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feuqueerfire · 3 months

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Death's Game S1 & S2 Live Blogging

This is a pretty recent release, Season 1 in December and Season 2 in January. Hadn't heard much about it until I saw Pocha Playlist podcast covering it but I didn't listen to that episode. Then, I found out that Lee Dohyun plays a (reincarnation) character in it and it's getting good reception, so here we are.

Ep 1: Death (Jan 29)

Okay I think I heard the main character commits suicide and is granted like 14 lives to make the person he's in charge of live a full life or smth like that

Lots of violence right from the beginning woah

Doing bad at job interview or job is my biggest weakness when it comes to these fucking shows fr but I'm assuming this show isn't gonna have too much of that actually

7 years of not getting a job after getting a job interview ahead of his peers...

This guy cannot get a break on these job interview days for real

Awooga, that breakup

lost all his investments, broke up with very longterm gf, got kicked out of his home, got rejected from the job

Oh, that call from his Mom right as he threw himself off the building

Oh yeah that Super Junior's Choi Si Won fucker is the first iteration

This hell-ish place is so disgusting ew

I just realized why it's called Death's Game. Gonna body hop into 12 bodies that are legit almost about to die like imminently and if you avoid one of the deaths, you'll live on in that body for the rest of that life as your own life.

I wonder what's gonna happen to that person though lol? Just disappeared into the wind while Yi Jae lives on as them in ep 8 or whatever? I wonder if it'll be like he finds himself in the hospital bed or smth and it's his own body that he has to survive and live in for the 12th iteration - but death did say he's dead so maybe not

oh, the airplane is Taekang - isn't that the company he's trying and getting rejected from?

Any probability that the older brother tinkered with the plane to murder him for userping him as the CEO-to-be?

Not this fucking airplane side opening up and sucking ppl out while the door of an airplane Boeing had literally had that happen recently (though I don't think anybody got sucked out or died thankfully?)

Oh, so the original owner "plays the whole game without saving" and dies, then Yi Jae begins again at "the last save point of the game" before it ended and tries to get a different ending than the original owner (death)

oh, sudden Ryeoun (Twinkling Watermelon, 18 Again) appearance 41mins in the computer center, hi pretty :)

Oh that death was fucked up fr

Ryeoun cutie, come back for another cameo in another iteration pls <3

Here and in Tomorrow, I gotta come to terms with the fact that we're gonna have established suicide=sin and will be punished rules. To expect the cruelty of it

I'm actually still so confused/curious about how this quite works though because like in the airplane, other people also died. So, if he had survived and managed to make them survive, would they have also survived? And in the famous thrill-seeker thing, it's like being streamed by millions of people or whatever, so in the original universe they've already seen this and they're dealing with the aftermath of that death but this is a different universe that started at that savepoint?

Like I guess I'm just wondering whether this is a parallel universe? If not, what about all the other people involved who have supposedly already experienced this with the original person's death already.

Anyway, without thinking too much, this is super cool and interesting. So far, it's just been thrilling and quick/snappy deaths, kinda reminds me of the Squid Game and Alice in Borderland missions/games, but I'm assuming it'll get more heart-wrenching as it goes on (Lee Dohyun's storyline apparently? okay I saw a tiktok for his story and that's where I realized he's in this show but I didn't really understand what was going on and didn't try properly finding out beyond he's supposed to save some girl? or smth idk)

Ep 2: The Reason You're Going to Hell (Jan 29)

Is the woman who apparently died a gruesome dead Yi Jae's ex-gf? Since the Yi Jae photo was lying on the ground? And maybe Lee Dohyun was supposed to save her in the tiktok I saw? or is it his mother?

Ah, they're clearly hinting that Yi Jae's death hurt a lot more than just himself (ie. his gf, his mother) and that's why he's being punished

Awooga, Yi Jae remembering his own mother while in this kid's body

Okayyyy when watching Yi Jae remember his mother's "eat a lot" from across the table, I realized she is the mother in law from 18 Again. Her food-related thing at a table like this also killed me in 18 Again

Adult Yi Jae trying to figure out how to manipulate these kids is entertaining as always, my favourite concept

Oof, he defeated the bully but is the bully now gonna kill himself or smth? Or end up killing Yi Jae because it's not like Yi Jae's gonna stay in this body rip

Oh that was fucked up, murdered by smacking his head with a brick

Yi Jae really keeps mouthing off at death, such a silly thing to do after having seen everything

oh... stepping on Yi Jae/his face

"The pain that death brings you will be even worse from here"

oh noooo so he's not a kidnapper, a criminal who ran away with a woman who was being abused oof

Wait, okay, this fight and chase with Juhun was unexpectedly fun

First, the fist-fight (including after turning the lights off) reminded me of Bloodhounds ep 6, ah truly such a good episode before the show went to shit

Secondly, I loved this car chase! I'm usually not somebody who gets super into the car chases but I think Juhun being on a motorcycle helped a lot, it made it more intense and fun and cool

Ep 3: Death Can't Take Anything Away (Jan 29)

was it his gf who died and was she pregnant or smth?

