''Not My Fault'' is a collaborative studio album by South Korean music producer Dress and singer-songwriter
Sogumm
Kwon So-hee (; born March 8, 1994), known professionally as Sogumm (; stylized in all lowercase), is a South Korean singer-songwriter. In 2019, she released albums ''Not My Fault'' and ''Sobrightttttttt'', which were met with critical acclaim. S ...
. It was released on September 27, 2019 through Highline Entertainment. It was later nominated for Best R&B Album at the
Korean Music Awards
The Korean Music Awards () is an annual South Korean music awards show that honors both mainstream and underground musical artists from a variety of genres. Unlike other major South Korean music awards, which largely rely on record sales to det ...
and peaked at number 65 on the
Gaon Album Chart
The Circle Album Chart, previously known as the Gaon Album Chart, is a record chart ranking the 100 most popular albums, extended plays and single albums in South Korea based on their Record sales, pure sales. It is a part of the Circle Chart, pr ...
.
Background
In an interview with
Genie Music, Sogumm explained how the album was made.
Dress also made commercial music but wanted to express his feelings through beats without thinking too much. I worked with him because he requested a collaboration first, but I wrote songs quickly and he kept sending me beats. So we were planning to release one or two songs at first but made so many songs in an instant. The general public may find our music difficult but we were not asking for their understanding, so we named the album ''Not My Fault'' and decided on the album concept.
Music and lyrics
Sogumm's vocals that pronounce words differently are sometimes innocent("I Wonder", "Honey Bee", "Pretty Bitch"), dry("Sorry", "Once Again"), or magical("Diary", "Dreamer, Doer"). Meanwhile, Dress' production encompasses hip hop, R&B, and electronica.
"Diary" is reminiscent of 90's
trip hop
Trip hop (sometimes used synonymously with "downtempo") is a musical genre that originated in the early 1990s in the United Kingdom, especially Bristol. It has been described as a psychedelic music, psychedelic fusion of hip hop music, hip hop ...
sounds like those of
Morcheeba. It tells the direction of the album with a down-tempo beat played with an analog drum set and piano, string, and guitar sounds distorted by an
effects unit
An effects unit or effects pedal is an electronic device that alters the sound of a musical instrument or other audio source through audio signal processing.
Common effects include distortion/overdrive, often used with electric guitar in el ...
. "Sorry" emphasizes electronic sounds while "Pretty Bitch" solely features acoustic guitar sounds.
Critical reception
Kang Il-gwon of ''Rhythmer'' rated the album 4 out of 5 stars and claimed that it was "electrifying, excellent, and fresh". On the other hand, he suggested that Sogumm write more lyrics in Korean.
Critics of ''Music Y'' rated "I Wonder" 3.5 out of 5 stars. According to Jeong Byeong-uk, Dress "knows how to use minimal sources in the right place and bring out the maximum amount of dreamlike atmosphere and groove." Also, Sogumm "pronounces lyrics uniquely while reducing the resonance of the sound and shows her individuality with unconventional breathing and accents." Meanwhile,
Jay Park
Jay Park ( Korean name: Park Jae-beom (Hangul: 박재범; Hanja: 朴載範); born April 25, 1987) is an American rapper, singer-songwriter, record producer, dancer and entrepreneur of based in South Korea. He is a member of the Seattle-based ...
balances out the intenseness of the hook by singing sweet lyrics in a natural style.
Year-end lists
Awards and nominations
Track listing
Charts
{, class="wikitable"
!Chart (2019)
!Peak
position
, -
, South Korean Albums (
Gaon)
[{{Cite web , title=Album Chart - 2019 Weeks 41 , url=https://circlechart.kr/page_chart/album.circle?nationGbn=T&targetTime=41&hitYear=2019&termGbn=week&yearTime=3 , access-date=October 5, 2022 , website=Circle Chart]
, 65
References
2019 albums
Electronica albums by South Korean artists
Rhythm and blues albums by South Korean artists