The Prophet Blog

I stan for 4minute, but I also know that they’re a hot mess. They may as well be called HyunA and the Minutes, with the only two talented members (Gayoon and Jiyoon) being shoved aside for HyunA’s glittering solo career, while the other two members (Moonface and Other) are so basic and useless that they deserve to be fired from the music industry and never seen or heard from again. The folk at Cube Entertainment have finally figured this out, so they’re now trying to pull 4minute out of the grave that they’ve dug for them by launching the group’s first official sub-unit, 2YOON, which obviously consists of Gayoon and Jiyoon. (Can you imagine a 2HYUN unit? Lawd…)

Cube have been pretty smart about putting together 2YOON’s debut single, “24/7″, giving the duo a country ‘n’ western concept and sound — something that hasn’t quite been tackled in K-pop yet. With stiff sub-unit competition from INFINITE H and SISTAR19, as well as the fact that 2YOON’s members don’t exactly have fame spraying from their vaginas like HyunA does, something totally attention-grabbing was needed for their debut, and “24/7″ is it. Don’t expect any hardcore country from the song though. It’s basically just a cute dance-pop ditty with an addictive banjo riff thrown on top, but if the aim was to stand out, it works. But if the aim was to actually make a great song, well, that’s debatable. It’s very “Hoedown Throwdown”… kind of catchy, fairly fun, but nowhere near as good as anything from 4minute or HyunA. If the song featured the banjo riff more and had a better hook, it could’ve seriously smashed, but since it doesn’t, it’s just okay.

Fortunately, the music video makes up for what the music lacks. It’s by far the cutest thing I’ve seen in K-pop in a long time. Utterly adorable, without trying too hard. The concept and choreography is really what’s going to sell “24/7″ above everything else. Well, that and the amazingness of Goddess Jiyoon, who I couldn’t take my eyes off for the entire video.

Overall, 2YOON haven’t really blown HyunA’s wig to pieces like I expected from the teasers, but it has made one thing clearer than ever before: 4minute needs to be a trio. The only thing 2YOON is lacking is an epic song; the members themselves slayed the concept they were given and looked like stars in their music video. 4minute should be HyunA in the middle as the face of the group, with a flaw-free Yoon on each side. Moonface and Other can take a hike and go do acting or hosting or something that doesn’t involve ruining 4minute with their supreme blandness. Relaunching 4minute as a trio would also help revitalize the group’s image, and maybe even increase their popularity once everybody saw how amazing they’d be without all that extra baggage.

While I dream of a perfect 4minute, check out 2YOON’s charming sub-unit debut below.