"Does he have nine lives or what?" heh

lol I did wonder if was gonna kill him but was like hm

Ah, it'd be so ironic if Lee Jin Sang kills Yi Jae in two different bodies

death was so right when saying Yi Jae has no thoughts, more like he has no impulse control or foresight because why is he now provoking Jin Sang while knowing that he can kill a kid with a brick and the body he's in supposedly dies soon

Last time too he provoked Jin Sang and got murdered, so I wonder if provoking him again to debase him is gonna backfire

Damn bruh, everybody tryna kill this guy

not him using Hyuk Soo to scare Jin Sang

Cool shots with the seeing the past bullet to the head

Girl whoooo is in that big van with the dark windows

just billions and diamonds out in the bag in this random room while he sleeps. it does take a boat to get to but it's indeed a public place lol

Ouuuch, Yi Jae had actually gotten the call from his mom before jumping

HE'S JUST WALKING ABOUT 10 BILLION WON IN CASH + DIAMONDS!?!?!?! girl you're stressing me out

ah, the father of the girl who got killed. briefly i wondered if it was Yi Jae's gf but she's prlly like 30 or smth whereas the girl who died was apparently 20 (also I wonder if the tiktok I saw of Lee Dohyun not letting a girl die in a crash was her though but that wouldn't make sense since time is going linearly and she's she died, she's dead)

where did the prison lacky come from suddenly?

ohhhh I knew the fact that he came and literally brought a weapon doesn't necessarily mean he was gonna defend him (instead of killing him and getting the money lmao)

oof, mans really got stabbed multiple times and got killed

lmfaoooo crying at him being a baby, can't do anything and can't get his 10 bill won

Okay, so is it like we're going to have threads that continue on as the lives go on:

the money he stored in that locker

the dad knowing who the real killer of his daughter was

Ep 4: The Reason You're Afraid of Death (Jan 29)

Lee Dohyun!!!!! Finally he will appear in this ep, though I'm guessing for like 20-30 mins agh, idk why I was under the impression he's in eps 3-4 but oh well, I'm sure he'll make his short appearance count

Oh, I get her. this is why I don't want a child because 0 chance of me being a good, well-adjusted parent fr

I know we're supposed to hate the mother because she's mean to the kid and is abusive and I do but the father just noticed that the baby food is 4 months expired?

Oh nvm, they're showing him be scary too

Poor baby :( useless that the cops/child protective services came but just left

As expected, here's the "you chose death so flippantly but others are trying so hard to live" so you should be grateful etc etc

Lee Dohyun!!!!!!!

What's he gonna do with the bag of money? Stresses me out fr that he could die at any moment and lose it

Lee Dohyun is again playing a character who is a different person inside his body (18 Again it was his 40s self in his young body and this time it's like 28 or so years old Yi Jae in 24-year old body)

Bro this Taekang group is not leaving this guy's life fr, they gotta be behind some huge thing or smth?

Awooga, so it is indeed Lee Dohyun playing Yi Jae trying to save his (ex) gf from dying or smth in that tiktok

Ahhhhhhh my guy didn't know when his gf Jisu wrote novels and won awards T.T and yet her first thought was of him

He also didn't know her blood brother? Bro what

And not only is Lee Dohyun playing a diff character in his body but is also watching/interacting with the woman he loves from a distance/as the other person both here and in 18 Again

Linguistics: His name is Yi Jae and it also means "now" so he says it as if he's gonna say his book character's name is Yi Jae but ends up saying it's not decided yet now but Jisu thought the character's name was Yi Jae

Ahhh she got the fountain pen after his death ahhh T.T

Oh, I wish we got to see Lee Dohyun as Yi Jae with Yi Jae's mother cuz then it'd be just like Lee Dohyun and the mother-in-law in 18 Again

Nawt this umbrella scene, really reminds me of 18 Again frrr

Oh, this is the scene I saw in that tiktok

Ah, he saw how his death is still affecting her

Ouch, Jisu-ya :(

Ah, Lee Dohyun and the mother interaction - 18 Again vibes

Okay idk I'm nervous that he's gonna confess about being Yi Jae or strongly hint at it and she's gonna be scared and mad and never met him again and never trust another person again bc she's still grieving and ah

This is so fucking romantic and sad mannnn

awoooo fuck I had guessed that she was gonna die but I'd... forgotten for an hour, oh goodness

Ah, it's the Taekang CEO. Is it also the guy who put that kid in jail for his hit-and-run? He also has that lighter he's fiddling with and there was a scene like that when that kid was called to the warehouse to be told about the incident and to take the fall

Oh I see lol I'm late, they're showing that he's the dude. He even made the proposition to the skydiver in the 2nd iteration

as expected, the CEO indeed fiddled with the airplane to kill his younger brother CEO

Ahhhhhh sad ass ending, also I wonder how Geonu originally died and whether Jisu would have also died if not for Yi Jae stopping her to talk there?

