In some of his lectures or documentaries, Taemin explains the difference for him as a soloist and as a collaborator in SHINee, where it's his job to blend his color with the colors of the members to create our shining SHINee. Thank you for your reactions 💜
Its actually Onew... this show's why SHINee still shine's in Kpop industry after 15 years... aside from not being afraid to try out of this world/ out of the box genre, they can surely outstand newer groups on their own game, all rounder... SHINee is one of few unique once in a blue moon talented group...
They all shine as soloist..but they all meld together so well. They've had 15yrs of performing together so they just know each others strengths and skills vocally and with choreo...This new Album is the pinnacle of their experience and being able to have control over all aspects of their music..so they can make the music that they want to make...which if you check out the lyrics and the MV is exactly what Hard is about..SHINee's back and going in Hard..😆....SHINee members are really close, they consider themselves family/brothers. That bond is evident in their music and performances.
Onew is the one with vocals you mentioned. Minho has the deepest voice of them all...and Key is the second deepest. Taemin has the highest )besides Jjong in tone and Onew has the fullest most stable voice. In a way cos his voice is full when he hits high notes it doesnt seem like they are high cos of the fullness - But these guys ROCK and can make any genre they have attempted their own as they brand it for themselves. Thanks for the reaction.....
The thing I noticed about Taemin is that when he’s with other idols, you’d definitely SEE HIM, he’d overpower anyone else. But when he’s with SHINee, it’s hard to focus on just one person, they are kind of like avengers, they’re all SO GOOD, everyone SHINES (pun intended)
At the bridge, it was Onew not Key. Onew had to bow out of part of this MV, as well as the entire promotion of this comeback due to poor health issues. We are all praying for a speedy recovery for him. As you will find out, because SHINee's history and discography is so VAST in terms of Kpop longevity, newer fans (babywols) and those not familiar may think SHINee are "copying" the sound of groups like NCT or some other 4th gen group to stay relevent, or that this is something new for them. What they don't realize is that before those groups existed, there was SHINee who actually mentored other groups like EXO and NCT. What they also don't realize is that SHINee were originally supposed to be a Hip-Hop group. However that changed early on due to SHINee's spectacular vocals and ability to sing anything SM threw at them. They were ultimately billed as a contemporary group which left them open to experiment and explore different genres. Thus, some of their earliest songs were 90s Hip-Hop inspired: "Get Down" (2009); "Up & Down" (2010); "Alive" & "Trigger" (2015); and of course 2021's "Don't Call Me". Therefore, this is not something new for SHINee, as it harkens back to the 90s Hip-Hop sound which they emulated earlier in their career and for which they pay homage to the 1st. gen. As with much of their music, SHINee here is referencing their past MVs, individual solo work, as well as a smattering of SuperM -- because of 1) Taemin and 2) SM Universe (Kwangya) as indicated by the foreshadowing and funky tone at the end of the MV. However, I also think this MV represents a very bold statement from SHINee that is synonymous with Taemin's equally bold rhetoric from his 2021 song/MV, "Advice". Therefore, the most prominent symbolism I see in this MV is harkening back to "Advice" (the central figure being the Piano, Taemin's painted hands, and the generally aggressive rhetoric) but there are others as well: Again, with the piano, we see it is initially represented in a "Circle" (Onew's latest title track) which also symbolizes eternity. The blue water gushing from the piano and the waves crashing into Onew are reminiscent of "Atlantis". Taemin's 2020 "Criminal" with the figures in white pressing against a screen in the background of Taemin's rap and the reference to "criminal" in the chorus. The pristine black & white aesthetic of the beginning of the MV as it is in the middle of Taemin's "Criminal". The brothers being dragged down into the piano itself, as Taemin was in the "underground hellish pit of lava in "Criminal". Key's "Hate That" video is represented by Minho standing on the same rocky outcropping where Key and Taeyeon were perched in the same lighting and scenery. The animation is the same style as Onew's collab with Punch for their MV, "Way". Minho absorbing all the light and turning into a flame reflects his early SHINee nickname of "flaming charisma" due to his fiery passion and extreme competitiveness. It's like a trip down memory land. We also have Key referencing an astra (star/not the car) in the lyrics. This could be a reference to Jonghyun, as he is also referred to as a "Diamond" in the sky, and the brothers will often point or look up toward their brother in the sky when singing, as was the case in their recent pre-release, "The Feeling". I think the overall message simplified is that SHINee is bigger than anyone's limited, individual imagination -- as Taemin represented clearly with his oversized body in a very small room within his head in "Advice". Don't try to box them into one genre, one sound, and one "identity" (ironically/coincidentally the title of a b-side song on this album and also the title of one of Taemin's solo songs). Don't try to confine their creativity to your own ideal/expectations. They don't and have never conformed to such ideas, as the company realized years ago beginning in 2015, as they began relinquishing some of their control over the creative process to SHINee. SHINee doesn't care whether their music is fitting into the industry trends or standards. They have always been the ones who set the trends and standards through their experimentation: singing live from the beginning during performances, upping the ante and complexity of choreographies while singing live, dance practice videos, fashion trends, inventing hybrid songs with "Sherlock", introducing new genres of music like Deep House and Dubstep to Kpop, instituting new fashion trends like skinny jeans and heavy eye make-up. And who could EVER forget "Internet War" and "Born to SHINe". These are just to name a few. SHINee transformed the Kpop landscape from the moment they first hit the stage in 2008. They have no fear. Their very boldness and conviction has helped them to survive and triumph over any perceived controversies with their image & reputation intact. The music doesn't dictate to them; they can't be held captive by the restrictions of what's trendy at the time or appropriate -- they dictate the music. They are going back to their roots to start their second act. All we have to do is sit back and enjoy the ride!
Yesss react to the full album!!!! And the vocals are king Onew. It's hard to focus on one shinee member when reacting to shinee... they're all really talented!
With "Hard," SHINee is just doing what we have all come to expect from them -- showing us something that has never been seen or heard before and starting a new trend. Nothing you hear from them will ever be like anything you have ever seen or heard before. They raise the bar even higher with every comeback. And that's what makes them SHINee. :D With every new song release, SHINee are expected to come out with a style and sound that is brand new, not only for them, but in the industry as a whole. What you just experienced is exactly what makes SHINee legends. And this is the reason why they are so highly respected, and why almost everyone in the industry who came after them cites them as one of their biggest influences and one of the reasons why they wanted to become a singer and dancer, etc. The whole reason why they chose "Hard" for their title track is because they wanted to show everyone that SHINee can do any genre, including hip-hop. Although, just to make sure you didn't forget that this was a SHINee song, they couldn't just do straight hip-hop. They had to create this hybride mashup of pop, rock and retro hip-hop, etc. to give this song that SHINee flavor. They killed this!! This will definitely be a contender for album of the year. The fact that this song is nothing like anyone expects, and different than anything out there, is exactly what makes it a SHINee song. SHINee were designed to be SM Entertainment's experimental boy group, so everything they do is meant to be the first, and they are expected to create the trend. With every new song SHINee produces, it's supposed to be different than the last, so you will never hear the same style or sound from them. But it will somehow always have that SHINee feel. "Hard" totally has the SM/SHINee design and the whole album has that SHINee vibe, while also managing, once again, to be nothing like they have have ever done before. This is really just SHINee going back to their roots. Before debut, SHINee was actually training to be a hip-hop group. However, as Key tells it, they just didn't have the swag to pull off hip-hop full time, so last minute SM decided to change up their style to the contemporary R&B style of their debut song "Replay" that they have now become known for. "Hard" just proves that in the end, SM wasn't wrong, and SHINee has no problem in the world of hip-hop, but their destiny and calling was to be a group that never ties themselves down to just one style or genre. They were meant to show the world that they can be diverse and unique and never do the same thing twice. With every release that SHINee has they are expected to flip the script and change things up in the Kpop industry. That's why when SHINee makes a comeback everyone pays attention because they are looking to SHINee to show them what the industry's next song style and dance trend will be. It's actually said that within 3 months of SHINee making a comeback, you will see that same sound and dance style being duplicated across the industry with every comeback to follow for both boy groups ad girl groups. When SHINee does something, the industry takes note and follows suit. You just discovered why SHINee still holds one of the top spots after more than 15 years in the industry. If you are impressed now, just wait until you go through their entire discography of songs and MVs. So far, they have 14 full-length albums (8 Korean albums and 6 Japanese albums), several repackaged albums, a multitude of mini albums, numerous OSTS, they each have solo songs and albums and there are hundreds of live performances that will absolutely leave you speechless with their talent. And it only gets more and more impressive as you follow them through their career. They have accomplished a lot in the past 15+ years, and they are one of the groups that made Kpop what it is today. However, if you want to see where SHINee truly shines, you have to see their live performances. When SHINee debuted in 2008, Onew (the leader and lead vocalist) was 18, Jonghyun (the main vocalist and songwriter) had just turned 18, Minho (the main rapper and sub-vocalist) and Key (lead vocalist and sub-rapper) were 16 and Taemin (Main dancer and lead vocalist) was 14. However, now, SHINee are known for the fact that there are no longer any fixed roles in their group. The main vocalists can rap, the rappers can fill in as main vocalists, and they all are impressive dancers. SHINee are some of the most well-respected artists in the industry. Onew (Pronounced Oh-New in English or On-New with a Korean accent, real name Lee JinKi) -- the one with the amazing high notes and the colorful outfit -- is the leader of the group and he has one of the most unique voices in the industry. (Onew means, or sounds like, the Korean words for soft or gentle, so he was given his stage name because he has a very calm and gentle personality.) He is one of the most coveted male voices that all other singers dream of getting a chance to collaborate with. His vocals are unmatched. He even holds the record (40+ seconds) for the longest continuous note without changing tone or pitch. Key -- in the suit with the shorts -- is our fashionista of the group who is SHINee's stylist for a lot of their MVs and stage outfits. SHINee are known for setting trends and never being afraid to experiment, so Key is recognized for really paying attention to detail when it comes to fashion. He is an amazing singer and is a sub-rapper in the group. (Notice how Key was singing through his clenched teeth in the last part of the song when they were all dressed in black. And he still sounded perfect while giving off the "Hard" vibes that the song required. Just one of the many unique elements of this song that only SHINee can pull off.) He is also considered SHINee's dance copy machine. Key has the ability to see and remember choreography the fastest in the group. He is also SHINee's fluent English speaker, and he is almost as good as a native speaker. Minho is the main rapper and visual of the group, but his vocals are also some of the best in the industry. Minho sings just as much as he raps. He also writes most of his own raps in SHINee's songs. Minho is a top actor, and he has starred in numerous dramas and movies starting way back in 2011. When not promoting with SHINee he is almost always on the set of his latest drama or movie. He is also known as a star athlete. He says these days he goes to the gym a couple of times a day to work out, just because he likes to work out, but he also is crazy about soccer, and he plays basketball, baseball and golf, and he is good at track and field events, etc., as well. And, not only does he enjoy playing all those sports, but he is usually the best athlete on the field, and he pretty much wins every time. Minho's nickname is "Flaming Charisma," and one reason is for his intense passion for sports and his need to always win. And, as you know, Taemin is considered one of THE BEST dancers in the industry (one of the top 2 best dancers of all dancers in Kpop), and that's not just by fans but by everyone in the industry, including his peers. Taemin's nickname is the Korean Michael Jackson. He is also one of the most popular male solo artists, and he is a member of the Kpop supergroup SuperM. Taemin truly is art when it comes to his performances. Although Jonghyun wasn't in the MV -- because he passed more than 5 years ago -- in order to get to know SHINee, you have to get to know him as well. He is known as one of the best vocalists in Kpop whose voice was unmatched. He also was one of the most prolific songwriters and composers of his generation. Jonghyun wrote and composed almost 40% of SHINee's songs, plus he wrote all of his own solo songs and numerous songs for other artists. He was one of the only SM artists to be given complete artistic control over his work, including several of SHINee's song selections. He was extremely respected within the industry as a songwriter, composer, and singer. He was one of the very first idols to be known for this songwriting and composing skills. Once you get to know their voices, you will always be able to pick them out of a crowd just by the sound of their voice. Most fans will tell you we know who is speaking or singing within 1 second, even with our eyes closed, with them standing in a crowd of screaming fans. Each of their voices are that unique -- there is no one with a voice like any of theirs. That is why they are "The Princes of Kpop". SHINee are known for their live vocals and amazing dancing. They are known as CD-quality singers because they sound just as good live, if not better, than they do recorded. SHINee always sings live. The ONLY thing they are not good at is lip syncing, so they avoid it at all costs. Therefore, when you hear SHINee singing 95% of the time, it will be live. They have trained their entire career to build endurance and stamina in order to be able to sing live and continue to sound flawless while performing extremely complex choreography for more than 3 hours straight in concert. SHINee set the standard. That is why they are so highly respected among their peers. It is literally referred to as the SHINee standard. It's the standard all other groups strive to reach.
