BLINGONE CN Remakes KARA’s “Mr.” with Modern Trends
Photo: BLINGONE Official X
On July 2, the Chinese sub-unit of multinational girl group BLINGONE released a remake of KARA’s “Mr.” that tailors the classic for a new generation. After their February debut, BLINGONE CN reinterpreted one of KARA’s most famous songs in the UK garage genre. Cassie, Katrina, Ranee, Allie, and Chloe form the unit and target both their domestic music industry and the South Korean music industry. 16 years after the original song’s release, this remake connects K-Pop generations and global audiences.
Understanding BLINGONE
Standing for “Bling the world as one unit,” BLINGONE was created from the international K-Pop audition show Click The Star. With each season representing a different geographical region, the show features a premise of creating a large group with 32 global sub-units. BLINGONE CN is the group’s second sub-unit after BLINGONE Peru, who debuted on June 27, 2024. 5,000 people applied for Click the Star Peru and 250,000 people applied for Click the Star China. World K-POP Center, the agency behind BLINGONE, aims to produce sub-units for Mongolia, Indonesia, Korea, and South America next.
On February 13, 2025, BLINGONE CN released their debut EP BubbleGum. It included a Chinese version of BLINGONE Peru’s debut single “Kiss & Call” and the title track “BubbleGum” in Korean, Chinese, and instrumental versions. The standout of “BubbleGum” is its chorus, which interpolates the “William Tell Overture.” The sub-unit sees themselves as “Chinese K-Pop ambassadors” rather than solely a K-Pop group or C-Pop group.
How “Mister” Compares to “Mr.”
“Mr.” was originally released on July 30, 2009 as part of KARA’s Revolution album. It became a revolutionary dance pop song thanks to not only its catchiness, but its “butt dance” choreography having remained one of the most iconic girl group dance moves to date. “Mr.” is a prime example of a B-side track being so popular that people often mistake it for a title track.
BLINGONE’s “Mister” changes the song into a staple genre of K-Pop’s current musical environment, UK garage. It keeps the tempo of the original with subdued instrumentation. “Mister” is also considerably shorter than “Mr.” (2:24 versus 3:13), most notably lacking the final chorus that features a higher key change.
While this remake had no need or desire to match or eclipse the original, it does not capture the same essence of “Mr.” The high energy and powerful singing of KARA’s song (especially that last chorus) adds to its memorability. On the other hand, the remake does sound like a modernized take on it. It represents many prominent features of the current K-Pop generation. BLINGONE CN’s take on “Mr.” feels unmistakably a part of 2020s K-Pop with its global intentions, its popular music style, and its shorter length.
Edited by Clark Royandoyan