Also... I should watch 18 Again fuck like I'd been wanting to since Twinkling Watermelon and now these parallels with 18 Again and Lee Dohyun agh. Then I should rewatch this ep too to compare again lol

Okay do I need general thoughts and a rating and everything? It's just 4 episodes of an 8 episode show which is divided like this not because it's a completed story but because of greed (get 2 months' subscription instead of 1).

Also, before watching the next 4 eps tmrw, I will be catching up on all the hundreds of on-air comments (I just read the episode-specific comment threads) and reblogging people's part 1 gifs hehe and have to do the MDL and monthly/yearly updates and stuff just like a usual show even though... it's a 4 episode half of a show, not even a full one lol I considered just treating it like 1 8-episode show but Part 1 ended in 2023 while Part 2 ended in 2024, so I can't oof

General Thoughts:

Really good and interesting, I'm enjoying it a lot. If I had watched more kdramas and known more actors, I would've definitely been having even more fun based on the r/kdrama on-air comments + my reaction to Lee Dohyun. My favourite eps are eps 2 and 4, they balanced a good amount of heart with excitement (for ep 2) and plot progression/answers (ep 4). The 18 Again characters/actors were already haunting me but Lee Dohyun once again 1) playing a character who is in his body but isn't himself, 2) interacting with the lohl as this other guy who his lover doesn't know while he himself knows and regrets not being a better bf/husband and 3) interacting with the same actress playing mother/mother-in-law character, also not as himself but as the character stuck in Lee Dohyun's body. Also, beautiful, talented man.

It's just 4 eps, my life usually isn't changed in such a short time, so here it is currently rated 7 but yknow, part 2 can be higher if I become more into it

Rating: 7/10

Death's Game Part 2

I was just watching this month's Certified Noonas What We're Watching episode and someone mentioned that part 2 is more horror and gory? Okay, interesting because I thought Part 1 started off kinda action/thriller and then went into a more heart-felt, less gory direction but I guess it's veering into that direction again

Also from the on-air part 1 comments, seems like there's a serial killer (is it just the Taekang CEO?), a homeless guy, a gamer among the people left. Also, I think I read a spoiler that his last iteration was his mother? I scrolled away really fast after registering that but hmm

Ep 1: It is impossible to break free and fight against death (Jan 30)

oh, horror and gore right from the start fr (kinda reminds me of Beyond Evil sad)

also I've been calling this killer guy Taekang CEO but is that true? who knows? Maybe it's a diff dude because the guy who just killed the other dude and made a "painting" didn't seem like the same guy whose face we flashed to during Lee Dohyun's death idk

Okay, so Jisu was indeed supposed to die at that time in that spot, so it's not Yi Jae's fault which is good

Okay, this serial killer guy is indeed not Kim Taeu, the Taekang CEO. but did this guy appear before this episode and I confused him with the CEO? Hope not

Oh he's so fucked up

Kinda reminds me of Strangers From Hell where dentist mans kept the teeth in the bracelet as art or whatever, although this is so fucked because he's making paintings based on the blood splatterings of his victims + selling them for hundreds of millions (of dollars?)

goodness, death everywhere. the gruesome murders by the new body while Tae-u is taking a break from putting a hit on/killing people to kill birds

Such a weird angle of crashing the car, was it on purpose?

Damn, making the lawyer guy taking the fall this time

Are we supposed to believe the Taekang CEO hyung is a CEO since he had trouble w those qs?

serial killer name: Jeong Gyu Cheol

This episode really is focusing on other stuff like Tae-u's story instead of the hyperfocus of ep 4 Yi Jae and his lovestory with Jisu

Police car chase scenes are so dumb, now whenever I see them, I keep hoping to see them crash into a wall the way that one Twitter video of irl cop dangerously chasing a car did lol

If you're gonna kill Tae-u pls do it quickly lol it's only ep 5/8, you might die in this life before getting to kill him (although death said she'll step in if you try to kill anyway)

This Tae-u and Yi Jae intertwined connection is too much bro, the original death Yi Jae witnessed in ep 1 was also by Tae-u? cmon

Will Tae-u not find the cameras and stop them/destroy them before Yi Jae's next life? It wasn't livestreaming was it? Maybe being backed up somewhere in the cloud

bro i'm so sleepy but i'm not sleeping and i'm also not doing my HW cuz I'm sleepy and thought I was gonna sleep. Watched this whole ep instead agh

A deviation from the first half of the show for sure. Much gorier and thriller/horror-based due to the serial killer and hands-on murder aspect. I wonder if it'll continue on this way because the serial killer is dead but Tae-u is still alive and a murderer and Yi Jae will also want to kill him maybe? or have him killed or smth

Ep 2: Memory (Jan 30)

Why am I started next ep instead of doing hw? who knows?

