Review

Song Review: (G)I-DLE – Nxde

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(G)I-DLE - Nxde(G)I-DLE’s Tomboy has become an enduring 2022 hit, and I just don’t get the hype. But, the same could be said about the group as a whole. I try to be as objective as I can on a blog called “The Bias List,” but there are some acts that test that objectivity. (G)I-DLE aren’t for me, and that’s an understatement. I find much of their music actively obnoxious and self-indulgent, so if you’re a fan I’ll spare you the drama and recommend you skip my unbiased thoughts entirely! This ain’t gonna be pretty.

As their career has progressed, (G)I-DLE have become masters of concept. Their comeback tracks almost always hinge on evocative ideas, but those ideas are expressed in the most juvenile, broad way. It’s gotten to the point where the concept trumps the actual music, and new single Nxde may be the pinnacle of that problem. The underlying idea is sound: Broadway-friendly vaudeville act turned K-pop song. But, there’s nothing here. No real chorus, no memorable melody in the verses and plenty of unnecessary mugging for the camera. To be honest, if I didn’t run a K-pop blog that covered every new release, I would have turned Nxde off after its first few seconds. That intro is a challenge to get through.

I wrote similar thoughts about Stray Kids’ recent release – how sometimes music can feel too pleased with its own cleverness. I’ve always found this to be an off-putting energy, and maybe that explains why I have such difficulty with (G)I-DLE’s discography. Whatever the case, there are few redeeming qualities here. I never want to hear Nxde again, but the group’s popularity almost ensures I will.

Hooks 5
 Production 7
 Longevity 6
 Bias 3
 RATING 5.25

Grade: F

242 thoughts on “Song Review: (G)I-DLE – Nxde”

    • This review reads entirely like it’s written by a person who watched the video on mute. There’s absolutely zero acknowledgment of the theme or what’s being addressed in the song. If all that the blogger the video was the 20s style theme, then I’d have to suggest that they perhaps didn’t even actually listen to the song or try to see what it was about.

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    • We know you don’t like them since debut. And you are obviously being biased, giving them low points just because you didn’t get what the song actually means. I think NEVERLAND and even other kpopies are smarter, knowing they get the message easily, but you unfortunately didn’t.

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      • Well, if we’re going by “not getting the message”, then let’s base the song on its title. Specifically, let’s define “Nude”

        1. Nude, as in Bare: devoid of amplification or adornment.
        2. Nude, as in Raw: unprepared or imperfectly prepared for use.
        3. Nude, as in Barren: lacking interest or charm; or lacking inspiration or ideas.

        So you see, many here do understand the meaning of words. Maybe it has nothing to do with the meaning or the message. Maybe it has to do with the music, the arrangement, etc.. Maybe people just won’t like some songs; you know, the way you won’t like some people if they don’t agree with you. Think on it. See if you can “get the message”.

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        • their presentation of “Nude” is actually none of that, but not covering themself with anymore nonsense and being the true you. You were born without clothes and so “Nude” in Soyeon’s perspective was that it represents her own Body image , a twisted lorelei that dont need no man and a self made woman. She said this herself in the interview. Basically after the rap part too , Soyeon presented the “Did you think we were gonna go fully nude for you perverts? No.” because based off the trailers and concept images its giving the vibe that they are actually gonna go nude in the MV , and alot of people actually wanted that to happen.

          But TBH , i dont really like the song. Sure the meaning and theme is great but Soyeon’s part was all unbearable except the rap.

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      • He has nothing against the group. He just doesn’t like the music and other kpop fans don’t like it either. Being a neverland is just being biased towards to group and anything they do.

        It’s his opinion and he defended it. You don’t have to agree but you can’t insist they have something against the artists when there’s no evidence of that. This is what Korean entertainment companies want, to sell you a fantasy so that you’re going to bat for these performers who may be in the wrong or don’t need to be defended to begin with

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  2. This song is a bit of a hot mess. All over the place. In a good way or bad way?

    My issue is that G-idle sings or “intones” with such affectations which have grown even more intense over time that they have become caricatures. I feel this one leans so heavily into vocal sounds that it sounds like a wonky animated cartoon song to me. And not in a good way.

    This is my year 2022 in kpop, to paraphrase Nick: “{Insert popular song here} has become an enduring 2022 hit, and I just don’t get the hype. But, the same could be said about the kpop as a whole.”

