Change of Perspective: Topp Dogg

Posted on 8 October 2014 by NeeNee Leave a comment

The first post I ever did about changing feelings towards an idol group was Cross Gene. I do like Cross Gene now more so than when they debuted. “La di da di” grew on me slowly. I also think that this group has a bit more strength in their Japanese versus Korean releases…though both types are really hard to find.

wallpaper by erapaber

Anywho, I remember Topp Dogg’s debut. It was a fierce song that definitely did not focus on strong vocals. That’s not to say the vocals were bad, just that it really featured the rappers more so than the vocals. I didn’t really pay attention to any of their releases and then there was “Arario” which I was torn between liking and not having much of an opinion about. Then…I have no idea why, I just suddenly started listening to all their promotional releases, read they ones that they have MVs for. I then started listening to all of their covers. And then I found myself really liking this group. As much as I can like anyone. With 30 around the corner, fangirling has kind of been left behind, though I have my days where I can get really super excited. These times are just a heckuva lot rarer now.

Topp Dogg is a 13 member group. How said that I can actually recall all 13 members of this group when there’s been other groups whose music I have enjoyed with less members and I still can’t name them all [P-Goon, Kidoh, A-Tom, Jenissi, Sangdo, B-Joo, Hansol, Hojoon, Xero, Nakta, Yano, Gohn, Seogoong]. Like all groups of that side, the main vocalists take on the vocal tracks while the subvocals get one like if they are lucky. B-Joo usually end up with only one line, but there’s been exceptions. Some songs feature other vocals than the norm, but I’m sure that has more to do with the type of song and who would suit the main vocals best. You see very uneven distribution with the rap parts, too. Yano, Kidoh, Jenissi, and A-Tom do most of the rapping while Xero usually has one line. It may be repeated throughout the song, but yeah, usually like one line. He is their main dancer, I think, though and usually gets some solo dance time with the other main dancers.

Topp Dogg does have some very diverse music. Their debut saw more of an electronic song while their two other releases were more typical pop songs. Then they came out with “Arario” which fuses together modern with traditional and “Topp Dogg” which fuses modern and classical. I like their branching out and how things are different and not completely cookie cutter. Interesting enough, “Follow Me,” “Arario,” and “Topdog” all talk about how they are different and not like others and how you should know their music. I would kind of like to see their promoted tracks be a bit more diverse in subject matter, but it doesn’t change the fact that they are good songs.

So, for like the past two to three months I’ve been listening to their promoted tracks nonstop. I do plan on buying their albums later, but haven’t quite gotten around to it yet.

Debut 2013:

말로해 (Follow Me) from EP Dogg’s Out [November 2013]

Cigarette from EP Dogg’s Out Repackaged [December 2013]

I think in a video I watched of Topp Dogg, Gohn said that “Cigarette” was his song and their PD made the song better. I won’t lie, not quite my cup of tea, but not bad and the song does showcase more of the vocal talents of Topp Dogg which you couldn’t see as much in their debut song.