I think the storyline in SHINee's "Hard" MV can be interpreted in two ways. If you notice, the whole MV has a piano theme. For example, in the beginning when the scene becomes animated, it showed Taemin being pulled into the piano. And, if you look at the set with the brown walls, you will notice that it looks like the inside of a piano with the wooden hammers that create the sound when the keys are played on the walls behind them. And the lighted white screen is divided like the white keys of the piano with the people's silhouettes representing the black keys, etc. I think this could represent how music is what controls their lives and its what has trapped them in this world as artists. Which could be similar to the themes within Taemin's Never Gonna Dance Again album trilogy -- "2 Kids", "Criminal" and "Idea" -- and his epilogue "Advice." However, I'm also pretty sure that the whole "Hard" MV storyline is connected to SM's SM Culture Universe. The more I watch it, the more I see that seems to indicate that it's all connected. As with all the groups under SM Entertainment, their storylines are all part of a larger concept kind of like a giant graphic novel or action movie series with a twist. SHINee's story, so far, primarily connects to EXO's and SuperM's storylines. Each group has their own individual storyline and concept, but when you put them all together there are threads of connections between the groups. You could sort of think of it like the Marvel franchise. Each of the Marvel characters has their own storyline, merchandise and fans, but the stories and concepts often overlap and connect. And with each new character that is introduced it expands on the whole Marvel universe. To understand how all of SM's groups are connected, you first need to be aware that it all began with EXO's origin story in 2012. EXO's concept is that they are aliens from Planet Exo who have been sent to Earth on a mission to find and protect the Tree of Life from the Red Force, while also trying to fix all the things that are going wrong in the world, which are believed to be caused by the Red Force. The Red Force is thought to be here on Earth inflicting their evil agenda -- corrupting humanity and causing all the bad things that are happening in the world, such as war, hate and destruction of the environment, etc. And because EXO is trying to undo and prevent the Red Force from accomplishing their goals, the Red Force is also trying to take down EXO by capturing them, corrupting them and standing in their way, etc. I haven't had a whole lot of time to really analyze everything in SHINee's "Hard" MV, but what I see right off the bat is that when we first see Taemin, when he appears in the black sleeveless suit, he looks very similar to what he looked like in his SuperM debut teasers. SuperM is the Kpop industry's very first supergroup, which debuted in October 2019, and their concept and storyline is centered around the fact that they are Avengers-like superheros, so SuperM is the group that pretty much connects all of SM's groups together. SuperM is made up of members of SM's other male Kpop groups, such as Taemin from SHINee, Baekhyun and Kai from EXO, Taeyong and Mark from NCT, Ten from WayV and Lucas who is a former member of WayV. This group's storyline is that they are coming together to help EXO battle the Red Force, which is the evil villian or group within EXO's storyline. I also think that it even could be connected to Taemin's "Advice" storyline. We see him with his hands painted blue in "Hard," similar to his black ink stained hands and body in "Advice," and in both scenes we see him standing in front of/playing a piano. (Technically, Pearl Aqua is SHINee's color. However, before LED lights were invented, creating a wider range of colors -- making way for SHINee's official Pearl Aqua color -- they used blue and green in things to do with SHINee. That's why we still see blue, green and aqua with most things SHINee related.) Some have pointed out that the scene with the silhouettes behind the screen reminds them of the scene in Taemin's "Criminal" MV, with the people behind a screen pushing their hands into it. However, in "Hard" Taemin is standing in front of the screen, rather than walking through the middle with the two sides reaching for him like in "Criminal". Although, I also think that scene could be connected to EXO's storyline, because we see in EXO's "Tempo" MV a scene where there are silhouettes behind a lighted white wall that looks very similar to this. In EXO's storyline, the people behind the wall are thought to be EXO's alter ego clones who were created by the Red Force or they could be the EXO members who are trapped behind the wall. We also see EXO fighting with their silhouette shadows in their live concert performance of their song "Wolf," which is also thought to be EXO battling X-EXO as they search for the Tree of Life. Ever since SHINee came out with "Don't Call Me," I think that storyline was supposed to be SM bringing SHINee into the SM Culture Universe. In their "Don't Call Me" MV it looks as though the SHINee members go through some sort of wormhole as they are teleported somewhere and we see them all posing in their black outfits like they are getting ready for battle. This looks very similar to the scene in SuperM's debut "Jopping" MV when the SuperM members are coming together at the beginning of "Jopping." Therefore, because Taemin is a member of SuperM, I think SHINee is supposed to be getting ready to join SuperM in the fight against the Red Force. In "Hard" we also see Taemin standing on a grate as he crouches down and looks through it at the "people" in white trapped below, similar to his scene in SuperM's "Jopping" MV. The scene with Key standing with all the dancers in white sitting in a circle around him also seems to be an important part of the story, however I'm not sure what it all means yet. We see Key remove the mask of one of the guys and we discover the guy has a glowing blue earpiece, which seems to be suggesting that they are being controlled by outside forces. However, because they are all just sitting there without moving, it seems to indicate that they are currently "shut-down". Either these people are androids or robots, like in EXO's "Lucky One" MV, or they are people who are under mind control. Although, I don't think they are being controlled by the Red Force necessarily because we don't see any trace of red anywhere in that scene. Instead, the color we see is blue, which usually within EXO's storyline means that it represents something to do with EXO, who are the good guys. Plus, as I said, blue with SHINee usually represents SHINee and their connection as a group. Minho standing on the edge of that rock formation looks similar to the scene with Girls' Generation's Taeyeon standing on the rock in the middle of the ocean in Key's solo "Hate That ..." MV, and it also looks a lot like the scene in SHINee's "Don't Call Me" MV, with Key standing on the submerged phone booth. It all has the same feeling. (Notice how they also are all wearing red in all of those scenes. Red usually represents something to do with the Red Force.) In the next animated scene, we see what looks like Minho in the red jacket fighting with the same piano key ropes that pulled Taemin into the piano in the beginning. To me, it looks like its trying to keep him trapped within the piano and under the control of the music. However, in the next scene we see the giant piano has been destroyed behind them, which could represent how music no longer controls them, but they now control the music. (As SHINee has said, in the beginning of their career they did whatever they were told to do, however, now that they've been in the industry for so long, they have learned how to be their own artists and it has afforded them the opportunity to now make their own decisions about their music and to participate in creating the songs and designing their albums, etc. They are now the ones in control.) In the last scene at the end, it reminds me of the same menacing red atmosphere as Minho's rap section in "Don't Call Me", where we see him in the all red room with the chairs hovering above him. Therefore, I think the gloved hand is Minho's hand because it looks like the same gloves that Minho is wearing in the scene right before that where they are dressed in black. Although I don't know what that means yet, I am sure it is something to connect the storyline to something within one of SM's MVs in the future or will make more sense when more of the story is revealed as SM releases the next chapter, etc. Although, what makes SM's Universe storyline even more complicated is that nothing is in chronological order, so you really have to pay attention to even the most minute of details to figure out where each MV, or each scene within an MV, might fit within the larger storyline. But you should also know that no one really knows for sure what is happening in any of the story. There are well known theories and storylines that are accepted within the fandom, which we think might explain what is happening in each MV. And there are theories about how each MV is connected and where each falls within their larger storyline, but nothing is set in stone. Fan theories are constantly evolving and changing with every introduction of a new piece of the puzzle. New things are revealed with every MV release, concert, event, or appearance, etc., which could either add to or change the storyline.
That's the thing in SHINee, because each one of them had strong stage presence, together they make you hard to choose where to look at and which one the better. They just perfect for each other that way. But when the member go solo, they can immidiately caught your attention solely only on them. They've been around for 15+ years for a reason..
They always show a different version of themselves with this unique essence and what I love, they evolve with their music. I love rap and melody and the bridge is divine. SHINee BACK I'm obsessed with this album.
The one have unique vocal is onew! SHINee always come with different genre, i recomend to you hear shinee 1st song in 2008 called replay , and recomend Married to the music absolutely with different genre, thankyou for react SHINee!💎
Thank you for reacting to SHINee. Onew was the one you thought was Key that sang with the blue water flowing in. For this comeback Onew can't participate because he needs to recover from his health, so Key, Minho, and Taemin take care of this comeback (I believe that is why some of the scenes in the video we don't see Onew).
Everything about this is seriously HARD-the beat, the vocals, the lyrics, the choreo, the fashion, the visuals, and the beats of Shawol’s hearts!!!!! The Princes are BACK for GOOD! I’m so proud of them. Honestly, Kibum, Minho, & Taemin are doing Jinki & Jjong proud…they’re *killing* it. I pray Jinki knows how much he is loved and that he gets well soon. ♥️ SHINee came back in true SHINee fashion-setting the Standard and breaking boundaries! SHINee’s BACK BACK BACK BACK BACK!!!!!!!
No, that is Onew with that solo part 3:00. His voice is so distinct...all of them to be honest. I can close my eyes and know who is singing. Taemin's voice usually has a breathy quality. Key had the short black hair cut. If you listen to their debut song Replay, this type of Hip Hop sound isn't new for them. It's probably when they came out with this song as their comback.
That guy with a beautiful highnote is Onew. Key is the one rapping on the last chorus. Key has a very distinct voice which is easy to recognise. He can go low and high.
