Thoughts on Zion. T and Kim Jungkook's live rendition of "Yanghwa BRDG"

Off the bat, “Yanghwa BRDG” is probably one of the harder songs to sing as a duet. Zion. T’s effortless and sincere swagger is what makes the song such a classic. Of all the singers in Korea, nobody can find the pocket (the style of dragging behind the beat that is often used in jazz and R&B to create their signature "cool" sound) of the groove as naturally as Zion does (No Makeup, Eat, $ponser, all of it). As such, I’d be tempted to say that the best duet partner for him in this song is himself.

I thought Kook’s first verse wasn’t his best offering ever. He was rushing a little bit, which stood out a bit more to me partly because he’s being contrasted with the King of the Pocket. As far as his tone and stylistic choices, I wasn’t a big fan of his use of the half-air-half-sound™ (HAHS) he uses out of the gate. Part of the appeal of “Yanghwa” comes from Zion’s straightforward and sincere delivery. The verses are vocalized in Korea’s version of Sprechegesang (speak-singing) to great effect when considering the subject matter of the song. I actually like the HAHS style in many applications and generally refute the opinion of classical singers who seem to dismiss it entirely. Despite that, I don’t think it fits well in this case.

Kook seems to settle down as they approach the second chorus, and some of his breathiness disappears. Often times that breathiness manifests in singers when they try to force a cool style, and I think that might be the case here. While I said that Zion’s best partner would be himself, a good duet partner can elevate both of your voices, and the song as well. Kook’s breathy-but-not-as-much-anymore vocal blend nicely with Zion’s backing track harmonies. As they move into the chorus again we finally get to hear their vocals blend live, and it’s impressive (Kook is a bit flat on the “let’s be happy” climax but I can forgive that thanks to the perfect “yeah” run that preceded it). The breathy style works much better in the more crowded orchestration of back end of the song, and Kook and Zion play off each other very well with their vocalizations and ad libs. I particularly liked the rhythm change Kook adds to the response part of “let’s be happy”. Sometimes young singers are afraid to add their own flair when singing with the original artist, so I appreciated that little change.

The rendition ends with a little bit of a disappointing finish. The final climax of the song (key change and last high note in the outro) was lacking punch, and as a result the shape of the song falls a bit flat as we move to the resolution. Finally, we get a last glimpse at the differences between Zion and Kook as their final “geurae” are out of sync (Zion of course continuing to live in the pocket). I actually had no problem with this, and it may have been a conscious choice by the two in practice. Kook’s sound (one octave above Zion’s) sounded good when disjointed, although I’d be lying if I said I didn’t want to hear what an in sync outro sounded like.

I’m pretty sure Jungkook was only 18 or 19 when he performed this. Although BTS only debuted 2 years after Zion. T, there’s a considerable gap in solo prestige between Zion and Kook themselves (especially at the time of recording). Behind the scenes videos show that Kook was pretty nervous before the performance, which might account for his rushing. Despite that, to step onto the stage with a legend on his home court and keep up is a testament to Kook’s talent. Despite the flaws in the performance, it was overall an enjoyable rendition with some uniqueness that keeps it from being stale. The worst thing a duet/cover can be is the same. Bringing your own individual flair while preserving what makes the song great are paramount to creating new art out of an established work. Kook did well and this performance is a promising first step to what should be a great solo career.

Arbitrary Rating:

7.5 JK stans/10