So creepy with the guy speaking while his legs and hand are on the ground (ripped apart from his body) and talking about how he was once Tae-u's younger brother who he murdered

Oops, caught the serial killer in a blink after he was supposed to be dead

Cop iteration, I remember reading about this as well in the on-air thread but forgot till now

Are they in Seoul? Is the place made of like 25 people lol we're seeing the betrayer man from prison iteration

oh girlll you're gonna die D:

Bro he copied the files of Tae-u killing Gyu-Cheol and deleted them from the computer awooga ik it's gonna work out because it's a show but why

Oh, the rookie cop caught that he moved some evidence

Dude must have other copies of this right? He's handing over the video evidence, so he must have it stored elsewhere as well right?

Oof, okay I'm kinda glad that they brought up how troublesome just having had THAT MUCH money randomly show up at your house would be. Especially because Lee Dohyun's character was fucking killed afterwards. Yi Jae was being dumb af when just giving that much money to his mother like that

Oh, the touching and parent-child moments are back

Tae-u brining the cop over to the General Commissioner's office ah, reminds me of Beyond Evil

Oof, ofc Tae-u spins it that he himself is the saviour who bested the serial killer and is a hero

Anyway, I hope you've still got some of that video so that you can upload it online or smth tf

Oh, Tae-u going to the states

are the ppl who captured Ahn Jihyeong also cops in his team? Can't remember the faces

When Tae-u lays down at 45mins, I saw Cha Eunwoo for a second there from the side

wtf was that how did that even happen how did Yi Jae manage to literally blow up Tae-u's plane

Seeing Yi Jae use all the memories of previous iterations is cool, though I didn't know he still had the skills and memories of every person wowie

Lee Dohyun for like 5 seconds

This means many of the actors were here in this moment to act their little bit part right?

oh wow that ending lol

8:35 PM and I have lots of work to do... maybe I'll try to do it for at least 25 mins till 9?

Ep 3: Oppurtunity (Jan 30)

Spent an hour doing this stupid q, so it's 9:35 now rip

We get a glimpse of the attorney guy who had other people taking the fall for Tae-u until he himself took the fall. Wonder if we'll see the backstabbing prison dude who got caught by the cop again or his father?

Yknow, the fact that these videos are evidence and "were confirmed to be true" really does make me wonder what'll happen as AI gets better and better in skill but worse for like the world and society lol

oh man, is the younger cop partner gonna die or his kid Seulgi gonna die because this promise and stuff is just foreshadowing that. Or I supposed the Yi Jae cop himself is gonna die but that's expected

Oh I see, led him to sacrifice himself

Ah, "who are you" indeed - identity crisis

Damn, that's it as the homeless guy? I was kinda hoping we don't get much because it's really hard to watch the way people treat unhouses people but damn

Wait, what? So this is like backwards in time? girl...

Was this guy also given X amounts of lives and deaths to get through like Yi Jae was?

Ah okay for a second there I was like wait? Is this still the original guy or Yi Jay as this guy who chose to still go into the road and kill himself? But ig it's Yi Jae following in that dude's footsteps to get on that road

Ah, the same quote about death being a means to an end coming back again

Indeed the last round is his mother, wish I hadn't known that, the surprise would've been good

Ep 4: Don't Go Looking For Death, Death Will Come Find You (Jan 30)

Ouch, parent-child relationship

oh, his mother was in the hospital that night?

Ouch because obviously it's tragic but more ouch that I'm not emotionally connecting with it a whole lot because Yi Jae has died and his mother has also functionally died since he's taken over her body and it's like... old interactions as a way to grow and learn and not as a way of reconciliation/coming together again

Oh, he lived for 32 years as his mother, that's almost 1.5x my current age. I guess he's also like 50 years or smth now if he was ~28 then

Ah, he got to live again

General Thoughts:

As I mentioned before, fuck the message of "suicide is a sin, you must be gravely punished, why not think of and live for your family and friends, think about other people who want to live but can't, so could you kill yourself, you selfish bastard." In shows like this, it's of utmost importance to just roll your eyes and see the story/acting/etc. that's not just this message. I'm glad it was brought up more in the part 2 on-air thread in r/kdrama because part 1 had only a few such comments and didn't have that many upvotes.

Eps 1 to half of 3 were interesting and exciting but in the way of "I'm watching a show with murder and gore and people trying to outsmart each other" rather than about this specific show (although in the end I liked that we got the whole gang (lol his previous iterations) and their skills to punish Tae-u. Although it's a bit jarring that Death wasn't specifically making him go to deaths connected to Tae-u it just happened that way lol. It also made the come-down and slow nature of ep 4 boring to me, although it was touching.

The ending is... okay, I guess, expected it.

In Part 1, Death just left something to be desired for me and this kinda continued here. I think it's maybe the acting? She should have been more menacing or more like a trickster, idk. Her getting offended at stuff Yi Jae says feels silly and idk she should've seemed more Death-like ig. Just seemed like an especially mean and stubborn boss. Such a shame because the show focused on so many male characters that the highest-billed female character fell flat.

Don't think I'll think of this show much (except maybe Lee Dohyun?) and the 2nd part didn't have the excellent pacing as the first one. Not as good as part 1.

