TAEMIN Criminal, IDEA, & Advice MV Reaction!
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- Опубліковано 7 лют 2025
- Hey guys! For those of you who may not know, Taemin will be going on tour in the States soon. I plan to see him but I have to catch up with his recent releases first! And so I recorded this video. This is my reaction to his songs Criminal, Idea, and Advice. I know it's been a very long time since I last reacted to Taemin but I hope you enjoy the video either way. As always, thank you for watching!
Love you!
Time Stamps
Criminal 1:23
IDEA 6:44
SM hate rant 10:51
Advice 12:22
Taemin's upcoming tour/ Outro 17:54
Social Media
IG: / jordin__5580
Music
SEVENTEEN - Mansae [Hiphop Team ver.] (by LGXstudio)
#kpop #taemin
우리태민이❤
All 3 of these are on the setlist! But not that many older tracks. He's under BPM now thankfully because SM didn't want to let him do a world tour. Oh and recently they added stops at huge venues in Manchester, Brussels and Honolulu after they realized the demand was so high. I guess they were trying to play it safe.
Aww...I'm sad I won't get to hear his older tracks 😣😭 but I'm glad he's getting bigger venues now. He needs them lol ~💜
"Criminal" and "Idea" are part of Taemin's 3rd Korean solo album called Never Gonna Dance Again, which was released in 2020. It is part of a trilogy, which started with his prologue "2 Kids," and continued with "Criminal," which is part of Act 1 of the album. "Idea" is part of Act 2 of the album and it brings the whole concept full circle. And now his follow up release "Advice" has become the epilogue to the story.
As Taemin said in an interview: "The two acts put together tell a story. '2 Kids’ is about growing pains and depicts the story prior to the story in the album. You can think of '2 Kids' as a teaser before the movie called 'Never Gonna Dance Again.' Act 1 shows a new side of me. I think it’ll be something you’ve never seen in K-pop before. And Act 2 is the end-all-be-all. It’s the ultimate level of intensity. Never Gonna Dance Again’ was originally the name of the concept. Because it doesn’t make sense for me to stop dancing. But I wanted to give a sense of rebellion with the irony of the title.”
Just so you know, the Taemin you see is not necessarily the criminal in his "Criminal" MV. I see him as the victim who is being held captive by the criminal. The criminal is his lover (i.e. the other side of his personality) that he is singing about, which is a metaphor for the pressure he feels under as a Kpop idol. The song is about living in a toxic relationship and being brainwashed by a lover. He has now fallen in love with the person (or thing -- i.e. his career) who is inflicting all the pain and suffering on him, so now he accepts the abuse as a normal part of the relationship. Even though he is being abused by that person -- possibly a metaphor for the pressure he is creating for himself with the need to always be the best in everything he does -- he can't help but love them and allow them to continue to hurt him, etc.
All the abuse is happening to him, he is not hurting anyone else or doing anything criminal himself. Therefore, the story isn't about Taemin being a criminal. Notice, the S.W.A.T. team isn't arresting him. They pretty much walk right past Taemin and ignore him as they search for the criminal.
The "boss" vibe is a facade he puts on to make people believe he is in control, but as we see in the choreography, he is being manipulated by all the outside forces around him. For example, we see him lying across the backup dancers backs and they pick him up and manipulate him to do what they want him to do at that moment. A lot of his dance moves are designed to make him look like a marionette puppet that is being pulled around by strings and being told what to do. Which is what we see when he is crouched down and he creates that wiggly, wave movement in the dance, etc.
As part of the story, he has been held captive for so long that, as it says in the lyrics of "Criminal", he is now suffering from Stockholm syndrome, so he is no longer fighting the abuse and that is why we see him throw his bindings away. The criminal -- which is a metaphor for the pressure he has felt in his career -- no longer has to tie him up to keep him there. (Because he has fallen in love with the pain and suffering he inflicts on himself as an artist, etc.) The backup dancers represent the forces he is struggling against as he fights with his mind over whether to stay or go, etc.
Also, pirates didn't just wear eye patches because they injured one of their eyes. Eye patches were more often worn by thieves who had perfect eyesight. An eye patch helps see better in the dark or in low light. If you shield your eyes from bright light, when you enter a dark room and remove the eye patch, your eyes adjust more quickly to the dark. This allowed pirates and thieves to be able to see better and be able to get in and get out more quickly as they go from bright daylight to darkness of a low lit room or hull of a ship, etc. Therefore, I think the eye patch that Taemin wears in "Criminal" and the masks covering one eye of the backup dancers is a metaphor for being able to see in the dark and how Taemin is saying he has now been in the industry long enough to understand what the "criminal" is doing to him -- i.e. he knows he needs to shield himself from the bright lights of fame in order to see what is happening in the dark -- and he is fully aware of what he is sacrificing, but he loves what he does too much to leave, etc.
Fun fact: It was Taemin's idea to include the police blotter/news clips in that part of the "Criminal." If you notice, the sound bites are from all over the world and they are speaking multiple languages.
All of Taemin's dances tell a story. As he has said, he specifically designs his choreography to be a part of the story within the song and MV. So, "Criminal" is supposed to be slightly creepy, as well as sexy. He is literally being abused and asking you to please "destroy me more."
