Review

Song Review: ENHYPEN – Future Perfect (Pass The Mic)

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ENHYPEN - Future Perfect (Pass The Mic)The other day, I was reminiscing about ENHYPEN’s October title track Tamed-Dashed. I realized I would’ve appreciated it even more if it had been released during the summer. But since K-pop boy groups are apparently limited to one sound only in 2022 (ie: shouting), we’re treated to the blustery Future Perfect (Pass The Mic) instead.

According to the agency, Future Perfect is inspired by the Chicago Drill movement in rap music. Please, K-pop… I beg of you. I know you love appropriating genres from around the world, but some things are just beyond your scope. This style is doing the ENHYPEN sound – with its hyper-processed, mushy-mouthed vocals – no favors. Rap is a potential gold mine for a group as choreography-focused as they are, but the producers need to lay off the vocal effects. Most of Future Perfect sounds as if it’s being performed by robots, which directly counteracts the rawness that should be at the heart of a track like this.

Because of this, the song’s strongest elements (that brass!) become buried in a muddled mix. Rather than sound crisp and dynamic, Future Perfect feels like some guys shouting from the other side of an old phone. The experience is meant to be widescreen, but the mixing constrains it. And because we live in 2022: The Year Without a Chorus, there aren’t any melodic hooks to pull us out of the claustrophobic arrangement. Instead, we move from shout-rapping to shout-singing to… shouting. It’s a shame, because in other hands I could see this becoming a fun energy-booster.

 Hooks 6
 Production 7
 Longevity 8
 Bias 7
 RATING 7

51 thoughts on “Song Review: ENHYPEN – Future Perfect (Pass The Mic)”

  1. Blessed-Cursed, O.O, Ven para, and this, all have something in common – co-produced/co-written by music production team THE HUB. this might be their worst song yet (both ENHYPEN and THE HUB).

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    • Lol I knew you would hate hate hate this. I can’t even explain why I love it. I have no idea what Chicago Drill is, even after reading a description, and I wouldn’t hold them to a close adherence to the rules for it, whatever they are. I mean, kpop rap sounds nothing like American rap – it’s a super soft and squeaky clean adaptation – and who cares? I guess this particular style was chosen for the storyline that I don’t keep up with. Anyway, my typical listening outside kpop skews toward Dead Can Dance, so where my liking for this sort of sound comes from I do not know.

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  2. Oh no…
    It’s so fucking terrible that HYBE did it to Enhypen…

    Honestly, I hate this song. Over and over again, it’s all about sing-shouting, posturing, and an absolutely unpardonable amount of autotune. Damn, just when are we gonna finally get over this noise music and move onto something new for k-pop???!!! I’m afraid that the true answer will remain a mystery forever…..
    I have a valid, very valid question:

    Just why Shout Out didn’t become the title, huh? WHYYYYYYYYY? That track is such a masterpiece…

    Btw, the comparison of the the guys’ vocals to shouting from another side of an old phone is chef’s kiss.
    My final rating of the song is 6.25.

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  4. this is not good. no one in kpop really belongs anywhere near drill, it’s just not a style that idols have the grit or gravitas to pull off, and this production feels like an imitation created by someone who doesn’t really know what drill is. also, this is a lot more like NY drill (Pop Smoke, 22GZ) than Chicago drill (Chief Keef, Lil Durk) – HYBE take notes.

    sorry if this is harsh, i’m just sick of kpop trying to be something it’s not. i just don’t know who involved thought that they were qualified to make a good drill song. given-taken through tamed-dashed were great, and it’s annoying to see such a big miss come out of a promising group. whatever happened to boy groups singing melodies and having fun!!

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  5. Misplaced my comment so I’m reposting:

    Lol I knew you would hate hate hate this. I can’t even explain why I love it. I have no idea what Chicago Drill is, even after reading a description, and I wouldn’t hold them to a close adherence to the rules for it, whatever they are. I mean, kpop rap sounds nothing like American rap – it’s a super soft and squeaky clean adaptation – and who cares? I guess this particular style was chosen for the storyline that I don’t keep up with. Anyway, my typical listening outside kpop skews toward Dead Can Dance, so where my liking for this sort of sound comes from I do not know.

