Pentagon “Thumps Up” Review

Kpop group Pentagon released their seventh EP, Thumbs Up, Sept. 10 with only eight out of the ten members present.

Yanan, one of the members, was missing due to health reasons, and E’dawn was missing because of the controversy with his relationship with Hyuna, a popular kpop soloist. E’Dawn and Hyuna, both under the entertainment company Cube, are also apart of the trio Triple H along with Pentagon member Hui. Earlier this year, Cube denied the rumors of the two’s relationship, but a few days later E’Dawn and Hyuna came forward saying they’ve been dating for two years. Cube immediately put the two on probation because of the strict rules within kpop companies and because of the hate the Korean fans were directing towards the relationship. In mid-Sept, Cube announced that they were terminating Hyuna’s and E’Dawn’s contracts, but later retracted that statement and said they were “still deciding” what to do with the two artists after the company received backlash and their stocks dropped by 9.34 percent.

Thumbs Up is consistent with Pentagon’s sound as it fits in the EDM pop genre. The title song, “Naughty Boy”, matches Pentagon’s characteristics because of its carefree tone and it’s “fun” sounding chorus.  “Just do it yo!!” is a tad bit more somber since the base of the song is an acoustic guitar during the verses, but it picks back up during the choruses with some rock elements mixed in with EDM. Then, “Skateboard” dips into the EDM hip-hop genre a bit, but still goes with the album as the Pentagon members clearly have some with the song based on the extra vocals they added in. Adding some contrast in the album, “When It Rains At Night” takes on the ballad side of kpop with pianos and violins making up the background during verses and the bridge, but the choruses do pick up slightly with a stronger beat and a faster tempo. “Thumbs Up!” goes back to the light tone and EDM pop sound as the group sings about having fun even when it seems like the world is against you.

The music video for “Naughty Boy” keeps Pentagon’s signature music video style. Going back and forth between the members sitting in various spots around an auto-body shop and the groups’ choreography, Pentagon showcases their aesthetics and fun dance moves. Some of the aspects of the music video, such as the heavy integration of frogs and the randomness of eating fried chicken out of nowhere, were quite strange and left fans stringing theories together.

Although the album was missing the rapping style of E’Dawn and Yanan’s vocals, the fans managed to set aside their anger towards the company and supported the group’s comeback.