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  3. Haha, everything you said, I feel the exact same way about Aespa’s Next Level and Savage. Just proves music hit people differently, and that’s ok!
    What drew me to this comeback was definitely the concept and the well execution of the MV. Without it, would’ve taken me awhile to get the song.

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  5. Yahhh this is not for me.
    I made it through the intro cuz I thought maybe they were gonna drop it into some sort of T-ara “Roly poly” or Orange Caramel “My copycat” sort of dance pop, but it surely did not happen.
    Turned it off mid first chorus. Pretty cringe.
    Just really not for me.

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  6. Dear Soyeon,

    I can understand what you’re aiming to do with your songwriting approach which focuses on concept more than the song itself. Although I enjoyed the alt-rock jam of Tomboy (I’ve still got the uncensored version on repeat) and managed to somehow appreciate its second verse’s dumb lyrics, this one crosses the uncrossable red line. It’s just cringe of the cringe. Because of this, the entire song was unlistenable, and I could hardly listen to it to the end.

    Talking about the rating, at first it was 5.75, but after the second listen 4 at best for me. My gosh, even Norazo singing about bread or vegetables are much, much better compared to this song.

    Overall, WHY, WHYYYYYYYYYYYY 95% of October releases have been rather boring or bad to the point of becoming unlistenable????? WHYYYYY?!?!?!?!…😭😭😭😭😭😭

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    • Big oof, sorry you couldn’t stand Vision, Hush Rush, Underwater, Long Live the King, Antifragile, Illella, Hello, Case 143, 28 Reasons, Bye Bye, etc etc. at this point maybe you should ask yourself if you enjoy kpop anymore! I certainly phased out of Gen 2 kpop and only came back recently. Perhaps give it a break for a couple years and try again?

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      • Frankly, I don’t hate almost all songs you’ve mentioned here, the majority of them are just…meh. 28 Reasons and Hello are good, while Long Live The King is nice, as well, but something undistinguishable keeps me away from coming back to it, same with Hush Rush. Antifragile has already got grating, and Case 143 was terrible to my taste for the same reasons as Nxde. That’s the actual deal.

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    • but what does any of this have to do with stray kids…
      i guess i kind of see nick’s connection but i still think it is tenuous at best… if case 143 is a little bit “hehe see what we did there ;)”…. that’s really nothing compared to the level of this song
      maybe it just grates on me more personally because this is hitting you over the head with a BIG STATEMENT SONG, whereas case 143 is not trying to “say” anything in particular it’s just being cute

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  8. I’m sad that the song isn’t better because I love the aesthetics of the MV (even though not all of the visual references are well-chosen or well-placed). I feel the same way about it as I feel about a lot of (G)-Idle’s output, which is that the underlying idea is good and they could have done something really fun with it if they didn’t take themselves so seriously.

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  10. uh.. The chorus kinda reminds me of sub urban in not so good way, I am not sold on this one just like tomboy. At least we don’t have to endure that awful rap part, I guess.

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  11. They’re the only self producing GG in kpop right now.. I gotta give them that and they got the chutzpah to be different and not go with the current trends which all other GG are programmed to like androids. I see how u show your love for Le Sserafim’s Antifragile after reading your review of that awful track, which if you have a vast taste of music globally, will agree that they blatantly copied the sound and style of the global hit CON ALTURA by the one and only LA ROSALIA. If u loved and adored that song like me, I bet youll be raising you eyebrow like I did also. Oh, did I mention (G)I-DLE write their own music,or contributes majority of the production, regardless if the outcome suits your taste or not. I always believe you can’t be a musical artist if you cant write your own music or at least collaborate.

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    • Well Nick did preface it by saying he doesn’t vibe with Gidle as a group, which is totally valid, so the extreme bias is expected. Just because a group is completely self producing does not mean they always put out music that everyone loves (I love it, but not everyone).
      Antifragile was a perfectly ok song, I’m just surprised Nmixx O.O got higher score, but everyone has different tastes. Even I have extreme aversions for certain groups

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    • Here’s something for you to ponder over since you can’t seem to grasp it, but people are allowed to hate songs that you like and vice versa. It doesn’t matter if they write their own songs or not, they’re going to be judged to the same standards as others and if their song doesn’t hit all the notes for a reviewer, they’re going to be called out for it.

      Also, you could say that maybe there’s some inspiration that Antifragile takes from Con Altura, but to say that it’s a blatant copy is just downright ignorant bias being shown.

