Despite their rookie status, BAE173 haven’t released much music. We last heard from them nearly a year ago, when they delivered the anthemic Loved You. That song wasn’t perfect, but it had a classic touch and melodic though-line that made it stand out. With new single Jaws, the group has switched gears dramatically, opting for a clattering hip-hop banger in a familiar NCT style.
I’m sorry to see this. I think it’s a shame when rookie groups feel like they have to wedge themselves into existing trends rather than carve their own niche in the industry. I understand why agencies do this (and judging by Jaw’s music video, MBK Entertainment is clearly operating on a budget), but it makes things pretty boring for listeners. It’s like a pick-and-mix with only one choice to pick and nothing to mix. In this case, agencies are struggling to please anyone who doesn’t enjoy this noisy sound.
The thing is, there’s a decent song swimming around inside Jaws. The hip-hop verses are pretty good – even underlined by that aggravating instrumental. The guys’ vocals sound better than ever during the pre-chorus – strong and well-arranged. However, Jaws’ chorus is overly busy. Loud, shouty hooks aren’t automatically a bad thing, but when you throw a million things on top of a chorus at once, it just devolves into a wall of noise. None of the elements within this instrumental are particularly enjoyable on their own. Taken together, they’re a recipe for a headache. It’s too bad, because the actual hook is pretty catchy. Mostly, I’m confused about who MBK wants BAE173 to be. From Crush On U to Loved You to Jaws, there’s been no stylistic continuity.
| Hooks | 7 |
| Production | 6 |
| Longevity | 8 |
| Bias | 7 |
| RATING | 7 |
The Bias List // K-Pop Reviews & Discussion 
And then you hear Annoyed and wonder why that wasn’t selected as the title track when its literally a perfect continuation from Loved You
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Consistency is not something K-pop keeps in touch with nowadays.
I know how we clown CRAVITY in this site and for good reason too, but you have to give it to the guys that they developed their own niche.
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The Stray Kids / NCT sound on a budget. I wish these boys the best of luck.
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Exactly what was on my mind.
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okay but fr you have a brave brothers-produced track but they decided to relegate to a mere b-side? foul
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even besides having brave brothers as a producer, the song itself is very good. 2nd gen boy group realness
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Why doesn’t DKB get some of that good stuff?
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Plzzz try to review their bside Annoyed if you don’t consider it a buried treasure then they’ll release an mv for it and maybe you can review that but it needs exposure so they don’t do songs like this anymore 😭 it’s an MBK group that comes back once a year the last MBK bg barely lasted 3y plz.
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Just noticed this, but the opening sample seems to be the same as the one from Nature’s Rica Rica!
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That’s a problem with a lot of K-pop right now. Everyone’s using the same sample packs (in the same way, too)
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It’s not like I begrudge artists their popularity and it’s not their fault whatsoever, but certain artists getting as popular as they have has had such bad consequences on the industry as a whole.
If I went into this without knowing who did it, BAE137 would not even be in the top 20 of guesses.
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*173
That was my second typing out too as first time I typed it as !&£
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I get BAE!&# on my keyboard. Actually, its an improvement on the name.
Bae bang and pound. (which sounds better than Bae bang and hash)
BAE!&* = Bae bang and star (178) is also not bad.
I’m still waiting on SP_ACE and V.lanc to make appearances.
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