In addition to his career as a singer, Daesung has continued to be a reliable variety star — especially with his own YouTube series. This takes advantage of his jovial side, which wasn’t always allowed to flourish as part of his group’s more serious hip-hop work. After a serious comeback of his own earlier this year, he’s flipped the switch to full-on comedy with new single HANDO-CHOGUA (한도초과).
One of the lowest-level trolling responses I often get on this blog is readers admonishing me for “not liking fun.” I don’t really know what that’s supposed to mean, but in my mind I delineate “fun” and “schtick” pretty clearly. Anyone who knows my very pop-oriented taste can see that I prefer upbeat, fun music to dark, brooding fare. However, one thing I’ve always bristled at is the idea of “forced fun.” People who constantly try to be funny through gimmicks and mugging tend to irritate me, and it’s the same with music.
HANDO-CHOGUA is like one long exercise in mugging. Its existence as a trot song gives Daesung a lot of leeway to be silly and his chops as a performer ensure the track is professionally delivered, but too much of it (and especially its accompanying video) remind me of a bad SNL sketch. I just… don’t find it remotely funny, which kind of makes the whole exercise collapse before it can even get started. I felt similarly about 2014’s Look At Me, Gwisun, but that song was much catchier.
| Hooks | 7 |
| Production | 8 |
| Longevity | 7 |
| Bias | 6 |
| RATING | 7 |
