Former BESTie Member, Dahye, Debuts Solo with “Poison”
While BESTie wasn’t necessarily a famous household name during their active years, they did release a series of amazing songs that many would consider iconic and very memorable. If you sadly missed out on BESTie, now’s the chance to redeem yourself! Consider adding Dahye to your list of artists to stan because she came with a fierceness and a certain Latin flair that many K-Pop fans would definitely enjoy.
“Poison” Remodeled: 1998 vs 2020
It’s no secret that this debut is a remake of Uhm Junghwa’s 1998 track “Poison,” but if someone just happened to stumble across Dahye’s version first, they probably wouldn’t have a clue that it was originally someone else’s song.
Uhm Junghwa’s track was heavily influenced by the early electronic dance genre that was popular at the time, but it also had trot and disco elements incorporated into it. This made her song something that was unique and it’s part of the reason why it did so well as a single off of her album Invitation. In this day and age, trot isn’t a genre that is widely used in mainstream Korean music anymore and the type of electronic dance music that was used in the 1990s is very outdated. It was intriguing to find out that Dahye chose this particular track for her debut and it surely left many wondering how the producers would rearrange it to fit modern trends.
For her version of “Poison,” Dahye cleverly replaces the electronic dance genre with a Latin flair to match the lyrics, making it sound rightfully more mature and sensual instead of too exciting like the 1998 original. The song features many Latin aspects which could make it very enjoyable for the listener, especially if they already like the Latin genre. The occasional snapping, bongos, and hand shakers heard throughout provide a nice addition, but the most exciting parts come with the main instruments. Classic Spanish guitars, a brass section emphasizing the opening/ending melody and choruses, what sounds like a bass guitar with the slightest bit of compression to accompany the verses, a piano to accompany the guitar and brass, topped off with the beat clap (palmas) reminiscent of traditional flamenco music all come together to create a colourful rearrangement of “Poison.” This gives the song a new feeling and sound even though the lyrics and the trot style flow of both versions stay the same.
There is also a clear change in the music video in order to fit the new sound and vibe that Dahye was going for. The 1998 music video by Uhm Junghwa was simple and completely black and white. Dahye spices it up a little bit by frequently using the colors red, gold, blue, white, and silver in her outfits and backdrops. Other than that, considering the standard of music videos these days, this music video is also fairly simple. Dahye and her dancers are the only people in the video, which makes sense since most of the shots are dance shots; though, of course, there are the typical, frequent glamour shots. One thing that doesn’t make sense is that the video seems to have the beginning of a storyline with scenes of Dahye running away from something or someone and sitting at a candle-lit dinner table—with two wine glasses—but it fell flat and didn’t go much farther than that, which was disappointing.
Originally, the release was scheduled for last month but was postponed to improve quality. It seems the delay of her debut was worth it because the production quality for the song itself and the music video were both very well done. It would have been nice to hear a little bit more of a change to the flow of the lyrics, but it’s understandable as to why she kept the traditional trot style flow from the original song and even paid homage to Uhm Junghwa’s dance at the end of her own choreography. It’s all about respect.
Honestly speaking, remakes as debuts aren’t a personal favorite. They always lack originality in some way, shape, or form, leaving the artist unable to fully showcase their ability to bring something new to the table. Remaking a track specifically for a debut is always a bold move and most times it’s hard to pull off. It’ll definitely be interesting to see how well this debut fares; it’s a very popular song, but it was made popular by the original singer. Will the general public take a liking to Dahye’s version too or will they nitpick at minor details? Hopefully, for Dahye’s sake, it’ll be the former and not the latter. Overall, Dahye did a very amazing job: she sounds great, looks beautiful as always, and she perfectly pulls off the concept!
Congratulations to Dahye for her debut and please make sure to support her by checking it out below!