SHINee's "Hard" song and MV isn't that trippy if you understand the story and you know SM Entertainment's and SHINee's style. Switching up the beat and style of the song in the middle of a song as part of the dance break section is pretty much how the majority of SM's songs are structured. It's kind of SM's signature style. You will hear that same thing happen in a lot of the songs you listen to from SM. This song was wrote by Kenzie, who is a very well known songwriter and producer that has written a large majority of SM's songs, so it has a very SM vibe to it. She even has her own studio at SM, that's how much she is involved in SM's sound. People can't tell me that they're not singing "hard like a criminal, hard like the beat, hard like my flow ..." over and over again in their head after hearing this song. LOL. We can definitely add this to SHINee's earworm song list. And the rest of the songs on the album are just as catchy. There's been a lot of debate whether "Hard" or "Juice" should be the lead/title track on SHINee''s Hard album -- SM wanted "Juice," to be the lead track, but the SHINee members insisting on "Hard." At this point, I think we all just need to trust SHINee knows what they are doing. Over the years, we have seen them prove time and time again that they know how to be one step ahead of the trend. For example, Jonghyun wanted "Deja Boo" to be his solo debut song, but SM insisted on "Crazy (Guilty Pleasure)." And in the end, Jonghyun was right. "Deja Boo" became so popular as a b-side track that it had SM scrambling to find ways to showcase the song, proving Jonghyun knew what he was doing. And, "View" -- which is one of SHINee's most popular songs -- wasn't even a contender for SHINee's Odd album, until Jonghyun rewrote the lyrics and the members pushed SM to make it their lead track. In SHINee's recent reality show, Key, Minho and Taemin revealed that they spent a lot of extra time making sure everything felt right with their Hard album. They wanted to release the album on May 25, the day of their anniversary, but things needed work. For example, there was a section in "Hard" that needed some tweaking. So, instead of just rushing to get it done, they took the time to make it perfect. Key said that when they heard the final version of "Hard" -- which was sent to them while they were in Japan filming "The Feeling" MV -- his legs went numb and he knew "Hard" had to be their title track. LOL They performed "Hard" and "Juice" at their SHINee World Concert VI (SWC6) in Seoul last week, so anyone who was lucky enough to attend one of the 3 days of the concert, or anyone who has watched the fancam footage, got an advance preview of the songs. Plus, if you happened to watch Taemin and his manager Nam Eui Soo on The Manager reality show this past weekend, we got to see SHINee in the dance studio practicing the choreography for "Hard," and we got a preview/short version of their dance practice video. Also, if you watch "SHINee's - 15m Roadtrip comeback show," you will get to see new performances of some of their classic hits, as well as a mini fan concert where they perform their new songs. And in between it all, you get to see Key, Minho and Taemin on a roadtrip camping excursion as they look back on their 15 year career. Unfortunately, Onew is currently on hiatus due to his health. He won't be participating in any of their comeback activities, including the 3 day opening of their SWC6 in Seoul. It was announced June 9 when Onew was hospitalized for a short time that he would take a doctor recommended rest. You only saw him in part of the "Hard" MV because he went on hiatus in the middle of filming and wasn't able to participate in the rest of the shoot. When it's a SHINee song, you're not supposed to focus on just Taemin. What makes SHINee so special is that they are all equally talented. When together one SHINee member never stands out more than the others because they are all amazing singers and performers. Even Taemin would tell you that nothing he does in his career compares to being a part of SHINee. Taemin wouldn't be who he is today without SHINee. For example, in SHINee's early days Taemin didn't have a whole lot of lines in their songs. As you may know, people even used to make fun of Taemin's singing and they would say that he was tone deaf and couldn't sing. However, it's sort of a misconception that Taemin "couldn't sing." it wasn't that he couldn't sing, it was just that he debuted when he was so young -- he was only 14 years old -- that his voice hadn't really developed yet and he didn't really have a good grasp of how to use his voice and produce the sounds he wanted with it. So, in the beginning, when he sang he was often flat or his voice cracked or he was off key or out of tune, etc. And because he was being compared to the other members of SHINee, who are all 2 to 4 years older than him, and the other members had such phenomenal voices to start out with, it really made Taemin sound like he was lacking. That's why if you check out SHINee's first few songs you will see that he only has a few lines, and most of the time he was just given big solo dance breaks to fill the stage at his parts in the song. However, if he was really tone deaf he never would have become an SM Idol trainee -- SM would have put him on the dance track and probably steered him toward becoming a backup dancer -- and he definitely would have never become the amazing singer that he is today. Someone who is truly tone deaf is physically unable to hear the difference in the notes and is unable to carry a tune. Taemin was chosen to debut with SHINee even though he may not have been ready vocally, because he was already such an amazing dancer, that SM wanted to highlight his dance skills and they weren't overly concerned about his singing ability at the time. His job was to be SHINee's main dancer. But Taemin really wanted to prove to everyone that he wasn't just a dancer, so he spent a lot of extra time concentrating on vocal lessons and the other SHINee members -- especially Onew and Jonghyun -- spent some serious time coaching and mentoring him until he learned what it took to match their vocal range and to use his voice. He worked so hard at singing that he would spend hours in the training room, and he says he would often get nose bleeds because he was so tired and was pushing himself so hard. Jonghyun and Onew have always been two of the best singers in the industry that vocal coaches often use as examples of what you need to strive to emulate in order to be a great singer. Even as rookies, Jonghyun and Onew were vocal coaches and mentors to a lot of SM's trainees, including several of the members of EXO. Onew was one of only 2 people ever selected to be a trainee by the founder of SM Entertainment, Lee SooMan himself, and he was chosen at age 16 because of his impressive vocal abilities. And Jonghyun has pretty much been one of the best singers in all of Kpop since his trainee days. If you get to know Jonghyun, you will notice Taemin's style of singing, especially in SHINee songs, is a lot like Jonghyun. And the more you get into SHINee, you will see that Taemin fills in for Jonghyun whenever Jonghyun was unable to participate in a performance. And even today, Taemin often takes over the high notes and the parts that I think would probably have been Jonghyun's parts in their new songs -- he has now become one of SHINee's main vocalists. Jonghyun was the one that really took Taemin under his wing and helped him to become the singer and performer that he is today. So, many think that Taemin's voice emulates Jonghyun because he is the one that taught Taemin to sing. Jonghyun has always been Taemin's biggest supporter and the one that rooted for him the hardest and loudest out of anyone. Therefore, Taemin would have never become the brilliant solo artist that you have seen without SHINee, and they are the most important part of what makes him who he is. Instead of reacting to SHINee in order to see Taemin, watch SHINee in order to get to know the other members to see the influence and impact that SHINee has had on what makes Taemin who he is.
the thing with shinee is ALL members have strong vocals and their own soloist career. please do check out Key's solo work, my fav member in terms of solo work❤
Taemin is a professional and has been in this group since his early teens. He knows how to work as part of a group and give others the highlight for their parts. When he has a solo, well, he has the job to entertain you all on his own, so that is what he'll do.
Wait??! You are doing a SHINee Journey??? Okay.. I promise to subscribe on your next SHINee Reaction. That’s a promise. And also,, yup yup… all the five members of SHINee hold their own, shine on their own when doing solos, but when they are together as SHINee, you can’t just look at one member.. ALL OF THEM SHINE, AND THEY COMPLEMENT EACH OTHER SO WELL. ALSO, THEIR LIVES ARE EVEN BETTER THAN THE MVs!
@milindawilson9175 said on 6/29/23 The whole reason why they chose "Hard" for their title track is because they wanted to show everyone that SHINee can do any genre, including hip-hop. They killed this!! This will definitely be a contender for album of the year. You can't tell me that you're not singing "hard like a criminal, hard like the beat" over and over again in your head after hearing this song. LOL I think this is just as much of an earworm as any of SHINee's songs. This is totally an SM/SHINee song. As you may know, this song was wrote by Kenzie, who is an SM songwriter and producer that has wrote a large majority of SM songs, so it has that signature SM feel, and, yet, it's also very uniquely SHINee. The fact that it's nothing like anyone expects and different than anything out there, is exactly what makes it a SHINee song. As SM's experimental group, nothing SHINee will ever do is like anything they have ever done before, and it won't be like anything they ever do in the future, but it will somehow always have that SHINee feel. Notice how Key was singing through his clenched teeth in the last part of the song when they were all dressed in black. And he still sounded perfect while giving off the "Hard" vibes that the song required. Just one of the many unique elements of this song that only SHINee can pull off. This is really just SHINee going back to their roots. As you may know, before debut SHINee was actually training to be a hip-hop group. However, as Key tells it, they just didn't have the swag to pull off hip-hop full time, so last minute SM decided to change up their style to the contemporary R&B style of "Replay" that they have now become known for. "Hard" just proves that in the end, SM wasn't wrong and SHINee has no problem in the world of hip-hop, but their destiny and calling was to be a group that never ties themselves down to just one style or genre. They were meant to show the world that they can be diverse and unique and never do the same thing twice. With every release that SHINee has they are expected to flip the script and change things up in the Kpop industry. That's why when SHINee makes a comeback everyone pays attention because they are looking to SHINee to show them what the industry's next song style and dance trend will be. It is actually said that within 3 months of SHINee making a comeback that you will see that same sound and dance style being duplicated across the industry with every comeback to follow for both boy groups ad girl groups. When SHINee does something the industry takes note and follows suit.
And of course, "The Feeling" was the complete opposite. That's how SHINee have been structured since debut. If they release something that is more of a chill song with a happy bright theme like "The Feeling" first, then their follow up track almost always will be darker, rougher and much more "Hard." LOL And vise versa. Yes, you only saw Onew in part of the MV because he went on hiatus in the middle of filming and wasn't able to participate in the rest of the shoot. I think the storyline in the MV can be interpreted in two ways. First of all, notice how in the beginning when the scene becomes animated, it shows Taemin being pulled into the piano. Therefore, all the references in the MV have to do with a piano. For example, if you look at the set with the brown walls, you will notice that it looks like the inside of a piano with the wooden hammers that create the sound when the keys are played on the walls behind them. And the lighted white screen is divided like the white keys of the piano with the people's silhouettes representing the black keys, etc. To me it seems to represent how music is what controls their lives and its what has trapped them in this world as artists. Which could be similar to the themes within Taemin's Never Gonna Dance Again album trilogy -- "2 Kids", "Criminal" and "Idea" -- and his epilogue "Advice." However, I'm also pretty sure that the whole "Hard" MV storyline is connected to SM's SM Culture Universe. The more I watch it, the more I see that seems to indicate that it's all connected. I haven't had a whole lot of time to really analyze everything -- and I'm sure if you take the time you can probably see even more connections than me -- but what I see right off the bat is, that when we first see Taemin, when he appears in the black sleeveless suit, he looks very similar to what he looked like in his SuperM debut teasers. I also think that it even could be connected to Taemin's "Advice" storyline. We see him with his hands painted blue in "Hard," similar to his black ink stained hands and body in "Advice," and in both scenes we see him standing in front of/playing a piano. (Technically, Pearl Aqua is SHINee's color. However, before LED lights were invented, creating a wider range of colors -- making way for SHINee's official Pearl Aqua color -- they used blue and green in things to do with SHINee. That's why we still see blue, green and aqua with most things SHINee related.) Some have also pointed out that the scene with the silhouettes behind the screen reminds them of the scene in Taemin's "Criminal" MV, with the people behind a screen pushing their hands into it. However, in "Hard" Taemin is standing in front of the screen, rather than walking through the middle with the two sides reaching for him like in "Criminal". Although, I also think that scene could be connected to EXO's storyline, because we see in EXO's "Tempo" MV a scene where there are silhouettes behind a lighted white wall that looks very similar to this. As I am sure you know, in EXO's storyline, the people behind the wall are thought to be X-EXO or they could be the EXO members who are trapped. We also see EXO fighting with their silhouette shadows in their live concert performance of "Wolf," which is also thought could be EXO battling X-EXO as they search for the Tree of Life. Ever since SHINee came out with "Don't Call Me," I think that storyline was supposed to be SM bringing SHINee into the SM Culture Universe. In their "Don't Call Me" MV it looks as though the SHINee members go through some sort of wormhole as they are teleported somewhere and we see them all posing in their black outfits like they are getting ready for battle. This looks very similar to the scene in SuperM's "Jopping" MV when the SuperM members are coming together at the beginning of "Jopping." Therefore, because Taemin is a member of SuperM, I think SHINee is supposed to be getting ready to join SuperM in the fight against the Red Force. In "Hard" we also see Taemin standing on a grate as he crouches down and looks through it at the "people" in white trapped below, similar to his scene in SuperM's "Jopping" MV. I also see the scene with Key standing with all the dancers in white sitting in a circle around him, as an important part of the story as well, however I'm not sure what it all means yet. We see Key remove the mask of one of the guys and we discover the guy has a glowing blue earpiece, which seems to be suggesting that they are being controlled by outside forces. However, because they are all just sitting there without moving, it seems to indicate that they are currently "shut-down". Either these people are androids or robots, like in EXO's "Lucky One" MV, or they are people who are under mind control. Although, I don't think they are being controlled by the Red Force necessarily because we don't see any trace of red anywhere in that scene. Instead, the color we see is blue, which usually within EXO's storyline means that it represents something to do with EXO, who are the good guys. Plus, as I said, blue with SHINee usually represents SHINee and their connection as a group. Minho standing on the edge of that rock formation looks similar to the scene with Girls Generation's Taeyeon standing on the rock in the middle of the ocean in Key's solo "Hate That ..." MV, and it also looks a lot like the scene in SHINee's "Don't Call Me" MV, with Key standing on the submerged phone booth. It all has the same feeling. (Notice how they also are all wearing red in all of those scenes.) In the next animated scene we see what looks like Minho in that same red jacket fighting with the same piano key ropes that pulled Taemin into the piano in the beginning. To me it looks like its trying to keep him trapped within the piano and under the control of the music. However, in the next scene we see the piano has been destroyed behind them, which could represent how music no longer controls them, but they now control the music. In the last scene at the end, it reminds me of the same menacing red atmosphere as Minho's rap section in "Don't Call Me", where we see him in the all red room with the chairs hovering above him. Therefore, I think the gloved hand is Minho's hand because it looks like the same gloves that Minho is wearing in the scene right before that where they are dressed in black. Although I don't know what that means yet, I am sure it is something to connect the storyline to something within one of SM's MVs in the future or will make more sense when more of the story is revealed as SM releases the next chapter, etc.
