Album review: YMGA - Made in R.O.K

YMGA – Made in R.O.K 

01. Get up
02. Scandal (Feat. Danny of 1TYM)
03. Tell it to my heart (Feat. Uhm Jung Hwa)
04. What (Feat. YG family, DJ Wreckx)
05. Real talk (Feat. Tae Yang of Big Bang)
06. Let it play (Feat. Ji Eun)

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YMGA (Young Men Gangsta’s Association) is Masta Wu & Digital Masta and ‘Made in the R.O.K.’ was released on Oct 9. Kicking it off is ‘Get Up’ – the track I enjoyed the least on the album. I much preferred track 2 ‘Scandal’, which is like a musical response to TaeYang’s ‘Sinners’. The chorus of electronically tampered vocals from 1TYM’s Danny is set against a strong beat, unusual instrumentation and  whilst I was not fond of it to start with, a second listen started to change my mind. 

‘Tell it to my Heart’ is making me think that 80s sampling is the next big trend in Kpop with the chorus, sung by Uhm Jung Hwa, taken from Taylor Dane’s ‘Tell it to my Heart’. The beat is good, though, and the song works really well and is the track that feels the most light-hearted.

‘What’ features several YG Family members and its strong link to YG and 1TYM is emphasised by the use of bars and the main chorus line from  ‘Hot 뜨거’. It’s good to hear a collaboration like this.

‘Real Talk’ has a mid-tempo beat with electronic backing and is reminiscent of ‘Ayo’. It’s a good song, one that grows on me a lot. TaeYaeng’s vocals are distinctive but it’s so well arranged that he doesn’t overwhelm the main artistes and it’s a growing favourite of mine..

‘Let It Play’ is almost a dance track, backed by electronic chords and harmonies as well as the electronic warping of the track’s featured artiste JiEun’s voice. I am not too enamoured with the current trend of warping vocals electronically, but it’s done well here. The song does feel a little short and ends a bit too quickly, just as I was really starting to enjoy it.

A good solid mini album with some really good quality work and it’s one I would really recommend.

4/5