REVIEW | Ailee’s Risk With “Room Shaker” Doesn’t Necessarily Pay Off

Release date: July 2, 2019

Tracklist:

1. “Room Shaker”

Total runtime: 00:03:17

Recommended for: Those who like hip-hop-inspired tracks from 2011; those who would rather listen to an exceptional vocalist try her hand at some talk-rapping.

NOT Recommended for: Anyone who saw that Ailee was having a comeback and expected it to be a good song. Anyone expecting to hear Ailee churn out some earth-shattering notes.

TRACK REVIEW

I would like to start off by saying that this entire video is an eyegasm. The outfits and effects are on point, and Ailee does a great job at standing out in the midst of dozens of dancers. The choreography is great and it showcases how great a dancer Ailee truly is. I was not expecting much on the dance front, but boy did Ailee deliver. I do not like this track, but I would listen to it again just to see dancer-Ailee jump out.

While the video and choreography are on point, the song itself is a major disappointment. Ailee does everything in her (lungs’) power to make this track work, but things just don’t come together as they should. The verses are fine but forgettable. This is not always a bad thing as songs should always come together with a chorus. However, when the chorus itself is a let down then the song has nothing to hang onto.

The pre-chorus is easily the best part of the song. It seems to be the point at which the producers and engineers actually tried to make this melody stick with the listener. Although I am happy that there is an actual chorus, it is still pretty disappointing. There is little to no charm or excitement in it. The expected drop does not hit as hard as it should, which makes for a pretty lackluster chorus and hook. There is nothing meaningful to this hook. The generic trap/hip-hop inspired instrumental does more harm than good, as it makes “Room Shaker” sound quite dated.

This track reminds me of BLACKPINK’s “Kill This Love” — a song that would have been mighty fun if it was released about five years ago. I would expect an Ailee track to showcase her vocals but she spends the second half rapping, which, as exciting a venture as it might have seemed to her at the time, was sorely misguided.

It looks like Ailee wanted a change with this track, but it did not work out the way it should have. After all those years of being marketed as the “Korean Beyonce”, it makes sense that she would want to move away from that and make a sound for herself. I understand why she did what she did here but that does not mean that the transition has been done well. The sound is too dated. It’s too boring and generic to be a lasting hit in the current music scene. “Room Shaker” does not even make a dent and is yet another disappointing addition to an already lackluster K-Pop summer. I was rooting for you, Ailee. We were all rooting for you!