Hi, i am back. Good reaction, ty. I was thinking wondering if Shinee would change their sound again for this comeback and they did. They experimental so u just have to accept the sound as is, lol. I liked some of the fits. I liked parts of this. I did not like the rhythm on 1st listen. I had to relisten a few times like 5-10. The song is not bad now. Loved Taemin's long hair. He and Key looked great. I felt callbacks to Taemin's songs with his hands covered in black not blue. And of course the piano. They are incorporating their solo works into their group song. Love it. The circle reference is for Onew's solo song. Spotted it because of another reactors' comments. =0} Music connects us all. They will destroy the current music scene and remake it. Maybe. I think it may mean all of it. I think this does sound like their old experimental stuff. It gives me Don't Call Me vibes and that song still is not my vibe. This one was not for me in the beginning. My HS pal recently heard the song. She likes it but told me it was probably an NCT song and should have gone to them, lol. I don't listen to NCT. I like hard songs with a great balanced production. And this one took some getting used too. I did check the album out on Spotify. The Feeling was there which made me so happy. Liked how Taemin explored rap further in this group song. He gave us a little before enlisting. Borahae. -NY USA 2019 Army💟 @ArianaSB1797 said on 6/29/23 Taemin said the MV is full of Easter eggs about their solos work. There are 2 moments with the drawings, the first is Taemin mastering the piano (he is the ACE), the second one is Minho running away (the CHASE). They both are the beginning and the end of their debuts. Key discovers the FACE of one dancer, and Onew is showing his VOICE (with Blue paint) with a high note. I'm pretty sure there is something for Jonghyun too, I haven't figured it out yet. @livinggarbagetruck said on 6/28/23 The song was produced by KENZIE, a legendary kpop songwriter. She also did Don't Call Me by SHINee in 2021, worth checking out next. She's worked with them consistently since their debut in 2008. @livinggarbagetruck said on 6/28/23 Hard was produced by KENZIE, a legendary kpop songwriter. She also did Don't Call Me by SHINee in 2021. She's worked with them consistently since their debut in 2008.
after u reacted before to SHINee I dont get it how the hl u mistake Onew to Key or u not recognise them overall especially their voices ? I just don't get it , I'm disappointed
@milindawilson9175 said on 7/2/23 I think the storyline in SHINee's "Hard" MV can be interpreted in two ways. If you notice, the whole MV has a piano theme. For example, in the beginning when the scene becomes animated, it showed Taemin being pulled into the piano. And, if you look at the set with the brown walls, you will notice that it looks like the inside of a piano with the wooden hammers that create the sound when the keys are played on the walls behind them. And the lighted white screen is divided like the white keys of the piano with the people's silhouettes representing the black keys, etc. This could represent how music is what controls their lives and its what has trapped them in this world as artists. Which could be similar to the themes within Taemin's solo Never Gonna Dance Again album trilogy -- "2 Kids", "Criminal" and "Idea" -- and his epilogue "Advice." However, I'm also pretty sure that the whole "Hard" MV storyline is connected to SM's SM Culture Universe. The more I watch it, the more I see that seems to indicate that it's all connected. As with all the groups under SM Entertainment, their storylines are all part of a larger concept, kind of like a giant graphic novel or action movie series with a twist. SHINee's story, so far, primarily connects to EXO's and SuperM's storylines. Each group has their own individual storyline and concept, but when you put them all together there are threads of connections between the groups. You could sort of think of it like the Marvel franchise. Each of the Marvel characters has their own storyline, merchandise and fans, but the stories and concepts often overlap and connect. And with each new character that is introduced it expands on the whole Marvel universe. To understand how all of SM's groups are connected, you first need to be aware that it all began with EXO's origin story in 2012. EXO's concept is that they are aliens from Planet Exo who have been sent to Earth on a mission to find and protect the Tree of Life from the Red Force, while also trying to fix all the things that are going wrong in the world, which are believed to be caused by the Red Force. The Red Force is thought to be here on Earth inflicting their evil agenda -- corrupting humanity and causing all the bad things that are happening in the world, such as war, hate and destruction of the environment, etc. And because EXO is trying to undo and prevent the Red Force from accomplishing their goals, the Red Force is also trying to take down EXO by capturing them, corrupting them and standing in their way, etc. With SHINee's "Hard" MV, I think when we first see Taemin in the black sleeveless suit, he looks very similar to what he looked like in his SuperM debut teasers, which could mean that this could be connected to SuperM's storyline. SuperM is the Kpop industry's very first supergroup, which debuted in October 2019, and their concept and storyline is centered around the fact that they are Avengers-like superheros, so SuperM is the group that pretty much connects all of SM's groups together. SuperM is made up of members of SM's other male Kpop groups, such as Taemin from SHINee, Baekhyun and Kai from EXO, Taeyong and Mark from NCT, Ten from WayV and Lucas who is a former member of WayV. This group's storyline is that they are coming together to help EXO battle the Red Force, which is the evil villian or group within EXO's storyline. As "The Avengers," SuperM is taking members from each of SM's groups and joining forces to take down the Red Force. And just like how the movies "Avengers Identity War" and "Avengers Endgame" eventually had each of the Marvel Avengers members recruiting their whole crew to help in the fight, I think SM is setting it up so that all of its groups' members will eventually be brought into the battle. I also think the story in "Hard" even could be connected to Taemin's "Advice" storyline. We see him with his hands painted blue in "Hard," similar to his black ink stained hands and body in "Advice," and in both scenes we see him standing in front of/playing a piano. (Technically, Pearl Aqua is SHINee's color. However, before LED lights were invented, creating a wider range of colors -- making way for SHINee's official Pearl Aqua color -- they used blue and green in things to do with SHINee. That's why we still see blue, green and aqua with most things SHINee related.) Some have pointed out that the scene in "Hard" with the silhouettes behind the screen reminds them of the scene in Taemin's "Criminal" MV, with the people behind a screen pushing their hands into it. However, in "Hard" Taemin is standing in front of the screen, rather than walking through the middle with the two sides reaching for him like in "Criminal". Although, I also think that scene could be connected to EXO's storyline, because we see in EXO's "Tempo" MV a scene where there are silhouettes behind a lighted white wall that looks very similar to this. In EXO's storyline, the people behind the wall are thought to be EXO's alter ego clones, who were created by the Red Force, or they could be the EXO members who are trapped behind the wall. We also see EXO fighting with their silhouette shadows in their live concert performance of their song "Wolf," which is also thought to be EXO battling X-EXO as they search for the Tree of Life. Ever since SHINee came out with "Don't Call Me", I think the storyline in that MV was supposed to be SM bringing SHINee into the SM Culture Universe. In their "Don't Call Me" MV it looks as though the SHINee members go through some sort of wormhole as they are teleported somewhere and we see them all posing in their black outfits like they are getting ready for battle. This looks very similar to the scene in SuperM's debut "Jopping" MV when the SuperM members are coming together at the beginning of "Jopping." Therefore, because Taemin is a member of SuperM, I think SHINee is supposed to be getting ready to join SuperM in the fight against the Red Force. In "Hard" we also see Taemin standing on a grate as he crouches down and looks through it at the "people" in white trapped below, similar to his scene in SuperM's "Jopping" MV. The scene with Key standing with all the dancers in white sitting in a circle around him also seems to be an important part of the story, however I'm not sure what it all means yet. We see Key remove the mask of one of the guys and we discover the guy has a glowing blue earpiece, which seems to be suggesting that they are being controlled by outside forces. However, because they are all just sitting there without moving, it seems to indicate that they are currently "shut-down". Either these people are androids or robots, like in EXO's "Lucky One" MV, or they are people who are under mind control. Although, I don't think they are being controlled by the Red Force necessarily because we don't see any trace of red anywhere in that scene. Instead, the color we see is blue, which usually within EXO's storyline means that it represents something to do with EXO, who are the good guys. Plus, as I said, blue with SHINee usually represents SHINee and their connection as a group. Minho standing on the edge of that rock formation looks similar to the scene with Girls' Generation's Taeyeon standing on the rock in the middle of the ocean in Key's solo "Hate That ..." MV, and it also looks a lot like the scene in SHINee's "Don't Call Me" MV, with Key standing on the submerged phone booth. It all has the same feeling. (Notice how they also are all wearing red in all of those scenes. Red usually represents something to do with the Red Force.) In the next animated scene, we see what looks like Minho in the red jacket fighting with the same piano key ropes that pulled Taemin into the piano in the beginning. To me, it looks like its trying to keep him trapped within the piano and under the control of the music. However, in the following scene, we see the giant piano has been destroyed behind them, which could represent how music no longer controls them, but they now control the music. (As SHINee has said, in the beginning of their career they did whatever they were told to do, however, now that they've been in the industry for more than 15 years, they have learned how to be their own artists and it has afforded them the opportunity to now make their own decisions about their music and to participate in creating the songs and designing their albums, etc. They are now the ones in control.) In the last scene at the end, it reminds me of the same menacing red atmosphere as Minho's rap section in their "Don't Call Me" MV, where we see him in an all red room with chairs hovering above him. Therefore, I think the gloved hand is Minho's hand because it looks like the same gloves that Minho is wearing in the scene right before that where they are dressed in black. Although I don't know what that means yet, I am sure it is something to connect the storyline to something within one of SM's MVs in the future or will make more sense when more of the story is revealed as SM releases the next chapter, etc. But you should also know, that no one really knows for sure what is happening in any of the story. There are well known theories and storylines that are accepted within the fandom, which we think might explain what is happening in each MV. And there are theories about how each MV is connected and where each falls within their larger storyline, but nothing is set in stone. Fan theories are constantly evolving and changing with every introduction of a new piece of the puzzle. New things are revealed with every MV release, concert, event, or appearance, etc., which could either add to or change the storyline.
Check out first reaction to their anniversary MV 'The Feeling.' czcams.com/video/MLvxEcGQ1jo/video.html
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In some of his lectures or documentaries, Taemin explains the difference for him as a soloist and as a collaborator in SHINee, where it's his job to blend his color with the colors of the members to create our shining SHINee. Thank you for your reactions 💜
The amazing vocals were sung by Onew!
He has amazing vocals indeed!!!
Its actually Onew... this show's why SHINee still shine's in Kpop industry after 15 years... aside from not being afraid to try out of this world/ out of the box genre, they can surely outstand newer groups on their own game, all rounder... SHINee is one of few unique once in a blue moon talented group...
It was hard to tell who it was, but that deep vocal is dope!!!
They all shine as soloist..but they all meld together so well. They've had 15yrs of performing together so they just know each others strengths and skills vocally and with choreo...This new Album is the pinnacle of their experience and being able to have control over all aspects of their music..so they can make the music that they want to make...which if you check out the lyrics and the MV is exactly what Hard is about..SHINee's back and going in Hard..😆....SHINee members are really close, they consider themselves family/brothers. That bond is evident in their music and performances.
yes when you watch SHINee, it’s impossible to focus only on one member😅they are all amazing individually!!!
SHINee truly is a multi-faceted group with all-rounding performers in it, everybody SHINES!
