Music Monday | HYOLYN — SEE SEA (바다보러갈래)

HEY BAYOG FAM~ It’s Mondaaaayyyy~ So yes, time for another Music Monday post. We’ve been doing more chill tracks lately. So let’s switch it up for something more upbeat and with more energy~ Today’s track recommendation is SEE SEA (바다보러갈래) by Hyolyn~ Hyolyn and SISTAR are honestly queens of summer bops. So it’s not a surprise that SEE SEA would be perfect for a Summer edition of Music Monday~ Although, we keeping it short and simple today my loves~

Alright, so if ya didn’t know, Hyolin (Kim Hyo Jung) was originally a member of the second generation K-Pop group SISTAR. I’ve covered [SISTAR before] in a TBT post. But, anyway, they’re basically the queens of K-Pop summer bops! Examples include: [Touch My Body], [Shake It], [I Swear], and [Loving U]. I’ll also throw in SISTAR19’s [Ma Boy] since that recently resurfaced as it went viral on TikTok. I do have the info over on that post, but we’ll do a brief refresher. SISTAR was formed in 2010 under Starship Entertainment. The members include Hyolyn, Soyou, Bora, and Dasom. Soyou is pretty well known for a lot of her solo projects and OST contributions. The most famous one is definitely [썸(Some)]. K-Drama fans might also recognize Bora and Dasom from various dramas like [Hwayugi] and [He’s Psychometric]. SISTAR was known for their sexy image. Unfortunately, they did disband back in June 2017, releasing their final song [Lonely] as their farewell song.

Now let’s get into Hyolyn. She was really known as one of the most talented and powerful vocalists in K-Pop. If I remember correctly, she was a pretty sickly child growing up. I also remember she has this large cross tattoo on her chest/stomach to cover a surgery scar or something. Anyway, before joining Starship and SISTAR, she did originally audition twice for JYP Entertainment where she was finally accepted after placing first. Originally she was set for a debut in a project group that had included Jieun (ended up in Secret), Hani (ended up in EXID), and Uji (ended up in Bestie). However, debut plans for the group ended up being canceled. From there, she ended up joining Starship after covering Christina Aguilara’s Hurt for her audition. Hyolyn and Bora also formed the subunit Sistar19 back in 2011. Aside from promotions with SISTAR, she also did do some acting and OST contributions. She starred in Dream High Season 2 and contributed to one of the OST tracks. She also contributed to drama OSTs for series like Master’s Sun, My Love from the Star, Uncontrollably Fond, Hwarang, Live Up to Your Name, Black Knight: The Man Who Guards Me, and Money Flower. She made her solo debut back in November 2013 with the album Love & Hate. That same year, she also sang the Korean version of Let It Go from Disney’s Frozen. She’s also been on some shows like MBC’s I Am a Singer, Unpretty Rapstar (Season 2), King of Mask Singer, and Queendom 2. In 2017, she left Starship Entertainment and formed her own label Bridʒ. Some other Hyolyn tracks I recommend include: [Dally], [Say My Name], [Bae], Hyolyn x Joo Young [지워(Erase) feat. 아이언(Iron)], Far East Movement [Umbrella (Feat. Hyolyn & Gill Chang)], and Hyolyn x Changmo [Blue Moon (Prod. GroovyRoom)]. I also recommend [둘 중에 골라 (Summer or Summer)] which she released last year with her former groupmate Dasom.

Alright, so let’s get into SEE SEA (바다보러갈래). By the way, “바다보러갈래” means “Let’s go see the sea/beach”. Anyway, this track was originally released July 20, 2018. It was then also included on her EP SAY MY NAME in August 2020. Yeah, the song was released 4 years ago, but it’s still a summer bop. I think I kinda mentioned it before in previous posts, but retro sounds and vibes have been really popular over recent years. So we’re seeing more tracks with vibes of retropop, discopop, citypop, vaporwave, synthwave, synthpop, etc. SEE SEA is definitely a more upbeat dance pop track. But it does have those retro elements. Specifically, it has this tropical and 80s kinda vibe and sound throughout the track. You can really hear it with the percussion and synths. It really comes out during the chorus. I’m not good at describing it and pinpointing it, but if you listen to it, you’ll know what I mean lol. It’s honestly just such a fun and catchy track. Not like bubbly fun, but kinda breezy and having fun in the sun kinda way. As for the content of the song itself, it’s a sweet “I love you and wanna enjoy my time with you” kinda track. She’s literally telling her lover that she loves him and wants to spontaneously go to the sea with him.

You can find the SEE SEA (바다보러갈래) single on Spotify, here:

You can find SEE SEA (바다보러갈래) and the rest of the SAY MY NAME EP on Spotify, here:

You can find the audio for SEE SEA (바다보러갈래) on YouTube, here:

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I’m pretty sure this music video was shot in Hawaii. The shots are actually really pretty. Very vacation aesthetic kinda way too. Anyway, it’s all about Hyolyn and her girls completely in fun summer vibes here. Aesthetics both editing and styling-wise, they do follow that retro-esque vibe and theme. The styling is very like 80s/90s-esque. Like we got these neon see-thru visors, 1980s kinda bikini cut swimsuits (the one pieces that are cut pretty high up above the hip and expose some booty cheeks — think OG Baywatch), and fannypacks (they that see-thru, plastic, iridescent ones too). On a whole random note, I could never sit and sing on top of a basketball hoop. Aside from my fat ass probably being likely to break it, I’m also deathly afraid of heights…but also…that looks so uncomfortable to sit on. I won’t post lyric translations today, but you can go find them from [Genius].

This is for y’all that love watching choreography vids and dance practices. The choreography for See Sea is by Nicole Kirkland. She’s also worked on Hyolyn’s Layin’ Low. Aside from Hyolyn, Nicole has actually worked with several well-known artists from Prince, Gwen Stefani, Daddy Yankee, Kehlani, Nicole Scherzinger, Ceelo Green, etc. Y’all know WAP from Cardi B and Megan Thee Stallion? Yeah, that’s her work too. Best Friend by Saweetie and Doja Cat too. Anyway, the choreo for this does look like a lot of fun. And it’s great in that you can see Hyolyn and the dancers really enjoy themselves with it. It’s fun, but there’s definitely a lot of movement. Also, I’m impressed that for performances and everything, the dance is actually done while wearing heels. Cuz I could never lolol Especially since there are a lot of times where they have to go up and down on the floor. But I do absolutely love the key points of the choreo during the chorus.

When the song was first released, Hyolyn also did some public busking performances to promote the track as well.

Hyolyn also recently did a kinda remixed version called See Sea BAE on the show Queendom 2 (퀸덤 2).

Here’s a recent performance from Waterbomb Daegu (워터밤 대구)

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Anyway, that’s it for today’s Music Monday y’all~ I hope you enjoyed it~ Let me know if you guys prefer more of the chill vibes or upbeat and fun vibes~ Let me know in the comments, my socials, or Discord~ Also, shout out to Lauren (Necara/Cattastick)~ I picked Hyolyn and See Sea today cuz we were talking about it on the Discord server a few days ago ahaha~

Also, I swear I do have some novel, manga, and manhwa posts coming up. I’ve just been slammed and dead tired LMAO. I’m trying to transition out of my semi-hiatus and go back to regular posting. But, probably gotta wait for some things to settle down. So as of now, I’m still semi-hiatus, but you’ll see me slowly transition back to regular posting~ Anyway, have a fabulous day and start of your week my loves!

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