The Rookie List: Niki introduces VIXX

Well, I am back from a long haiatus, and I am sorry! I was on vacation, then sick, then in a wedding… But to make sure something like this doesn’t happen again, I have good news. I have… help! Thats right! A few of the other writers have agreed to write up reviews about some of the other rookie groups, so hopefully with their help we’ll be able to plow through all of these groups sooner rather than later! Now, I had a request or two last time, so I decided to go with one of those, which is why I am taking this time now to introduce you to…. VIXX!

History- VIXX- Voice, Visual, Value in Excelsis, is a male idol group that officially debuted May 24, 2012 under Jelly Fish Entertainment (lol, what?), but the way they were formed is, well, different. Mnet‘s reality show Mydol (or My Dol) aired in April of this year and was actually the show which helped choose the six members for VIXX. Yes, you heard that right. When I first read that, my thoughts went like this: “Wait, so these guys all made it on a show and then without having to go through all of the training and prep that most of the other idol groups that can take anywhere from months to years, they debuted?” And now, truthfully that explains why I feel the way I do about their music. Their voices aren’t bad at all, its more the music that doesn’t fit with the voices. Also, goodness are they quiet. But back to their history. They released the first teaser for their debut song Super Hero on May 10, the second teaser on May 14, third teaser May 20th, and finally they released their official music video on May 23rd. The very next day they debuted on Mnet’s M! Countdown, thus marking their official debut date as a rookie group.

Members:

N – Cha Hack Yeon
Date of Birth: June 30, 1990
Role: Leader, Dancer, Vocalist

Leo – Jung Taek Woon
Date of Birth: November 10, 1990
Position: Main Vocalist

Ken – Lee Jae Hwan
Date of Birth: April 6, 1992
Position: Main Vocalist

Ravi – Kim Won Sik
Date of Birth: February 15, 1993
Position: Rapper, Dancer

Hongbin – Lee Hong Bin
Date of Birth: September 29, 1993
Position: Rapper, Vocalist

Hyuk – Han Sang Hyuk
Birthday: July 5, 1995
Position: Dancer, Maknae

Debut Song: Super Hero- To start off, I realized after the first 20 seconds of this song that I had totally heard it before on one of the music shows (Inkigayo actually). And the live version versus music video version? Very different. But for now, lets stick with the music video version. Let me tell you, their soft voices mixed with the dance club beat actually does not sound as bad as you might think. I wish it had more dynamic from their voices though, which is where their live performance surpasses the music video and recorded versions. The only points where the vocals get loud during the recorded versions, besides the end, is when someone is singing a high note, and even then they tweak the volume and manage to keep the sound low. Even with that sore spot for me, I have to say that I do like their rapper. A lot. And all of their voices actually, though they all sound very similar (which could just be an effect of the soft sound). But I could see them becoming alot more popular once they get even more songs under their belts. As for their music video, I don’t know if it’s because I’ve gone through so many groups and videos or not, but this video isn’t that memorable. The song is, which surprised me. It hasn’t gotten stuck in my head yet, but there is still time! And that really is the mark of whether a song is good or not.

Now, their live performance of this song is much more enticing. The dynamics they put into it? Definitely make the song stick out. Yo, Jelly Fish producers! Do you hear me? Dynamics are good, got it? Plus the fans singing along was just adorable. And they did well for not having trained for years like other rookies have. A few problems, but compared to other rookie groups I’ve seen, they did well.

Other Songs: Starlight. Yup. Just one other song. That is it. And while the vocals were a bit better in this song, the music was not. I could not, for the life of me, listen to this song more than twice. I just couldn’t. Again, I think it has to do with their voices just being a little too quiet. In Starlight it also just felt almost like the timing of the vocals was off with the track. I tried listening to it from a few different sources, but they all were the same. Is it just me? I’m really hoping that when they make a comeback it will be with better songs because I have a feeling they can do so much more.

Random Fact: So, originally I was going to tell you about their mascot, this robot gundam type thing called Rovix. Then I saw something that made me squee. These boys? They came to the US to perform for Otakon. Yes, this is AKPF news, K-pop news that directly effects america. VIXX came to Otakon, an “asian culture” festival, aka manga, anime, J-pop, J-rock, K-pop, J & K dramas, etc, and performed just last weekend. Man… I wish I lived up north again

Stalker Info (lol):
N’s twitter: http://twitter.com/CHA_NNNNN
Leo’s Twitter: http://twitter.com/J_TAEKWOON
Ken’s Twitter: http://twitter.com/jaehwany0406
Ravi’s Twitter: http://twitter.com/AceRavi
Hongbin’s Twitter: http://twitter.com/RedBeans93
Hyuk’s Twitter: http://twitter.com/HSangHyuk
VIXX Twitter: http://twitter.com/RealVIXX

Official Website: realvixx.com
Youtube Channel:https://www.youtube.com/RealVIXX
Daum Cafe: http://cafe.daum.net/RealVIXX
Facebook: http://facebook.com/RealVIXX

So! We seem to be chipping away at this list rather well, aren’t we? I can already tell you that I’m excited for the groups the other writers are doing (I almost wanted to tell them no because I really, really wanted to learn about all of the rookie groups, plus they took some of the ones I was looking forward to the most!), but I am up for suggestions as to who I, or should I say we, should cover next!