AJOO - PAPARAZZI

When eighteen-year-old AJOO made his debut earlier this year, showcasing his good looks, smooth dance moves and catchy sound, he seemed very promising. Unfortunately, although his debut single 1st Love was very enjoyable, it seemed to lack originality. Now with his new release, PAPARAZZI, he seems determined to make up for that by offering four songs in diverse styles. Armed with talented songwriters, collaborations with other artists and a new haircut, AJOO definitely wants to show the world that he is not a one hit wonder and is even aiming for the title 'best newcomer of the year 2008'.

For the title track of the mini-album, he has collaborated with two well known artists, female singer Younha and rapper Tae Wan (aka C-luv), a well-known method to gain more recognition. Next to lending her vocals to the song, Younha has also written the lyrics of the song. PAPARAZZI starts with the sound of photo camera's clicking shutter and then launches into an upbeat dance track, sprinkled with R&B. It's incredibly catchy and the listener may have a hard time sitting still to the addictive beat, which makes it perfect for partying.

The second track, Lady Lady, is of the same 'teen rock/pop' brand as his debut song First Love was, though this time it fails to attract the listener's attention even more. It's an unpretentious pop song with some rocky edges in it but, especially due to its simplicity, it doesn't manage to leave any impression.

Crazy Love (featuring Hyeonmu of Trespass) might come as a bit of a surprise with its poppy reggae sound which breathes a feeling of summer. The reggae elements have been smoothed down, making it sound like a catchy, upbeat pop song. However, Hyeonmu adds a rougher edge to the song with his raps, therefore it gets a little more spice which is also desperately needed in this track.

The last original track of the mini-album is the much anticipated Mureupkkulhgo (on bended knee), written by AJOO himself. It's a typical, tear-jerking ballad though it's lack of originality doesn't make it any less beautiful. With only a little piano and string orchestra accompaniment, the full focus is on his voice, which gives him the chance to show what his vocal qualities are worth. He does an excellent job with this, his voice sounding gentle and boyish, yet strong and confident at the same time while singing the lines in an emotional and grieving way. Though again, the originality is definitely not the strongest point and it could well have been composed by any other random ballad singer.

Next to these four tracks, the mini-album also contains the instrumental versions to PAPARAZZI and Mureupkkulhgo (on bended knee).

Even though it's definitely great that he tries to explore a variety of music styles with this mini-album, it makes him hard to pin down and to determine a specific AJOO style, which he needs in order to make a name for himself. Other than the song PAPARAZZI, the tracks seem to have fallen victim to unoriginality again, though it seems that AJOO is improving and we're sure that slowly but surely, he'll find his own way and style.