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      • Honey, the did. To be fair, this process of “interpolation” of a specific portion or sound from one song to create a new song can be tricks and sometimes messy. I’ll give you an example, Beyonce’s Break my Soul, which contains an interpolation of Kelis Milkshake, which resulted in a bitter feud of these two artist.

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        • Beyonce’s “Energy” was the song that contained a portion of Milkshake, and I believe it was a sample not an interpolation. Luckily, the way music is distributed these days allowed her to simply remove that small sample and the song basically sounds unchanged.

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    • So you believe that just because they take part in making their own music they should be eligible to get a free pass from criticism? Because it sounds an awful lot like that’s what you’re alluding to. Like many K-pop fans, you seem to find it difficult to grasp that just because you like a song, not everybody else will.

      Also, I can see where some would think that Antifragile draws inspiration from Con Altura, but to think it’s a blatant copy is just ignorant bias being displayed on your part.

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    • “[LE SSERAFIM] blatantly copied the sound and style of the global hit CON ALTURA by the one and only LA ROSALIA” talking about having a “vast taste of music globally” when multiple Latin artists have that same reggaeton sound long before Rosalia released Con Altura… hell, one of the songwriters/producers on ANTIFRAGILE (Isabella Lovestory, an actual Latina) has been producing songs like that before Rosalia even became a thing. booooo 🍅🍅🍅🍅🍅🍅🍅🍅🍅🍅

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      • Name 1 song that sounded like Con Altura, from the looping sound that starts the song until those drums kicks in and all the way down to the melody that rosalia creates when she sings which can be heard distinctly on Antifragile. I’ll be waiting..

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    • J.C. is the same person who refuses to eat anything made by anyone with actual know-how in the kitchen and insists all their food is self-produced.

      J.C., shitting blood into the pot after throwing shit in a pot, mixing it sloppily and cooking it for certainly far too little time: “Slay! All-kill! Your faves could never”

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  13. I was looking forward to this release because of the concept, and the music video delivered, but man the song is 😬 I’d watch the MV again but with the volume off. I was impressed by Shuhua’s sung lines though, if there’s anything good to say about the song itself…

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  15. The MV is gorgeous but not there musically and I feel like I’m not getting the concept (or maybe I’m looking for something that’s not there?). It feels similar to Tomboy in execution except that had a chorus you could sing along to. I wish they would do something like Hwaa again, that was beautiful. I’m a bit biased toward (G)-Idle because of their foreign members and I feel like they were the one “different” gg before aespa, NMIXX, Le Sserafim, NewJeans, etc. came along. I think they’re going to have to work harder going forward to stand out rather than coast on their popularity.

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  16. Mercifully the intro is the worst part of this by a sizeable margin. Bigger problem is that the parts of this song just don’t really work together. Too many disparate pieces and tempo changes, too few hooks.

    At this point I’m just a Yuqi solo stan. Man did they fall off after their debut year, which I actually greatly enjoyed…

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  17. I don’t know, I’m torn between liking and despising it. I love the instrumentation of this song, it’s mixed and arranged pretty well knowing throwbacks wasn’t Soyeon’s forte/style to produce. THE problem for me is… Nxde sounded like its whole vibe is being villainous and mean. The delivery of the lines weren’t as elegant/graceful or serious as I thought they would be. At the end I wasn’t repulsed to it, I’ll probably listen to Nxde like a guilty pleasure rather than a proper favorite.

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    • I’m feeling the “look how bad I am, I punch Teddy bears” vibe from them since Tomboy and this concept is actually not my cup of tea, and I’ve seen a lot of people claiming this kind of message is feminist.

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      • People (especially on the internet) have a very warped understanding of feminism. Feminist is not how I’d describe their concept. “Look how bad I am, I punch Teddy bears” gives more “Barbie getting her revenge but her dollhouse upbringing has left her with the intelligence of a 4 yr old” than anything else, tbh. And that’s kind of Gidle’s whole concept and probably why I can’t vibe with them as a group.

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        • Why is this comment so perfect? 😭 I low-key agree. I found Tomboy mostly “fun” – the whole barbie doll thing and everything. Nxde’s aesthetics are gorgeous from what I’ve seen in the trailer and I really wanted a old style theatrical song…. I haven’t heard it yet because I’ve been in a bad mood since yesterday and the last thing I want is to get even more annoyed by it lmao especially after knowing it’s not what I had hoped for.

