bass.
So it sounds like it's weighing it (Kevin: Really?) Yeah I thought that
Did you hear it? (Kevin: Not really.) Oh I felt it.
I don't know, I heard a really low bass.
It's like underwater pressure, from all sides.
(Kevin: Geez..that's a very different interpretation.) And then you go into the chorus.
Well, I was just looking at his expression.
That's one thing that's hard about listening when you're watching at the same time.
Because when you're looking at his expression,
he's just staring dead into the camera and everything's focused on him.
A lot of the textures split.
So it's very similar to every... most pop music where
they thin it out.
But the middle's thinned out but the top brought out...
The treble and the bass are brought out and it's blasted out.
So it's more audibly sound to your ears.
But having that with the lyrics, it sounds very cold. The tambourine sounds a little bit like snow.
Then you know like the emptiness of it...
Kevin: Hey, Isaac.
Did we listen to the same song?
[Kevin & Umu laughing] Isaac: I don't think so.
So once you have the treble and bass and then the middle is empty
and there's like a void within your being.
Yeah, I thought it was interesting.
Kevin: The chorus is a little existential.
I'll give that to you, but I actually think the instrumentals are very lively and it's a little party.
(Isaac: Yeah.) There's like a little samba—
I don't know if I'm using the Latin rhythms right, I'm sorry.
Elizabeth: I liked it! I get what they're saying about the like, cool vibe.
Like it's definitely—like what's happening on screen is...
depressing.
But like...
The song itself, it's upbeat.
I wouldn't say it's happy? I think that would be a stretch.
There's some energy there.
There's still some—it's sort of like...
Owen: It feels more like surface energy then like...(Elizabeth: Yeah...)
I don't know this, it feels like it's not moving anywhere
actually, but it's like giving the impression of having a lot of energy on the top.
Elizabeth: Yeah, like I'm "meh" happy, you know? (Owen: Yeah.)
James: So cool. Brianna:This is a really good song.
James: Such Spanish, like Latin influence. (Brianna: Mhmm.) Holy shit.
Brianna: That's so cool.
James: But it was also like a little bit trap-y (Brianna: Trap!)
Brianna: Yeah, to make it more modern. I feel like every, like beat...
James: Wow!
James: Music is so exciting.
Brianna: And when the drums came in, it felt like multiple voices were coming in too.
So it just created like a deeper texture, like within the music (James: So much going on)
Brianna: Yeah, it was just like really like...not boring at all.
I felt like there wasn't any boring moments throughout the whole song.
Even like visually, and like sound-wise like it was just super exciting.
Stephen: When you do that—
Stephen: You're taking a rhythm that has a specific history and you're just—
I don't know like kind of...
It seems a little disrespectful to use something like that, you know?
You know, you could say that I'm being like hard obviously.
And I totally get that too, because I feel like there are certain aspects of that rhythm that we just like, right?
Like the melodic aspect. The rhythmic aspect is really interesting. (Seiji: Absolutely.)
And I agree that there should be a way to do that...
Which I feel like they kind of do in a sense where it's like they're not actually playing
it really but they really almost are.
Seiji: And people get really upset about it.
And I think rightfully so, I mean because it's such like an ingrained part of
Umu: Like Latino people or...?
Seiji: Yeah, absolutely. Stephen: Well, yeah because it's like a culture's...
One of their unique contributions to world music and just for people to, you know...
Take stuff like that out willy-nilly without actually like doing it any justice.
Seiji: That's something in the jazz community that a lot of us...
You know, have been exposed to and most of us at some point have been called out for something like that.
You know? Public Safety Announcement.
Umu: What drew you to it? I know this is your second time listening to it.
Nick: Yeah, "second".
Umu: Oh...[laughs]
Umu: "Twentieth!"
Nick: Yeah, something like that!
I do really like this song. I think it's just really balanced in terms of like—
Aaron: I am not on my phone right now, I'm so sorry!
Nick: I think he's a really good singer. And I don't think he...I don't think he abuses that
to...make up all of the song.
Because he uses rap and of whole bunch of instrumental stuff.
So it's like really balanced. (Umu: Yeah.)
Umu: Okay!
Dance learning time! (Aaron: Oh no.)
Umu: We have reached the moment! (Nick: Yesssssss!)
Aaron: Can you show cues at us?
Because I feel bad if I'm looking down the whole time.
Umu: Yeah!
Umu: Sure!
[Now presenting Classical Musicians #AnySongChallenge!!]
Kevin: Why are we doing the opposite way?
Isaac: I don't know!
Umu: Swag! Swag! Aroooound!
Wiggle! Wiggle! Arm! Arm!
Owen: I know this one!
Umu: Uhhh clap!
Clap!
Aaron & Umu: Hair, hair, haaaair!
Kevin: See, it's fun!
Isaac: It's fun.
Kevin: It's so fun!
Isaac: It's fun to put eggs on things.