Bang Yongguk - Portrait/Drunkenness

Back in late 2017 Bang Yongguk, leader of the Korean group B.A.P, teased an unfinished solo song that he'd been working on during a livestream with his fans. The rapper, producer, and K Pop idol explained that while different from past music he's done both as a soloist and for B.A.P, he'd become very fond of Jazz and had been wanting to compose Jazz music for some time. One of the reasons why the song wasn't finished at the time was that he hadn't written lyrics yet. He said he didn't really want to write lyrics because everything he wanted to say "was already in the track...it's just so full." Even so, he implied that the finished piece would include lyrics. However, the completed song entitled "Portrait" ended up being purely instrumental. Though fans would have loved to hear his voice on the track, Bang made a good decision. Trying to imagine added vocals, singing or rapping, almost makes the tune seem crowded, which in a way goes back to Bang's statement on the matter. Of course there's a possibility that it could have been done, but it really doesn't need it. And as a man known for his lyricism, being able to create a song that expresses all that's needed without words must feel like a great accomplishment.

The piece itself is slow, mellow, smooth, and deeply emotional with a tone of sadness that Bang is very well-known for. The music video is shown like a home video, with a montage of shaky clips in an almost vintage-looking filter. The clips feature Bang and a girl as a happy couple, casually living at home. At the very beginning you see the words "instead of drawing myself, I found myself drawing you." Then at the very end, "this is your portrait." At first watch, the meaning seems simple enough. The song and video are meant to represent his love for her. Even if it sounds a bit on the sadder side, likely that's simply his way of expressing it. The very end, however, becomes a little suspicious.

Throughout the song, we hear instruments added on, and then built up dramatically. At the end, most of them drop out to leave only the piano as the tempo also dies back down. At this point, nearly all of the shots featuring the two cast members each show only one of them, and it gets to a point where neither of them smile any longer. We also see some shots of inanimate objects that look almost abandoned. For instance, a guitar sitting alone on a bed where earlier Bang was playing it for her, and flowers on the ground from the same bouquets she had been holding and lying among. Even after the song finishes, we suddenly see a wide shot of just Bang's eyes; a clear filter completely different from the rest of the video, and simple white noise in the background. This obviously separate shot was a clear hint to fans that there would be a follow-up. And so there was with "Drunkenness."

"Drunkenness" was actually released in 2016 on Soundcloud, but never had a video. So finally seeing one a month after "Portrait" was released was a pleasant surprise for fans. It's actually quite interesting that he brought back an older song to complement a new one. Whether he intended to write "Portrait" so that it would go along with "Drunkenness" or if it simply happened to work out that way is unknown. The latter song's style is closer to acoustic R&B/Urban; so it's different from the former, yet they're a fit pairing due to their smooth, melancholy styles. In this we especially hear a lot of mourning, echoing guitar backing up Bang's deep rapping and singing. At times his vocals sound more forward and direct, as though expressing frustration. But for much of the song they're soft and tender, sounding almost tired from the heartbreak he expresses with lyrics that are all too real.

To briefly summarize, the girl left him when he still deeply loved her and he speaks of how much he misses her. This general subject isn't exactly unique in music, but he includes various details that make it much more personal. This strikes the empathy harder, especially if you're familiar with Bang and his personality. By itself, the song is already heart-wrenching. As though to make fans hurt even more, two years later he releases a video of him in an utterly depressed state, walking around the same house featured in "Portrait" while handling bottles of alcohol. This makes you look at "Portrait" differently.

To start, "Drunkenness" visually doesn't have the older looking home video filter, but instead is completely clear with steady camera work. This can imply that rather than the former video simply intending to have a certain aesthetic, it's instead meant to seem as though we're looking back on his memories of when they were still happy together. With this, what might've been thought of as an overly somber but loving tribute becomes a lovesick lament. As he stated through "this is your portrait," the song represents the beauty of her in any applicable way but also the crushing heartache caused by her absence. From a personal standpoint, even the title "Portrait" initially made me imagine something from the past that he was looking back on, therefore she was gone for one reason or another. This was when only teaser images and the title had been released, so the theory was dismissed at fully seeing "Portrait," but returned after "Drunkenness." The ending clips in the former video also make more sense. One less obvious, but personally considered to be a very notable shot, was when the two of them were standing back to back with her facing and looking out the glass door. It seems fairly simple, but could be seen as her looking toward and even longing for the world outside her current life and relationship. Not to mention the clip of her playfully "shooting" him with a broom as he holds his own chest and pretends to die, which becomes tragically symbolic.

Bang Yongguk is famous for adding incredible depth to his music and lyrics, especially in his solo work. He's explained that because he's someone who doesn't talk a lot, he likes to express his thoughts and emotions through his music; so you can find pieces of who he is by thoroughly looking into his songs. But particularly for those who are familiar with him and his past works, this pair of songs and music videos display not only his own character and mentality, but also his admirable musical diversity and determination for artistic development.

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