I decided to let Bad Decisions marinate for a while before I weighed in because sometimes my feelings change once I’ve gotten some perspective on expectations vs. reality. Well, my feelings didn’t change. I liked it more than L&R, less that WIOM but that’s really not saying much.

I didn’t know anything about Benny Blanco before so I had to look him up. He’s got an impressive resume and some real industry cred but TBH, I don’t think there was one artist on the list of folks he’s worked with that I listen to or like, so I really didn’t have any expectations this song would be any different. And it’s not. To be fair, it’s a fun, catchy pop song. Unfortunately, I’m not a fan of fun, catchy pop songs. They’re good in the moment but they’re generic, toothless, without substance and ultimately forgettable. Pop (Western, K or otherwise) just isn’t a genre I would ever seek out or listen to if not for the involvement of Bangtan (no surprise that my least favorite BTS songs are their really poppy ones). Just not my thing. However, I do think they sound very good here, although I really can only make out JK and Jimin. And my knock on the song isn’t about them, because it’s not their song, it’s Benny’s, so I’m not expecting them to have a say in anything really. They show up, sing their parts and that’s it. (Why Snoop is there will always be mystery however. He added nothing.)

When it comes to their real solo work though, I’m hoping for something different and substantive, since they’ll be in control. Something like JK’s cover of Falling, for example, which showed us a side of him that I don’t think we had seen before and it was incredible. So more of that, more Jack in the Boxes please, and less of these fluffy, disposable pop songs. Pop CAN be done right but the English trio, L&R and BD ain’t it. YMMV.

The MV was kinda cringe. Once was enough.