Key’s Journey Towards Self-Love on “Good & Great”
On his second mini-album, SHINee’s Key reminds us why he’s one of the best artists working today. Period.
SM Entertainment
The title of Key’s second mini-album “Good & Great” could very well be about the idol himself.
Since the release of his seminal mini-album “BAD LOVE” in 2020, Key has emerged as an artistic force to be reckoned with. At this point he’s bigger and more important than K-Pop: He’s a global pop star, hellbent on bringing his music to as many ears as possible. But Key has always reached far outside of Korea for his music. You can go as far back as 2015 when SHINee released “VIEW” to see how the singer has used British house music to his advantage. Key’s music is at its most weird and maximalist when he plays with these sounds, referencing the late 2000s and early 2010s that he came of age listening to. Key’s also an ardent student of American pop music: In the early years of SHINee he performed Lady Gaga hits like “Poker Face” and “Born This Way” on tours. When he recorded “BAD LOVE”, the album that really lifted Key into the stratosphere, he was keen to pay homage to David Bowie.
“Good & Great” continues this exploration into disco and house music. In the music video for the earworm title track, Key portrays an office employee in the music video before being sucked into a video game that is much weirder than you could ever anticipate. “I work, get paid/ Thank God all day,” he proclaims humbly then winks before the video takes off. “I love it, I’m epic.”
The album’s second track “Can’t Say Goodbye” continues Key’s clever use of ‘80s nostalgia aesthetics. His voice sounds almost velvety as he slinks into the chorus debating why he can’t let go of a bad lover, a theme that he’s returned to for the past three years.Bad decisions, and their repercussions, abound in Key’s work. Here, as on “Villain” or “Bound”, Key wonders why he can’t shake off the toxic relationships. But this kind of tension is a powerful force for Key to wrestle with. He functions best among high drama and theater.
On “CoolAs” Key, again, makes a case for how fabulous he is. Gliding over a disco beat, Key reminds us, “Nobody like me/ Feelin’ this, fly as hell” before declaring, “I’m impeccable/ I’m exceptional/ I’m just chemical/ What you wanna do?”
SM Entertainment
The through-line with all of Key’s work has been his self-love. If you’re feeling insecure, just put on one of his tracks to see what self-confidence can look like. On “Gasoline”, for example, Key reminds us that all he needs is a little challenge for him to be driven to be the best. He's an audacious artist; someone who isn’t afraid to make bold assertions about himself. But with his statements of affirmation, come moments of vulnerability too.
On “Mirror Mirror”, Key lets us in, slightly, to his insecurities. “If I look vaguely/ Will I get a bit better?” he asks in a moment of hesitation. “You seek perfection/ While I search for my flaws/ The boundary between truth and lies.” Key has always been honest about his journey towards accepting his shortcomings, and this is what makes him such a compelling idol.
Listening to “Mirror Mirror” I thought of a viral speech Key gave on the variety show “Street Messenger” a few years ago. In it, Key talked about the way he used to conform to fit into an archetype of beauty that he often felt compared to while he was a younger member of SHINee. “I copied what the swans were doing,” he said by way of analogy. “After trying for a while, in between elegant swans on a beautiful lake, I discovered me as a chicken swimming amongst them.”
In the years since “Street Messenger”, Key has become a more deliberate pop star. He’s candid that his first album was more of a bargain between his interests and SM’s ideas. But these days, Key feels like he is portraying the pop star he most needed when he was growing up. He even wrote a song for the teenage version of himself titled “Eighteen”, which was the climatic closer of “BAD LOVE”. There’s nothing quite as riveting on “Good & Great”, but Key is still flexing his prowess as a pop star. His biggest achievement is that he’s always been himself.
Tomorrow Key turns 32, and after fifteen years in the industry, there is still no one quite like him. That doesn’t just make him great, that makes him legendary.
