Jungkook Comes of Age: “Seven” – Single Review

Seven is the first official solo single by Jungkook of BTS. Like other members of the group, he has released solo singles either as part of concept albums or as gifts to ARMY on Soundcloud. Unlike the other members – Jin, J-hope, RM, Suga (as Agust D), and Jimin, he is the only one to choose an English language single for his official debut. Further, for Seven, Jungkook dispenses with angst for a more poppy commercial sound, which is sure to be a summer hit. Produced by mega-hit maker Andrew Watt, written by Andrew Watt, Cirkut, Jon Bellion, Latto, and Theron Makiel Thomas, Seven is reminiscent of Craig David’s grammy nominated 2000 hit, 7 Days, which topped the UK charts and is his biggest hit to date. However, while Craig David met “beautiful honey with a beautiful body” on Monday and was making love to her by Wednesday, Jungkook’s promises in Seven go, according to the music video, unfulfilled.

In the music video, released on the same day as the single, Jungkook and Han So-hee portray a bickering couple, in a similar manner to Hollywood romantic comedies about warring married couples such as Mr & Mrs Smith (2005) and War of the Roses (1989). There also seem to be visual references to the Sandra Bullock romantic comedy Forces of Nature (1999) where weather plays a significant part in the eventual coupling of Ben Holmes (Ben Affleck) and Sarah Lewis (Sandra Bullock). The beginning of the music video sees Jungkook and Han So-hee sitting at a table in a swanky dining room, squabbling, while an explosion shatters the tables surrounding them, calling to mind the “The Rats”, one of the six shorts which make up Argentine director, Damián Szifron’s Wild Tales (2014). There is also a direct reference to Michael Jackson’s Thriller later on in the video. With this exception, it is difficult to know whether such references are intentional or not; the comedy of the music video in which Jungkook pursues his girlfriend/partner, not leaving her alone even after death, provides a counterpart to the inherent eroticism of both the explicit and clean version. In the explicit version, the chorus goes: “You wrap around me and you give me life / And that’s why night after night / I’ll be fuckin’ you right”, while the clean version substitutes “lovin’” for “fuckin’”. Even given the word substitution, the meaning of the clean version is evident, as the context makes clear: “Wind it back, I’ll take it slow / Leave you with that afterglow”.

It is obvious that Jungkook chose this song to break from the “golden maknae’ role that he plays in BTS as a way of constructing his individual identity outside of the group as a grown man, and not the perennial youngest who debuted when he was in high school. In promotional interviews, Jungkook has stated that this is the case and he communicates his desire to try a range of styles and songs, and not be limited to the angst-ridden lyrics for which BTS is known. Sometimes a song is just a song and has no deeper meaning outside of the lyrics, and indeed there is a need for such songs which can provide a backdrop to our lives rather than a commentary on them.

Jungkook’s mastery of English is impressive here, his diction is clear and precise, allowing no confusion over what the lyrics are. Latto’s appearance in the music video, and her rap, are what makes the song less ordinary. BTS have always chosen to work with strong, empowered women, and Latto is no different. And if you are listening to the ‘clean’ version, Latto’s rap makes the implicit explicit: “Seven days a week, seven different sheets / Seven different angles, I can be your fantasy / Open up, say, “Ah” / Come here, baby, let me swallow your pride / What you on I can match your vibe”.

As what seems to be a pre-release single, with his album due to drop in the near future, Seven is an intriguing choice as it is difficult to envisage what the rest of the album will be like. However, it seems that he has chosen to release an all-English album, and while some might criticise him for abandoning his South Korean origins, the truth is that songs in English do better in the West than songs in Korean: it is BTS’s English language singles which have given them their biggest sales and streams to date. And as an artist, you want your work to be universal. We could argue that this shouldn’t be the case while acknowledging that it is. The success of Korean films and dramas has been partly due to the availability of dubbed versions, something which tends to get missed out of discussions about the popularity of Korean popular culture in the West.

In the final analysis, Seven is a sure-fire hit and it represents Jungkook’s coming of age, as a man, and not a maknae.

Rating:

Written by Dr Colette Balmain

_{View of the Arts is a British online publication that chiefly deals with films, music, and art, with an emphasis on the Asian entertainment industry. We are hoping our audience will grow with us as we begin to explore new platforms such as K-pop / K-music, and Asian music in general, and continue to dive into the talented and ever-growing scene of film, music, and arts, worldwide.}