Photo credits: YG Entertainment

[Review] MINO – TAKE

MINO is back with ‘TAKE’ after almost two years since his last solo release. For this album he wrote all the lyrics and composed and arranged most of them, the features in this release are fantastic. Let’s dive right into the music.

TAKE

Love and a boy’ starts off this album with MINO’s signature style, the delivery is exquisite. The chorus flow is emotional and raw. I loved how this song was arranged, the outro was just incredible. MINO’s style to the core and I am here for it.

Next we get the title track ‘Run away’ with a softer vibe, chill tempo and MINO’s fire rapping. This song is a very interesting title track that shows the diversity of his sound and music. The music video is beautiful, colourful and full of aesthetically pleasing shots, there is also a small cameo of Yoon. 100% adorable. 

MOBB is back with ‘Ok man’ and I missed this unit so much. BOBBY and MINO complement each other’s style extremely well. This track is hip-hop at its best mixed with heavy bass. They absolutely killed it with those verses. What a TUNE!

With a softer tempo and delivery we get ‘Wa’ featuring Zion.T, this song is very cool listen, the layering of the track is great and the instrumentals fantastic. The outro had me absolutely shook, it was creative, unusual and stunning. 

I want to’ featuring meenoi plays next with an indie vibe I loved. It is way softer, with great vocals and a dreamy feel to it.

We get summer vibes with ‘Daylight’, this song is fantastic to relax at the beach while sipping a drink, it just has the right feeling for it with its electronic beats and flow. 

Featuring DPR LIVE, ‘Hop in’ plays with a trap inspired track, synth, and killer rhymes. LIVE’s and MINO’s styles are interesting together. MINO’s vocals feel more raspy in this song whereas LIVE’s are sharper, definitely a mix I didn’t expect but loved.

Electric guitar and synth kicks off ‘Pow!’, with this song we get a more experimental side on MINO’s music and I am astonished with his talent once more. This song’s layering is insane, it has just the right pauses between instrumentals and EDM with organic transitions that complement the vocals extremely well.

Click / Han river view’ plays next with lo-fi tunes instrumentals, the transition between the tube-like instrumentation and the chill track is insane. Unexpected but SO GOOD! The vocals at the back complementing MINO’s verse delivery gave the track an R&B feel that made it even better. 

BewhY is featured in ‘Book store’, this song has an instrumentation and layering that makes it quite playful and very much enjoyable. Listening to it made me feel like I was in a fairytale, as if I was living inside a book. Loved it. What an unexpected collab. 

We are nearing the end with ‘Sunrise’, this song goes more to the instrumental, ballad side, MINO’s enhanced vocals feel sadder and just fit the vibe of this song perfectly with its emotional delivery and breathtaking orchestration. 

Closing this album we get ‘Lost in a crowd’ with a nostalgic vibe that feels just right to close a fantastic production. I loved how simple and beautiful this song’s accompaniment is, the guitar and MINO’s rapping is not a mix we get often and I loved it. 

Overall, ‘TAKE’ was a solid album that truly explored MINO’s talent as a musician, lyricist and composer. Make sure to listen to it here

Kathleen Herrera
K-Beauty enthusiast, Drama Lover, Melophile and Foodie, writing about her faves on a daily basis.