Congratulations to Girls’ Generation’s Party! The two songs were neck and neck all day, but in the end it pulled off the victory with 51.6% of the vote. Personally, I’m on team Darling. But, I don’t get to vote!
So far, each match-up has included songs popular in different years. This time, the competing tracks were released within mere months of each other. They’re also the two most recent comebacks in the bracket. Today, we’ve got ATEEZ’s Wave vs. ITZY’s Icy — both soundtracking the summer of 2019.
However, that’s where the similarities end. Wave tackles a tropical style, while Icy opts for hip-hop influenced pop. Both are incredible tracks, but only one can move onto the next round. The choice is up to all of you. Feel free to advocate, cheerlead, cut deals, etc in the comments section!
The vote is open for twenty-four hours, and the winner will be celebrated in Monday’s bracket post.
Candidate One: ATEEZ – Wave
Candidate Two: ITZY – Icy
The Bias List // K-Pop Reviews & Discussion 
I am really worried for “Wave”, It’s one of my all-time favorite K-pop tracks but Songs such as “Icy” have more notoriety…
So I’ll be a candidate for my dear Wave and why It should move on to the next round.
Wave is one of the best examples of The Trop-Pop Genre done right! It’s Bolstered by an incredible vocal arrangement and a dynamic performance. The Song features a gorgeous melody and bombastic backing vocals, All of it building to its inevitable climax. It has a slight tribal feeling, giving it a unique twist. And The Chorus washes over you in the most refreshing way possible!
But Wave’s Climax is incredible! Infact, It’s my outright FAVORITE Climax in any song of 2019. It soars in the best way possible, As a stirring power note beautifully begins this cathartic conclusion. Wave had expertly built itself up to that point, and it’s just so extremely euphoric!
My Reason on why Wave should win! Fingers Crossed…
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Yep. Even though I like Icy more, ATEEZ makes a genre I’m thoroughly tired of and turns it into an awesome song. That alone is enough for me to go one Team Wave.
Wave is nowhere as good as the rest of ATEEZ’s songs in my opinion. In fact, I’d say that its probably on the lower part if I would rank their singles, and that alone speaks volumes about ATEEZ’s discography.
(But Fireworks just had to be a single didn’t it….sigh)
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Wave is my personal favorite track from the guys! Wonderland and Answer is right at its heels though. Honestly, I am still upset about “Take Me Home” not being the single.
Like I always say: “Fireworks is just WIN on dum dum juice.” And That will forever be the encapsulation of my thoughts on the song.
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I agree, fireworks wasn’t really it, i don’t know why they even chose it as title track when they had Take Me Home which is really brilliant song and can show their different color, i am still waiting for them to release performance video or something for Take Me Home hopefully when Mingi comes back. And i wasn’t much fan of Wave first listen but it did grew on me alot. Definitely one of my favourite summer songs
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So I never listened through Wave all the way through because the first impression gave me very much Winner (Really Really?) vibes and it’s just a style that bores me.
Gave it another chance because of your recommendation a while ago and ended up really enjoying it after a few listens.
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I am really glad to know my recommendation made you push to enjoy it! 🙂
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I very much love Itzy first three titles and Icy is a great song in a great debut year of the group which i’m betting will become THE big reference when talking about 4th gen ggs in the future.
That being said, you just can’t compete with a summer song that chooses HAKUNA MATATA as the center of your chorus AND, by some miracle, makes it work.
Go be the iconic summer song you deserve to be, Wave.
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I love icy but wave is such refreshing fun song and ateez is my fave
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Wave. Wave. Wave.
Wave all the way through. Though I really adore icy too, wave’s arrangement, production and performance is superior.
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I don’t know if I even want to vote. I cannot choose. I love the instrumental of ‘Icy’ far more than ‘Wave’ but that last chorus in ‘Wave’ is absolutely stunning and I get chills every single time. I honestly think I prefer ‘Icy’ slightly better but I think Nick’s love for ‘Wave’ makes me want to vote for it. I DON’T KNOW AH! This match-up is cruel!!!
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Hmm, this is a hard one too but mainly because I don’t feel strongly about either of these songs! There are elements of Wave that I like (I love the ending of it!) but some that I really don’t (sorry, but “Hakuna Matata just doesn’t do it for me lmao). Icy is a more consistent song in my opinion, so I ended up going with that one. It’s not my favorite Itzy song but it IS a lot of fun and very catchy. Seems like today will be another close one!
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Yes; HAkuna MAtata-eh is my least favourite part of the song too. The pronunciation would not bother me as much if it wasn’t such a moment of focus in the song – I also think it’s kindof underwhelming as a drop.
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AGREE! I really wish it wasn’t there, or wasn’t so emphasized as I think I would enjoy the song a lot more. I have a relatively high tolerance for silly lyrics in K-Pop lmao but something about this one just takes me too far out of the experience, which is a shame as I think other parts of Wave are really great. This was a tough call though and I get why people would go either way here.
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Wave has a joyousness and expansiveness that is completely missing from Itzy, which just seems bratty to me and not at all summery. I never seem to like Itzy.
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I think ATEEZ has a stronger fansbase, and Wave reads as summer more readily than ICY
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This is the first of a few really tough decisions for me. Icy is my favourite song out of the two. Wave is a newcomer to my favourites (special credit to yan zaman for making me listen to it all the way).
What makes it more difficult is that both songs have a summer vibe, but on opposite sides op the spectrum. Where Icy bursts with cool energy like a refreshing cold drink, Wave lays back in a lounge chair, basking in the sun.
I suppose what breaks the tie for me is that Wave is more strongly associated with summer. It just immediately conveys that distinct summer feeling, from the first bars. Icy fits summer, but its not exclusive to the season – which is a strength generally, but not for this particular bracket.
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Wave for me. I love Wave, and I back it so much. Icy is good, but Wave is legendary. The final coda is really what elevates the song into the stratosphere.
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No, you can’t do this to me! I adore Icy with every fiber of my being — I never had the gripes with it that many others seemed to, and it’s far and away my favorite Itzy offering. My vote does have to go to Wave, though. It’s aggressively nostalgic and has nearly brought me to tears once or twice; there aren’t many songs that can harness that much emotion without being mopey. I love you, Icy! I’m sorry! Gonna be agonizing over this match-up all day, even after my vote’s been cast.
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I’m glad many people seem to like Wave. It fits in quite nicely into ATEEZ’s pirate theme. It’s a pity that even up till this moment I can never seem to get over the Hakuna Matata line. I cannot but help cringe and it seems I’m in the minority with this thought.
Icy for me. It’s a nice song. I’m not sure if it’s a summer song for me but it’s a nice song.
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I realized today that “Wave” is kind of a generic song. Without the production dynamism of LEEZ and Ateez’s delivery, I don’t think I’d enjoy it nearly as much. There are also more parts of it that don’t work for me beyond Hakuna Matata (most of the rapping, “GANBEI GANBEI”). The rhythms throughout are mostly just a clave son, and it could really use more textural changes to make it stand out from other tropical songs.
“Icy”… it’s so much fun, but it isn’t so much a song as a series of really cool production choices with a great prechorus laid over them.
I predict “Wave” will win. I don’t think being big 3 holds *that* much sway in Nick’s readership.
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