Monsta X dropped All About Luv in February to commemorate Valentine’s Day. All About Luv is a twelve-track collection of smooth R&B vocals over pop and hip-hop instrumentals. And as an album filled to the brim with poetic whisperings of love, commitment, and heartbreak, it certainly lived up to its name. While listening to this album, there never occurred a moment in which I wasn’t brimming with positive energy.
As their first work consisting entirely of English tracks, All About Luv included many of MONSTA X’s English tracks released throughout 2019, including favourite of the podcast, Who Do U Love? All About Luv also contains the vocals of now ex-member Wonho and currently stands as his last imprint on the MONSTA X legacy. It’s easy to see why this album was always going to stand out in the world of K-pop when you think about how rare it is for a K-pop group to release a full-length album entirely in English, even now when collaborations with foreign acts have become commonplace. I was not sure how I would feel about this album when it dropped, but I decided to give it a fair chance and was not disappointed.
It may be too soon to say this but All About Luv is likely going to be one of my top albums of 2020. This album lives up to the title and I appreciate that.
MONSTA X gave us the sing-along music that we NEED.
For example, Happy Without Me is a sad, selfish song about the members hating to see their ex-lover happy without them, and the lead into the chorus absolute ear-worm. Who Do You Love? is an electro-pop, BOP that includes an emotional bridge and a swoon worthy instrumental. Post-listening, how, I wonder, can anyone resist asking “say, who do you love?” The only downside I can even think of is the somewhat gratuitous inclusion of rapper French Montana. Someone’s Someone is a pop ballad wherein the members lament about wanting to belong to someone they can’t live without. It’s sweet and comforting, definitely meant to touch the heart. Got My Number is my favourite song because of the Jamaican influence on the lyrics and music. It’s also just a fun song. You Can’t Hold My Heart is a surprising departure from the rest of the album in that it includes a rock influence. It is also the track where MONSTA X truly impressed me vocally.
Another interesting feature about this album is the lyrics about sex. Many of the songs include references to having sex or wanting to have sex and that is fairly foreign with the veil of chastity so ubiquitous K-pop. The whole genre, in many ways, revolves around the dichotomy between infantilizing and sexualizing idols--even at times, abhorrently, underage idols. It’s the reason why idols can have sexy concepts, but will be thrown in the garbage for dating. MONSTA X doesn’t seem to have this problem, because they sing about sex all over this album. It’s actually quite refreshing to see adult men referring to sex without it being the graphic, slut shaming conversations that tend to pop up in other popular music.
There are many reasons to go back to MONSTA X’s All About Luv. but I think the most important reason is how it makes me feel. This album genuinely makes me happy and I feel good listening to it and singing along to the lyrics. It may not be a critical success, selling millions of copies, but that really doesn’t matter in the grand scheme of things. The legacy of popular music is destined to fade over time as newer songs sell more and trend. In truth, the music that lasts is the music that sticks in your heart. It really is All About Luv.