1. Catch Your Double Eye
2. Funky Boy
3. Thirty Eight
4. I Will Miss You
5. Love Magic
6. Tender Love
7. All You Did
8. Maybe Baby
9. Sweet Little Baby
10. Endless Forget
I can't exactly remember when i first found out about Bii but I've been listening to his music on and off for a few years now. Bii was born in South Korea to a Korean mother and Chinese father making him bilingual in both Mandarin and Korean. This fact becomes apparent in this music as he switches back and forth between both languages. I have also heard people say that his Mandarin use to sound weird when he first came out so my guess would be that he's stronger in Korean than Mandarin. He's probably improved a lot by now hopefully.
As I braced myself to give "I'm B TO THE DOUBLE I" a listen, I actually didn't want to because the album prior disappointed me. Bii is the type of artist that has the ability to branch out into many different types of genres but he shouldn't permanently. He has experimented with different electronica sounds for his "Action Bii" album and it dumbed down his music's charm. Being influenced by the korean pop trend is fine but it also good to note that interest in Kpop has been slowly dying over the past 3 years. Why has it slowly been dying, you ask? It's because the music doesn't bring anything new to the table and after you been in the know for a few years, you have seen it all. The album before "I'm B To The Double I" was kind of like that with the respect of a few good tracks. I was super afraid that this album would be like that so i contemplated for an half an hour if i wanted to give this album a listen. I decide to in the end.
The first three tracks played into the style that i knew i would hear on the album but to my surprise, the foundation of his track is solid and catchy. While "Catch Your Double Eye" sounds like any other pop anthem, Bii does well with swiftness of his vocals and how he effortlessly moves between mandarin and korean like an automated iPhone dictionary. The beat also will make you think your in a club full of people dancing around. "Funky boy" takes us to that jazz, broadway, style of uplift as Bii shows that his vocal range can be a jack of all trades. The ballads on the album are filled with emotional beauty and strong vocals as Bii gives it all he has to sing to the listener. He seems to be more known for ballads in Taiwan because of the Drama OSTs and different roles he is cast for. This guy can definitely belt out a note that will make a lot of singers wonder what they been doing with their lives.
The last half of the album brings us back to Acoustic rock Bii, that i love so very much. Give Bii a guitar and there will be magic! This is the style i want to hear way more of and that fits him the best to me. These tracks not only bring back his old style but also add a new twist on the sound. There is a song where a chorus full of full rounded dark voices sing in the background while Bii play electric guitar rifts and belts a high note that made me go, "YES BOY, YOU BETTER SING!!!!" Other tracks were produced with a light hearted pop beat that didn't over power the acoustics but was just enough to make the listener feel happy and want to sing along. My only negative thought i had about the album was there are times that the ballads sound similar I also don't need to hear Bii's falsetto range in almost every song. Let the boy rest his vocals a little bit.
"I'M B TO THE DOUBLE I" turned out to be a major improvement over his last album. Musical artist need to realize that you don't always have to change your style right away. Work more on finding your craft and what works for you then change your music around. The change is good if it makes your music BETTER not if it sends your music a few steps back.
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