Onew is the one with vocals you mentioned. Minho has the deepest voice of them all...and Key is the second deepest. Taemin has the highest )besides Jjong in tone and Onew has the fullest most stable voice. In a way cos his voice is full when he hits high notes it doesnt seem like they are high cos of the fullness - But these guys ROCK and can make any genre they have attempted their own as they brand it for themselves. Thanks for the reaction.....
His voice is so dope!! Can't wait to hear more!!
The thing I noticed about Taemin is that when he’s with other idols, you’d definitely SEE HIM, he’d overpower anyone else. But when he’s with SHINee, it’s hard to focus on just one person, they are kind of like avengers, they’re all SO GOOD, everyone SHINES (pun intended)
Can't wait to do the journey!!
At the bridge, it was Onew not Key. Onew had to bow out of part of this MV, as well as the entire promotion of this comeback due to poor health issues. We are all praying for a speedy recovery for him.
As you will find out, because SHINee's history and discography is so VAST in terms of Kpop longevity, newer fans (babywols) and those not familiar may think SHINee are "copying" the sound of groups like NCT or some other 4th gen group to stay relevent, or that this is something new for them. What they don't realize is that before those groups existed, there was SHINee who actually mentored other groups like EXO and NCT. What they also don't realize is that SHINee were originally supposed to be a Hip-Hop group. However that changed early on due to SHINee's spectacular vocals and ability to sing anything SM threw at them. They were ultimately billed as a contemporary group which left them open to experiment and explore different genres. Thus, some of their earliest songs were 90s Hip-Hop inspired: "Get Down" (2009); "Up & Down" (2010); "Alive" & "Trigger" (2015); and of course 2021's "Don't Call Me". Therefore, this is not something new for SHINee, as it harkens back to the 90s Hip-Hop sound which they emulated earlier in their career and for which they pay homage to the 1st. gen.
As with much of their music, SHINee here is referencing their past MVs, individual solo work, as well as a smattering of SuperM -- because of 1) Taemin and 2) SM Universe (Kwangya) as indicated by the foreshadowing and funky tone at the end of the MV. However, I also think this MV represents a very bold statement from SHINee that is synonymous with Taemin's equally bold rhetoric from his 2021 song/MV, "Advice". Therefore, the most prominent symbolism I see in this MV is harkening back to "Advice" (the central figure being the Piano, Taemin's painted hands, and the generally aggressive rhetoric) but there are others as well: Again, with the piano, we see it is initially represented in a "Circle" (Onew's latest title track) which also symbolizes eternity. The blue water gushing from the piano and the waves crashing into Onew are reminiscent of "Atlantis". Taemin's 2020 "Criminal" with the figures in white pressing against a screen in the background of Taemin's rap and the reference to "criminal" in the chorus. The pristine black & white aesthetic of the beginning of the MV as it is in the middle of Taemin's "Criminal". The brothers being dragged down into the piano itself, as Taemin was in the "underground hellish pit of lava in "Criminal". Key's "Hate That" video is represented by Minho standing on the same rocky outcropping where Key and Taeyeon were perched in the same lighting and scenery. The animation is the same style as Onew's collab with Punch for their MV, "Way". Minho absorbing all the light and turning into a flame reflects his early SHINee nickname of "flaming charisma" due to his fiery passion and extreme competitiveness. It's like a trip down memory land. We also have Key referencing an astra (star/not the car) in the lyrics. This could be a reference to Jonghyun, as he is also referred to as a "Diamond" in the sky, and the brothers will often point or look up toward their brother in the sky when singing, as was the case in their recent pre-release, "The Feeling".
I think the overall message simplified is that SHINee is bigger than anyone's limited, individual imagination -- as Taemin represented clearly with his oversized body in a very small room within his head in "Advice". Don't try to box them into one genre, one sound, and one "identity" (ironically/coincidentally the title of a b-side song on this album and also the title of one of Taemin's solo songs). Don't try to confine their creativity to your own ideal/expectations. They don't and have never conformed to such ideas, as the company realized years ago beginning in 2015, as they began relinquishing some of their control over the creative process to SHINee. SHINee doesn't care whether their music is fitting into the industry trends or standards. They have always been the ones who set the trends and standards through their experimentation: singing live from the beginning during performances, upping the ante and complexity of choreographies while singing live, dance practice videos, fashion trends, inventing hybrid songs with "Sherlock", introducing new genres of music like Deep House and Dubstep to Kpop, instituting new fashion trends like skinny jeans and heavy eye make-up. And who could EVER forget "Internet War" and "Born to SHINe". These are just to name a few. SHINee transformed the Kpop landscape from the moment they first hit the stage in 2008. They have no fear. Their very boldness and conviction has helped them to survive and triumph over any perceived controversies with their image & reputation intact. The music doesn't dictate to them; they can't be held captive by the restrictions of what's trendy at the time or appropriate -- they dictate the music. They are going back to their roots to start their second act.
All we have to do is sit back and enjoy the ride!
The amazing vocal after Taemin part was Onew. He is famous for his unique voice and amazing vocal skills.
Yesss react to the full album!!!! And the vocals are king Onew. It's hard to focus on one shinee member when reacting to shinee... they're all really talented!
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With "Hard," SHINee is just doing what we have all come to expect from them -- showing us something that has never been seen or heard before and starting a new trend. Nothing you hear from them will ever be like anything you have ever seen or heard before. They raise the bar even higher with every comeback. And that's what makes them SHINee. :D With every new song release, SHINee are expected to come out with a style and sound that is brand new, not only for them, but in the industry as a whole.
What you just experienced is exactly what makes SHINee legends. And this is the reason why they are so highly respected, and why almost everyone in the industry who came after them cites them as one of their biggest influences and one of the reasons why they wanted to become a singer and dancer, etc.
The whole reason why they chose "Hard" for their title track is because they wanted to show everyone that SHINee can do any genre, including hip-hop. Although, just to make sure you didn't forget that this was a SHINee song, they couldn't just do straight hip-hop. They had to create this hybride mashup of pop, rock and retro hip-hop, etc. to give this song that SHINee flavor. They killed this!! This will definitely be a contender for album of the year.
The fact that this song is nothing like anyone expects, and different than anything out there, is exactly what makes it a SHINee song. SHINee were designed to be SM Entertainment's experimental boy group, so everything they do is meant to be the first, and they are expected to create the trend. With every new song SHINee produces, it's supposed to be different than the last, so you will never hear the same style or sound from them. But it will somehow always have that SHINee feel.
"Hard" totally has the SM/SHINee design and the whole album has that SHINee vibe, while also managing, once again, to be nothing like they have have ever done before.
This is really just SHINee going back to their roots. Before debut, SHINee was actually training to be a hip-hop group. However, as Key tells it, they just didn't have the swag to pull off hip-hop full time, so last minute SM decided to change up their style to the contemporary R&B style of their debut song "Replay" that they have now become known for. "Hard" just proves that in the end, SM wasn't wrong, and SHINee has no problem in the world of hip-hop, but their destiny and calling was to be a group that never ties themselves down to just one style or genre. They were meant to show the world that they can be diverse and unique and never do the same thing twice.
With every release that SHINee has they are expected to flip the script and change things up in the Kpop industry. That's why when SHINee makes a comeback everyone pays attention because they are looking to SHINee to show them what the industry's next song style and dance trend will be. It's actually said that within 3 months of SHINee making a comeback, you will see that same sound and dance style being duplicated across the industry with every comeback to follow for both boy groups ad girl groups. When SHINee does something, the industry takes note and follows suit.
You just discovered why SHINee still holds one of the top spots after more than 15 years in the industry. If you are impressed now, just wait until you go through their entire discography of songs and MVs. So far, they have 14 full-length albums (8 Korean albums and 6 Japanese albums), several repackaged albums, a multitude of mini albums, numerous OSTS, they each have solo songs and albums and there are hundreds of live performances that will absolutely leave you speechless with their talent. And it only gets more and more impressive as you follow them through their career. They have accomplished a lot in the past 15+ years, and they are one of the groups that made Kpop what it is today. However, if you want to see where SHINee truly shines, you have to see their live performances.
When SHINee debuted in 2008, Onew (the leader and lead vocalist) was 18, Jonghyun (the main vocalist and songwriter) had just turned 18, Minho (the main rapper and sub-vocalist) and Key (lead vocalist and sub-rapper) were 16 and Taemin (Main dancer and lead vocalist) was 14. However, now, SHINee are known for the fact that there are no longer any fixed roles in their group. The main vocalists can rap, the rappers can fill in as main vocalists, and they all are impressive dancers. SHINee are some of the most well-respected artists in the industry.
Onew (Pronounced Oh-New in English or On-New with a Korean accent, real name Lee JinKi) -- the one with the amazing high notes and the colorful outfit -- is the leader of the group and he has one of the most unique voices in the industry. (Onew means, or sounds like, the Korean words for soft or gentle, so he was given his stage name because he has a very calm and gentle personality.) He is one of the most coveted male voices that all other singers dream of getting a chance to collaborate with. His vocals are unmatched. He even holds the record (40+ seconds) for the longest continuous note without changing tone or pitch.
Key -- in the suit with the shorts -- is our fashionista of the group who is SHINee's stylist for a lot of their MVs and stage outfits. SHINee are known for setting trends and never being afraid to experiment, so Key is recognized for really paying attention to detail when it comes to fashion. He is an amazing singer and is a sub-rapper in the group. (Notice how Key was singing through his clenched teeth in the last part of the song when they were all dressed in black. And he still sounded perfect while giving off the "Hard" vibes that the song required. Just one of the many unique elements of this song that only SHINee can pull off.) He is also considered SHINee's dance copy machine. Key has the ability to see and remember choreography the fastest in the group. He is also SHINee's fluent English speaker, and he is almost as good as a native speaker.
Minho is the main rapper and visual of the group, but his vocals are also some of the best in the industry. Minho sings just as much as he raps. He also writes most of his own raps in SHINee's songs. Minho is a top actor, and he has starred in numerous dramas and movies starting way back in 2011. When not promoting with SHINee he is almost always on the set of his latest drama or movie. He is also known as a star athlete. He says these days he goes to the gym a couple of times a day to work out, just because he likes to work out, but he also is crazy about soccer, and he plays basketball, baseball and golf, and he is good at track and field events, etc., as well. And, not only does he enjoy playing all those sports, but he is usually the best athlete on the field, and he pretty much wins every time. Minho's nickname is "Flaming Charisma," and one reason is for his intense passion for sports and his need to always win.
And, as you know, Taemin is considered one of THE BEST dancers in the industry (one of the top 2 best dancers of all dancers in Kpop), and that's not just by fans but by everyone in the industry, including his peers. Taemin's nickname is the Korean Michael Jackson. He is also one of the most popular male solo artists, and he is a member of the Kpop supergroup SuperM. Taemin truly is art when it comes to his performances.
Although Jonghyun wasn't in the MV -- because he passed more than 5 years ago -- in order to get to know SHINee, you have to get to know him as well. He is known as one of the best vocalists in Kpop whose voice was unmatched. He also was one of the most prolific songwriters and composers of his generation. Jonghyun wrote and composed almost 40% of SHINee's songs, plus he wrote all of his own solo songs and numerous songs for other artists. He was one of the only SM artists to be given complete artistic control over his work, including several of SHINee's song selections. He was extremely respected within the industry as a songwriter, composer, and singer. He was one of the very first idols to be known for this songwriting and composing skills.
Once you get to know their voices, you will always be able to pick them out of a crowd just by the sound of their voice. Most fans will tell you we know who is speaking or singing within 1 second, even with our eyes closed, with them standing in a crowd of screaming fans. Each of their voices are that unique -- there is no one with a voice like any of theirs. That is why they are "The Princes of Kpop".
SHINee are known for their live vocals and amazing dancing. They are known as CD-quality singers because they sound just as good live, if not better, than they do recorded. SHINee always sings live. The ONLY thing they are not good at is lip syncing, so they avoid it at all costs. Therefore, when you hear SHINee singing 95% of the time, it will be live. They have trained their entire career to build endurance and stamina in order to be able to sing live and continue to sound flawless while performing extremely complex choreography for more than 3 hours straight in concert. SHINee set the standard. That is why they are so highly respected among their peers. It is literally referred to as the SHINee standard. It's the standard all other groups strive to reach.