          But it kinda scares me how across almost 99% of the Internet you cannot say you do not like their recent concepts or songs. Because it’s no longer being treated as a song – it’s like some work of art and if I don’t get it I’m stupid, superficial, evil or something lol. The Emperor’s New Clothes is the best way to describe kpop today. I can take it as a fun piece but the whole deep feminism message in it – is just not for me. I mean, the hate Wei got over changing Tomboy’s lyrics to King or whatever was rather over the top according to me. I also don’t really like the whole you gotta be a tough badass and like badass stuff and beat up teddies to be a strong girl vibe 💀 And for the record… I’m a girl.

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          • Well, this certainly isn’t the case for G-idle, historically and even now, people have always been free to shit on them as a group. Hell even a group as famous as BP had their song Pink Venom shat on. So I disagree that you are unable to express your opinions. It’s only a problem once you start attacking a specific member of a group, it’s childish and just plain toxic.
            For me, I disliked the rap in Tomboy as it was low-key cringe for me, but I didn’t find an issue in Nxde. I think it might be the tone Soyeon raps in this song that turned people off. In her other works as well as her time in KDA, they were damn near perfect

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    • I do agree that the delivery of the lines was part of the reason they didnt sell it as well. Especially Soyeon her voice is just too high pitched for this concept lol

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  18. When I was about 8 or 9 years old, I had to go to the dentist. My mother told me to get ready and not take all day. I told her I’d be ready to go before she was and she laughed saying, “I’ll believe that when I see it.”. So, I ran upstairs and quickly got dressed and ready as fast as I could. I then ran to her room and burst open the door and exclaimed gleefully, “TADA!”. Well, she was standing there buck naked. After an eardrum piercing shriek, I closed the door and quietly walked back to my room. A few moments later, she stood in my doorway and calmly said, “It’s time to go.”. I nodded and made my way to the car. Throughout the rest of the day, I never said a word to her and never made any eye contact with her. The only other thing she said to me (outside of normal things) was, “You know you should always knock before you enter my room, right?”; which I acknowledged with a nod.

    Why am I mentioning this? Because after seeing this video, I can’t help but draw a few comparisons. Specifically:

    1. This is the second time I’ve unpleasantly encountered a nude.
    2. Some things can’t be unseen and are burned into your brain; like this MV.
    3. I’m going to spend the rest of the day pretending what I saw didn’t happen.
    4. I finally found something more audibly unsettling than my mom’s ear puncturing banshee wail.
    5. I feel shame. Lots and lots of shame. Not guilt, because I didn’t actually do anything. Just.. ..shame.

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  20. My issue with this song is that… this doesn’t feel like a song at all? Sure, as a performance act it’s quite decent (also considering that this type of act was my kind of bias), but If I hear this song without the video I wouldn’t bother listening to it again later :/

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  21. This was kinda unbearable, all their melodies start to sound the same, but at least Tomboy had charm.
    It’s clear that Soyeon has made Gi-dle have its own distinctive sound, but sometimes I’d like her to hear other opinions, not just of people praising her. Maybe it’s just a dumb idea. Don’t take me seriously.

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  22. I was so excited for this when I saw images of the video but I shouldn’t have been supprised by how dissatisfying the track turned out. G idle have such good performers, they really just need the right song. Hann proves that

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  24. I believe there were good intentions behind this song, I really do, but the music is uhh…

    Even as some who enjoys songs that feel full and even “noisy”, this one is just loud. Shouldn’t have listened to it with headphones on, right after waking up :sob:. It’s a shame because the concept was cool.

    Anyways, Red Velvet stand as the only group to successfully sample classical music (at least recently).

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  25. I think Soyeon is the worst part of any G-Idle song, idc that she produces the records, her tone never matches the songs, it’s almost like her does it on purpose. The chorus sounds like they found the lowest audio quality of a violin sample and ripped out the low notes.

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  26. Personally, I like this one. I think it’s unique and at least tries to make a point, plus it’s stuck in my head. But I completely understand why it’s not for everybody, it’s a very (G)I-DLE song and as Nick admitted, he doesn’t like their sound, which is ok! But I’d say everyone should listen to the b-sides, especially Change, which are pretty good.

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  27. All the girls look beautiful with blonde/pink/dirty blonde hair and the music video was cool. Those are the only redeeming parts of it though. As mentioned earlier this song takes the “aren’t we so clever?” approach to the max and it’s kind of uncomfortable to see.

