Most of the time, a k-pop group’s title track is the best song on their album. But, sometimes b-sides deserve recognition too. In the singles-oriented world of K-pop, I want to spotlight some of these buried treasures and give them the props they deserve.
When reviewing Victon’s What I Said yesterday, I mentioned how I consider them a rather generic boy group. But, I don’t want this to sound more harsh than I meant it. When looking at K-pop’s current landscape, I’d call the majority of boy groups generic, and it has nothing to do with their talent or charm. Too many of these groups outsource material, opting for a revolving door of producers and sounds to the point that their music feels interchangeable. Because of this, most albums (full or mini) lack consistency. I think that Victon’s Voice could have been released by almost any current boy group and sounded roughly the same. However, that doesn’t mean it lacks highlights.
The album’s best moment doesn’t occur until eleven tracks in. I’m honestly surprised that Unpredictable is so buried within the track list. It should have been the single. In its own way, it’s no less generic than most of the album, but the songwriting and production is strong and there are great flashes of personality in Hanse’s dynamic second-verse rap.
The song opens with a dramatic verse, underlined by atmospheric synths and menacing guitar. A wall of tightly-arranged vocals brings us into a groovy, bass-driven chorus that soon grows into a more swaggering refrain. I love the rhythm guitar here, but my favorite aspect of Unpredictable is how its post-chorus rap break melds seamlessly with the existing production. In fact, it even builds upon the drama without sacrificing momentum or continuity. Even when the track moves into a trap breakdown, it’s well-placed and followed by a thrilling transition back into the slinky chorus. Honestly, this may be one of my favorite tracks Victon have ever released.
| Hooks | 9 |
| Production | 9 |
| Longevity | 8 |
| Bias | 9 |
| RATING | 8.75 |
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The Bias List // K-Pop Reviews & Discussion 
Oh I love this! More of this please!
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This song has something a lot of generic kpop lacks: it is actually catchy. At first I was uncertain, but by the end I really knew the chorus “unpredictable” line and could sing along even with only one listen.
Yeah, this could be a grower.
… It isn’t perfect. Let’s start with that robot voice. ugh, whhyyyy?. Also, not a fan of the rap interludes, especially the timbre they affect.
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i know you’ve gotten more into jpop over last year, i was wondering if you’ve heard of ali? tho theyre not exactly pop, more like jazz-funk-hip hop, they’re a really cool group. they just released something new today:
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I have! I enjoy their sound, though I haven’t delved that deeply into their music. This new one’s pretty good!
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I knew right away that this was my favorite track from the highlight medley alone! Glad you picked it. i want to like Victon more than I already do because I’m just begging for more of their music to stick with me at this point. And this does! More of this, please.
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Wow! I love this song so much! This is like night and day compared to their title track. Never mind what I said about flip a coin about being the title track- I would love this to have been the title track. It has a lot of stand out moments and I like the Hanse rap breaks more in this and the chorus is just…*chef’s kiss*. Yeah I think I will certainly be adding this song to my playlist. Glad I gave this a listen!
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I feel like I’ve heard this type of song a few times before. This one is not bad, though! There’s guitar – I like it. I don’t know about the rapper though, something about his delivery borders on parody for me. His tone is definitely unique sounding.
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“Parody” is an apt way to phrase it. Its just odd, and not in an interesting way, but in a distracting way..
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Huh. I like it? Sure, it’s a little exaggerated, but at least it’s memorable!
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That’ s the other side of it. Seems this can go either way based on personal taste!
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Hanse reminds me of Dawn when he was still in Pentagon. The “high-toned rapper” thing is pretty popular within kpop I guess. I can see why it’d be polarizing though. I think Hanse brings a certain flavor to Victon songs that I generally like.
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“Most of the time, a k-pop group’s title track is the best song on their album.”
Nick, do you ever think of editing this little blurb? I’m just beginning to feel that this is almost never the case lol
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This is a sentence of 2016 Nick, If 2020 Nick was talking, he’d probably say “end me already”
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Oh, sweet, innocent “2016 Nick.” Yet to taste the bitterness of life…
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HAHAHA oh my god you’re totally right. Maybe it is time to edit this 🙂
I just have it in a template and hardly bat an eye at the words, but it’s sad that it’s just not very accurate any more.
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