On the 23rd January 2015, 9MUSES brought the relationship drama with their newest-EP release, Drama. The title song reveals the heartache that women go through when they like a man; a woman’s best friend is dating the man she likes, but is burdened with having to listen to her problems with him.
The music video for the title song is a typical girl group music video. Different scenes change, ranging from a cafe scene with the group members sitting around and chatting to a living room scene where all eight members are sitting around a couch and singing while holding pillows. The plot-line in the video is somewhat vague. These scenes are interwoven with standard group-dancing and individual scenes of the group members that are notorious in idol group music videos.
Two different sets are used for the group dancing; one is in a round-pink room, and the members are wearing all white outfits, while the other set is a mock exterior of an American theater, and the members are wearing black outfits with a white shirt. By using two sets and different outfits, the video is kept from going too far down the sexy concept road. In the individual member scenes, when they are peeking through the red curtain, the members are wearing sexy outfits. The difference in the group and individual scenes has created a balance between sexy and cute that works, which allows for comfortable music video-watching.
Using a theater as a backdrop allowed the group members to impersonate iconic people from the past. The iconic people featured are some recognizable icons – Audrey Hepburn and Marilyn Monroe – while other iconic people used are unrecognizable but seem familiar. Mixing known and unknown icons worked in such a way that it does not define the entire video.
Looking at English-translated lyrics, the lyrics and video do not have anything to do with each other. The lyrics: “This cruel drama, this drama that has already started / My love story with an unpredictable ending / This risky feeling, my heart wants you / I can’t stop it, every day” and “She says you two fought, that your personalities clash / My friend told me she’s gonna end things / My bad heart said it can’t be, but wants it to happen / I said, it can’t be, but at the same time…” convey a woman’s heartache of unrequited love.
The lyrics do not emerge in scenes to highlight a love interest; the music video also does not highlight the emotional struggle women go through when liking someone. Without a good understanding of Korean, the message of relationship struggles is obscure.