    Soyeon. Girl. Your rap tone and vocal tone can be nice but this was just very obnoxious? Your a cool girl but this was just so…. over the top.

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  28. This is a strange song. It sounds like someone gave them record of scathing Brecht/Weill satirical songs and they are putting it through this modern girl group Kpop filter. I hear 70s Kander and Ebb (Cabaret, Chicago) and a bunch of other stuff too. The usual stuff you pull out to be quirky if you don’t want to resort to goth or metal. I don’t know what to think. I love Brecht/Weill done more traditionally, and Kander and Ebb but I just don’t know. It kind of works. I don’t know.

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  29. I get it, Soyeon. You’re a good composer, a good rapper, I know.

    But im sure its annoying to see you appear at the beginning and end of the video, get the majority of lines, sing the chorus.

    Its just not fair for the other girls, its G-Idle, not Soyeon and her backup dancers. The chorus would sound so much better if other girl was singing it

    PD: Shuhua looks amazing, thats the best part of the song

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    • The line distribution is pretty fair across the entire album. Yuqi and Minnie both have songs they wrote on the album as well. The distribution on Nxde is very balanced across all the girls too. If I recall, the difference between most and least was only something like 5%.

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    • Honestly I sometimes feel like these complaints are ridiculous. Uneven doesn’t necessarily equal bad to me. This song I see the issue, it really does seem like soyeon and friends. I can’t remember miyeon in this at all and I’ve seen the video multiple times. I think soyeon composing and being one of the most popular members is why she gets so many lines. Doesn’t stop people from listening and streaming, so that don’t have much incentive to change that

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      • People only look at the title track and make assumptions. It’s a 6 song EP, Soyeon composed 2, Yuqi 2, Minnie 2. Like what are they even complaining about when they say Soyeon is selfish and arrogant. She’s been composing since day 1, why are they still lamenting how much direction she has at this point and providing “direction” for how she should behave. Success brings more hate I guess, and in the end, there’s no such thing as bad publicity. Short of getting cancelled, she’s just getting more popularity for g-idle

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  30. I don’t hate the song, but the English lines were definitely an eyebrow raise because grammatically it does not make sense, and because of that the point that the song tried to make completely skipped over my head. Plus I hate how the burlesque and the hollywood styling of the video did not last through the entire video. Them appearing in modern/’cool’ outfits took me out of the fantasy the first half of the video tried to present. There was not much consistency in the music video that I wish staid.

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  31. I actually really like the song, but I have no coherent thought as to why. Its one of the few GG title songs that has grabbed me on first listen this year tbh.

    I just wish it wasn’t so Soyeon heavy, I don’t mind her voice but it can be a little grating. I love Yuqi’s voice so more of her please! Fairer line distribution would be great.

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    • “As their career has progressed, (G)I-DLE have become masters of concept. Their comeback tracks almost always hinge on evocative ideas, but those ideas are expressed in the most juvenile, broad way. It’s gotten to the point where the concept trumps the actual music, and new single Nxde may be the pinnacle of that problem. The underlying idea is sound: Broadway-friendly vaudeville act turned K-pop song.”

      In my humble opinion, the problem lies in Soyeon alone. She’s the one who writes, produces, arranges all title tracks to the point I believe she has the power to decide what sort of concepts her group do. Why the ideas are expressed in the most juvenile way is because she does not ‘grow’ as an artist. Why? Maybe it’s because Cube execs say yes to everything she said due to her popularity, or simply because (G)I-DLE sells.

      I refuse to listen to this nonsensical song twice. Once is enough to hurt my ears and braincells.

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    • I love Yuqi’s deeper voice, but she goes so deep in tone in this song that she comes off as a parody of herself. But watch. Idle will in what of my favorite quotes “merely laugh themselves in an invariably bank-wards direction.”

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  34. i feel like y’all are overreacting to this song or just REALLY hate gidle because ive listened to it several times and i still can’t find what y’all find egregiously wrong with this song. the only issue i have with it is soyeons grating voice (which is especially grating this time around tbh) but everything else is fine. it’s not my favorite gidle song but it’s still fun

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  36. I honestly didn’t make it past the second chorus. I enjoyed Tomboy, which really grew on me dispite the trite lyrics. My problem with this one is the vocal effects and Soyeon. Don’t use so much filtering on girls that can seriously sing! And Soyeon is an aquired taste that I never aquired.
    This is a group that could really benefit from working with a new composer and producer every now and again.