Rating: 6/10

18 Again character counter: 4 (Ryeoun, Kim Mi Kyung - Yi Jae's mother and Da Young's mother in law, Lee Do Hyun, Kim Kang Hoon - the 3rd iteration kid Hyuk Soo here and a child in 18 Again ig? I didn't realize this one but the comment also mentioned below did)

Found this comment under the ep 2 discussion in the r/kdrama on-air thread but apparently the director for this also directed 18 Again and so that might influence the number of overlapping actors (and also Death's Game just has a wild number of actors)

Also this director also directed Go Back Couple, another show on my to-watch list because of time shenanigans (after a marriage fails)

Tiktoks:

Maybe this is the Tiktok I saw since it involved seeing Lee Dohyun rushing to a crashing scene and the comments being like he was looking for a girl but she survived

#ep by ep commentary #death's game

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mikhalishyna · 1 year

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2023

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[120/???] Kimi ni wa Todokanai. (Japan, 2023) - 09 nov 2023

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[117/???] Bloodhounds (South Korea, 2023) - 21 oct 2023

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[74/??] Duty After School: Part 1 (South Korea, 2023) - 18 jun 2023

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[40/??] HIStory5: Love in the Future (Taiwan, 2022) - 26 mar 2023

[39/??] All the Liquors (South Korea, 2023) - 25 mar 2023

[38/??] Bokura no Micro na Shuumatsu (Japan, 2023) - 24 mar 2023

[37/??] The Warp Effect (Thailand, 2022) - 23 mar 2023

[36/??] Never Let Me Go (Thailand, 2022) - 15 mar 2023

[35/??] My School President (Thailand, 2022) - 12 mar 2023

[34/??] Moonlight Chicken (Thailand, 2023) - 08 mar 2023

[33/??] Utsukushii Kare 2 (Japan, 2023) - 07 mar 2023

[32/??] Our D-Day (South Korea, 2023) - 04 mar 2023

[31/??] Little Women (South Korea, 2022) - 27 feb 2023

[30/??] Silent (Japan, 2022) - 19 feb 2023

[29/??] Cutie Pie 2 You (Thailand, 2023) - 19 feb 2023

[28/??] Ai Long Nhai (Thailand, 2022) - 18 feb 2023

[27/??] Vice Versa (Thailand, 2022) - 15 feb 2023

[26/??] Individual Circumstances (South Korea, 2023) - 11 feb 2023

[25/??] Ameiro Paradox (Japan, 2022) - 11 feb 2023

[24/??] The Fabulous (South Korea, 2022) - 05 feb 2023

[23/??] The New Employee (South Korea, 2022) - 04 feb 2023

[22/??] Kare ga Boku ni Koishita Wake (Japan, 2020) - 04 feb 2023

[21/??] 2019 Idol Star Athletics Championships Chuseok Special (South Korea, 2019) - 29 jan 2023

[20/??] 2019 Idol Star Athletics Championships (South Korea, 2019) - 29 jan 2023

[19/??] 2018 Idol Star Athletics Championships Chuseok Special (South Korea, 2018) - 29 jan 2023

[18/??] 2018 Idol Star Athletics Championships (South Korea, 2018) - 28 jan 2023

[17/??] 2017 Idol Star Athletics Championships (South Korea, 2017) - 25 jan 2023

[16/??] 2016 Idol Star Olympics Championships Chuseok Special (South Korea, 2016) - 23 jan 2023

[15/??] 2016 Idol Star Olympics Championships New Year Special (South Korea, 2016) - 22 jan 2023

[14/??] 2015 Idol Star Athletics Championships Chuseok Special (South Korea, 2015) - 22 jan 2023

[13/??] 2015 Idol Star Athletics Championships New Year Special (South Korea, 2015) - 22 jan 2023

[12/??] The Director Who Buys Me Dinner (South Korea, 2022) - 22 jan 2023

[11/??] 2014 Idol Star Athletics Championships (South Korea, 2014) - 21 jan 2023

[10/??] 2013 Idol Star Olympics Championships Chuseok Special (South Korea, 2013) - 21 jan 2023

[9/?] 2013 Idol Star Athletics Championships New Year Special (South Korea, 2013) - 21 jan 2023

[8/?] 2012 Idol Star Olympics Championships (South Korea, 2012) - 21 jan 2023

[7/?] 2012 Idol Star Athletics – Swimming Championships (South Korea, 2012) - 21 jan 2023

[6/?] 2011 Idol Star Athletics Championships (South Korea, 2011) - 21 jan 2023

[5/?] 2011 Idol Star Athletics - Swimming Championships (South Korea, 2011) - 21 jan 2023

[4/?] 2010 Idol Star Athletics Championships (South Korea, 2010) - 21 jan 2023

[3/?] Revenge of Others (South Korea, 2022) - 10 jan 2023

[2/?] Big Dragon (Thailand, 2022) - 08 jan 2023

[1/?] Ghost Host, Ghost House (Thailand, 2022) - 02 jan 2023

#2023 #watchlist

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deadcactuswalking · 3 years

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REVIEWING THE CHARTS: 24/04/2021 (AJ Tracey, Young Thug/Gunna/Drake)

On this week on the UK Singles Chart, we get a well-deserved break after last week’s chaos but we still have seven or so new arrivals – half of last week’s amount. Lil Nas X’s “MONTERO (Call Me by Your Name)” is unfazed by any of it as it spends a fourth week at #1, and welcome back to REVIEWING THE CHARTS.

