I was among the many fans of 100% who was sad to hear about Minwoo's temporary absence from the group to enlist in the military (which was clearly inevitable, but still sad), as well as Sanghoon's hiatus and potential departure from 100% altogether. I'm still a bit uncertain why this group isn't as big as it should be given their flawless dancing and visuals, but unlike some of the more prolific artists in the industry (B.A.P, I'm thinking of you), they don't have much material out yet, and then there's the whole business of the unstable line-up.
100% happens to be one of my favorite underdog idol groups, and I think "Beat" is a step in the right direction as they continue to spread their name. The video was met with a few accusations of copy-catting as all videos seem to these days, with fans pointing out similarities to VIXX's dark concepts (valid), TVXQ's "Mirotic" filming location (valid, but a lot of locations get reused in videos if you keep your eyes open), and Taeyang's arm armor from "Fantastic Baby" (are flowered suits also forever off the marker thanks to SHINee?). Putting all those things aside, "Beat" happens to be a fantastic song with a fantastic routine, a routine which I think is arguably one of the best of the year. I'm a Rockhyun bias, but this song had Jonghwan absolutely dominating, which lifted him up several levels in my book.
The harmonization on the verses is something I would like to see a lot more in K-Pop songs, too. Having the members take turns is fine and all, but they're in a group for a reason, and they should pair up their voices as much as they can for maximum group chemistry!
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