It’s been fun to watch G-Dragon’s Home Sweet Home go from surprise midnight drop to buzzy MAMA Awards stage to chart-conquering mega hit. It’s what someone of his stature in K-pop deserves and its success has made his long-awaited return feel like an even bigger event. Speaking of “long-awaited,” the roll-out for his latest album has been quite lengthy. Home Sweet Home debuted about three months ago and this extended promotion has built both anticipation and impatience. Luckily, GD has delivered two new music videos to compliment the album.
First on the docket is Drama. Despite being known for his energetic rap and rock songs, G-Dragon has an impressive lineage of ballads under his belt. From Butterfly to That XX to Untitled, 2014, his quieter work is some of his most effective and enduring. I happen to love when his impish tone twists an otherwise straightforward ballad into something that drips with pathos. Drama follows this approach with added vocal effects to paint an even more idiosyncratic tone. For much of the song, this formula works as well as you’d hope. The first half of Drama fires on all cylinders, from its haunting piano loop to the stark production that occasionally drops out entirely.
Drama is also okay during its second half, but at this point it feels like the track has exhausted its tricks and needs to move somewhere else melodically or sonically. There is nuance and change happening, but the composition can’t quite hit the tremendous emotional heights of its obvious predecessor Untitled, 2014. That’s a very high bar to cross, but a tempo shift or spike in… well… drama might have done the trick. As it stands, this is a solid addition to the album and the type of song only G-Dragon can pull off in this way, but it requires patience for a payoff that never really arrives.
Hooks
8
Production
8
Longevity
8
Bias
9
RATING
8.25