[MV Review] I.O.I. - Whatta Man

Tasteful concepts for underage girls are no longer an impossible dream!

That's the major takeaway from I.O.I.'s comeback -- oh, and also that they have even a single modicum of talent or appeal. God, Dream Girls was such a crime against humanity.

But seriously, this video is a masterclass in melding cute and sexy to create something that acknowledges that yes, Somi is preternaturally beautiful, but also she is 15.

Just being a chill, regular teen

Now do not get me wrong, I am not criticizing pure sexy concepts. I am all about Stellar (except for their new song but you already knew that). I appreciate half-naked gyration as much as the next queer woman.

See, people in this video still look hot! Don't worry!

And this video also doesn't completely shy away from how attractive these girls are.

Okay, not ALL of them are attractive.

But the girl power/revenge through hotness concept is cute and innocent enough that it gels well with the ages of the group members, without dolling them up in school uniforms for some aegyo dogwhistle bullshit.

Overtly sexual choreography ahoy

Plus, the song is actually pretty good! Granted, the only thing I.O.I. had to do to make this decent was not fuck up too bad. They had a ready-made catchy hook courtesy of Salt N Pepa (among others). And they didn't knock it out of the park. Some of the production choices on this are ... mystifying ... and I would under no circumstances advise that you listen to their live vocals. But overall it's pretty catchy, and I like the tempo switch-ups a lot. Also, 7 members is just so much better than 11.

Waving goodbye to your memory of Dream Girls

Overall, I'm immensely relieved and impressed by the concept and the fact that they actually managed to produce a half-decent song after the unholy trainwreck that was their debut. Shame that they're disbanding in a few months and consigning half their members to permanent nugu-dom!