I think the storyline in SHINee's "Hard" MV can be interpreted in two ways. If you notice, the whole MV has a piano theme. For example, in the beginning when the scene becomes animated, it showed Taemin being pulled into the piano. And, if you look at the set with the brown walls, you will notice that it looks like the inside of a piano with the wooden hammers that create the sound when the keys are played on the walls behind them. And the lighted white screen is divided like the white keys of the piano with the people's silhouettes representing the black keys, etc.
I think this could represent how music is what controls their lives and its what has trapped them in this world as artists. Which could be similar to the themes within Taemin's Never Gonna Dance Again album trilogy -- "2 Kids", "Criminal" and "Idea" -- and his epilogue "Advice."
However, I'm also pretty sure that the whole "Hard" MV storyline is connected to SM's SM Culture Universe. The more I watch it, the more I see that seems to indicate that it's all connected.
As with all the groups under SM Entertainment, their storylines are all part of a larger concept kind of like a giant graphic novel or action movie series with a twist. SHINee's story, so far, primarily connects to EXO's and SuperM's storylines. Each group has their own individual storyline and concept, but when you put them all together there are threads of connections between the groups. You could sort of think of it like the Marvel franchise. Each of the Marvel characters has their own storyline, merchandise and fans, but the stories and concepts often overlap and connect. And with each new character that is introduced it expands on the whole Marvel universe.
To understand how all of SM's groups are connected, you first need to be aware that it all began with EXO's origin story in 2012. EXO's concept is that they are aliens from Planet Exo who have been sent to Earth on a mission to find and protect the Tree of Life from the Red Force, while also trying to fix all the things that are going wrong in the world, which are believed to be caused by the Red Force. The Red Force is thought to be here on Earth inflicting their evil agenda -- corrupting humanity and causing all the bad things that are happening in the world, such as war, hate and destruction of the environment, etc. And because EXO is trying to undo and prevent the Red Force from accomplishing their goals, the Red Force is also trying to take down EXO by capturing them, corrupting them and standing in their way, etc.
I haven't had a whole lot of time to really analyze everything in SHINee's "Hard" MV, but what I see right off the bat is that when we first see Taemin, when he appears in the black sleeveless suit, he looks very similar to what he looked like in his SuperM debut teasers.
SuperM is the Kpop industry's very first supergroup, which debuted in October 2019, and their concept and storyline is centered around the fact that they are Avengers-like superheros, so SuperM is the group that pretty much connects all of SM's groups together. SuperM is made up of members of SM's other male Kpop groups, such as Taemin from SHINee, Baekhyun and Kai from EXO, Taeyong and Mark from NCT, Ten from WayV and Lucas who is a former member of WayV. This group's storyline is that they are coming together to help EXO battle the Red Force, which is the evil villian or group within EXO's storyline.
I also think that it even could be connected to Taemin's "Advice" storyline. We see him with his hands painted blue in "Hard," similar to his black ink stained hands and body in "Advice," and in both scenes we see him standing in front of/playing a piano. (Technically, Pearl Aqua is SHINee's color. However, before LED lights were invented, creating a wider range of colors -- making way for SHINee's official Pearl Aqua color -- they used blue and green in things to do with SHINee. That's why we still see blue, green and aqua with most things SHINee related.)
Some have pointed out that the scene with the silhouettes behind the screen reminds them of the scene in Taemin's "Criminal" MV, with the people behind a screen pushing their hands into it. However, in "Hard" Taemin is standing in front of the screen, rather than walking through the middle with the two sides reaching for him like in "Criminal". Although, I also think that scene could be connected to EXO's storyline, because we see in EXO's "Tempo" MV a scene where there are silhouettes behind a lighted white wall that looks very similar to this. In EXO's storyline, the people behind the wall are thought to be EXO's alter ego clones who were created by the Red Force or they could be the EXO members who are trapped behind the wall. We also see EXO fighting with their silhouette shadows in their live concert performance of their song "Wolf," which is also thought to be EXO battling X-EXO as they search for the Tree of Life.
Ever since SHINee came out with "Don't Call Me," I think that storyline was supposed to be SM bringing SHINee into the SM Culture Universe. In their "Don't Call Me" MV it looks as though the SHINee members go through some sort of wormhole as they are teleported somewhere and we see them all posing in their black outfits like they are getting ready for battle. This looks very similar to the scene in SuperM's debut "Jopping" MV when the SuperM members are coming together at the beginning of "Jopping." Therefore, because Taemin is a member of SuperM, I think SHINee is supposed to be getting ready to join SuperM in the fight against the Red Force.
In "Hard" we also see Taemin standing on a grate as he crouches down and looks through it at the "people" in white trapped below, similar to his scene in SuperM's "Jopping" MV.
The scene with Key standing with all the dancers in white sitting in a circle around him also seems to be an important part of the story, however I'm not sure what it all means yet. We see Key remove the mask of one of the guys and we discover the guy has a glowing blue earpiece, which seems to be suggesting that they are being controlled by outside forces. However, because they are all just sitting there without moving, it seems to indicate that they are currently "shut-down". Either these people are androids or robots, like in EXO's "Lucky One" MV, or they are people who are under mind control. Although, I don't think they are being controlled by the Red Force necessarily because we don't see any trace of red anywhere in that scene. Instead, the color we see is blue, which usually within EXO's storyline means that it represents something to do with EXO, who are the good guys. Plus, as I said, blue with SHINee usually represents SHINee and their connection as a group.
Minho standing on the edge of that rock formation looks similar to the scene with Girls' Generation's Taeyeon standing on the rock in the middle of the ocean in Key's solo "Hate That ..." MV, and it also looks a lot like the scene in SHINee's "Don't Call Me" MV, with Key standing on the submerged phone booth. It all has the same feeling. (Notice how they also are all wearing red in all of those scenes. Red usually represents something to do with the Red Force.)
In the next animated scene, we see what looks like Minho in the red jacket fighting with the same piano key ropes that pulled Taemin into the piano in the beginning. To me, it looks like its trying to keep him trapped within the piano and under the control of the music. However, in the next scene we see the giant piano has been destroyed behind them, which could represent how music no longer controls them, but they now control the music. (As SHINee has said, in the beginning of their career they did whatever they were told to do, however, now that they've been in the industry for so long, they have learned how to be their own artists and it has afforded them the opportunity to now make their own decisions about their music and to participate in creating the songs and designing their albums, etc. They are now the ones in control.)
In the last scene at the end, it reminds me of the same menacing red atmosphere as Minho's rap section in "Don't Call Me", where we see him in the all red room with the chairs hovering above him. Therefore, I think the gloved hand is Minho's hand because it looks like the same gloves that Minho is wearing in the scene right before that where they are dressed in black. Although I don't know what that means yet, I am sure it is something to connect the storyline to something within one of SM's MVs in the future or will make more sense when more of the story is revealed as SM releases the next chapter, etc.
Although, what makes SM's Universe storyline even more complicated is that nothing is in chronological order, so you really have to pay attention to even the most minute of details to figure out where each MV, or each scene within an MV, might fit within the larger storyline.
But you should also know that no one really knows for sure what is happening in any of the story. There are well known theories and storylines that are accepted within the fandom, which we think might explain what is happening in each MV. And there are theories about how each MV is connected and where each falls within their larger storyline, but nothing is set in stone. Fan theories are constantly evolving and changing with every introduction of a new piece of the puzzle. New things are revealed with every MV release, concert, event, or appearance, etc., which could either add to or change the storyline.
That's the thing in SHINee, because each one of them had strong stage presence, together they make you hard to choose where to look at and which one the better. They just perfect for each other that way. But when the member go solo, they can immidiately caught your attention solely only on them. They've been around for 15+ years for a reason..
3:03 That's ONEW.
They always show a different version of themselves with this unique essence and what I love, they evolve with their music.
I love rap and melody and the bridge is divine.
SHINee BACK
I'm obsessed with this album.
The one have unique vocal is onew! SHINee always come with different genre, i recomend to you hear shinee 1st song in 2008 called replay , and recomend Married to the music absolutely with different genre, thankyou for react SHINee!💎
IM SO PROUD OF THEM
They killed it!
This album ia honeslty like a 2023 version of their earlier albums!
Shinee are upto date in all concept, they are legends
THEY ARE THE PRINCES OF K-POP
Thank you for reacting to SHINee. Onew was the one you thought was Key that sang with the blue water flowing in. For this comeback Onew can't participate because he needs to recover from his health, so Key, Minho, and Taemin take care of this comeback (I believe that is why some of the scenes in the video we don't see Onew).
Ahh, that explains our confusion!! 🙏🙏
Yeaaah.. Totally waiting for album reaction pleaseeee
Everything about this is seriously HARD-the beat, the vocals, the lyrics, the choreo, the fashion, the visuals, and the beats of Shawol’s hearts!!!!! The Princes are BACK for GOOD! I’m so proud of them. Honestly, Kibum, Minho, & Taemin are doing Jinki & Jjong proud…they’re *killing* it. I pray Jinki knows how much he is loved and that he gets well soon. ♥️ SHINee came back in true SHINee fashion-setting the Standard and breaking boundaries! SHINee’s BACK BACK BACK BACK BACK!!!!!!!
Album review next!!
@@WatchingSundays awesome!!
I think you guys will like their 8th album "HARD". You guys can listen to it before the deep dive.
SHINee and TAEMIN's live stages and dance practices are always awsome
SHINee is THE LEGEND
No, that is Onew with that solo part 3:00. His voice is so distinct...all of them to be honest. I can close my eyes and know who is singing. Taemin's voice usually has a breathy quality. Key had the short black hair cut. If you listen to their debut song Replay, this type of Hip Hop sound isn't new for them. It's probably when they came out with this song as their comback.
That guy with a beautiful highnote is Onew. Key is the one rapping on the last chorus. Key has a very distinct voice which is easy to recognise. He can go low and high.
Tq for ur reaction..... Love
SHINee's "Hard" song and MV isn't that trippy if you understand the story and you know SM Entertainment's and SHINee's style. Switching up the beat and style of the song in the middle of a song as part of the dance break section is pretty much how the majority of SM's songs are structured. It's kind of SM's signature style. You will hear that same thing happen in a lot of the songs you listen to from SM.
This song was wrote by Kenzie, who is a very well known songwriter and producer that has written a large majority of SM's songs, so it has a very SM vibe to it. She even has her own studio at SM, that's how much she is involved in SM's sound.
People can't tell me that they're not singing "hard like a criminal, hard like the beat, hard like my flow ..." over and over again in their head after hearing this song. LOL. We can definitely add this to SHINee's earworm song list. And the rest of the songs on the album are just as catchy.
There's been a lot of debate whether "Hard" or "Juice" should be the lead/title track on SHINee''s Hard album -- SM wanted "Juice," to be the lead track, but the SHINee members insisting on "Hard." At this point, I think we all just need to trust SHINee knows what they are doing. Over the years, we have seen them prove time and time again that they know how to be one step ahead of the trend. For example, Jonghyun wanted "Deja Boo" to be his solo debut song, but SM insisted on "Crazy (Guilty Pleasure)." And in the end, Jonghyun was right. "Deja Boo" became so popular as a b-side track that it had SM scrambling to find ways to showcase the song, proving Jonghyun knew what he was doing. And, "View" -- which is one of SHINee's most popular songs -- wasn't even a contender for SHINee's Odd album, until Jonghyun rewrote the lyrics and the members pushed SM to make it their lead track.
