Just like in my last review when I talked about light sticks, K-Pop albums are more unique than the standard CD’s we get in America. In America we get the basic square CD that usually has the CD, flip book/cover and maybe a poster but that depends on what edition you get. In Korea you do get more for your money. Just like the light sticks, what comes in the album depends on the group and their company. Today I’m going to be talking about one specific album and one specific song in the album.
The album is called With Love, J by Jessica Jung. Now a little bit of background information on Jessica. She is originally from California and in 2007 she debuted as a member of Girls’ Generation. She was a member till 2014 when she left the group due to scheduling conflicts with her growing business as a fashion designer and her duties as a member of the group. In K-Pop it is not uncommon to get people from all over the world who want to be a K-Pop Star. In other groups such as Blackpink, two out of the four members are foreign. One is from Thailand and one is from Australia. In another group called Secret Number, two are from the United States, one is from Indonesia, and one is from Japan. But if you are a white person from America and you come to Korea to be an idol, you have a higher chance of getting hated on because you are not Asian and K-Netizens don’t like it when white people come to Korea when they can just become a singer in America. In 2016 Jessica signed under Coridel Entertainment and made her debut as a soloist with album With Love, J.
When you open up this album, it comes with the CD and photobook, a photocard and a ticket to be entered in a fanmeet that she had. Not all albums will have a ticket to a fanmeet but some do. I got this album off of Mercari which is an app where you can sell and buy things, so this album is used, and I didn’t attend the fanmeet since this album is from 2016. Just like the light sticks, you can get your album from anywhere but be careful for scammers, they love to catch a K-Pop fan. Usually verified websites that sell CD’s will warn you, as well as fanpages on Instagram will do the same.
The song I’m going to be talking about is called “Fly” and it featured a rapper named Fabolous. I haven’t heard of him before this song, but he is an American rapper from New York. People have said this song represents how she felt after she left Girls’ Generation but this has never been confirmed by Jessica or her label. The song starts with, “Inside the invisible fog, I have to find myself yeah.” In this lyric she’s talking about how after years of being a part of a group and being known for that group, she has to find herself, and it’s hard because that was all she knew. “When I reach out towards a higher place, It feels like I can almost touch it. Am I closer to the days I longed for?” She’s talking about how she’s wondering if she is closer to the stage and singing, something she has always done but hasn’t been able to do since 2014 because she was focused on building her brand. “Just spread your wings, to the end, follow the sound of your beating heart. Close your eyes and follow your dreams, you’re a hero you can fly.” In this lyric she’s talking about no matter what people say about you or what happens, follow your dreams. You can do it, just fly. “I won’t cry anymore, I won’t give up anymore” This is heartbreaking because when Jessica left, to her, it felt like no one was on her side. She felt betrayed by her members, management and so in this line she’s talking about how she won’t cry anymore, that she’s not going to give up.
Now I want to talk about the rap part, which is Fabolous’s part. “You should’ve never dubbed yourself, matter of fact you should be proud of yourself cause you had to find a way to go about it yourself. Nobody gave you direction, had to route it yourself.” In this rap he talks about how no one gave her direction, had to route it herself. In South Korea they train you to sing, rap, danc, etc and when you are picked to debut, they give you a concept so after she left the group, she had no one to help guide her into her solo career. She had to do it all herself.
I hope you liked this review and if it gave you some curiosity about the song and Jessica, here is the music video for “Fly ” and also a live performance of it. Thanks for reading.
