Taking all her singles into account, I feel like AleXa has been let down by her material. She’s talented and charismatic, and her videos surround her with an unlimited supply of effects and eye candy. But when you strip away all that gloss, the songs have been lacking in personality. Because of this, I was excited to see AleXa tackle a more upbeat concept. New single Xtra lets her showcase her appeal in a way we haven’t seen before. And, this proves to be a double-edged sword.
I’m a big fan of the vibe Xtra is seeking to accomplish. Rather than cut and paste retro synths, the track finds another way to embrace nostalgia through old school breakbeats and a groovy hip-hop base. K-pop has turned to this sound palette many times before, and it almost always results in a fun track. Apart from the squeaky refrain that opens Xtra, the instrumental goes down easy.
But, the songwriters can’t seem to let a good thing thrive on its own, injecting a series of eye-rolling English lyrics. Phrases like “on my burger and my fries, I was extra cheese yah!” think they’re being clever, but they just sound silly and immediately take me out of the song. Worse yet, they make Xtra feel like parody. Goofiness can work in K-pop, but I don’t think this track sells the energy. Thankfully, Xtra builds toward a satisfying chorus where AleXa gets to stretch her vocals a bit. The song could have done with more of this funky melody in place of its “excuse me, I need a doggy bag” cringiness.
| Hooks | 8 |
| Production | 8 |
| Longevity | 7 |
| Bias | 7 |
| RATING | 7.5 |
I definitely agree that those phrases were goofy. However, the thing that bothers me the most though are the squeaky horns. They’re like nails on a chalkboard. At least I can appreciate the deeper tone Alexa puts on her voice when she talks about being cheddar
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Only someone like Alexa can pull of a lyric like “on my burger and my fries, I was extra cheese yah!”, multiple times it the same song. Does it work? Well, I debated that every time it came around again, so the answer must be “probably not”.
Alexa is, as usual, charismatic as all get out.
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Even Alexa cannot pull off these lyrics in my opinion. Who on earth wrote that?
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maybe its nostalgia. Some lyrics in the 80’s were equally cray cray. Such as this one
“Sucking down a chili dog outside the Tasty Freeze”. Real lyric, starts the second verse.
‘https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h04CH9YZcpI
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Yep, this is kinda like GD’s Crayon, but it has the same problem as We Do, cringe af lines. That chorus is better than one would expect from a song this nature but “on my burger and my fries, I want extra cheese” and “Excuse me I need a doggie bag” do no work to its favor. Minus those lines its an 8.25, but as a whole its a 7.5.
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Honestly, I think AleXa’s ‘AI’ concept has immense potential to be one of the most explosive and epic concepts to be done in K-Pop.
I loved the cyberpunk aesthetics of ‘Bomb’ and ‘Do Or Die’, and the instrumentals were pretty good too – especially Bomb IMO. But ever since those releases, her music hasn’t really done much for me and that’s a shame because I could totally see it going down a really futuristic approach with an upbeat electronic instrumental and some epic CGI effects on top.
For ‘Xtra’ though, it’s alright. Lol.
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Why is it the fluent English speakers always get the worst English lines?
I never want to hear this song again and I just came off the back of watching Dongkiz which on paper should be the more cringe and irritating one yet somehow isn’t.
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Am I listening to the same song as everyone else cause I really liked this? This is a solid 8.5 maybe an 8.75. It’s exciting and fun and I am in LOVE with how she’s singing it-her deeper voice is killing me. It’s most definitely cringy, I don’t doubt it but for some reason it doesn’t bother me (not as much as I’d expect it to). The instrumental is good but nothing to write home about so I really think it’s her delivery that carries the song.
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Uh… doesn’t Alexa know English, how could she not raise objections with this. As Myma would note, these are bad and well-pronounced lyrics. They nearly ruin the whole song for me.
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Vanessa from Phineas and Ferb used similar nonsensical metaphors for being badass and actually made it work: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aYh2XjaKbPk
Apparently the writers of a cartoon show are better at songwriting than…actual songwriters.
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For some reason, this song sounds more cluttered and more noisy to me than any NCT song I have ever listened to. What an aural assault.
My ears are irritated, my brain feels overloaded, and I still hear Alexa yell into my ear obnoxiously about being extra cheese on fries. Don’t get me wrong, I can tell she has talent and charisma, but this song is not for me.
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