MV of the Month: Red Velvet's 'Dumb Dumb'

Admit it. You know you can't get the song out of your head. Dumb Dumb Dumb Dumb Dumb Dumb, Dumb Dumb Dumb Dumb Dumb Dumb, Dumb Dumb Dumb Dumb Dumb Dumb...

And that's just one of the reasons why Red Velvet's "Dumb Dumb" has received our coveted Music Video of the Month for September! Get out the cheese puffs! Trash the office! Red Velvet has finally arrived!

Make no mistake, "Dumb Dumb" is a pop fantasia. While the song is by no means a masterpiece, and some have even bemoaned "Dumb Dumb" as another messy SM release, what works for this song is that this chaos builds so beautifully and quickly that before you know it, Irene's rapping Michael Jackson song titles while billie jean is splashed on the screen. And, if you have a heart, you're loving it. And if you don't love it, listen to the song again. Watch the video again. If you still don't love it, we have to ask: Do you even have a heart?



Because "Dumb Dumb" might be a mess of a song, but it's a mess in the way that Pollock made a mess of the canvas. And yes, we're calling this pop art, and ten years from now, we'll stand by this. And still you doubt. Have you even seen the music video?

Take a still, just about any still, and you can frame it on your wall. It's not just the poses, those glamour shots. Red Velvet bursts with charisma and confidence even when they don't crack a smile. While "Happiness" impressed, and "Ice Cream Cake" blew so many people away (it didn't wow us, personally), amidst all of the mayhem of "Dumb Dumb," we feel like this is the first time we're truly seeing Red Velvet as the superstar idols that they're destined to be.

We're talking personality, friends. And this video is loaded with it.

And maybe, just maybe it started with Yeri joining the group? While we've been big Joy fans since Red Velvet's inception, and the group seemed fine with just four members. Yeri has brought a youthful energy and charisma that balances perfectly with the rest of the girls. In fact, we'd argue that her inclusion has shot that infusion of personality into the group, and not just because she has killer stares or can brighten a room with a wink.



But, really, it's not any one member that can be completely attributed with Red Velvet's rise. While our heart beats for Joy and everything that she does, Irene is a killer rapper, Wendy's energy is electric, and Seulgi is a bonafide dancing queen.

Everyone has a chance to shine here, and if anything is missing from this video it's more of the hyper-ecstatic choreography, but don't worry, we got you covered! WATCH NOW.

We haven't even discussed what the video may mean - probably because we have no idea! Everything with the robot girls and factory work reads like a meta-commentary of manufactured pop and the beleaguered "studio system." While that's all well and good and a theory that could fill pages and pages of your undergrad dissertation (let alone two or three articles here at Critical Kpop - which you can write and send to us, we need more writers already!), we somehow doubt that SM Entertainment would be so provocative, or self-aware enough to question their own means of production.

But...maybe?

Perhaps SM is saying something between the lines, and we would be the first to make that observation, but even if there's not a single cohesive narrative here or even an inkling of societal commentary, "Dumb Dumb" is a triumph. It's ecstatic, it's mesmerizing, and now we can finally say that Red Velvet's "Dumb Dumb" is our MV of the Month for September!