Welcome back to Hidden Gem! Hidden Gem is where I talk about old songs I have missed or perhaps didn’t appreciate the first time I heard them. This time I’m going to talk about a song that I missed.

So I remember CLC debuting and really liking their debut song, Pepe. I thought it was so fresh and sassy cute. I liked that combination; they were really checking this dude, the subject of the song, but in a sassy cute way. So it won me over. But then I didn’t listen to kpop for a while and I saw that they were getting cuter and I wasn’t into that.

If you don’t know apart from Orange Caramel (and maybe old Apink and GG) I don’t really like the cute concept.

However since last year I’ve been checking out kpop (outside of my favs) again so I took another look at CLC and I really loved their song No and Me which I talked about on here. Then recently, this year, I decided to check out the cute songs I avoided.

There are some that I don’t like but there are more that I like, like No Oh Oh. It is such a good song! Just listening to it I like the melody and the fun upbeat feel of it. It’s in the same vein of style (ish) as Pepe and so it reminded me of why I originally liked CLC.

Also Yeeun is fast becoming one of my favourite Korean rappers. She has a unique sounding voice and style. She can pull off the cute style and the girl crush/bad ass style… that’s talent. So of course I liked her verse in this song especially.

In the comments I noticed someone talking about how the meaning of the song is impactful so I looked up the lyrics and translation and I agree, they are. Which is why I wanted to talk about it today.

In the lyrics they talk about how they’re not ready for, I believe, sex. So the English and Korean title of the song is “No.” And most of the song is them saying, no, just no and I am not ready.

They talk about how even if they look cute and have long hair or whatever that doesn’t mean they’re ready or of the age. And they’re basically calling out the subject of the song like, “Get your mind out from the gutter” Bang Yongguk style but cuter.

I think it’s an important song for girls (and boys really) as when you’re a teenager (as some of them were when this song was released) the pressure to move fast and to be physical is immense. It doesn’t even have to be sex! It could be pressure to have your first kiss or your first boyfriend. And so I like the fact that they’re advocating for girls to say no and to state that they’re not ready, firmly and cutely.

It doesn’t matter how you say it, say it however you like and the person you’re saying it to should respect your words.

So yeah it has a good message. I hope it reached those who needed it.

Anyway that’s all for today’s music corner,

Until next time,

Ciao!