Truth or Dare by Gain Review

Title: Truth or Dare
Artist: Gain
Release Date: Feb. 4, 2014
Rating: 10 out 10

My Say: I love this video so much, I would rate this a 13 out of 10 if I could. I find Gain really sophisticated, sexy, and unbelievably empowering. When Gain began her solo activities, her songs began to give voice to the women of South Korea and even though I'm not Korean I appreciated and admired her for that. Since her songs and videos seem to have meaningful messages, I don't think of her as an everyday k-pop star but more like a unicorn that uses her powers for good. (Fxxk U is a good example, it's about men being controlling and rape in a relationship, check it out.)
    The MV  is formatted as a fake documentary, Gain's friends are shown saying malicious rumors and things about her while showing Gain act out the persona that the rumors created. Its really funny to see people that I know that are close to Gain say outrageous and ridiculous things about her. I think it was very creative to see this type of  MV and see Gain fearless enough to do it. Even thought it's a fake documentary, you know there will always those people that will think it's real.

I've always liked Gain because she was fearless and strong. At the end of the video all of her friends start showing their true colors, becoming anxious about Gain seeing their comments and making it clear that it was all lies. Lastly, they show Gain in a photo shoot and it's obvious that she's not this sex crazed lady. While she's sitting in the recording studio at the end she makes 2 statements that really stuck with me. The first, she says she doesn't like anything about the "Gain" concept. Now, that didn't sit too well with, I assume she dislikes the sexiness that comes with the name Gain not including her music. Then, she said once she leaves her house she begins to act, "Isn't living just acting?" It honestly broke my heart to hear her say that and worries me a lot. I probably took the phrases too literal but the thought of Gain disliking what I love her for so much, her strong, cool, and sexy persona is disappointing. Don't be mistaken, I don't love Gain just because she's sexy but the because of confidence that oozes out of her in her sexy state, which is very empowering to me and promotes woman to be confident themselves. Its would be a bit devastating if it was all a lie but the more I think about it, I realize that a concept isn't just about music or performing. For Gain it may be a lifestyle in its self because a lot of the attention and publicity she gets is due to her sexy appearance or shes presented in a sexual way.

      The choreography for this song is great. It has Gain's signature sexiness but it still keeps the jazzy feel of the song. A lot of people in the comments on YouTube compare the beat of the song to Blurred Lines but I don't really see the similarities. Even though Blurred Lines was probably the most played song on the radio, tv, and YouTube, during it's run, I didn't listen to it that much. (Just wasn't my cup of tea -shrugs-) I barely remember the melody and I don't feel like playing it just to compare the two songs. My favorite thing about the choreography is when Gain does her little hops in the middle and I always find myself following her not to mention the back up dancers, actually just one of the back up dancers. I've seen a lot of back up dancers and they usually look angry, bored, really focused, and blend into the background as they should. But, this back up dancer actually looked like he was enjoying himself and happy to perform. Its not as apparent in this MV but see the performance video and you'll see what I mean. link
     The video as a whole was amazing and I'll be going back to it many, many times. It showed a small light into Gain's mind and she became an even more layered and intriguing person to me. I think Gain can go even farther and become a bigger icon. I'm a fan Gain and hope to stay a fan of hers for a very long time. Be sure to check out the MV above and the links to the other.