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  37. Sad to see the direction they’re taking G-idle.

    This is even worse than Tomboy, which was only “decent” in my mind (Though not as bad as Anti-fragile. That song is hot garbage).

    Long gone are the days of Hann and Hwaa.

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  38. Lmao coming from a person who rated ‘pink venom’ 6.7 something. That pink venom lyrically didn’t make sense, the rap was cringey the whole song seemed like 3 diff songs and even if it did have a meaning to it’s lyrics it was all about how good I am/ how hot I am , how rich I am. This sure speaks something about how ‘biased’ you are. Did you even try to look up to the lyrics of this song?

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    • just so you know, it’s called theBIASlist for a reason. that’s why there is bias. it makes up for a quarter of the score. and for your information, lyrics is not a criterion for the scoring. Even if nick sees that the lyrics are good, it’s just not part of the criteria. This site is all about, how the vocals sounds (hooks), how the instrumentation sounds (production), how the song would last or how long nick would like listening to the song (longevity) and nick’s bias towards the song (bias).

      And nick, is just a website-writer, who judges kpop according to his own perspective and rules. you shouldn’t be taking it as a very objective scoring of how good or bad a song sounds. music is subjective remember? if you want affirmation of how good you think the song is, then don’t look for it here. I’m sure you wouldn’t be able to handle the reviews in kpopalypse.com hahaha

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    • and besides as a non-korean speaker, we wouldn’t understand the lyrics every single time we listen to kpop music, so why bother with the meaning when giving a score.

      yes, we may understand if we look up the translation but we just wouldn’t remember it each time we listen. which is why, we just ( I assume nick does too) judge on how good the vocals and the instrumentation sounds for us

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    • This is like the worst place to go to for objective scoring, you come here to check out different people’s perspective of songs you enjoy/dislike. After all, none of us have any qualifications to begin with for being the definitive judge of how good a song is. It’s all subjective. Instead you can just wait for all the awards and sales this album pulls in to validate your beliefs in this comeback, I have a feeling they will be breaking quite a few records

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  39. What’s ironic to me is that almost nothing separates CLC and (G)-idle in terms of sound. Both groups suffer from the spaghetti on the wall and see what sticks, but the difference is that with CLC it was presented as a problem Cube had, but with idle, the presentation is that it’s just Soyeon’s artistry, even though she’s never really composed a single song by herself. I think it great that more female group members are getting to be more active in their careers, but I’m sorry, it does make the music suffer in most cases. Someone should have nipped this song in the bud when they first heard that sample or recorded the intro of the song. I just can’t get behind a group that has zero consistency in their sound. If I preorder a Dreamcatcher album, I have a good idea of what I’m going to get. With idle? It literally could sound like anything… just generally an unrefined take on it.
    Popularity now among girl groups has far less to do with the music and far more to do with how good of a self-insert the idols in the group are for their fans. People get more livid when they think their faves aren’t dressed well enough than if they have duds for songs.

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    • Why do you pre-order something you never heard? I only buy if I like majority of songs and only pre-order if I’m strictly supporting a group. While I understand the concept of wanting your cake and eating it too, the whole appeal of G-idle is the different sound and concept they put out since day one. We go to Mamamoo or Dreamcatcher for consistency and that is their specific appeal, I would love Dreamcatcher to go back to their roots and do more metal, but I’m sorry, that ain’t happening!
      If G-idle is not for you, that’s fine, but they have no need to change their style to fit a minority’s specific tastes as long as they remain successful.
      I do agree with your last point however, that my main beef with the Big 4 bg/gg music, a lot are duds, but they get label priviledge, while that’s not the case for smaller labels so it must mean their music must appeal to a lot of ppl like IVE, G-idle, stayc, purple kiss, everglow, etc.