In SHINee's recent reality show, Key, Minho and Taemin revealed that they spent a lot of extra time making sure everything felt right with their Hard album. They wanted to release the album on May 25, the day of their anniversary, but things needed work. For example, there was a section in "Hard" that needed some tweaking. So, instead of just rushing to get it done, they took the time to make it perfect. Key said that when they heard the final version of "Hard" -- which was sent to them while they were in Japan filming "The Feeling" MV -- his legs went numb and he knew "Hard" had to be their title track. LOL
They performed "Hard" and "Juice" at their SHINee World Concert VI (SWC6) in Seoul last week, so anyone who was lucky enough to attend one of the 3 days of the concert, or anyone who has watched the fancam footage, got an advance preview of the songs. Plus, if you happened to watch Taemin and his manager Nam Eui Soo on The Manager reality show this past weekend, we got to see SHINee in the dance studio practicing the choreography for "Hard," and we got a preview/short version of their dance practice video.
Also, if you watch "SHINee's - 15m Roadtrip comeback show," you will get to see new performances of some of their classic hits, as well as a mini fan concert where they perform their new songs. And in between it all, you get to see Key, Minho and Taemin on a roadtrip camping excursion as they look back on their 15 year career.
Unfortunately, Onew is currently on hiatus due to his health. He won't be participating in any of their comeback activities, including the 3 day opening of their SWC6 in Seoul. It was announced June 9 when Onew was hospitalized for a short time that he would take a doctor recommended rest. You only saw him in part of the "Hard" MV because he went on hiatus in the middle of filming and wasn't able to participate in the rest of the shoot.
When it's a SHINee song, you're not supposed to focus on just Taemin. What makes SHINee so special is that they are all equally talented. When together one SHINee member never stands out more than the others because they are all amazing singers and performers. Even Taemin would tell you that nothing he does in his career compares to being a part of SHINee.
Taemin wouldn't be who he is today without SHINee. For example, in SHINee's early days Taemin didn't have a whole lot of lines in their songs. As you may know, people even used to make fun of Taemin's singing and they would say that he was tone deaf and couldn't sing.
However, it's sort of a misconception that Taemin "couldn't sing." it wasn't that he couldn't sing, it was just that he debuted when he was so young -- he was only 14 years old -- that his voice hadn't really developed yet and he didn't really have a good grasp of how to use his voice and produce the sounds he wanted with it. So, in the beginning, when he sang he was often flat or his voice cracked or he was off key or out of tune, etc.
And because he was being compared to the other members of SHINee, who are all 2 to 4 years older than him, and the other members had such phenomenal voices to start out with, it really made Taemin sound like he was lacking. That's why if you check out SHINee's first few songs you will see that he only has a few lines, and most of the time he was just given big solo dance breaks to fill the stage at his parts in the song.
However, if he was really tone deaf he never would have become an SM Idol trainee -- SM would have put him on the dance track and probably steered him toward becoming a backup dancer -- and he definitely would have never become the amazing singer that he is today. Someone who is truly tone deaf is physically unable to hear the difference in the notes and is unable to carry a tune.
Taemin was chosen to debut with SHINee even though he may not have been ready vocally, because he was already such an amazing dancer, that SM wanted to highlight his dance skills and they weren't overly concerned about his singing ability at the time. His job was to be SHINee's main dancer.
But Taemin really wanted to prove to everyone that he wasn't just a dancer, so he spent a lot of extra time concentrating on vocal lessons and the other SHINee members -- especially Onew and Jonghyun -- spent some serious time coaching and mentoring him until he learned what it took to match their vocal range and to use his voice. He worked so hard at singing that he would spend hours in the training room, and he says he would often get nose bleeds because he was so tired and was pushing himself so hard.
Jonghyun and Onew have always been two of the best singers in the industry that vocal coaches often use as examples of what you need to strive to emulate in order to be a great singer. Even as rookies, Jonghyun and Onew were vocal coaches and mentors to a lot of SM's trainees, including several of the members of EXO. Onew was one of only 2 people ever selected to be a trainee by the founder of SM Entertainment, Lee SooMan himself, and he was chosen at age 16 because of his impressive vocal abilities. And Jonghyun has pretty much been one of the best singers in all of Kpop since his trainee days.
If you get to know Jonghyun, you will notice Taemin's style of singing, especially in SHINee songs, is a lot like Jonghyun. And the more you get into SHINee, you will see that Taemin fills in for Jonghyun whenever Jonghyun was unable to participate in a performance. And even today, Taemin often takes over the high notes and the parts that I think would probably have been Jonghyun's parts in their new songs -- he has now become one of SHINee's main vocalists.
Jonghyun was the one that really took Taemin under his wing and helped him to become the singer and performer that he is today. So, many think that Taemin's voice emulates Jonghyun because he is the one that taught Taemin to sing. Jonghyun has always been Taemin's biggest supporter and the one that rooted for him the hardest and loudest out of anyone.
Therefore, Taemin would have never become the brilliant solo artist that you have seen without SHINee, and they are the most important part of what makes him who he is. Instead of reacting to SHINee in order to see Taemin, watch SHINee in order to get to know the other members to see the influence and impact that SHINee has had on what makes Taemin who he is.
Taemin just returned from the Military. He’s been gone for two years… he has done exceptionally well given he just returned.
Thanks for checking out SHINee's 'HARD'
Their 8th Album "HARD" 🔥
Every SHINee"s members just shines.. that's how a good group should be.
the thing with shinee is
ALL members have strong vocals and their own soloist career.
please do check out Key's solo work, my fav member in terms of solo work❤
La corona regresa a su rey 👑💎💎💎💎💎❤
SHINee album reviews? I AM IN.
💯
Taemin is a professional and has been in this group since his early teens. He knows how to work as part of a group and give others the highlight for their parts. When he has a solo, well, he has the job to entertain you all on his own, so that is what he'll do.
Wait??! You are doing a SHINee Journey??? Okay.. I promise to subscribe on your next SHINee Reaction. That’s a promise.
And also,, yup yup… all the five members of SHINee hold their own, shine on their own when doing solos, but when they are together as SHINee, you can’t just look at one member.. ALL OF THEM SHINE, AND THEY COMPLEMENT EACH OTHER SO WELL. ALSO, THEIR LIVES ARE EVEN BETTER THAN THE MVs!
@3:02 That's Onew
Ohh waiting for shinee reactions more...subscribed for them nd loved your all taemin vs Taeyeon series
*1. ONEW MVs (SHINee)* : czcams.com/play/PLG9J3dru6j3tTSEb1nfYi3fZeH94txrpK.html
*2. KEY MVs (SHINee)* : czcams.com/play/PLG9J3dru6j3sFCgBZCZrOTKFb_qA5UQIU.html
*3. MINHO MVs (SHINee)* : czcams.com/play/PLG9J3dru6j3su4GI2Fg5xdf2xBuEdE111.html
*4. JONGHYUN (REST IN PEACE) MVs (SHINee)* : czcams.com/play/PLG9J3dru6j3uhdVFiTOfo77ezY9qTisgy.html
*5. TAEMIN MVs (SHINee)* : czcams.com/play/PLG9J3dru6j3ugp10z265eQlQBKbp1hTDv.html
Next SHINee full albums
💯
I have heard that KENZIE produced this track
@milindawilson9175 said on 6/29/23
The whole reason why they chose "Hard" for their title track is because they wanted to show everyone that SHINee can do any genre, including hip-hop. They killed this!! This will definitely be a contender for album of the year.
You can't tell me that you're not singing "hard like a criminal, hard like the beat" over and over again in your head after hearing this song. LOL I think this is just as much of an earworm as any of SHINee's songs.
This is totally an SM/SHINee song. As you may know, this song was wrote by Kenzie, who is an SM songwriter and producer that has wrote a large majority of SM songs, so it has that signature SM feel, and, yet, it's also very uniquely SHINee.
The fact that it's nothing like anyone expects and different than anything out there, is exactly what makes it a SHINee song. As SM's experimental group, nothing SHINee will ever do is like anything they have ever done before, and it won't be like anything they ever do in the future, but it will somehow always have that SHINee feel.
Notice how Key was singing through his clenched teeth in the last part of the song when they were all dressed in black. And he still sounded perfect while giving off the "Hard" vibes that the song required. Just one of the many unique elements of this song that only SHINee can pull off.
This is really just SHINee going back to their roots. As you may know, before debut SHINee was actually training to be a hip-hop group. However, as Key tells it, they just didn't have the swag to pull off hip-hop full time, so last minute SM decided to change up their style to the contemporary R&B style of "Replay" that they have now become known for. "Hard" just proves that in the end, SM wasn't wrong and SHINee has no problem in the world of hip-hop, but their destiny and calling was to be a group that never ties themselves down to just one style or genre. They were meant to show the world that they can be diverse and unique and never do the same thing twice.
With every release that SHINee has they are expected to flip the script and change things up in the Kpop industry. That's why when SHINee makes a comeback everyone pays attention because they are looking to SHINee to show them what the industry's next song style and dance trend will be. It is actually said that within 3 months of SHINee making a comeback that you will see that same sound and dance style being duplicated across the industry with every comeback to follow for both boy groups ad girl groups. When SHINee does something the industry takes note and follows suit.
And of course, "The Feeling" was the complete opposite. That's how SHINee have been structured since debut. If they release something that is more of a chill song with a happy bright theme like "The Feeling" first, then their follow up track almost always will be darker, rougher and much more "Hard." LOL And vise versa.
Yes, you only saw Onew in part of the MV because he went on hiatus in the middle of filming and wasn't able to participate in the rest of the shoot.
I think the storyline in the MV can be interpreted in two ways. First of all, notice how in the beginning when the scene becomes animated, it shows Taemin being pulled into the piano. Therefore, all the references in the MV have to do with a piano. For example, if you look at the set with the brown walls, you will notice that it looks like the inside of a piano with the wooden hammers that create the sound when the keys are played on the walls behind them. And the lighted white screen is divided like the white keys of the piano with the people's silhouettes representing the black keys, etc.
To me it seems to represent how music is what controls their lives and its what has trapped them in this world as artists. Which could be similar to the themes within Taemin's Never Gonna Dance Again album trilogy -- "2 Kids", "Criminal" and "Idea" -- and his epilogue "Advice."
However, I'm also pretty sure that the whole "Hard" MV storyline is connected to SM's SM Culture Universe. The more I watch it, the more I see that seems to indicate that it's all connected.
I haven't had a whole lot of time to really analyze everything -- and I'm sure if you take the time you can probably see even more connections than me -- but what I see right off the bat is, that when we first see Taemin, when he appears in the black sleeveless suit, he looks very similar to what he looked like in his SuperM debut teasers.
I also think that it even could be connected to Taemin's "Advice" storyline. We see him with his hands painted blue in "Hard," similar to his black ink stained hands and body in "Advice," and in both scenes we see him standing in front of/playing a piano. (Technically, Pearl Aqua is SHINee's color. However, before LED lights were invented, creating a wider range of colors -- making way for SHINee's official Pearl Aqua color -- they used blue and green in things to do with SHINee. That's why we still see blue, green and aqua with most things SHINee related.)
Some have also pointed out that the scene with the silhouettes behind the screen reminds them of the scene in Taemin's "Criminal" MV, with the people behind a screen pushing their hands into it. However, in "Hard" Taemin is standing in front of the screen, rather than walking through the middle with the two sides reaching for him like in "Criminal". Although, I also think that scene could be connected to EXO's storyline, because we see in EXO's "Tempo" MV a scene where there are silhouettes behind a lighted white wall that looks very similar to this. As I am sure you know, in EXO's storyline, the people behind the wall are thought to be X-EXO or they could be the EXO members who are trapped. We also see EXO fighting with their silhouette shadows in their live concert performance of "Wolf," which is also thought could be EXO battling X-EXO as they search for the Tree of Life.
Ever since SHINee came out with "Don't Call Me," I think that storyline was supposed to be SM bringing SHINee into the SM Culture Universe. In their "Don't Call Me" MV it looks as though the SHINee members go through some sort of wormhole as they are teleported somewhere and we see them all posing in their black outfits like they are getting ready for battle. This looks very similar to the scene in SuperM's "Jopping" MV when the SuperM members are coming together at the beginning of "Jopping." Therefore, because Taemin is a member of SuperM, I think SHINee is supposed to be getting ready to join SuperM in the fight against the Red Force.
