It’s no secret, I love Asian Pop. I think it is far superior to it’s American and British counterparts, simply because they have stricter standards. Caught smoking underaged? Britney Spears does it, slap on the wrist, Kago Ai does it, and she gets suspended from making music. Asian pop idols have higher bars they have to live up to, and there is no forgiving a sloppy dance, or bad singing. Yes, this can physically drain the artists, and puts their agencies in a position to really abuse their power (everything has a downside) but there’s no denying what is produced can be wonderful.

So when I heard the Wonder Girls were coming out with a new album, all I thought was “The Tell-Me dance girls? That’s nice, more competition for SNSD.” For those of you who don’t know, the Wonder Girls is a Korean pop group, whose big break came in the very late 2000s, and then they went on a small hiatus. In the meantime, groups like SNSD (aka Girls Generation) and 2NE1 took the central spotlight of the music scene.

But now, the Wonder Girls are back, and they are fantastic. Their new single off the Wonder World album, “Be My Baby,” is beyond all expectations, releasing both a Korean and English version to cater to local and international fans. The lyrics are nothing special, but the song itself is cheerful, fun, and most importantly catchy. SNSD’s latest single “The Boys” (released around the same time) in comparison is a little more generic to the pop-hiphop style and just doesn’t seem to stick. (I’m not saying it’s a bad track…but it’s not their usual high quality work)

Jonte, the director the “Single Ladies” video, took the lead on this project, hence the similarities in clothing, set design, and lighting. It is classy but high spirited, it inspires you to dance but is also toned down – simple and effective music video making at it’s best. If you haven’t seen it yet, be sure to check it out ASAP! It’s great to see this group is still up and kicking, and I love forward to seeing more of their work soon!