parslope

“Jealousy” by Monsta X

I love Monsta X for various reasons, mainly due to their overall sound and concept. However, I am sad to admit I’ve only bought one physical album, I don’t know all the members, and I’m usually behind on watching MVs. Before starting the review, I had bought all of the songs from their newest album on iTunes but I hadn’t actually seen the video. I’m a very soft stan when it comes to this group, but I still think others shouldn’t overlook them just because I tend to.

So, I decided to make a review for “Jealousy” because I actually really like the sound of it and I bought the entire album on iTunes without listening to a single song because I can trust Monsta X to make songs I love.

Overall Sound

The sound of this song is actually what makes me like it the most. I’m not big on songs with these types of lyrics, but I really love Monsta X’s sound. It’s really catchy, especially the chorus, which makes it really hard for me to resist listening to it.

MV

I got into Monsta X through the song “Fighter.” I began looking into their other music videos and fell in love with the story they were weaving with some of them. I haven’t watched any of the newer videos (Beautiful being the most recent I watched) but I still like the dark concept they tend to have. The videos tended to be dark while their vocals were so pleasing to the ear.

This video doesn’t have a story to it, but the editing is so beautiful and it made me really excited while watching. I especially loved the quick cuts and the split screen moments. The only part I really didn’t like was the black screen where the members were shown in black and white. While I can understand some logic for it, I found it made me a little dizzy with some of the motions because their location wasn’t that stable. Overall, though, the video did well keeping that dark aesthetic that I really love so much from Monsta X. I especially think that kind of style fits a song about jealousy, too. If you look at the lyrics, the type of jealous and description of turning into a goblin during the rap definitely fit the dark theme, too.

Lyrics Meaning

Now, I usually don’t like songs about jealousy. It’s not something I can relate to on a romantic level because I’ve never been jealous (ignorance is bliss). However, looking at the lyrics of the song makes it a bit more interesting. It’s not just any kind of jealousy - it’s jealousy between members. One of Wonho’s lines is actually “Why are you talking about Shownu?” and one of I.M.’s lines is “I got it, the last out of the seven. Think these guys are better than me?” I think this is actually really good for a song about jealousy because it’s not the typical type of jealousy you hear about in songs - the jealousy where they’re jealous over an unnamed guy. This is them being jealous because the one they like is more interested in the other members. (And I say “one” because they don’t actually say “girl” in the song like in other songs. I know some fans have their beliefs about some members’ sexual orientations and, as a non-female fan, I like it when the songs don’t say “girl” in them because I can relate more).

I will be honest, I sometimes read “imagines” on this website. One trend I’ve noticed is actually people requesting “member of this group being jealous of you biasing another member” or “member of this group being jealous of you being extremely close to the other members.” So this song should appeal to people who request those scenarios if they take the time to look at the lyrics.

Choreography

To really look at the choreography, I decided to watch the VLive dance practice. That was a bad idea. Let me tell you…they’re not wearing shirts. I’m not a chest person, but I think that, if done right, the blazer and no shirt look can do wonders. Monsta X does it with vests included for some and it just looks so good since they’re known for their dark concept (versus S.Coups in SEVENTEEN for CLAP. It didn’t quite suit the bright video since he looked so dark in that setup. Take that opinion with a grain of salt, though, since SEVENTEEN is one of my two ult groups).

There are parts of the choreography I really like and parts I dislike. I didn’t really like the swaying during the slow parts, but I loved the general sharpness of the choreography and the unison. The dance works so that it can be performed as a cover by someone without needed a group. I really liked the fact that they had Wonho and Shownu facing different ways with Wonho’s hand on Shownu’s shoulder as he said, “Why are you talking about Shownu?” (In case you can’t tell, that’s my favorite line because Shownu is my bias and Wonho is my bias wrecker)

There are small touches like that which I really love. The only part that really didn’t click, though, was them bringing their wrists to their faces at the end. I don’t quite get what that was supposed to signify. If anyone does, please let me know and I’ll post an update + credit you.

I’d listen to this song if I was…

This is one of my before work songs simply because I love the sound of it. The chorus is so catchy. However, it’s not a song I want stuck in my head because I only know a few lines (versus “Dramarama,” which I don’t mind having stuck in my head during work because it’s fun to sing the “dramamamama mamama hey” part). As such, it’d certainly be on the playlist for the drive to work, but I’d make sure there’s a cushion of two or three songs before I head in. It’s not uncommon that the cushion actually involves a Monsta X song, as well.

You might like this song if you like…

This was actually the hardest part of this post. I don’t have any songs I can really compare to “Jealousy” in sense of theme. So, I took the situation which I’d typically listen to the song and came up with this list.

“New Heroes” by NCT’s Ten. This is a song I really want to dance to, much like “Jealousy.” It can help get me pumped to do something or even be the perfect song to clean with because of the music.

“Yayaya” by Stray Kids. This shouldn’t be a shocker because I am always talking about how much I love the similar aesthetics of Monsta X and Stray Kids. While the songs don’t necessarily have the same meaning, they both are songs I listen to together when driving to work because they get me pumped to go in. Usually “Yayaya” will be one of the songs I listen to after “Jealousy” so that “Jealousy” isn’t stuck in my head.

Finally, I’ll say a GOT7 song. Because GOT7 is another group which releases song I really like to listen to before work. It’s not uncommon for me to listen to either “No Jam” or “Boom x3″ before work after “Jealousy.” Usually one of the two will be listened to before “Yayaya” and after “Jealousy.”.