BamBam has made his much-anticipated comeback with the EP riBBon, released June 15. The album and BamBam’s charms captured the senses of fans and casual listeners alike with this highly artistic EP.
riBBon — which contains six tracks for a total of 18 minutes and 25 seconds — bridges different genres that display BamBam’s style and artistry as well as emotions and visuals. The concept behind the EP is well-thought-out, visually and creatively unique, and very well executed. Visually, the concept nods to Wes Anderson’s The Grand Budapest Hotel, Disney’s Alice in Wonderland, and — for reasons we’re unable to explain — The Beatles’ Magical Mystery Tour.
Musically, BamBam was able to express himself like never before in his own unique way. riBBon starts with its “Intro” produced by Murda Beatz. As stated in the album description, this is the official introduction to the new beginning of BamBam’s solo career. On the following five tracks on the EP, BamBam shows off his songwriting skills; on “Look So Fine”, “riBBon,” and “Air,” he is credited as co-composer.
“Pandora” and “riBBon” set a high contrast. The first is a heavy hip-hop song with cool samples, paired with dark visuals in its performances, while “riBBon” is an upbeat trap-pop song with an infectious chorus that will make you want to dance. Th title track comes with a music video where BamBam performs in various magical and dreamy scenarios, from a room filled with The Grand Budapest-inspired cake boxes to BamBam playing chess on a giant chess board in a flowery garden. The combination of song + music video is a happy pill that we recommend taking whenever you need to boost your mood.
At the time of publication, the music video for “riBBon” has 44 million views on YouTube. During its first 24 hours after release, the video was trending worldwide at No. 1.
“Look So Fine” is another hip-hop-inspired track, and it’s a certified earworm. For “Air”, BamBam has worked again with Murda Beatz; the song has more of a laid-back vibe and a groove that allows BamBam’s vocals to stand out. This is the type of song BamBam would play to his fans during one of his nighttime VLives.
The EP ends with the stunning “Under The Sky”; the song is an R&B ballad with pleasant instrumentation, thanks to strings and piano chords. During the promotion of riBBon, BamBam has revealed that “Under The Sky” is for Ahgases (GOT7’s fanbase name) and his GOT7 members. It’s an emotional and thoughtful song that wraps up (with the prettiest ribbon) the journey they’re sharing together.
Ahead of his comeback, BamBam expressed on different occasions how difficult it can be for a non-Korean artist to make it in the Korean market — although he’s not new to it. For riBBon, local and international charts are on BamBam’s side as the album was very well received worldwide.
In 24 hours, the album topped the iTunes Albums Chart in 35 countries, including Australia, Brazil, Finland, Hong Kong, Singapore, and of course Thailand. It peaked at No. 1 on both Worldwide and European iTunes Album Chart.
As for the single, on local (Korean) charts “riBBon” debuted at No. 1 on the Genie Top 200 Chart and has achieved a 6x roof hit on the platform, and debuted at No. 5 on Genius Korea’s K-Pop chart. It also charted on Melon’s Latest 24 Hrs Hits. On International charts, the single topped the iTunes Songs Chart in 36 countries, including Argentina, Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Poland, and Vietnam. It peaked at No, 3 on the Worldwide iTunes Song Chart and No. 19 on the European iTunes Song Chart.
It is also worth mentioning that the TikTok #riBBonChallenge is one of the platform’s trending hashtags, and it has now 60.2M views.
With his solo comeback, BamBam has started to unwrap his solid path towards being fully recognised as the skilled artist he is, both in Korea and worldwide.
