[subtitles by twitter @angelade17] HENRY: Fuuuuuuuuuuuuuu-
HENRY: ...uuuudge sticks. CHARLOTTE: No no, HELL no- HENRY: Oh yeah yeah, good reaction.
[t/n yikes what a spoopy intro]
[Rossini's Semiramide overture plays]
SKELETON (OWEN): Before we jump into reacting to Cosmic Girls, we wanted to let you know-
SKELETON: ...that we are able to f- UMU: Oh shit I forgot to change the text.
SKELETON: This is so unprofessional!!!!
I just rock from side to side when I'm talking. I don't actually move my mouth.
Before we jump into reacting to Block B,
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it's our Patreon that keeps it running, growing, and improving.
SKELETON: We have a lot of interesting and exclusive content uploaded to our Patreon,
including uncut reactions to this song, reactions to Japanese releases, live performances, and more!
The full list of exclusive videos is pinned in the comments section below.
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Let's get to the reaction now!
UMU: Okay, you are now reacting to the boy group Block B and their 2014 release "Jackpot",
which has a dark yet comedic concept perfect for our spoopy October marathon!
The lyrics for "Jackpot" talk about the general greed of humans to want to be rich and happy,
and in order to get there, you need to live life boldly.
But make sure to shake hands with your enemies instead of getting revenge,
because otherwise your necktie and wristwatch may become a collar and handcuff.
JU YOUNG: ...ooh shit. UMU: *laughs*
JASON: I'm telling you man, they're deep, these guys are deep! UMU: They are deep.
UMU: Something I think fans would also like me to tell you about is that this song was released around the time of the Sewol Ferry disaster.
But when the disaster happened, Block B canceled their promotional activities for this song,
in respect of everyone mourning for the lost and missing passengers of that disaster.
HENRY: That's classy. I shouldn't say that's classy, that's like decent human being.
Um but good on them.
KEVIN: Wow, I was expecting some like corruption and greed stuff,
but the message here is, is a good one. I like it.
UMU: The song is composed by Poptime and the Block B member Zico.
SAM: Zico?? :) (UMU: He's the rapper of the group.)
UMU: Ohh, you know him. *laughs* SAM: Oh my gosh, I love Zico!
SAM: 3 2 1.
SAM: Oh that is spooky scary.
RAFFI: Augh... SAM: *ghost noise*
SAM: *laughs* Did you jump?
RAFAEL: Oh I'm out, this is too scary. [t/n bro same]
STEPHEN: Wow that's SUPER creepy, clowns freak me out.
STEPHEN: OH my goodness, that made me jump!
JOSH: I actually make- I think clowns kinda soothe me. :) STEPHEN: Oh my gosh!!
BRIANNA: Oh. He's playing McCoy Tyner chords.
It's just like the open fifth.
CHARLOTTE: I hate you. HENRY: *laughs*
HENRY: Oh NOO! CHARLOTTE: Yep no no, uh-uh. HENRY: I'm SO uncomfortable.
CHARLOTTE: NOPE, no no no. *scream-laugh-crying* HENRY: *wails* Look away!!
HENRY: I can't look away-
CHARLOTTE: *screams* HENRY: Oh fuuuuuuuuuuuu-
HENRY: -uuuudgesticks. CHARLOTTE: NO. No. HELL NO. HENRY: Okay yeah, good reaction.
HENRY: Is it goofy? Please be goofy, please be goofy from now on.
Okay it's goofy.
RAFFI: Well... it got my attention.
SAM: Oh I love the piano.
CHARLOTTE: *laughs* Okay yeah, now that's Block B. Yeah, there we go.
JASON: Oh yo! JU YOUNG: *grooving* That's Zico!
JU YOUNG: Oh lol, 7 albums 7- great.
KEVIN: I always like Block B's energy.
BRIANNA: Wow, I love the energy. *laughs*
RAFFI: I love just the string of text. Like, constant.
JU YOUNG: Ooh, harmony.
HENRY: *groans*
CHARLOTTE: Where did we go? (HENRY: *laughs* That sound!) This is a different song!
STEPHEN: Wow they changed the meter there and the feel significantly.
JOSH: Was it a change of meter or a change of- just a change of tempo?
STEPHEN: Well it from like a shuffle to like now it's straight. But like a *sings rhythm*
JOSH: Oh, it just sounded like they sped up for a second. STEPHEN: Well that's the cool thing, I can talk about it later (JOSH: Yeah.) but it's a really cool effect.
RAFAEL: Triplets duplets switch.
JAMAL: Bro it's triplets all day!
JAMAL: Triplets! RAFAEL: But now, but now they're in the duplet feel. And back to triplet feel.
RAFAEL: This girl is probably terrified right now.
JAMAL: I would, I would be like- (RAFAEL: I mean, I would be terrified. She looks pretty calm though.)
JASON: And this is like in um, like a cocktail lounge kind of like 40's jazz, *sings* JU YOUNG: Oh my god yeah.