In "Hard" we also see Taemin standing on a grate as he crouches down and looks through it at the "people" in white trapped below, similar to his scene in SuperM's "Jopping" MV.
I also see the scene with Key standing with all the dancers in white sitting in a circle around him, as an important part of the story as well, however I'm not sure what it all means yet. We see Key remove the mask of one of the guys and we discover the guy has a glowing blue earpiece, which seems to be suggesting that they are being controlled by outside forces. However, because they are all just sitting there without moving, it seems to indicate that they are currently "shut-down". Either these people are androids or robots, like in EXO's "Lucky One" MV, or they are people who are under mind control. Although, I don't think they are being controlled by the Red Force necessarily because we don't see any trace of red anywhere in that scene. Instead, the color we see is blue, which usually within EXO's storyline means that it represents something to do with EXO, who are the good guys. Plus, as I said, blue with SHINee usually represents SHINee and their connection as a group.
Minho standing on the edge of that rock formation looks similar to the scene with Girls Generation's Taeyeon standing on the rock in the middle of the ocean in Key's solo "Hate That ..." MV, and it also looks a lot like the scene in SHINee's "Don't Call Me" MV, with Key standing on the submerged phone booth. It all has the same feeling. (Notice how they also are all wearing red in all of those scenes.)
In the next animated scene we see what looks like Minho in that same red jacket fighting with the same piano key ropes that pulled Taemin into the piano in the beginning. To me it looks like its trying to keep him trapped within the piano and under the control of the music. However, in the next scene we see the piano has been destroyed behind them, which could represent how music no longer controls them, but they now control the music.
In the last scene at the end, it reminds me of the same menacing red atmosphere as Minho's rap section in "Don't Call Me", where we see him in the all red room with the chairs hovering above him. Therefore, I think the gloved hand is Minho's hand because it looks like the same gloves that Minho is wearing in the scene right before that where they are dressed in black. Although I don't know what that means yet, I am sure it is something to connect the storyline to something within one of SM's MVs in the future or will make more sense when more of the story is revealed as SM releases the next chapter, etc.
Check out the Performance video of Juice!
hola esta canción es magnifica pero reaccionen al video de JUICE es maravilloso. Saludossssssssssssssss
It's jinki who sing the high note
Hi, i am back. Good reaction, ty. I was thinking wondering if Shinee would change their sound again for this comeback and they did. They experimental so u just have to accept the sound as is, lol. I liked some of the fits. I liked parts of this. I did not like the rhythm on 1st listen. I had to relisten a few times like 5-10. The song is not bad now. Loved Taemin's long hair. He and Key looked great. I felt callbacks to Taemin's songs with his hands covered in black not blue. And of course the piano. They are incorporating their solo works into their group song. Love it. The circle reference is for Onew's solo song. Spotted it because of another reactors' comments. =0} Music connects us all. They will destroy the current music scene and remake it. Maybe. I think it may mean all of it. I think this does sound like their old experimental stuff. It gives me Don't Call Me vibes and that song still is not my vibe. This one was not for me in the beginning. My HS pal recently heard the song. She likes it but told me it was probably an NCT song and should have gone to them, lol. I don't listen to NCT. I like hard songs with a great balanced production. And this one took some getting used too. I did check the album out on Spotify. The Feeling was there which made me so happy. Liked how Taemin explored rap further in this group song. He gave us a little before enlisting. Borahae. -NY USA 2019 Army💟
@ArianaSB1797 said on 6/29/23
Taemin said the MV is full of Easter eggs about their solos work. There are 2 moments with the drawings, the first is Taemin mastering the piano (he is the ACE), the second one is Minho running away (the CHASE). They both are the beginning and the end of their debuts. Key discovers the FACE of one dancer, and Onew is showing his VOICE (with Blue paint) with a high note. I'm pretty sure there is something for Jonghyun too, I haven't figured it out yet.
@livinggarbagetruck said on 6/28/23
The song was produced by KENZIE, a legendary kpop songwriter. She also did Don't Call Me by SHINee in 2021, worth checking out next. She's worked with them consistently since their debut in 2008.
@livinggarbagetruck said on 6/28/23
Hard was produced by KENZIE, a legendary kpop songwriter. She also did Don't Call Me by SHINee in 2021. She's worked with them consistently since their debut in 2008.
after u reacted before to SHINee I dont get it how the hl u mistake Onew to Key or u not recognise them overall especially their voices ? I just don't get it , I'm disappointed
@milindawilson9175 said on 7/2/23
I think the storyline in SHINee's "Hard" MV can be interpreted in two ways. If you notice, the whole MV has a piano theme. For example, in the beginning when the scene becomes animated, it showed Taemin being pulled into the piano. And, if you look at the set with the brown walls, you will notice that it looks like the inside of a piano with the wooden hammers that create the sound when the keys are played on the walls behind them. And the lighted white screen is divided like the white keys of the piano with the people's silhouettes representing the black keys, etc.
This could represent how music is what controls their lives and its what has trapped them in this world as artists. Which could be similar to the themes within Taemin's solo Never Gonna Dance Again album trilogy -- "2 Kids", "Criminal" and "Idea" -- and his epilogue "Advice."
However, I'm also pretty sure that the whole "Hard" MV storyline is connected to SM's SM Culture Universe. The more I watch it, the more I see that seems to indicate that it's all connected.
As with all the groups under SM Entertainment, their storylines are all part of a larger concept, kind of like a giant graphic novel or action movie series with a twist. SHINee's story, so far, primarily connects to EXO's and SuperM's storylines. Each group has their own individual storyline and concept, but when you put them all together there are threads of connections between the groups. You could sort of think of it like the Marvel franchise. Each of the Marvel characters has their own storyline, merchandise and fans, but the stories and concepts often overlap and connect. And with each new character that is introduced it expands on the whole Marvel universe.
To understand how all of SM's groups are connected, you first need to be aware that it all began with EXO's origin story in 2012. EXO's concept is that they are aliens from Planet Exo who have been sent to Earth on a mission to find and protect the Tree of Life from the Red Force, while also trying to fix all the things that are going wrong in the world, which are believed to be caused by the Red Force. The Red Force is thought to be here on Earth inflicting their evil agenda -- corrupting humanity and causing all the bad things that are happening in the world, such as war, hate and destruction of the environment, etc. And because EXO is trying to undo and prevent the Red Force from accomplishing their goals, the Red Force is also trying to take down EXO by capturing them, corrupting them and standing in their way, etc.
With SHINee's "Hard" MV, I think when we first see Taemin in the black sleeveless suit, he looks very similar to what he looked like in his SuperM debut teasers, which could mean that this could be connected to SuperM's storyline.
SuperM is the Kpop industry's very first supergroup, which debuted in October 2019, and their concept and storyline is centered around the fact that they are Avengers-like superheros, so SuperM is the group that pretty much connects all of SM's groups together. SuperM is made up of members of SM's other male Kpop groups, such as Taemin from SHINee, Baekhyun and Kai from EXO, Taeyong and Mark from NCT, Ten from WayV and Lucas who is a former member of WayV. This group's storyline is that they are coming together to help EXO battle the Red Force, which is the evil villian or group within EXO's storyline.
As "The Avengers," SuperM is taking members from each of SM's groups and joining forces to take down the Red Force. And just like how the movies "Avengers Identity War" and "Avengers Endgame" eventually had each of the Marvel Avengers members recruiting their whole crew to help in the fight, I think SM is setting it up so that all of its groups' members will eventually be brought into the battle.
I also think the story in "Hard" even could be connected to Taemin's "Advice" storyline. We see him with his hands painted blue in "Hard," similar to his black ink stained hands and body in "Advice," and in both scenes we see him standing in front of/playing a piano. (Technically, Pearl Aqua is SHINee's color. However, before LED lights were invented, creating a wider range of colors -- making way for SHINee's official Pearl Aqua color -- they used blue and green in things to do with SHINee. That's why we still see blue, green and aqua with most things SHINee related.)
Some have pointed out that the scene in "Hard" with the silhouettes behind the screen reminds them of the scene in Taemin's "Criminal" MV, with the people behind a screen pushing their hands into it. However, in "Hard" Taemin is standing in front of the screen, rather than walking through the middle with the two sides reaching for him like in "Criminal". Although, I also think that scene could be connected to EXO's storyline, because we see in EXO's "Tempo" MV a scene where there are silhouettes behind a lighted white wall that looks very similar to this. In EXO's storyline, the people behind the wall are thought to be EXO's alter ego clones, who were created by the Red Force, or they could be the EXO members who are trapped behind the wall. We also see EXO fighting with their silhouette shadows in their live concert performance of their song "Wolf," which is also thought to be EXO battling X-EXO as they search for the Tree of Life.
Ever since SHINee came out with "Don't Call Me", I think the storyline in that MV was supposed to be SM bringing SHINee into the SM Culture Universe. In their "Don't Call Me" MV it looks as though the SHINee members go through some sort of wormhole as they are teleported somewhere and we see them all posing in their black outfits like they are getting ready for battle. This looks very similar to the scene in SuperM's debut "Jopping" MV when the SuperM members are coming together at the beginning of "Jopping." Therefore, because Taemin is a member of SuperM, I think SHINee is supposed to be getting ready to join SuperM in the fight against the Red Force.
In "Hard" we also see Taemin standing on a grate as he crouches down and looks through it at the "people" in white trapped below, similar to his scene in SuperM's "Jopping" MV.
The scene with Key standing with all the dancers in white sitting in a circle around him also seems to be an important part of the story, however I'm not sure what it all means yet. We see Key remove the mask of one of the guys and we discover the guy has a glowing blue earpiece, which seems to be suggesting that they are being controlled by outside forces. However, because they are all just sitting there without moving, it seems to indicate that they are currently "shut-down". Either these people are androids or robots, like in EXO's "Lucky One" MV, or they are people who are under mind control. Although, I don't think they are being controlled by the Red Force necessarily because we don't see any trace of red anywhere in that scene. Instead, the color we see is blue, which usually within EXO's storyline means that it represents something to do with EXO, who are the good guys. Plus, as I said, blue with SHINee usually represents SHINee and their connection as a group.
Minho standing on the edge of that rock formation looks similar to the scene with Girls' Generation's Taeyeon standing on the rock in the middle of the ocean in Key's solo "Hate That ..." MV, and it also looks a lot like the scene in SHINee's "Don't Call Me" MV, with Key standing on the submerged phone booth. It all has the same feeling. (Notice how they also are all wearing red in all of those scenes. Red usually represents something to do with the Red Force.)
In the next animated scene, we see what looks like Minho in the red jacket fighting with the same piano key ropes that pulled Taemin into the piano in the beginning. To me, it looks like its trying to keep him trapped within the piano and under the control of the music. However, in the following scene, we see the giant piano has been destroyed behind them, which could represent how music no longer controls them, but they now control the music. (As SHINee has said, in the beginning of their career they did whatever they were told to do, however, now that they've been in the industry for more than 15 years, they have learned how to be their own artists and it has afforded them the opportunity to now make their own decisions about their music and to participate in creating the songs and designing their albums, etc. They are now the ones in control.)
In the last scene at the end, it reminds me of the same menacing red atmosphere as Minho's rap section in their "Don't Call Me" MV, where we see him in an all red room with chairs hovering above him. Therefore, I think the gloved hand is Minho's hand because it looks like the same gloves that Minho is wearing in the scene right before that where they are dressed in black. Although I don't know what that means yet, I am sure it is something to connect the storyline to something within one of SM's MVs in the future or will make more sense when more of the story is revealed as SM releases the next chapter, etc.
But you should also know, that no one really knows for sure what is happening in any of the story. There are well known theories and storylines that are accepted within the fandom, which we think might explain what is happening in each MV. And there are theories about how each MV is connected and where each falls within their larger storyline, but nothing is set in stone. Fan theories are constantly evolving and changing with every introduction of a new piece of the puzzle. New things are revealed with every MV release, concert, event, or appearance, etc., which could either add to or change the storyline.