Song Ji Eun is "Going Crazy" with her debut

Known for being the main vocalist of Korean group Secret, Song Ji Eun debuted with her single "Going Crazy" in March. Song Ji Eun is the first member of Secret to debut with a solo album and so far, it has been really successful. Within weeks of Going Crazy's release, it has topped some of the music portal sites.

Secret during their "Madonna" promotions

Jieun is part of a k-pop group named Secret; they are a 4-member girl group that works under TS Entertainment and they debuted back in September of 2009. Secret has been known for songs like: Madonna, Magic and Shy boy. The members consist of Hyosung (Leader and vocalist), Zinger (vocalist ad main rapper), Jieun (a.k.a Song Ji Eun and main vocalist), and Sunhwa (Youngest and vocalist). The ages of these members range from 20-21 years old and they have been previously part of different group projects. For songs like Madonna and Magic, Secret displayed a mature and feminine concept. When Secret made a comeback with Shy boy back in January, their style focused on a cute, retro concept.

Jieun's song, Going Crazy, has been known to be the Korean version of Rihanna's "Love the Way You Lie". The reason for this is not due to the similarity of chords and notes, but the use of the piano to create a gentle, soothing tune. The genre of this song is R&B and hip hop. In addition, both Rihanna and Jieun's songs talk about how difficult their relationships are and they both feature a rapper that talks about their point of view. Along with the piano, this song features a rapper that goes by the name of Bang Young Guk. Young Guk is a trainee that also works in the same company as Secret. Previously, Young Guk was an underground rapper that performs in clubs and on streets.

Live performance of Going Crazy

The storyline of this song talks about how this woman feels insecure because she knows that a man is stalking her and she is trying to get out of his reach. She tells the man that she feels scared and that this isn't love. At the beginning of the song, Jieun sings, "It's not love, this isn't love, it's just your obsession." While she sings, the only accompaniment is the piano and the mood starts out being mellow. The rap in this songs comes from the guy's point of view and he describes how she cannot get away from him. He knows what love is and how he is obsessed with her. As soon as the rapper joins in, more instruments and beats are played to create a violent and upbeat theme. For the chorus, Jieun asks the guy why he is like this and she expresses how the sight of seeing him is suffocating her so she requests him to disappear. The rest of the song goes in the form of an argument that travels back and forth between the two people.

One interesting fact about the rapper, Young Guk is that he wrote all the rap parts for this song. Since the rapper is suppose to become the creepy boyfriend, he spent around one month putting himself in the shoes of a stalker. In a recent interview, the rapper told how he watched videos and read books on stalkers in order to perfect his role for this song.
As for Jieun, she had to change from a cute retro style concept to a dark, mature concept for her debut within one week. Previously, for her "Shy Boy" promotions, she wore her brown curly hair in a ponytail and now, she has dyed her hair dark blue and straightened it.

Secret during their "Shy Boy" promotions

To me, I prefer Going Crazy rather than Love the Way You Lie since I like the mellow tune and the high note held at the end. It would be more entertaining if some dance moves were added instead of just standing there and singing throughout the whole song. Since Jieun goes on music stations to promote her song for almost four times a week, each performance needs to be different and sometimes, she plays the piano at the very beginning. Also, I'm surprised at how well she sings since it's her first time going solo. She hits all the right notes and there's no mistake each time. Her concept of having blue hair was.... surprising at first but I got used to seeing it as she performed live. Currently, she is going against Big Bang's Tonight on music stations for first place. Even though Big Bang has a huge fan base and they are also my favourite group, I hope Jieun gets to win a trophy during her promotion period.

Credits to:
mihyunkpopaddiction.blogspot.com (Secret's picture)
linearseat.org (Jieun's picture)
musicnewsonline.org (Picture of the live performance)
soompi.com (Secret's Shy Boy picture)