GOT7 and the “Hard Carry” Comeback
On September 27, 2016, GOT7 released Flight Log: Turbulence, the second album in the Flight Log series and their second full-length album, and dropped the music video for lead track “Hard Carry (하드캐리).” The album features 13 tracks, ranging in genres from hip-hop, R&B, and trap, and the seven members helped in the writing of many of the tracks. The comeback trailer was dropped on September 18 and shows the members roughhousing while Jinyoung sits in panic as the flight hits turbulence.
The Music Video
The music video for “Hard Carry (하드캐리)” sees GOT7 dancing in front of a crashed plane, an appropriate backdrop when taking into account the title of the album. When the members aren’t dancing, they can be seen inside the plane pre-crash, lying around in the sand post-crash, and chilling inside an ambulance. Leader JB and vocalist Youngjae are also seen walking around in a white room filled with floating trees. During the first instance of JB and the trees, everything is green and full of life, but later on in the video, we see JB approaching a white locked door and the trees have begun to die. On the other side of the door, Youngjae is still surrounded by living trees and a bird cage, suggesting that Youngjae has survived the crash while JB wasn’t so lucky.
The Comeback Performances
GOT7’s first comeback performances were on M!COUNTDOWN on September 29, 2016. The group performed “Hard Carry (하드캐리)” and a shortened version of “Let Me,” the last track on the album and a sharp turn in genre from “Hard Carry (하드캐리).” Where “Hard Carry (하드캐리)” features elements of dance and trap music, “Let Me” is a soft ballad.
For the performance of “Hard Carry (하드캐리),” GOT7 danced in front of window-like structures that changed from a soft blue during the verses to a harsh red in the chorus. This seems to still be playing with the idea of a plane crash, where the blue could resemble the skies during flight and the red being when the crash occurs. The outfits during the performance are similar to styles seen in the music video but aren’t exactly the same, though we do still get Jackson in his one-sleeved jacket.
For “Let Me,” the members performed sitting down and each member wore a combination of black and red, ranging from sleek to casual. While Mark, Youngjae, and Jinyoung showcased the sleeker style, Jackson, JB, and Yugyeom showed off the more casual side, with BamBam falling slightly in the middle. By featuring a variety of outfits, this performance was almost about showing what one could expect if they went on a date with GOT7 and let them hold their hand.
They also had a mini fanmeet that same day, wearing the outfits from their “Let Me” performance.
The Legacy
GOT7 earned five music show wins for “Hard Carry (하드캐리),” with the first happening on October 5 on Show Champion. GOT7 would also win on M!COUNTDOWN on October 6, Music Bank on October 7, Inkigayo on October 9, and their final win came on October 18 on The Show.
Flight Log: Turbulence was nominated at the Golden Disc Awards for “Disc Bonsang” and “Disc Daesang,” winning the “Disc Bonsang.” The album was also nominated at the Gaon Chart Music Awards for “Album of the Year - 3rd Quarter” but did not win. “Hard Carry (하드캐리)” was nominated for “Best Dance Performance Male Group” and “Song of the Year” at the Mnet Asian Music Awards, but unfortunately did not win either award.