Rundown

So last week was busy but a lot of what debuted and returned didn’t actually sustain so we have a plentiful amount of drop-outs and returning entries this week as well. For notable drop-outs – as in songs that had peaked in the top 40 or spent at least five weeks in the chart (specifically the UK Top 75, which I cover) – we have “Anyone” by Justin Bieber, Drake’s “What’s Next” after only six weeks, “What Other People Say” by Sam Fischer and Demi Lovato, Taylor Swift’s re-recorded version of “Love Story” and “Headshot” by Lil Tjay featuring Fivio Foreign and Polo G as well as the late DMX’s “X Gon’ Give it to Ya” off of the return last week.

We do have an oddly large amount of returning entries as a result of this because I guess there’s not enough new stuff to fill in the cracks, as “Watermelon Sugar” by Harry Styles is back at #75, “Heat” by Paul Woodford and Amber Mark at #69, “Anxious” by AJ Tracey at #68 off of the album boost, “Another Love” by Tom Odell at #67 and “Cover Me in Sunshine” by P!nk and Willow Sage Heart at #62.

Then we have songs actually on the chart that are moving about – first off, let’s start with our notable losses, falling about five spots or more on the chart. We don’t have an excess of these, but we do have “Calling My Phone” by Lil Tjay and 6LACK getting ACR’d at #23, “Latest Trends” by AI x JI and remixed by Aitch at #33, “Mercury” by Dave and Kamal. off of the debut to #47 (good!), “Black Hole” by Griff at #48, “All You Ever Wanted” by Rag’n’ Bone Man at #49, “Mr. Perfectly Fine” by Taylor Swift at #50 off of the debut, as well as “Anywhere Away from Here” by Rag’n’Bone Man and P!nk also off of the debut at #51. Oh, and again, falling after last week’s debut, we have “Way Too Long” by Nathan Dawe, Anne-Marie and MoStack at #52. Other fallers that actually lasted at least one more week on the chart include “6 for 6” by Central Cee at #57, “Paradise” by MEDUZA and Dermot Kennedy at #63 and that’s about it. Also, somehow “Lemon Pepper Freestyle” by Drake featuring Rick Ross is sticking to the charts at #71 despite all of the more pop cuts off of that EP – and by that I mean the songs that aren’t six long minutes of pure rapping – dropping out. How that is I have no idea but it does bring us to our gains.

Our gains are always more interesting and we do have a fair few of them this week, like “Starstruck” by Years & Years at #56 off of the debut, “Marea (We’ve Lost Dancing)” by Fred again.. and the Blessed Madonna somehow surging up to #55 off of the debut, “Beautiful Mistakes” by Maroon 5 featuring Megan Thee Stallion at #54, “Summer 91 (Looking Back)” by Noizu at #53, “Last Time” by Becky Hill at #46, “Don’t You Worry About Me” by Bad Boy Chiller Crew at #45, “Medicine” by James Arthur at #44, “Head & Heart” by Joel Corry and MNEK at #41, “Blinding Lights” by the Weeknd rebounding at #40, “Runaway” by AURORA making the top 40 at #34 (six years late), “Levitating” by Dua Lipa bizarrely rebounding at #32, “Didn’t Know” by Tom Zanetti at #31 and that’s pretty much it other than big gains for Olivia Rodrigo’s “deja vu” up big to #12 and “Let’s Go Home Together” by Ella Henderson and Tom Grennan breaking into the top 10 at #10. A lot of these new entries are concentrated towards the bottom of the chart, so let’s start with something that’s actually pretty great.

NEW ARRIVALS

#74 – “How Does it Feel” – London Grammar

Produced by London Grammar and Steve Mac

London Grammar are an indie pop band from Nottingham that just scored their second #1 album with Californian Soil, one I found genuinely promising but absolutely meandering. For all of the great, swelling and powerful tracks there were – many already on the pre-album EPs and singles – there were pointless, time-consuming ballads that feel if anything underwritten and dull. My personal favourite track, “Baby it’s You”, was the lead single and it actually charted, though this cut is the highest-peaking track from the record and also, thankfully, one of my favourites. Hannah Reid has a smoky, unique voice and it always swells over these atmospheric, reverb-drenched instrumentals, full of subtle bass and those infectious guitar links before it drops into the borderline vocaloid drop in that distorted synth-pop chorus that... okay, is pretty anti-climactic and there for no reason other than to give an excuse for the band to incorporate that 80s production into the rest of the song. Regardless, it’s still a damn good production and that chorus is unreasonably catchy, even if she’s hitting falsetto notes I’d never be able to sing along to. It’s not a song that ends too early so it can stream well either; this is a pop song constructed like one of old, and is just as intricate, especially with those twinkling keys in the final chorus. This isn’t the best on the album by far but it’s understandably the one that’s the most accessible and upbeat so it makes sense it’s here. I don’t expect it to stick around but I wouldn’t mind if it did.

