More of the same from G-Dragon’s “Crayon”

After pleasantly surprising us all with his profanity-laced ballad “That XX”, BIGBANG maestro G-Dragon is back with another new single from his recently-released One of a Kind album, “Crayon”.

Knowing how YG Entertainment works, I should’ve known that a song like “Crayon” would be right around the corner the second I heard “That XX”. “Crayon” –a play on the slang word “cray” made popular by Jay-Z and Kanye West– is your standard YG urban-tinged electro banger. GD serves up slick hip-hop swagger on the verses, before dropping into a repetitive dance-driven hook (“Get your crayon! Get your crayon!”) that recalls the most banal American top forty slush.

If “Gangnam Style” is an example of LMFAO at their best, then “Crayon” is LMFAO at their most dire and irritating.

The official music video is virtually indistinguishable from previous visuals you’ve seen from 2NE1 or the BIGBANG camp. It’s bursting with bright colors, outrageous fashion, and endless moments of wackiness; a concept that was cool the first hundred times YG did it, but has now grown as tired and predictable as one of SM Entertainment’s formulaic set-based dance videos.

It’s not often that BIGBANG get it wrong, and lately they’ve succeeded in doing the opposite of what everyone has expected from them, but “Crayon” is a huge misstep on behalf of G-Dragon, the band, and YG. It’s lazy, and feels like GD has either run out of ideas (doubtful) or is simply just content to pander to the masses (much more probable).

Bored now.

This entry was posted on Tuesday, September 18th, 2012 at 6:09 pm and is filed under Music Videos. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

  • KingBeaArthur

    The mini is passable with the exceptions of “Today” & the stellar “Missing You”. I wish he had just focused on those two songs vs the other 3 which I haven’t felt at all :( Oh well…here’s hoping Seungri releases another fantastic mini/album soon!

  • theprophetblog

    SEUNGRI HWAITING!!!!!!!!!!!!!

  • YourYG Bias

    Trying too hard to be G? Still, he can own a stage.

    The MV totally made up for the random song but his mini has got a few gems. Tablo and Dok2 reppin’ on “Light It Up” was amazing and “Missing You” ain’t bad either.

    I definitely miss the Haru Haru/Lies era but I’d be naive to think that GD will go back in that direction. Now, where’s Daesung’s glorious voice at?

  • iAmJayDO

    This is DEF my favorite G-Dragon video.

  • Xtina

    Ummmmmm where’s my Xtina review you promised? K bye!

  • mybiasbeatsyourbias

    Somebody lace G-druggin blunt when he made this crap called music or something close to it. This comeback has got be one of the worse solo debuts under YG’s belt in a long time. YG can’t make a comeback after the popularity of PSY “Gangnam Style.” PSY was being funny, GD is actually trying to make a statement. The disappointment will be berried as VIPs justified all sense of reasoning by liking this song. GD should thank his own name for saving this shitacular solo album.

  • iAmJayDO

    I’m a bit confused by everyones reaction here to this song/album. Isn’t this just like GD’s style BEFORE he let out this album? Did everyone miss his Heartbreaker era? This promotion is hardly a surprise when you compare the two as you can see his style hasn’t changed much at all really. The Leaders = One of a Kind, Korean Dream/High High/Knock Out = Crayon… I mean, sure, it’s updated but how is it bad exactly? Even then, GD’s album was probably done way before Gangnam Style was gaining popularity as they announced it before that video even came out.

  • http://profiles.google.com/krstydlght kirsty delight

    mte.

  • http://twitter.com/jms177 Justy

    Is it bad that I still haven’t seen the video or listened to the song?

  • http://www.facebook.com/LeeTeckYing Landon Lee

    His performance and the MV was great. However, I can’t say the same for the song. Honestly, whenever G-Dragon gets around to going solo, he just hits a wall of dumb.

  • MrsTOP

    One of a Kind is a better video IMO. I love the hip hop vibe, the tiger, the choreography and youngbae featuring at the end of the video. Crayon is a great video, but i am not too keen on the song. Missing you and Light it up featuring tablo and dok2 are the best songs on the album. I also like the song featuring the girl grom the new girl group. The album is Hit and Miss but it has some solid songs.

  • YourYG Bias

    Don’t be too surprised or confused. OP isn’t exactly a YG worshipper. GD has always had the craziest music among the YG peeps and I’d have to agree with you when you say that he stayed with his style when he created this album.

    It’s not like he can repeat songs so you can’t expect exact replicas but you can still hear his electro/hip-hop base and he’s been experimenting with acoustic guitars since way back.

    I like the album. It’s solid and it’s totally GD.