Taemin pronounces Idea the way we hear him saying it in "Idea" because he is pronouncing it like the Greek word idéa, and not like the English pronunciation. The song is based on the Greek philosopher Plato’s theory of Ideas. Plato believed that an "Idea" is an ultimate reality. Every form has an idea, an image, or standard set for it and Plato believed that these ideas were eternal. For example, when talking about a human, everyone has an image, an ideal type of human according to Plato and once defined that description or thought is constant and never changing.
In "Idea" Taemin is disagreeing with Plato's theory and he is saying that the world is not ruled by one ultimate definition of something or that there isn't only one voice. Taemin is saying he has many voices and thoughts influencing him. If he were to conform to only one way of doing something -- i.e., if he listened to everyone who told him there was only one way to be a Kpop Idol and he needed to do everything the traditional cookie cutter way -- then that would be like killing his spirit and everything that makes him who he is. Hence the lines in the song that say, "Killing me softly."
Fun fact No. 2: In "Idea" the female voice you hear saying "Killing me softly" is BoA. She is a solo artist also under SM, and she is Taemin's highly respected senior, who debuted with SM in 2000 at the age of 13 and, now after almost 25 years, she is known as one of the senior-most members of the industry. BoA is legend.
Some have said, and I have to agree, that "Idea" is a metaphor for the way Taemin sees his career. He loves what he does, almost to the point of obsession -- like "my messiah" he is drawn to it and can't help worship it -- he practically needs to dance and perform to survive. But, at the same time, it pretty much controls his life. Living as an Idol means everything he does is done in the public eye, and he will never be able to live a normal life -- his "dangerous dream" that is engulfing him and "swallowing him" up. The stress and constant demand for perfection he feels may be slowly "Killing me softly," etc.
I particularly like the verse in "Idea" that says: "The blue light, When you and I face each other, Stained in it, All one's feelings, It's an infinite range, In my world, Most dazzling, The absolute value of you, My my IDEA." These lines seem to be talking about Taemin's fans. SHINee's fan color is pearl aqua blue, so the blue light you see in the MV and the blue light he talks about in the lyrics of "Idea," makes me think he is referring to the impact and influence the fans have had on everything he has done in his career. And although he loves and appreciates us, it has not come without a few sacrifices and negative aspects as well. The mutual love and respect between Taemin and the fans also have added a lot of extra pressure on him because he always wants to give people his absolute best and he is constantly trying to live up to an impossible standard of self-imposed flawlessness.
This album's whole concept is a metaphor for his life and career. With every release from this album, the concept was designed to be darker than the last. In "2 Kids" he was emotionally and physically beating himself up with regrets. In "Criminal" he was living in a toxic relationship. In "Idea" he takes the theme one step further, and says that even though it was my idea and my plan to live this life, nothing comes without a price, and because of that need for perfection, any chance of being average or living a regular life is pretty much dead. Taemin has sacrificed everything to become the magnificent and unique performer and person that we know him as today.
If you are impressed with Taemin's dancing in these MVs, just wait until you see his dance practice videos, as well as a live performance. You will be even more blown away. And if you want to see Taemin explain how to do the choreography for these dances, check out his "Criminal" tutorial video with Jeno and Mark from NCT and his "Idea" tutorial video with Haechan and Ten from NCT.
I see "Advice" as a continuation of the themes within Taemin's previous Never Gonna Dance Again album trilogy -- "2 Kids," "Criminal" and "Idea." With "Criminal" and "Idea," Taemin talks about being involved in a toxic relationship -- not necessarily a romantic relationship, but a metaphor for his relationship with fame -- in which he agrees to be manipulated almost to the point of being destroyed in order to become the artist we see today. But, in the end of "Idea," we see him become free from the box everyone wants to put him in and he comes to terms with his role as an idol. He has now formed his own "Idea" about himself and what it means to be an idol, etc.
As Taemin explained during his VLive event for "Advice" -- which came out in 2021 -- "Advice" is like the end to the first chapter in his life, and it marks the beginning of the second chapter. The song seems to be his way of saying I am done caring to everyone who judged him and all those haters who spread rumors and misinformation about him. "Advice" is showing that he is now free and confident to be himself, breaking stereotypes and now only listening to himself.
Taemin is just one of those performers that leaves you speechless every time he steps on stage. He was born to be a performer and that is one of the reasons why he has become known as the Korean Michael Jackson. That is also why, as one of the top two performers in the industry, he was made a member of SuperM. Taemin is an Idol of Idols and a legend among legends. (He is considered the blueprint for what it means to be a successful as a male solo artist. He was one of the first male idols from an active group to go solo, and he did it at such a young age, starting in 2014 at 21 years old. He has been a solo artist for more than half his career.)
In "Advice" he's basically saying, "Stop trying to put me in a box, in which I'll never fit in." He is also speaking to everyone that says he's getting old, that he's just a Michael Jackson wannabe that doesn't sell a lot of albums because he tries too hard to be edgy, etc. He's rebelling against all those people who are constantly advising him to make more mainstream music, or to follow the traditional Kpop idol style, in order to boost his sales and his popularity. However, as Taemin is making clear in "Advice," that is not who he is and he will never be "normal" or "mainstream" and he is OK with that.