KEVIN: I like the chords ascending, that's pretty cool. OWEN: Yeah, that was cool.
OWEN: A kind of way to spice up a 2 5 1.
STEPHEN: Not gonna lie that like bass synth, that bass synth sound is super cool. JOSH: Yeah.
STEPHEN: And it's nice 'cause it's like kinda delayed, which is really sweet.
CHARLOTTE: Where are we going?
JOSH: Yeah I was gonna say, they like are going through a lot of different... (STEPHEN: Styles.) jazz periods.
KEVIN: Nice. OWEN: Mm.
OWEN: I really like the cymbals and tambourines in here, they're all really clear and interestingly recorded. All very clear.
SAM: Also there are so many instruments happening in this song.
I'm curious to see what um, what like the midi file, like how big that is.
JASON: Yeah, they just get a really strong like *counts rhythm*
JASON: Super... it accentuates the simplicity of like their chorus.
HENRY: Hmmm. CHARLOTTE: NO.
CHARLOTTE: I swear-
RAFAEL: Ohh she flipped them off!
RAFAEL: And she screamed. Oh my god. There's probably some dark meaning for that.
BRIANNA: That was good! UMU: Yay, I'm glad you enjoyed it!
UMU: [to Cloud] You were making a lot of weird faces. *laughs* What were your thoughts?
CLOUD: Okay at the very end, she kicked the ball and they had-
they were like, going with like the flaming circle and I was like, but did she kick the ball through the flaming hoop?
CLOUD: And they didn't even show it. (BRIANNA: I'm done with you!)
CLOUD: And then somebody else kicked the ball- (UMU: That's what you were... *laughs*)
(BRIANNA: I'm done.) CLOUD: And someone else kicked the ball the other way, I was like, what was that about?
CLOUD: Also, they made so many changes so I was like...
UMU: Was is overwhelming? CLOUD: Um... BRIANNA: Changes to what?
CLOUD: Like just like rhythm, sections, there were SO many sections, so many. (BRIANNA: Yeah that's what I was saying! I was gonna comment about that. Yeah I was gonna comment-)
CLOUD: I felt like I was like on a tourbus, and like we're just hitting different stops.
BRIANNA: Yeah. I was like it has a lot of energy, and I think it's because they incorporated so many different sections and styles,
but I like how they went through it. Because I felt like the bases of each section was jazz-oriented.
JOSH: In the beginning there's like ragtime- BRIANNA: That was like 20's jazz-
JOSH: And then in the middle there was like- we both looked up when they went into like a *sings swung rhythm*
STEPHEN: A swing like beat. JOSH: Yeah, swing rhythm.
JOSH: And then at some point there was like, early big band music vibes going on, like a shout section, yeah.
BRIANNA: And then they went on to more of like funk, with a little bit of like pop.
I feel like all their like stylistic changes were all based upon like jazz motifs, and I liked how that connected.
Because there was one section where they did go to more gospel and church type of chords,
they used a lot of like passing tones and stuff like that which is more R&B and church.
I feel like it was connected, but the way they would shift was just really quick. There wasn't really like preparation for it.
Right when we got to the rap section it immediately had this like rhythmic slowdown, even though it was like in the same time.
It was just, I think um the harmonic progression slowed down in and of itself.
Even though the beat was still the same, it's different.
JASON: Alright, that turned from like freaky fucking clownshow to like, a VIBE.
JU YOUNG: Yeah this is so 2014 K-pop, like I just- this felt so good just to like go back and just...
JASON: I like it, but sorry I wanna listen to one thing.
I think I just wanna hear what they're doing rhythmically, that's it.
JU YOUNG: Yeah rhythmically, it was like kinda- (JASON: 'Cause there's just one thing that they do-) it was really interesting.
JASON: But the other thing too is that they're doing, they're doing a pretty like simplistic scalar work, but it-
Because like the style was kind of like a ragtime-ish jazz, it was really, it like fit in super well,
and just made everything sound like formulated and it all worked.
JU YOUNG: Yeah the tempo change, I dunno if it's like-
Did they go faster in the chorus?
STEPHEN: Like say you have like one kind of tempo right, and if you view it kind of linearly where it's like kind of beat 1, beat 2, beat 3, beat 4,
in the space between even the- between like those notes, it never changes right?
So basically uh, before they were dividing it into triplets, which is 3 beats per each like kind of vertical click, you could say like what the tempo is.
And then it goes into 4/4 which is just, like now it's 4.
It's just a really cool effect because uh, because there's more notes in-between those spaces.
Even though the tempo actually stays the same, it gives the impression that we're going faster.
The other thing too is, it's really interesting how they use like shuffle beats,
and not just in K-pop but like pop music in America especially too,
shuffle beats and like ragtime and then swing,
and it's always juxtaposed- or not juxtaposed, but like in concert with like, a silly or goofy or weird kind of odd theme.
