Review of The Boyz’s new mini album. PHOTO CREDIT: kpopfandom.com
The Boyz is an 11 member K-Pop boy group that made their debut on Dec. 6, 2017. They recently released their eighth mini album titled “Be Awake” on February 20.
The members of this group are Sangyeon, Jacob, Younghoon, Hyunjae, Juyeon, Kevin, New, Q, Juhaknyeon, Sunwoo and Eric. Originally, there were 12 members and the 12th member was named Hwall. However, Hwall left the group on Oct. 22, 2019 due to a severe injury he sustained in his ankle diagnosed as posterior tibial tendon dysfunction; more than likely from dancing.
The group was first announced on July 4, 2017, and their band name was officially revealed on July 18, 2017. From Aug. 23 to Oct. 11, 2017, they had a reality show called “Flower Snack,” which was their first reality show to air. They would later have and be featured on 18 more reality shows.
Their “Flower Snack” reality show resulted in the release of their first song “I’m Your Boy,” and they held their first fanmeeting called “Heart to Heart” on Oct. 28, 2017, for 1,000 fans. Having that many fans pre-debut is huge, and the fact that there were 1,000 fans is so crazy and cool to me because they really are a great band.
Even though the group started with 12 members, the 11 remaining members are enough for me and other fans. The Boyz are extremely famous on TikTok and Instagram due to one of the members, Kevin Moon, being for lack of a better word an icon and comedian.
Kevin is a fan of “Rupaul’s Drag Race,” and has shown incredible support to women and to the LGBTQ+ community, as have the rest of the members and a lot of other male K-Pop idols. He is also one of the main vocalists of the group and is one of two members from Canada.
Jacob, the lead vocalist, is also from Canada like Kevin. Eric, the maknae (Korean for youngest) as well as the lead rapper and dancer, is from California. From what I researched, The Boyz having Kevin, Jacob and Eric in the band makes them the only K-pop band with the most native English speaking members.
English speaking or not, I still love all the idols in K-Pop groups even if I don’t know what they’re saying. I have been trying to learn Korean and Japanese a little to understand the members when they talk so that I don’t always have to use subtitles.
Now, this album is one of their best. I think that the concept for this album is so cool and so mature. This concept is one that is used a good amount with a lot of male groups, but I think it’s such a good concept and the songs are even better.
“Diamond Life” is my favorite song off of this album. It’s the most fast-paced one and has a really good beat to it along with catchy lyrics. Sunwoo and Eric’s raps are the best part of this song, they always kill it with their rap verses and it makes me love the song even more. I myself try to rap their parts but end up failing miserably. Sangyeon and Hyunjae also killed it in this song with their vocals. Hyunjae is the lead vocalist, but his voice is so strong that I think he deserves to be one of the main vocalists.
“Roar” is the title track for this album and it is so elegant and catchy. Younghoon definitely owned this song, and the fact that he is a sub vocalist is so crazy to me because his voice is insane. Eric won me over again with his rapping and all the members caught my eye with their choreography. It looks really easy when you watch it, but when you do it yourself it’s impossible. Trust me, I tried multiple times, and to no surprise I failed.
“Horizon” was the slowest song on this album, and it was also the saddest. I believe every album should have a token slow and/or sad song to bring down the adrenaline rush from the upbeat dance songs. Again, Sunwoo and Eric killed it with their raps, and even though it’s a slow song, they made it work perfectly. Kevin and Hyunjae’s vocals were so majestic and soothing to listen to. This song makes me feel like I’m stuck inside my house on a rainy day with nothing to do but listen to music and rest, and I’m fine with that.
“Savior” was another slow song, but the pace and beat got a bit faster during the chorus. I really enjoyed listening to it and again, Eric and Sunwoo’s raps were so amazing and so catchy. I honestly don’t care if I’m being repetitive saying that for every song, but it’s the truth and I need everyone to know how good they are. Jacob and Q’s vocals singing the chorus was just so strong and clean, it really showed their vocal strength.
“Awake” is not the title track, but it would’ve made sense because the album is called “Be Awake.”Anyway, I really liked this song and I loved every element of it, from Kevin’s English talking part to Sangyeon’s ad-libs on this song that make it so iconic. All of the members take a more serious and deep tone with this song too which I think was a good call.
“Blah Blah” was the more upbeat song on the album that I think was really good. It wasn’t my favorite, but it’s not a skippable song. Eric’s rap verses in this song were so outstanding and his flow is so smooth and cool. New’s vocals on this song were really powerful and it made me enjoy the song even more.
The Boyz are such a talented and funny group, and they have so much further to go in their career. If you want to enjoy good music and laugh, they are the group for you!