The Rookie List: Niki Introduces B.A.P

History- Okay rookie groups, what is with all of the aliens this year? First Exo, now B.A.P? Even NU’EST references space in their intro song. Come on guys. Ugh. Alright, so B.A.P stand for Best Absolute Perfect. Don’t love that as a name, but B.A.P? Kind of catchy. They are from TS Entertainment and actually debuted in late January. Their showcase stage was around the same time as that and sold around 3000 seats. Of course, I think their early success has a lot to do with their reality show called Ta-Dah, It’s B.A.P . Now at first, I thought they didn’t have much personality, since they all wore basically the same thing and had the same hair coloring and such, but then I watched Ta-Dah. First, I thought it was hilarious. Second, the guys definitely have personalities, and I hope to see more of that on stage as the days go by. Third, and this is the most important part, they mentioned the reason they kept their styles remarkably similar was because they wanted to be known as B.A.P the group first and foremost. And truthfully, I think the idea worked. But I’m glad they’ve at least changed their hair colors since releasing the second album. That whole blonde thing was starting to get confusing! Oh, but yes that does remind me. They have already had their comeback this year! In January they released their album Warrior and then in April they released Power which had a completely different track list. So as of right now, they have been in the business for a little over 6 months and have released 2 CDS, 6 songs, and 2 intro songs. I see a bright future for these guys!

Members: Just as a heads up, I chose pictures of them from after their comeback, so if you are curious as to who was who when they all had blonde hair, go watch Ta-Dah!

Yongguk (Bang Yong Guk)
Nickname: Inversion Rapper
Position: Leader, Main Rapper
Birth Date: March 31, 1990
Special Talents: Writing songs and lyrics, composing

Himchan (Kim Him Chan)
Nickname: Instrument Ulzzang
Position: Sub-Vocalist, Rapper, Face of The Group
Birth Date: April 19, 1990

Daehyun (Jung Dae Hyun)
Nickname: Busan’s Won Bin
Position: Main Vocalist
Birth Date: June 28, 1993

Youngjae (Yoo Young Jae)
Nickname: Brain
Position: Lead Vocalist
Birth Date: January 24, 1994

Jongup (Moon Jong Up)
Nickname: Dance Shindong
Birth Date: February 6, 1995
Position: Sub-Vocalist & Main Dancer

Zelo (Choi Jun Hong)
Nickname: 15-Year Old Genius
Position: Maknae, Lead Rapper, Lead Dancer
Birth Date: October 15, 1996
Specialty: Rap, dance, beatbox

Debut Song: Warrior. I love this. Just so you all know, I didn’t start out as a pop fan. No, the first genre of music I loved was Alt-rock. Specifically Linkin Park. They mixed rap with rock and I loved it. I feel like Warrior is a mixture of rap, rock, and hip-hop. Its very in your face and just… macho. That is the only word I can think of to describe it and it is completely the wrong word, sorry. Oh, how about this? It has that rock feel to it while still being incredibly hip-hop! I hope that makes sense, otherwise I just made an idiot out of myself. I feel like their entire concept is like that, actually, which is probably why I love it so much. The MV is really well done, and I like their dancing, though some of it is more stomp and almost krump. That mixture, though, is what makes them unique and it totally works for them!

Other Songs: Currently, B.A.P has released two albums containing, besides their debut song, Burn it up and Fight For Freedom, their two intro songs, Secret Love, Power, Unbreakable,  What the Hell, and All Lies. I like all of their songs actually. The title song from their second CD, Power? Just as memorable as their debut song. But don’t think that all they can do is fast almost heavy songs. Secret Love? Its amazing. I personally didn’t think they’d be able to pull off a slower song like that, but they managed to add in their style and it still came out sounding amazing. These are definitely CDs I am interested in getting, and I cannot wait for them to produce more!

Random Fact: i feel like there have been three rookie members who have just blown me away when I heard them, mostly because i was TOTALLY not expecting them to sound the way they did. Those three are Chanyeol (holy crap deep voice with a derp face), Yongguk, and Zelo. Okay, so I’m a complete and utter VIP down to the core, you should know this before reading my thoughts.When I first heard Yongguk, I thought they had to have autotuned him or something. His voice is so deep and gruff almost, but its amazing. And then when I saw his face? I was confused. I mean, it seems normal now, but at the time I thought “What did they do to this kid? Make him eat gravel or something?!” But it fits with the image he gives off and the music really well. Not to mention he can talk-rap as well as sing and dance! He is like a younger T.O.P. who can dance. And then Zelo.  When I first saw and heard this kid, I thought aww, he looks kind of cute. Then I heard him rap. Its like you took the awesomeness of G-Dragon and then mixed that with the amazingness of T.O.P. and then subtracted about 5 years worth of experience. I think he has some room for improvement, but he is definitely up there, and for someone who isn’t even old enough to have a drivers license in the states? That’s pretty epic. So to conclude, in a few years I see Yongguk & Zelo being comparable to T.O.P. and GD, and I hope to see B.A.P’s impact be as big as Big Bang’s is.

Oh goodness, I can’t believe I missed B.A.P so far this year. I wish them SO much luck, and can’t wait to see what they have in store for the future! Also, this Rookie segment? It is now my favorite thing EVAR! You all keep giving me such good suggestions for groups and I now have two NEW groups that I’ve added to my K-Pop list (SPICA and B.A.P). Sure, its taking some time, but that is because I want to really know the group before I post about them. Now, who should I cover next? There are at least 58 groups left for me to review. Which one should it be? Leave me a comment and let me know. Till next time boys and girls!