SE7EN(세븐)- I AM SE7EN Mini Album Thoughts(K-RnB)

   It feels awkward labeling se7en Kpop after all thats happened to him over the last few years. I honestly thought that this man's career was over. He kind of did it to himself too so I don't feel sorry for him. BUT what did hurt me was that such a talented artist that has earned the love of millions of fans in South Korea and Japan would do something so stupid that all that he worked for almost ended in the blink of an eye. I won't go into the scandal here nor will I have discussions about it any farther. Fans don't need to defend him either because he's a grown man. Se7en persevered somehow and created his own record label while releasing a brand new mini album, "I AM SE7EN".

Track List:
01. ELEVEN9 (INTRO)
02. 잘자 (GOOD NIGHT) (Feat. REDDY) *Title
03. GIVE IT TO ME *Title
04. 5-6-7
05. 11:30 (Feat. MASTA WU)
06. 괜찮아 (I`M GOOD)
07. GIVE IT TO ME (Inst.)

   This album feels like he never left. Maybe because he has been teasing at a new album by releasing a single here and there. He also been in a stage play if I remember correctly. I did listen to one of the singles he released for the stage production of Phantom of the Opera and this dude was hitting notes like he was an unknown artists with something to prove to listeners. He might as we'll be starting over again since YG dumped him after he had been with them for years. Thankfully, his fanbase is still loyal to him and he still gets the chance to be on TV promoting the album.(He was a huge idol so some of that pull still remains.) He's Japanese single also did well on the Oricon charts which isn't too surprising. Japan doesn't care about what goes on in Korea anyway.  The "ELEVEN9(INTRO)" is se7en dressing what happened in a nut shell of a minute and eight seconds. At least we can hear that he's been studying english. He still sounds almost fluent like he did when he was trying to break into the American music industry. The stand out tracks for me would be "GIVE IT TO ME" and "I'm Good". "GIVE IT TO ME" could be him saying "IM BACK!!! LETS DANCE!!!!" The RnB mixed with the saxophone is so addictive that it gets in your body.  At first, I didn't know how I felt about the long dance break in the chorus since this style is use so often by other artists. The overall result works for the song though. Its very catchy and Se7en adds enough vocal input that he's not forgotten during the dance breaks. The same thing can't be said for "5-6-7. I'm not a sucker for the same trick twice. That beat sounds good but I'm here to listen to you sing not hear a beat play over and over again with no vocals. "11:30" might be that track that came out of the freedom se7en now has to produce the music he wants to. This tracks is very American down to the autotune, melody, and the lyrics. He's always sang about pleasing women by loving them the most. Can't say that I will be playing this track non stop but its good in the flow of the album. "I'M GOOD" has been a track that I liked from the beginning. I heard the Japanese version first which is really funny because when I was first introduced to se7en, his Japanese music was the music of his I heard first. The song is a chill track that might be a great to set the mood when your alone with your significant other. I'm happy that he still knows how to make attractive music after all these years.

  Those raspy smooth vocals still live!!! Se7en can make the panties drop fall off of most women with his vocals. One of qualities I love about this album is the tight melodies he and his background singers create together. Even during the track I don't care too much for, Se7en will thrown in a melodic vocal section thats stops me from pushing the skip button. I know this man is just getting started with the amazing things he's capable of accomplishing.

   "I AM SE7EN" is like a hit or miss for me. When I'm in the mood  to listen to him then I will. Otherwise this album doesn't cross my mind. The album is good but nowhere near the old music that made me want to keep pressing play all those years ago.