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    • What does CLC have to do with this??? CLC sounds nothing like this? If youre making the argument that they “throw sounds together and see what sticks” that the case for a good bit of kpop groups too so idk your point

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      • What I mean by that is if you followed CLC from the beginning, until the very end of their careers, they barely ever had two title tracks that sounded alike. Most likely because Cube never saw the results they wanted, they kept changing their sound and concept (concept is always secondary to me after the music… if I can’t listen to a song on its own without accompanying visuals, it doesn’t matter how great the concept is). That’s also what I mean by spaghetti on the wall. Cube tried sound and after sound to see if anything stuck instead of ever committing to anything. Anyhoo, for CLC, obviously this didn’t work. They never got the core fandom they needed or the public recognition, but the thing is, when you look at sonic differences between songs, CLC and g-idle are not that different. Do they have different music? Yes. But do they also consistently change sounds with very little through line between comeback title tracks as well? Yes. The difference is that for CLC, their failure to have a consistent sound was blamed on Cube. With idle, their sonic differences get framed by the PR machine as more or less being results of Soyeon’s creativity or genius, and yes she is talented, but she still hasn’t composed a song by herself, and she is rarely even the lead. It’s a smart PR move because it does allow Soyeon who is an all rounder have more say in their careers and doesn’t stifle her, but it also gives fans another feather they can stick in their hat as “my group self-produces, yours doesn’t.” At the end of the day, for my personal taste, an idol composing their own music doesn’t make it any better or worse of a song than it would be if someone else had written it. As for idle, I do like quite a bit of their music but not all of it, and music is subjective. You’ll never find an artist that you like 100% of what they put out, but that doesn’t mean you can’t enjoy what they release that you do like or say the reasons you might not care for something else. That’s the same for every group.

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  40. the song is a meh for me, I prefer the b-sides. but I really like the MV!! I could see myself going back to the MV, but I’m probably not going to listen to the song that much. I understand what you say about the hype and how self-indulgent their music is, I never thought of it that way, but I see it. I also don’t get the hype about Tomboy but I will never get tired of Oh my God, and I think that group has very interesting voices.

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  41. Newsflash! All you haters can suck it, this track just became the fastest title track for a 4th gen group to achieved an Realtime All-Kill on Korean charts! The royalties Soyeon will be collecting.. meanwhile, your faves could never relate, because they are just some lifeless android who cant make their own song except to wait for their company yo
    to programmed them with recycled boring and forgettable concepts with songs made by the white man

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  42. Finally someone came out and said it.

    This group has been full of itself for quite some time, Soyeon has run out of the few good ideas she had now it’s just all repetition, shock value and pandering.

    Kpop recently has not only been meh at absolute best it almost seems to be revelling in how garbage it’s become.

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  43. Surprised no one has mentioned the movie Blonde (2022) yet. Probably because it was a flop, and maybe you guys don’t run in the same circles I do, but clearly Soyeon saw all 2 hours and 46 minutes of the film and felt inspired. Anyway, this has been an awfully depressing year for poor Marilyn Monroe’s legacy, and I think we need to just let her rest at this point.

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  44. It’s funny because while writing thi comment, nxde actually have lots of positive reviews on other site, has sold half a million copies in just 2 days, and currently number 1 in all local korean charts. Nick here never really like (G)I-DLE and their songs so basically, his review do have a point for him. I think it’s time to stop reviewing songs of other artist that you don’t really like because it’s unfair for them to have a bias opinion from someone who never liked them.

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    • C’mon now. Critical reviews can’t all be positive, otherwise what even is the fucking point? Plus, Nick liked their debut year material. It’s not hard to look up earlier reviews here, but he gave both 8+ (Latata 8.25, Hann 8.75).

      Anyway. How about YOU? Do YOU actually like the song, or did you just let other people and the charts decide that for you?

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    • I am so confused by this. So, people should only review things they like and all critiquing should be thrown out of the window? People are allowed to have different, and yes, negative reactions to things you like, you know….And, what do you mean by unfair? Nick’s opinions don’t affect the group and frankly it’s nice to have a place where it isn’t just stans that will praise whatever song their group released regardless of its actual quality. People’s blind stan mentality these days is so weird.

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      • Hello, I get what you mean. And I understand that everyone have their own opinion. I’m sorry if I offended anyone. I wanted to delete the comment, but can’t seem to find a DELETE button. It would mean a lot if Nick could delete it. Thank you.

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    • So groups should only be reviewed by people that like them? Doesn’t that unfairly tip the results in the opposite direction? Oh, wait.. ..of course it does.

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  45. from the moment that music is dominating the charts, all this matter has become irrelevant, totally partial, you can make mistakes even in the way that groups produce themselves, in the end you evaluate things that only the public can answer

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  47. I wouldn’t say that this song is bad but the bad parts of the song are just that bad. It would be fine if the start and Soyeon’s parts were changed. I do have to agree that the concept for this heavily trumps the actual music though.

