This year, Brave Brothers has proven he still has his special songwriting spark. His compositions for Brave Girls are some of my favorite music of 2021. This makes me wonder why he can’t seem to conjure equally great material for boy group DKB. It must come down to expectations. Many K-pop boy groups are expected to deliver music that’s “cool” and attitude-infused. They don’t always get the fun, melodically rich stuff.
I’ve had a hard time connecting with any of DKB’s title tracks thus far, though they have a few b-sides that are quite good. There’s much that can be done with their chill, hip-hop influenced sound, but songs like Rollercoaster (왜 만나) never really get off the ground. The track is muted right from the start, utilizing soft synth tones and an easygoing beat. Yes, I’ll pull out my overused descriptor “languid” to categorize Rollercoaster (which is ironic given its title!).
On the plus side, the song is consistent in this approach. The melodies and performance are equally subdued. Too subdued, if you ask me. Vocal effects smooth the edge from the delivery, giving Rollercoaster a sleepy, slurred sound. It’s very reminiscent of material that flooded Western pop charts from 2017-19, favoring a minimalist approach and relatively uneventful refrains. This crafts a pleasant vibe, but doesn’t pull me in. DKB’s members seem to have some nice vocal tones, yet they aren’t given much spotlight here. I’ll give kudos to the group and Brave Brothers for sticking with a signature sound. I just wish I could get excited about their music.
| Hooks | 7 |
| Production | 7 |
| Longevity | 7 |
| Bias | 7 |
| RATING | 7 |
The Bias List // K-Pop Reviews & Discussion 
This song ends the trend of each DKB song getting better, so I’ll forget it, and hope they finally release an 8+ song next time.
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I personally like the song, but that’s me having a soft spot towards dkb
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The kind of chill, vibey trap songs are very much up my alley but this one feels extremely forgettable. I actually think it could have done with some more actual rapping as less sing-rap. It also reminded me of 1Team’s Vibe except I don’t like it anywhere near as much (that 6.5 was criminal btw) but yeah id probably give it a 7 as well.
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I’m not in love with the processing on some of the vocals, but I like the R&B/hip-hop vibe and the old school record scratch outro make me smile. Apparently this is R&B month.
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I like it but it’s about me liking chill r&b songs in general and coming from someone who likes Bambi by Baekhyun or Fever by ENHYPEN which are also rated in the 7s here.
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I just counted, and of the 83 new releases I playlisted this month, 29 of them went on my funk, r&b and soul playlist, including this one. I like “Fever” too, although “Bambi” doesn’t quite do it for me – I’m picky about songs with prominent falsetto.
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Yay fellow funk and r&b lover! 🤩 Btw Fever is my favorite song from enhypen because i believe they’re more effective doing songs like that compared to their happy dance songs that don’t do much for me.
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Oh look, here’s number 30!
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And number 31.
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This would be number 32 except I have a separate playlist for retro dance tracks and also the song itself came out last month. I am having a happy music morning!
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Those are pretty good! Speaking of taeho, i miss imfact….
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sargun’s comment on the still review still remains the most iconic one on this blog
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Along with Xeno’s 2019 chain, ofc. Though personally, I’d still give Sargun the edge, that comment is legendary.
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i need to find it, tell me which review or your toes go to Toemint
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The best of list of 2019
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It’s a series of comments over 5 posts in reaction to Nick’s end of year list.
https://thebiaslist.com/2019/12/16/the-top-50-k-pop-songs-of-2019-day-one-50-41/
https://thebiaslist.com/2019/12/17/the-top-50-k-pop-songs-of-2019-day-two-40-31/
https://thebiaslist.com/2019/12/18/the-top-50-k-pop-songs-of-2019-day-three-30-21/
https://thebiaslist.com/2019/12/19/the-top-50-k-pop-songs-of-2019-day-four-20-11/
https://thebiaslist.com/2019/12/20/the-top-50-k-pop-songs-of-2019-day-five-10-1/
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Wait, I gave a reply, and it says ‘waiting for moderation’. Seems like Nick now has moderation?
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It only happens if a certain amount of links are included in a comment. I approved it 🙂
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That legendary comment is immortalized in the best of bias list page.
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I just found it again too last night as I was trying to remember who this DKB group is and what did I think of them before.
The comment, it made me cry. Especially the part about when you try to hold in a laugh because its like your moms funeral or something and you hold it in so hard that you actually start to cry.
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I was very distracted by the ultra letterbox format of the video. On the youtube web page, the extreme wideness shifts the proportions of the everything else on the page layout so I spent the first play cursing about how to find the right hand queue to idly rearrange the order while I listen, and cursing and swearing over the what is otherwise a chill song.
Yeah, the song its OK. Mellow kpop R&B boy band. Meets expectations.
… and its not like the video is freekin Lawrence of Arabia that it needs the extreme letterbox aspect ratio, cmon people. I cry. I cry more than holding in a sneeze cry.
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The first part of the chorus kind of reminds me of “It Wasn’t Me” by Shaggy. Definitely different vibes though haha. This song’s fine, I feel relaxed listening to it but probably won’t revisit it.
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