That's like super common. Not sure why that is, but it's just a really funny observation.
UMU: So how was that experience?
RAFAEL: Extremely overwhelming. (UMU: *laughs*)
RAFAEL: Overwhelmed as I might have been. It was very cool.
But I did think it was pretty cool when the um time field shifted in the, like in the choruses.
It would go to like a duple feel, then there'd be like a disco beat that would come from the drums.
It was just like a nice change of texture from like a very tripley bass almost shuffle groove that they had going on.
But then they like, they were like here's like, 20 seconds of the duple groove, and now we're back into the shuffle with like the [singing] "La la la la" thing.
UMU: Do you guys think that going between the shuffle beat and the straight beats was successful? Or do you feel like it was too much of a whiplash?
STEPHEN: I thought it was kind of funny, but in all honesty because there's so many funny goofy kind of like weird creepy things going on,
I thought it fit the theme, like the overall theme of the song really well.
I dunno honestly when it did that I was like, almost sort of laughed, I was like wow I can't believe they just did that.
'Cause like you'd never do that. Like I dunno, it was just-
It's such an abrupt change, but it's like, well the song is- like the theme's really weird, so.
JOSH: It was cool, I thought it was appropriate for like what they were doing.
KEVIN: Yeah this type of cabaret, like sort of cabaret sort of big band, maybe a bit of ragtime, style,
KEVIN: I kinda wish they could lean towards one and just do that really well. (OWEN: Do it really well. Yeah.)
KEVIN: Everything's kind of halfway here. (UMU: Mmm.) Yeah.
KEVIN: And I like the energy, I've always liked Block B's energy.
But with this song, yeah it feels a bit gimmicky, feels a bit gimmicky towards like the Halloween season and stuff.
KEVIN: Was this- is this released recently? UMU: No, 2014.
KEVIN: But at Halloween? UMU: No.
KEVIN: Okay, well- UMU: *laughs* This is just them, this is very much their style.
OWEN: March 14th. KEVIN: Okay, okay. I think I prefer their more sorta gangster rap-heavy bass...
UMU: Oh, rather than like playful, changing. (KEVIN: ...drop. Yeah, yeah. I mean they're-)
KEVIN: Yeah they can, they can be playful in all their songs,
KEVIN: but yeah I like the pseudo-serious playful rather than the cabaret... OWEN: Kind of like a witty playful. KEVIN: Yeah.
OWEN: This feels, doesn't feel genuine I think is the difference. KEVIN: Yeah.
KEVIN: I'm like oh, I see a big- I SEE brass instruments, but I can't quite hear them a lot and I can still-
I can make out like a funk guitar, within like the end, and it didn't-
None of the sounds really turned into what they were trying to be.
Maybe like when there was a solo piano, that was like the most evocative,
but none of the other sounds really evoked a pure version of some sort of jazz style.
UMU: It's because- yeah they used synth. KEVIN: Yeah it was very fusion-y. It was very, it was a little too fusion-y for me.
OWEN: I think that's a good way to put it.
UMU: Yeah, did you hear all like the different layers of instruments and such?
STEPHANIE: Yeah!! It was actually kinda jazzy, you know like-
Especially with that first like piano bar, and it's like jazz!
And then towards the end, you hear like the sax and stuff, yeah.
LEON: Yeah like at the first beginning, they do this dry piano stuff,
and then that really reminds me of meme songs, kinda like *sings "We No Speak Americano"* that one.
STEPHANIE: Ohhhh. *sings "We No Americano"* (LEON: Yeah, that one is so funny. Yeah. *laughs*)
LEON: Like, in the breaks they will just add like some jazz piano, like early jazz things, and then just like kinda break it into meme.
But what really surprised me is the triplet thing as well.
The producers just like make it so groovy, like I kinda feel like the kick is slightly ahead of the beat,
and then the synth part is like really laying back, so that kinda create a tension on rhythm.
Like *sings*, like that kinda stuff.
RAFFI: Well my least favorite part was the beginning. *laughs*
I wasn't expecting to watch a SPOOK, but I was spooked okay, I jumped.
SAM: But it's Halloween! UMU: Yeah. RAFFI: Yeah. We love the spook. :/
RAFFI: Yeah my, my favorite part is like there's so many different musical components to it,
but the transition's just kinda flawless, and then you find yourself in a new groove.
SAM: So I personally love the chorus, 'cause like when...
When music has energy like that, and you can just, just vibe like that, that's my favorite.
And especially, I dunno, I was just having a good time. The entire thing is just such a good time.
But they were just like different parts of... what that means and I just, I loved it. I think it's so cool how they were able to do that.
[subtitles by @angelade17 on twitter whoo]
JU YOUNG: Z-Z-Z-I-CO! UMU: Z-I-CO!
JASON: ...I always feel lost when you guys do things.
[laughter] JASON: I don't know what's happening! JU YOUNG: I forgot you were in the room!