    I read somewhere that this song was called ‘Nxde’ to stop the objectification of idols / people when you search them on google so that’s really cool about this comeback.

    But overall this song isn’t the worst but it’s just not good

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    • yes, for me if a person never liked something, and every time something comes out, they will always say bad things, this for me is nothing more than hate, I didn’t even know it, and I went to see some of the other posts with gidle , just don’t like the group

      if he has the right to always criticize, I have the right not to agree

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      • There’s a difference between not agreeing with someone and telling them to stop posting reviews because of that same disagreement. One is an inalienable right, the other is throwing a tantrum.

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        • I only criticized his opinion, for me it is without basement, which is harmed by not liking the group

          the point is that gidle doesn’t hit him, not liking self-produced groups is already a pre-concept, not a specific analysis

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          • Oh get a fucking grip. BTS are also self-produced and as down on their recent music as Nick has been, he absolutely loved a long stretch of their work (2013-18). Nick’s complaint isn’t that he doesn’t like “self-producing” groups (whatever the fuck that means, because production credits can be for the most menial things such as hitting a spoon against the counter to make a percussive sound), it’s that (G)I-DLE just aren’t very good at it.

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    • Oh, thanks for mentioning this. Apparently it’s specifically helping to combat the spread of child porn, because IDLE’s name in korea is written as “aideul” which means children. So, if somebody was to search for child porn using the word for children + “nude” in english, this song is going to dominate the results. That’s actually pretty cool.

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      • Yeah, I should have made the connection that it was specifically children as I’m Korean but I didn’t realize that. Thanks for clarifying. I think that the message is great.

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  49. TO EVERYONE SLAMMING NICK AS A (G)I-DLE HATER…

    GROUP RELEASE REVIEWS (in chronological order):
    2018-05-03: (G)I-DLE – “Latata”: Overall Rating = 8.25
    2018-07-14: (G)I-DLE – “Hann (Alone)”: Overall Rating = 8.75
    2019-02-26: (G)I-DLE – “Senorita”: Overall Rating = 7.5
    2019-06-26: (G)I-DLE – “Uh-Oh”: Overall Rating = 8
    2019-11-03: (G)I-DLE – “Lion”: Overall Rating = 8.5
    2020-04-06: (G)I-DLE – “Oh My God”: Overall Rating = 7
    2020-07-03: (G)I-DLE – “DUMDi DUMDi”: Overall Rating = 7.5
    2021-01-11: (G)I-DLE – “HWAA”: Overall Rating = 8
    2021-04-29: (G)I-DLE – “Last Dance”: Overall Rating = 7.75
    2022-03-14: (G)I-DLE – “Tomboy”: Overall Rating = 7.75
    2022-10-17: (G)I-DLE – “Nxde”: Overall Rating = 5.25

    SOLO RELEASE REVIEWS (in chronological order):
    2021-05-13: Yuqi – “Giant”: Overall Rating = 8
    2021-05-15: Yuqi – “Bonnie & Clyde”: Overall Rating = 9
    2021-06-05: Jeon Soyeon – “Beam Beam”: Overall Rating = 8
    2022-04-27: Miyeon – “Drive”: Overall Rating = 8.5

    …DO YOUR FUCKING HOMEWORK!

    For fucks sake, while he may not have personally liked each release enough to put it on 24/7 repeat like a rabid fucking lemming, he at least judged each on their own merits.

    So please.. ..pretty please, with sugar on top; and a cherry.. ..know what you’re talking about before you post shit that makes you look like a fucking idiot!

    P.S. We now return you to your regularly scheduled insanity.
    P.P.S. Love you all! 😀
    P.P.P.S. Well, most of you; anyways. 😛

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      • The numbers I listed as based on each review page. If Nick adjusted those values in a different post, then those values are not covered. My point was that Nick isn’t a “(G)I-DLE hater” that instantly reviews every one of their releases with goose eggs as he twiddles his long black mustache.

        P.S. Please don’t quote me on the mustache part. He may, or may not have a long black mustache. If so, he may twiddle it from time to time. If anyone can supply a confirmation on this then.. ..PICS! …or it didn’t happen!

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  50. I didn’t comment earlier because I couldn’t get through the entire song to bother. Then I saw your twitter post! Wow. This comment space is really something. I thought only my fandom (i.e. ARMY) did shit like this….Clearly, your site is popular across the board Nick! Don’t know whether to congratulate or console…..(but this was good Popcorn time lol)

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