Nosedive is possibly my favorite song of 2017.

I’ve fallen asleep listening to it more times than I can remember since it was released last January. It’s soothing, but dynamically interesting, and refreshing.

I love a good over-the-top k-pop music video as much as the next person (probably more than the next person, judging from my college-dude coffee shop neighbor right now), but the simplicity of this video makes it a drink for the soul, not just an entertaining spectacle.

And in this case, knowing the lyrics doesn’t cheapen the experience. This song is like a deep breath at the end of a long, difficult day.

For a long time, I wanna be with those
Who don’t give me a score
Among all the countless ratings
So I can go through the door of a lonely day
So I can live completely as myself

I think we can all identify with that experience, and I would bet that after you watch this video, you’ll want to identify with this old man.

I’m quite gratified that Dynamic Duo x Chen won the MAMA award for best collaboration this year. It gives this song more recognition and I hope that it can help seed a trend for more introspective k-pop.

(Certainly there’s introspective Korean music, but I have not yet started exploring it.)

The performance arrangement is interesting. The beginning of the coda has been changed to an intro, which builds anticipation from those of us who are familiar with the song–when will Chen’s falsetto come in?

The answer is: never.

I’m not sure if this is a brilliant workaround for a note that is probably only achievable in the studio, or if I feel cheated.

Regardless, I’m so happy this was performed live.