#73 – “Sunshine (The Light)” – Fat Joe, DJ Khaled and Amorphous

Produced by Cool N Dre and Amorphous

So, Fat Joe might be back? I’d be hard-pressed to find out way until I look at this... comeback single of sorts and realise that the chorus is just straight-up taken from a Rihanna song, that being the verse of “Kiss it Better” from 2016 layered over this almost disco-sounding sample of Luther Vandross and that’s pretty much the song as far as the beat is concerned. In that way, I guess it’s kind of fun and harmless but Rihanna’s vocals are mixed pretty horrifically on this instrumental without any attempt to cover it up with some backing vocals, which would have been a really good touch. DJ Khaled is only here because he finishes Fat Joe’s punchline and he contributes literally nothing else. In fact, Fat Joe is a waste of time here as well, especially in that really odd bridge and second verse. Admittedly, I guess his first verse has one clever line but it’s all clearly so unfocused even when the sample gives you a lot to work with in terms of content. By the time the Luther Vandross vocal sample is oddly dribbling over the beat, I’m out of this.

#72 – “Ski” – Young Stoner Life, Young Thug and Gunna

Produced by BabyWave, Outtatown and Wheezy

Slime Language 2 was a project I thought was actually fairly enjoyable given its runtime and content. I mean, it’s 23 tracks running at about an hour and a half of just mindless flexing, sex and gunplay from Young Thug and YSL affiliates but it has an energy and camaraderie that I rarely find is all that noticeable during these label or collective albums, and whilst not any particular rapper shines on more than one track, we still hear a lot of voices on the record that are far from unpleasant and can hold their own against Thug, one of them of course being Gunna. I’m surprised the songs with Travis Scott or Lil Uzi Vert didn’t debut but this Thug-Gunna cut did, but I guess that video pushed it over the top and I’m glad because this is by far one of my favourites on the album on pure, stupid and mindless energy. That camaraderie that I mentioned is in full force here as Thug and Gunna trade bars over this basic watery beat with some catchy strings and, of course, awkward bass mixing. The first intelligible words are “Spider sex” and then Thug just goes into yelling “Yeah!” because, sure, that’s a chorus. Thugger delivers his typical flow-switching charisma with a lot of loud, fun energy and whilst not anything of lyrical standard is said here, I love how he and Gunna trade each other’s names on their versions of the post-chorus. It’s a clever, little touch that makes songs like this feel just that bit more fun, if the manic ad-libs didn’t already show that. Gunna’s verse might be the best of the two here as he actually comes with some unexpected energy over that beeping synth loop that sounds great finally coming from Gunna, and, yeah, what can I say? It’s a mindless trap banger that will be out as soon as it was in – both for the charts and your ears – but it’s so much fun and with Thug’s poppier projects, that’s all that matters.

#66 – “You” – Regard, Troye Sivan and Tate McRae

Produced by Regard

The Kosovan DJ that brought us that great remix of Jay Sean’s “Ride It” as well as original song “Secrets” with RAYE is back and bringing... Troye Sivan and Tate McRae with him. Okay, I mean, sure, maybe Regard can pump up the production to get either of these singers to sound enthused. The content is pretty basic, with the “coming back to an ex” story we’ve heard before and not much interplay between Tate and Troye – not that there can feasibly be but that’s beside the point. This isn’t all that important to a song like this, though, but it can be done so it always feels anti-climactic when these EDM songs don’t have good lyrical content anchoring its groove and catchy hooks. That said, this song is actually pretty good, trading much of the more fast-paced house grooves and minimal deep house drops for a pretty slick, almost synth-funk production with some hard-hitting 909 bass and Troye’s laid-back mumbling falsetto actually sounding pretty great over electro percussion and this blend of really cool, retro synths that aren’t afraid to sound jerky and out-of-tune in that post-chorus. They almost remind me of Plastic Beach if this isn’t that ludicrous of a comparison. Tate McRae barely exists here but that’s fine – sadly she has the only verse and her voice just doesn’t mesh that well with Troye’s outside of some of the chorus harmonising, and on its own just sounds kind of unwarrantedly raspy on pretty clean, smooth production. Regard’s addition of those distorted backing vocals and the lenient vocal manipulating in that bridge make sure you know this is intricately produced to every detail and I just love that ramping of intensity even if the final chorus doesn’t really act as that impactful climax so the song ends on kind of a low note where I can tell Regard didn’t know where to go from there. Otherwise, this is a pretty great synth-pop track and I really hope it sticks around. I knew Regard had an ear for more unique EDM production since he came onto the charts for the first time with “Ride It” so I hope to hear what’s next from him as well. For now, oh, God, please make this a hit.