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  6. shout out is a much better and a more fun song, i defended enhypen to death for blessed cursed cause i loved that one and then they go and release this…

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  7. I think my main gripe is that it wants to be a drill track but only in the verses. The bridge just wimps out into a standard boy group bridge and the chorus is just boring. If you are gonna promote yourself as doing a )insert genre here) track I want that all the way through. The 2nd verse is just short as hell, it felt like it really wanted to cut back into the bridge asap.

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  8. Tbh i didn’t HATE it. It’s better than most kpop shout-a-thons being put out recently. But i doubt I’ll go back to it much in all honesty. I will say as a pretty avid Drill fan, never thought I’d see the day a kpop group would attempt the sound. Especially given it’s like the polar opposite to what kpop represents.

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    • I love you. I love your writing. But this comment you made, it is the starting of my villain origin story.

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  10. Haha, I was prepared to see this being ripped to shreds but wasn’t expecting it to be done because of the extra info and expectations attached 😅.

    Ok, I dont know all the technical knowhow of “drill” and wasn’t aware of any of the other stuff and so my pure unbiased opinion based on just what I heard now – I like this! 😂

    Given Taken had always been my fave from these guys followed by Drunk Dazed. And then I like the Japanese version of Tamed Dashed. Blessed Cursed… it exists… sometimes.

    This one for me is a mix between Given Taken and Drunk Dazed – the pre chorus part’s a bit like the former and the other parts like the latter.

    There is actually an SKZ vibe about the song and MV but I don’t think Enhypen has the swag to pull it off to that level yet. And on that I agree in other hands it could have been different. This kinda mood doesn’t suit them completely but there were some good moments in the MV – the scene with the windows? Classic Enhypen stuff I appreciate and also why Given Taken is still my fave among their stuff and maybe even beating out many other stuff of that year.

    Now one thing I have always said – I dislike the Hybe mixing where everybody has been autotuned and mixed in to sound like the exact same android and that clearly affects this song as well because whatever personality could have come from it has all been neutralized by the awful processing. I don’t know why Hybe keeps doing both TXT and Enhypen dirty with this weird mixing…

    But as a song I really think this was pretty cool and could grow on me! And hopefully the stages and live vocals will bring out the actual vibes of the song! 😀

    ~~ From the kpop fan who also likes O.O, so now you know what blasphemous taste I have 💀💀

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  11. Wow, this is horrible. It’s so annoying how some kpop producers are just trying to fit every genre into this “verse > build up > worst beat drop ever” structure

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  12. I love drill music. I think it’s a genre that is truly invigorating and incredible…when done right. Those rippling drums could have had something great come out of them, but the songwriting was just…unstable and uninteresting. This song also LACKS the things that make drill such a GOOD genre. The inauthenticity of it all is just so so unfortunate. ENHYPEN is a group with a lot of potential, and they’re being let down by poor production and musicality from individuals pulling from a sector of music they…really shouldn’t be pulling from, at least in this fashion. They can do drill—just not like this, please.

    It’s still a 6.75 to 7 in my book because at its core, it’s a listenable song. But beyond that, there’s not much else.

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  16. This…really makes me sad. Enhypen have loads upon loads of potential, heaps of talent, and producers who apparently have no clue what they are doing. Drill? Shouting? No chorus? Really thought I was going to enjoy this comeback, as the outstanding creative direction, a common thread in Enhypen’s releases, promised a grand, fun showcase of talent. Sadly, ‘twas not the case this time. At least Sunoo and Jay got to shine.

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  17. I fail to see the point of these vocal effects. It doesn’t add anything to the track and it’s used way to much. Surprisingly, I actually liked the shouty hooks but they don’t do anything for me with the production on the vocals. It also sounds like the boys are deepening their voices artificially which makes this track even harder to get behind

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  18. One of my friends like this song. She also likes Maverick so this is up her alley lmao.

    I don’t have much to say about this song. Only that, no, this doesn’t sound like drill. Stop excusing shitty music.

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  19. “It’s drill, it’s not drill” blah blah blah. Who cares the song is fine. Kpop fans always seem to want to limited it to just one genre and one particular sound. Boring bunch. I hope the industry keeps on this path so that it’s get rid of the gatekeepers and lets people who enjoy it do just that. Have a great day everyone.

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    • Um, when Kpop groups borrow music from other cultures, they need to do it with respect, not with half-assed garbage that isn’t even an accurate attempt at what it’s claiming to be. It’s not about “limiting” or “gatekeeping.”