In the scenes where we see him covered in ink, I think that is supposed to be him showing everyone how he is no longer the "unstained," cute maknae everyone wants to think of him as. The diamond we see painted on his hand when he is playing the piano, and we see drawn on his bicep, etc. is SHINee's symbol and all the pearl aqua blue/green colors we see in the MV is SHINee's official color. (The large tattoo of a Peony flower we can see on his hip is real. Hence why in the lyrics he says, "I destroy the torso that you were chasing after." In other words, he's saying he's tired of people thinking they even have a say in what he does with his body.)
This song was specifically designed to not be like anything he has ever done before. He plays the piano, he raps, he shows off his falsetto notes, etc., which is different than what we often hear and see from him. He intentionally used this song to prove that he isn't one type of singer. People often think of Taemin as a sultry vocalist that sings in a breathy comfortable, less dynamic style. So, with this song he wants to prove to everyone that he can be unpredictable and try new things. Yet again, you can't put him in a box or tell him who to be. Everything we see in this MV is 100% Taemin, including the piano playing.
Everything that Taemin's haters like to point out about him and say are reasons why he shouldn't be held to such high esteem, I find completely ridiculous. I don't think that anyone who actually knows him would ever say he has played it safe at any time in his career. If you think he is only one dimensional, and that he is trying to be anything other than himself, then you really don't know Taemin. Everything he does is different, out there and definitely not safe. It's always uniquely Taemin, and he couldn't do it any other way.
Also, because Taemin is a member of SHINee, none of his songs are ever like anything you have ever heard or seen before from him. It will always have a new beat, style and sound. As SM Entertainment's experimental boy group, SHINee is meant to be the first and they are expected to set the trend, and that includes the members' solo work. With every new song Taemin produces it's expected to be different than the last, so you will never hear the same style or sound from him in any of his songs, even on the same album, and yet, it still will be uniquely Taemin-like. Which is another example of how you can never put him in a box or expect anything from him. :D
Another theme in "Advice" is about how Taemin is embracing his androgynous side -- but on his own terms -- which I think is a continuation of the message in his "Move" MV. Early in his career when Taemin was growing up in SHINee -- he debuted in 2008 at 14 years old -- he was known for his delicate feminine features. It took him a long time to accept that he was recognized for his looks and to come to terms with the fact that everyone thought of him as a "pretty boy," etc. So, at this point in his career -- he is now 27 years old in this MV -- he is making a statement about how he has decided to be himself and no longer care what people think. Music is art and art has no gender. So, that is why in "Advice" we see him wearing hair extensions, fishnets and women's Supreme sportswear, etc. But if you notice, his choreography is very fast paced and sharp, which is hyper masculine -- a complete contrast to the "feminine" image people want to give him. We also see him wearing makeup, but it's smeared on his face, as if to say, "people may think of me as a 'Pretty Boy,' but I don't care about looking pretty."
In the lyrics he is saying, "It's creepy how people are always looking to cause drama, so stop trying to create scandals in my life that don't really exist. It's all just stories you make up." He's tired of all those people who seem to look for reasons to cause drama, where none really exists.
Where he says "floppy" in the lyrics, I think he's talking about knowing about or hearing firsthand the things people are saying about him, but he is choosing not to pay attention to them because what they're saying is flopping or doesn't hold any weight or have any substance, etc. "Advice" just proves that every time people try to put Taemin in a box, he destroys it and keeps coming back with something more unique and never seen before.
Hence, why in the choreography he puts his hands in front of his face and creates a movement that looks like an animated mouth talking. It represents how everyone keeps talking about him and what they are saying is nonsense, which makes them look and sound ridiculous, etc. Which is why in the lyrics he says, "You will never get the keys to my lock" because he doesn't ever plan to give people what they want and allow them access to his secrets and personal life, etc. (Those people who like to gossip about him will never truly know the real him.)
I interpret the "One (piece of) Advice" he is talking about in the lyrics as a reference to the advice he keeps being given about being more mainstream, but he's saying, "stop trying to make me conform to the image you have in your head of who I should be and what I should do." In other words, take all that time and effort you have been using to come up with ways to talk about how he doesn't fit in, etc. and put it to better use. "Follow my own advice" and do something original for once.
And the crucifixion pose at the end of "Advice" is sort of a signature pose for him. I interpret it to be like he is saying, "And that is the end, this is my final word, take it or leave it, but don't doubt me. I have given it my all and laid everything I had out there for you," etc.
You should really see his "Advice" dance practice as well. It's a good way to see the full choreography without any cuts or edits.
Oh my goodness... This is such an amazing interpretation of Taemin and his music! Thank you for taking the time to write it all out! ~💜
Girl, you and I living our dreams of seeing Taemin live! 😭 February 21 in LA can’t come soon enough!!
No literally! I'm counting down the days!! ~💜
You should definitely react to sexy in the air by taemin if you haven’t already!!
I plan to soon! ~💜