B.I. Swings Hard For Greatness on “TO DIE FOR”
“Die for love” press image; 131 Label
B.I. makes some of the strongest swings of his career on the new album “TO DIE FOR”.
The rapper is in top form here, spitting some of his smartest bars yet and throwing out some of the most ambitious songs of his career. After two years of atoning for his past sins, “TO DIE FOR” is the album where B.I. sharpens his gravitas and accolades. He’s the same person who was “the fuckin’ one and only” when he was the leader of iKON, but on “TO DIE FOR” he has a few less fucks to give. B.I. has already endured years of scorn by the Korean public for his drug charges, which resulted in him leaving iKON. What does he have to lose in releasing his most confrontational music to date?
B.I. puts pedal to the metal from the first track “To Die”, a wildly thrilling track that takes a sharp left turn midway through when a sample kicks in. B.I. 's references transcend genre: the album moves swiftly between hip-hop, R&B, and even European house music.
B.I. sounds absolutely gigantic on the second track “Wave”, a collaboration with Kid Milli and Lil Cherry. That song opens with a sample that resembles Lana Del Rey’s “Born To Die” before shifting hard midway through the song to a chainsaw beat that recalls early 2010s Skrillex. And that’s before Kid Milli’s verse even kicks in. Most interestingly, “Wave” plays on the Korean word “해일” (pronounced like “hell”) in the chorus. “Make it hell/ 해일 (hell) yeah,” B.I. shouts in an absolutely bonkers chorus. “Wave” literally shakes you up: Verses come and go without much warning until the song nearly collapses on itself.
In another genius move, “Die for love”, a house-fused collaboration with Jessi, pairs two outcasts in K-Pop together. Jessi’s bravada matches B.I.’s smooth confidence and makes for one of his catchiest pop songs. For two stars whose public persona is a mixture of toughness and softness, the song is a special moment where they can let their guards down. Flirting with attraction as they trade verses, Jessi and B.I. share an allergy to fitting into the binary of K-Pop. Neither will likely ever be accepted by the mainstream, so they are forging their own paths.
B.I. is aware that, in Korea at least, he may never regain public trust. He’s apologized countless times, and has candidly spoken about what led to his arrest. At a press conference last week he apologized again, stating, "I've disappointed many people by making wrong decisions and choices in the past. I'm sincerely sorry,” he said. “I know I haven't properly addressed my honest thoughts to the public and wanted to deliver my apology today.”
B.I. acknowledged the vitriolic disdain that he is up against, admitting that he spends every day in deep “regret and remorse”. "This will not change much in the future. I realize I may not be welcomed by the public for a long time,” he reflected. “That is also on me. I will spend the rest of my life reflecting and apologizing."
But B.I.’s removal from the center of K-Pop has given him an unexpected freedom. He started his own company, 131 Label (which he just stepped down from to focus on his music), and is the chief creative director of all of his work. Public opinion, though, does seem to be turning. Last year B.I. released “BTBT” which has turned into his biggest hit and racked up over 104 million streams on Spotify alone.
B.I. doesn’t lack the confidence to prop himself up with the greats. He compares himself to one of history’s greatest artists on the album's closer “Michaelangelo”. On this song, B.I. admits that his journey might result in a crash landing, but he’d rather fall apart fighting like hell than never try. “The air around me is Renaissance/ My inspiration is the child who brеathes inside me,” he raps. “Ridе to the top of the big invisible flow/ Even if I fall, I'll go down in history.”
“I transcend time,” he spits, “I’m a reincarnation of Michaelangelo”. If this feels a little too pretentious, consider that B.I. never made a career out of playing it safe. He could have left the entertainment industry in 2019 and never returned. If that industry won’t acknowledge him today, B.I. is damn sure going to write his own way into history.