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      • Exactly, if you want to create a drill track do it WELL, not a song with half-assed production, too much autotune and perfecting the vocals, and only have the verses sound remotely like drill. They should have just called it experimental and called it a day, at least you can defend that label with this song. And honestly, it’s not horrible but… definitely not a genuine effort at producing a drill-inspired track.

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  20. This is not as terrible as I thought it would be given everyone’s comments, but it just reminds me how lackluster I find Enhypen’s title tracks. To a certain degree I find this true of TXT as well, they just seem to lack personality. Maybe it’s a newer HYBE group thing? However, thanks for the shout out to Shout Out, which I think is one of the better rock-influenced Kpop songs this year.

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  22. I originally listened to this without music since I don’t listen to most instruments but then I made a drum only version which made it sound a bit better but yeah I agree it doesn’t seem like an Enhypen song. They normally have a similar vibe whilst still being different songs, mostly because of the vocalization in the background. ParadoXXX is a bit better, also I’m not sure why the intro and outro are in Japanese when it’s not a Japanese album. I think Hybe is encouraging groups to go in different directions like Jhope’s More, a dark theme for a guy who sung a song called Chicken Noodle Soup, in relation, BTS’s English songs that even the members said didn’t feel like BTS anymore. Jhope managed to pull off More but i think it was just a bit of a miss for Enhypen.

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  23. I am not a fan of this song tbh but I think enhypens performance makes it much more enjoyable. It kinda reminds gives me a Walmart version of No More Dream by BTS vibe. It is without a doubt their worst title track. Tamed-Dashed is the direction Id really like to see the boys go in. I agree with the sentiments above that the production team, THE HUB, needs to disappear completely lmao. I personally love enhypen and I think theyre really talented! I was excited for this comeback and I’m pretty let down. Let’s hope their next comeback they team up with a different production team and never return to this sound ever again.

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  24. Whethee or not they “borrowed” some aspects of this song from another culture, ridiculous concept btw, has no bearing on how terrible the song is.

    It’s entirely disappointing all on its on, without context.

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  25. After listening to this kinda disappointing song, I went to the album and now I’m wondering why ‘Shout Out’ wasn’t the Title Track. Shout Out is so much better in so many ways

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  27. Yeah it reminds me of Maverick. Just awful.

    o.o is the worst GG song of 2022 from one of the Big 4, and Future Perfect is the BG “winner”.

    Even the members seem to know it’s bad. Not one named it their favorite track from the album.

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  28. I’ve been a very huge fan of Enhypen since their debut and I loved them a lot because of the meaningful lyrics in their songs, they weren’t just producing songs with great beats and depth but the lyrics as well had a way of dragging you in
    But now all I hear is the stereotypical boy group song of too much auto tune where everyone either sounds the same or metallic and in this case its both, no meaningful lyrics just shouting random words together, and very awful beat changing.

    This comeback was a total let down and a sign that HYBE’s management needs to be questioned thoroughly because this is the exact same thing they did with TXT’s latest comeback where I couldn’t make heads or tail of what was going on, the only thing that saved TXT’s comeback was Opening Sequence.

    Enhypen is a group that has diverse vocals, no one sounds the same yet in this song it sounded like only Jay and NiKi were singing, Jungwon’s vocal that can never be mistaken for anyone else’s was nowhere to be found, there were no signs of Heesung’s and Jake’s vocals, Sunghoon and Sunoo were nowhere to be found as well.

    I’ve watched the MV only once since it was released and I’ve never gone back again, I even scroll past their tiktoks that have the song in it because it was a total letdown.
    The boys are not to be blamed for it because unlike BTS and Stray Kids they have no power over the production and lyricism.

    Engenes should really sign a petition to HYBE and the other entertainment agency that co-owns Enhypen to not let that person produce a song for them and should instead ask the likes of Yoongi, Namjoon, J-hope, V, and 3RACHA to help or better still they should go back to the people that helped them compose from Given-Taken to Tamed-Dashed.

    Engenes would not like to admit but we had a hard time convincing everyone of how great Blessed-Cursed was and we were hoping that their next comeback would prove to the public that Enhypen is not like all those mundane kpop groups but we’ve been let down pretty hard this time.

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    • Yep, this wasn’t a very popular one with the Bias List crowd! But, it ended up being a huge grower for me and I really like it now. Sometimes it just takes a few days, I guess…

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