Like Jeon Somi, Kang Daniel and Jang Wonyoung, Kim Yohan placed first on his season of Produce 101, becoming the center of short-lived boy group X1. And like those other victors, his notoriety has led to a big presence in Korean media. For Yohan, that has mostly transferred to acting roles (or at least the prospect of acting roles), though he’s poised to re-debut in the upcoming boy group WEi. Before that, he’s dropped his first solo single No More.
No More is one of those singles that comes tagged with a producer credit, hoping that big-name, behind-the-scenes clout will lend it more interest and credibility. And to be fair, Zion.T is a pretty big name. Though he’s not as prolific as he used to be, his music is still very well-regarded by the general public. And, he gives No More a quirky sound, more diverse than it first appears.
The track opens as a simple mid-tempo, powered by an interesting instrumental loop that almost feels as if it’s playing backwards. The chorus injects a bit of funk guitar for a robust texture, while the second verse takes us into more melodic territory after offering a quick rap break. This moment, where the instrumental opens up with more elongated synth lines, is my favorite part of the track. However, I’m not sure that this general sound is a good match for Yohan. His voice feels much more suited to pop than r&b, and No More really needs a weightier performance to give it the kind of groove the instrumental is searching for. It’ll be interesting to see what kind of group WEi ends up being. Will they embrace this style of hip-hop/r&b as well? Or, is No More a one-off?
| Hooks | 7 |
| Production | 8 |
| Longevity | 8 |
| Bias | 7 |
| RATING | 7.5 |
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The Bias List // K-Pop Reviews & Discussion 
Nick , will you review Golden Child Y and Jibeom’s Come with Me!
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Probably not, but we’ll see!
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Welp! I tried but if you were to give it a review , how much would you rate it?
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Not sure yet… I’ll have to listen to it some more. It’s a pretty bland OST track, but of course I’m biased toward the performers so I’m sure that’ll increase its staying power. Probably high-7’s… maybe low 8’s after I’ve lived with it awhile.
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Well , of course it was bound to happen ,ballads are too bland but Y sure does how to give bland songs a certain excitement , also Ji Beom!
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There are times like these when I still have hope for kpop. This kid can sing! Kim Jae Hwan can sing! Somehow in at least these two survival shows, at the end of the day, kids who can sing, won!
This is a cute song. It has a lot of goodies, and an actual melody. And the instrumental which shifts here and there underneath the melody. Its not an ambitious melody, but it is cute. Who knows, maybe this will blow up as a feel good song like Zico “Any Song” did back in January.
“Almost feels like its playing backwards”, hah! lol!
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Yohan is quite a good vocalist but what if I told you he’s not even one of the strongest vocalists from X1… they had Victon’s Seungwoo, Up10tion’s Wooseok and Cho Seungyoun/Woodz who are all exceptional vocalists. They were a dream team; Yohan wasn’t even a main or lead vocalist! In my opinion they had the strongest vocals out of any Produce series group… and they were also the shortest lived, of course, because God wants us to suffer 💔
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Ah, Woodz, yes I have his solo from June. Pretty good song as well.
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This is a cute song. So cute! That’s all I can think of. Yohan is just so so charming in this MV, you can really see why he was #1 on Produce. For that reason, I think this song suits him, even if it’s not a great for him vocally like Nick said, the vibe is cute and youthful like Yohan himself.
That said, I feel terrible for Yohan still… it feels like all of his luck ran out after filming Produce. He was injured right at the beginning of X1’s debut, so he couldn’t even dance onstage for 99% of their performances. X1 disbanded in January and Yohan’s drama got canned in April… so it’s kind of hard to hear him singing “I can’t take it no more”….
WEi is due to attract a lot of attention– having Yohan would be a huge draw on its own but all of the other members have been on survival shows and I believe 2 of them are ex-1the9 members. Hopefully this will be enough to get Yohan’s year, and even his career back on track…!
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Yeah, you’ve gotta feel for the guy. I’m sure this isn’t at all how he expected things to turn out. I’m looking forward to hearing what WEi come up with. Hopefully they emerge with their own sound and style that suits the members.
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He even gave up on taekwondo for this, poor kid. He’s kinda like Sunghoon the ice skater from ILAND that way, who will hopefully have more luck…
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I keep forgetting that Sunghoon is/was an ice skater. I think that’s so cool. It reminds me of several prominent J-pop groups who bring synchronized rollerskating into their performances. On one hand, it can look like a cheesy gimmick. But, that takes major athletic skill. It’s cool to see it merged with pop music.
If Sunghoon makes the final group, I need them to figure out some sort of special stage that takes advantage of his unique talent!
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I could be wrong, but I think he’s more or less a shoe-in at this point along with Heeseung and Sunoo 🙂
The way Sunghoon does those casual spins during dance practice is amazing, I agree with you that I’d love to see it incorporated into their choreo somehow, like some kind of ballet/modern type dance break….?
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I agree with that vocally, Yohan isn’t a match for the song, but personality he carries the song to the finish line.
“Will they embrace this style of hip-hop/r&b as well?” Considering WEi will also have Kim Donghan who I enjoy a lot as a soloist, especially Focus, Daehyeon who was in Rainz, and the two 1the9 members I think they will be quite dance/performance based tbh. I’m really hoping for a good debut seeing that Treasure gave a dud.
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