Drama-ma-ma-ma, I Bring Drama-ma-ma-ma

Hello! The title is from the chorus of the song I'll be talking about today. Similar to how I celebrated the one-year anniversary of "Off the Record," I will share my favorite song of 2023, which will soon also be a year old. On November 10, 2023, K-pop group aespa dropped their 4th mini album, Drama, with an eponymous title track. I believe "Drama" was and is an absolutely legendary song and will explain why.

I thought aespa's comeback last fall would be like any other. But when I started seeing teasers and concept photos dropped on their Instagram, I became intrigued. The photos contain the group's four members as giants towering in a miniature city. I will always remember how revolutionary it was upon first viewing. There were also concept trailers for the individual members titled "I'M THE DRAMA" in which they all showed off excellent acting skills. Finally, I remember the M/V teaser. It was just a 30-second clip that showed off a little bit of the chorus, but I was hooked. I counted down the days until it dropped and replayed that teaser an ungodly amount of times.

I should probably describe what the song sounds like. It starts with these intro notes that sound just a little off-key to give it this creepy vibe. Then just a little vocal introduction: "Ya, ya. I'm the drama." Then, bam! Hard drop into a rap for the first verse with a drum-like bass hit. This ten-second sequence feels so effective. It's quiet but then launches you straight into loud noise. The electronic melody sounds good, but I think part of it is that I'm a sucker for anything in the minor key. The prechorus has this synth that swells, building up to the chorus. Then... the chorus. This chorus is my favorite thing, possibly in any song. I know the lyrics do not make it sound very appealing: "I bring, I bring all the drama-ma-ma-a. I bring drama-ma-ma-ma. With my girls in the back. Girls in the back, drama." Yes, it is just repetition. But something about it feels so campy. Imagine you have a song that gives off this serious, creepy vibe with the minor key, and the music video is coated in black and red, and then there's this anthemic chorus. It simultaneously feels like the silliest and sickest thing ever. The second chorus has this mini rap by member NingNing, which you have to hear for yourself, but trust me, she ate. The bridge features ethereal-sounding vocals and is also a little stripped back compared to the rest of the song, a nice silence-then-noise contrast again leading up to the final chorus. The final chorus feels so climactic with the high notes, added voice lines, and post-chorus. Finally, it concludes with the same melody line as the intro, giving a nice sense of finality.

If you can't tell, I am not eloquent regarding musical elements. I like music and singing, but I could not tell you any musical lingo or terminology. Anyway, I would like to share something disheartening: not everyone likes this song. I know. Incredibly hard to believe. The thing is that I can see where they're coming from. The song is filled with random lyrics like "ziggy ziggy zag I'm new," and to some, it sounds like any other hip-hop-inspired electronic girl crush song. I also merely interpret the chorus as campy. To others, I could sound lackluster and repetitive. But this song feels so special to me. I feel like the coolest person ever listening to it. I don't ever think I could get sick of it either. I would listen to it every day for a good two months after it came out, and I never got bored of it. Even this year, returning to it, it's as good as I remember. Also, I love imagining cool fight scenes to this song as a writer. While some view the song and music video as straying from aespa's vision, I see it as them finally perfecting their sound. Or, who knows, maybe I am just exposing my awful music taste.

I hope you enjoyed my little rant about one of my favorite songs! I'm sorry it's not as expansive as my "Off the Record" post. It's hard to explain how I like a song when the answer is primarily vibes. This was kind of a shorter post, but get excited because I have big plans for the rest of the semester. I've been Grace, and I'll see you next time!

(Drama album cover credited to SM Entertainment)