Notes on "Honey"
Sunwoo is not suited up in black and yellow stripes in this one.
Kim Sunwoo. Born April 12, 2000, and on television since 2017, first as contestant on “High School Rapper” and then as one of the most popular members of the eleven-member piece The Boyz. He can act like a little brother sometimes… most times. There’s a cuteness to him, but also a sharpness. Look at him: big eyes, plush lips, jaw so sharp it could cut through paper. A well-formed body that, in motion, proves a venerable groove. Reading him shows a wisdom beyond his years; he also writes all his raps except this one. And to listen to him: a smooth, boyish voice, whether rapped or sang. That voice carries most of “Honey”, a B-side of The Boyz’s second third of their second album Phantasy last November, to me, especially that objectively crazy first line: “Honey, honey, honey, working for you like a bee.”
That man has worked for the honey. That is the content buzz of a drone. There’s a couple of those uber-obvious lines re: honey and bee in a song that sounds like nobody wanted to write Korean lyrics for it. (I mean, come on, “Falling for you deeper” in the chorus practically begs to be heard in Korean.) “So I suit it up in black and yellow stripes”, he raps later, and even in the auditory experience, you hear his eyes on you, and the suit’s color becomes irrelevant.
Son Youngjae aka Eric Sohn. Born December 22, 2000. On television since 2017, always as part of The Boyz. Eric’s charm is the sharp nose of his, as well as his cheekbones. It’s all a bit manga-esque. That time he posed as Go Jun Pyo of Boys Over Flowers from 2020 should sell you on him. He’s been likened to the character Bolt of the movie from the same name quite often, and more broadly a puppy. I would call this “gap moe” if Eric even left any gap between his looks and the moe, which he does not. Good for him and for us, because Eric’s energy is infectious. It is also palpable, a concentrated burst of eagerness, as he says the exact same line that Sunwoo did: “Honey, honey, honey, working for you like a bee.”
That man has absolutely not worked for the honey. It’s his first day at the job. That suit he wears was dry-cleaned and it cost him a meal. He can’t wait to take in the new atmosphere, when the office looks bigger than it really is, when everyone in the building is a Cool Person and thus lightly intimidating to you. He can’t wait to work. The adlibs he makes in this one give the song its necessary sweetness. He also sounds more fitting, almost, when he’s the one that says: “Never thought the world be spinnin’ around on someone other than me, I like that”. Like yeah, of course you like it. This is your first day here! I also prefer him over Sunwoo when he sings “All over you to get the juice, giving you all my loving” and “That’s what I need all day”.
This is a sex song performed by male cheerleaders. The introductory conceit gets at a serious level of seduction, just that pulsating beat and Sunwoo’s intonation. By the time the pre-chorus hits, though, with its bright synth notes, it’s more of a K-Pop song, and the chanted refrain fully push it to a performance piece rather than the song equivalent of a threesome. Also, the whispers in the chorus… is a little over the top.
The Boyz has some sex jams, I should note. These are grown men. Try “Hush” – Kevin and Jacob opening the song sets the tone – or “Door” – by the time Q sings, all nasality and breathiness, the mood is where it needs to be. They also have club-ready electro pumpers: “Insanity” and “Prism”. I should also note that “Honey” strikes a more serious tone than “Passion Fruit”, which is also about sex, which also featured Sunwoo, and gets at the idea faster, too (Hyunjae in that pre-chorus though…). It’s in that beat. It’s in Sunwoo.
“You get me sugar high, we just keep it on the low” (“Passion Fruit”) and “Girl I like it when I take you sky high, girl I won’t be lying to you now”1 (“Honey”) are both buoyed by the fact both Hyunjae and Eric/Sunwoo sell the idea they’ve done it a couple times. I can’t tell you if they have. I like that the “I” is centered here: you get me sugar high; I like it when I take you sky high. It’s not bragging, it’s enjoyment. Jungkook couldn’t do it. (Sorry.)
Anyway, “Honey” turning to pop isn’t necessarily a bad thing; in fact, I think the song is fantastic and endlessly replayable. The mood isn’t diffused by the big, reliable chorus; many times, before the music video dropped, I thought the song’s video should be set at a club, featuring the dance that they performed at the concert first. “Honey” is sweat and neon lights and shining leather. “Honey” is the drink glimmering in the glass.
The music video we got reminded my brother of SM – lots of sets, once even boxed into an elevator, which gets at my idea visually but not thematically – and reminds me personally of Tasty’s “You Know Me”. Black and white outfits, wide sets with a bunch of dancers. Except “Honey” also has yellow sets. It was… more endearing in the song. Here it’s a little too obvious.
Sunwoo is not suited up in black and yellow stripes in this one. This follows the second time a singer sings something (“Peep my tweed jacket” with no tweed jacket in sight) and it is not visually happening. Not that I want him to. In my head, black and yellow stripes look goofy. In my head, when I hear that line, don’t ask me what color his suit is. But, I mean… honor the idea? One yellow thing on Sunwoo? Or give me a mega-closeup. Let me take in those dark brown eyes.
Speaking of: Sunwoo not looking at the camera as he goes “You can say please”… is the content drone in the song shy in the video? Moments like these don’t have me wholly sold.
“Honey” the MV gets at the idea of the song in three key moments. Two involve Eric: him in the elevator, sunglasses pushing up his hair, the eagerness of his voice juxtaposed with a knowing in his face, those eyes. The man you thought did not have his first day at the job yet evidently passed his trial month. Then there’s him on a plastic sofa, a languid pose, bored as his glance passes the camera. The analog camera cuts out there to Eric on four CRT screens as he lipsyncs and says no word. The third: Eric and Sunwoo in their final outfits. The plushness; the soft yellow of both their fur coats, almost beige; the strategic silver of Sunwoo’s chain and Eric’s earring. These moments look the way the song sounds like.
Or we could’ve just gotten the performance straightforward. That dance is energetic, flows at the right places, pops in the others; a fluidity that locks when it needs to. The female dancers help tremendously. Helps with the crotch grab that Eric does. But in the music video, it’s like… too little of the dance. It’s like, why? Clearly that is the selling point of the whole venture!
I’m happy that it’s still “Honey” season in 2024. (Normally I think of January as the leftover month of the year prior – sorry to my January-born friends – but for my artistic license I’m making an exception now) And I hope there’ll be more moments of The Boyz this year where they get to do songs this exciting. Here’s to more glorious nitpicking the good and bad. I mean, I can buzz for the honey and taste it too.