#61 – “Kukoc” – AJ Tracey featuring NAV

Produced by Yung Swisher and Pxcoyo

This is our first of two songs that debuted this week from AJ Tracey’s album Flu Game, which I decided not to listen to on the basis that it was nearly an hour’s runtime with a NAV feature. It’s just my luck then that for whatever reason, the British public decided the NAV song was the second most important track to listen to when the album dropped. Well, I guess this beat isn’t bad, especially with that synth flashing over the acoustic guitar inflections and the Pop Smoke-esque rattling drill percussion creating an oddly-mixed and cluttered beat but one that I guess still hits pretty hard. NAV sounds more enthused than ever over a drill beat – maybe he should stick to that – but I still feel like this is just a pointless song. The content is primarily just flexing and AJ Tracey’s energy is there but not in a particularly likeable, charming way or in an intimidating, menacing way so he just ends up out-shined by NAV’s cheaply Auto-Tuned and simple, basic flow in his verse where he emphasises how he’s a grown man at 30 years old – yet still not showing any sign of maturity, seemingly. This is listenable for sure but at best it’s a mildly amusing drill track and at worst it’s sensory overload. The build-up is only in the intro here and it’s just full force for the next two minutes making it kind of aggravating to even listen to and keep up with. Oh, and “Kukoc” is some Croatian basketball player mentioned once in the chorus. That’s about as interesting as this content gets.

#36 – “Solid” – Young Stoner Life, Young Thug and Gunna featuring Drake

Produced by Foreign Teck, Elvas, Wheezy and OZ

It’s an unwritten rule that if you release an album, the song with Drake on it will always debut on the charts, and often particularly high. Okay, I guess it didn’t work for Drakeo the Ruler – sadly – but it did work for Slime Language 2. “Solid” which absolutely did not need the four producers it has is pretty much just the trio being as uninteresting as possible as they slide over a synth-based trap beat with, say it with me, odd bass mixing. I guess Drake’s hook is mildly catchy and the steel pans in the verses are kind of fun even if they’re there for pretty much no reason. Gunna probably delivers the best verse, if not the purest as he brags about having solid friendships, and boasts wealth over the beat which gets a lot more eerie and downbeat with Gunna over it for whatever reason, even when he’s spitting ridiculous sex bars. The best part of this as with most of the YSL label projects is the interplay between Young Thug and Gunna, as over an increasingly badly mixed beat and some slick organ licks, Thugger ends off the track with an effortless verse and... well, it sure is a trap-rap song by Young Thug, Gunna and Drake. That’s for sure. It’s not bad at all and this beat could be a lot better if there were more steel pans and better mixing, it’s just that none of these guys deliver as well as they can and like most things he’s on nowadays, Drake is the worst part of it.

#29 – “Little More Love” – AJ Tracey

Produced by Venna, Mark Raggio, RyFy and Yoz Beats

I’m surprised there’s little fanfare about this song and the album in general, especially given how big songs like “West Ten” and “Bringing it Back”. Sadly, I think this might be a case of waiting too long to get the record out or just AJ’s star fading away and towards – unfortunately – Digga D. This cut got the music video treatment and hence debuted the highest of any entries this week but it was set for a top 10 debut from the album and video boost, but just seems to have stalled. I actually think that’s pretty unfortunate as this is a great song, with that tropical guitar lick that sounds cheap when drenched in the reverb and especially when the beat comes in and it’s mixed too loudly, but that doesn’t really obscure the trap knock and groove, particularly in that chorus with AJ’s expected dead-beat delivery. That delivery really works for this song, though, as it’s about the paranoia that comes with unexpected fame and success for someone from a background of poverty. I wish the beat gave AJ more room to breathe but he still flips the typical UK flows on his verses so they’re a lot more catchy and smooth, particularly over those soulful vocal loops that come in at the same time. That second verse is pretty excellent too, as whilst it’s short, it runs through some pretty excellent flows and some interesting lines, like about how he sees himself as Che Guerava, represents his Trinidadian identity and how he’s “got God” so he and his crew don’t need to wear a bullet-proof vest, which is actually kind of profound for Tracey. The horns at the end of this beat deserve some credit for making this song great too, and with all the sounds packed into this song, I think I understand why this one has four producers, even if this cluttered mix could use halving that total.

Conclusion

This is a pretty solid week all things considered, with a lot of good to great songs, so much so that it’s difficult to give out titles. I guess Best of the Week is going to “Ski” by Young Stoner Life, Young Thug and Gunna but I’m convinced to give a three-way tie for Honourable Mention. I think I’ll just stick with giving it to Regard, Troye Sivan and Tate McRae for “You” but it was close. Worst of the Week ends up going to “Sunshine (The Light)” by Fat Joe, Amorphous and DJ Khaled almost by default, with a Dishonourable Mention to AJ Tracey’s “Kukoc” featuring NAV, even if I still kind of like the song. Here’s our top 10 for this week:

Hopefully next week will keep this quality going, but in terms of new arrivals I can’t really make any concrete predictions other than a boost for “Save Your Tears” and hopefully an impact from Jorja Smith and Little Simz. I guess time will tell however, so thanks for reading and I’ll see you next week!

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