Disclaimer: Due to South Korea’s national period of mourning until November 5th, most companies have delayed all comebacks and promotional materials. For whatever reason, YOUNITE’s music video and album went ahead as planned. It’s not my place to judge whether this decision was correct or not. Who knows what the agency’s situation is? But if they’re going to release something, I’ll write about it.
Nevertheless, my thoughts remain with the victims and the families/friends of victims in Korea.
YOUNITE are currently embroiled in a tale as old as K-pop time: Rookie group debuts with a promising sound, only to upend said sound again and again with each comeback. It’s the “throw everything at the wall and see what sticks” approach to music. I was a big fan of the group’s pre-debut Everybody, which seemed to promise a light, funky style. Debut track 1 Of 9 veered into fluffier pop territory but the guys made a major shift with this summer’s Aviator. Now, we’ve gone full on swag-shouting with the noisy, overstuffed Bad Cupid.
Proponents of this scattershot approach would argue that various concepts allow the guys to display various skills and attitudes. But, this is a pop group… not an audition show. As a fan, I’m looking for some stability. I want music that builds upon itself and contributes to a consistent discography. In the case of Bad Cupid, it’s difficult to find consistency even within the song itself.
I fear the team at Brand New Music have been listening to JYP’s “mixx-pop” genre because Bad Cupid is nearly as Frankensteiny as NMIXX’s material. The concept is cool, switching between dark and light. But as with NMIXX, these songs only work if their individual pieces are engaging enough to stand on their own. Bad Cupid throws a ton of bluster our way, often underpinned by gurgling synth distortion. It’s performed well, but there’s nothing to grab onto. Errant melody lines come and go without building to anything, while the (overused) sound of gunshots takes us into a mechanical drop that’s more off-putting than thrilling. Bad Cupid makes a huge tonal shift during its bridge, which sees the guys reverting to the cutesy lightness of their debut. But if I were to take one redeeming feature from the track, it would be the guitar-led second verse and blistering instrumental outro.
| Hooks | 6 |
| Production | 7 |
| Longevity | 8 |
| Bias | 6 |
| RATING | 6.75 |
Grade: D+
The Bias List // K-Pop Reviews & Discussion 
why do kpop companies pick the worst songs to be the title tracks?
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I’m afraid we’ll never get to know why agencies always pick the most subpar, obnoxious, unlistenable songs as title tracks…
While the b-sides are much, much better in 99.9% cases
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NCT.
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I was also surprised this was released given the circumstances, perhaps it was already set on some youtube setting to auto-release which no one turned off.
The song sounded much better on my computer speakers than on the earbuds. There are few noisy sounds in there that are just like piercing, especially the drilling sound in the chorus. On the earbuds it just goes right through me. On top of those sounds, the producers bury a ton of white noise, too much white noise like an old TV screen on a fuzzy channel.
So with all that going on, I can’t tell if the underlying song is good or bad or meh, I just find it unlistenable more than thrice.
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Second half is better than the first half, but I appreciate the ambition behind it. Still, I think Brand New’s A&R really need to focus on sticking to a sound for their groups before branching off to stuff like this, since I see it happening with AB6IX (not sure about BDC) and now with Younite.
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My gosh, WHAT THE MOTHERFUCKING HELL IS HAPPENING TO K-POP?!?!…
Aviator was atrocious due to its excessive amount of autotune in the chorus, and this one is even worse. Immediately after hearing the track’s first seconds, I wanted to rip out my ears and get another pair as a replacement. Where did the Everybody-era Younite go?…
Rating is WAAAAAAY too high again. Would personally rate it no more than 4.5.
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The guy in the red mullet looks like GWSN’s Miya (which kind of made my heart race a little bit ngl), the title is somewhat cheeky and the music video was good. That’s it. I hate when comebacks have an awesome music video but a not so awesome song…
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Also whoever manages/directs YOUNITE, what are you DOING?! How could we go from 1 of 9 to THIS?! What is happening?!?
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I usually don’t comment on songs i think that are really bad but man this song is just not it.
i checked this review before watching the MV and it’s even worse than I expected. It’s indigestible and just the reflection of what’s wrong in KPOP boy group music right now. It sucks because I love Everybody and even 1 of 9.
Apparently only the album and MV were released on time, the promotions and showcase are all delayed.
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Idk if it’s because of being an NSWER but I dig this lmao, I also like the dance break, it reminds me of something I’ve heard of before and can’t seem to remember.
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also, legit thought I clicked on a bg cover of Lalisa when I heard the intro
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I thought of it just now, the dance break reminded me of the dance break in Dreamcatcher’s Wind Blows, probably the reason why I liked it
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I don’t hate the title but I don’t love it either. THAT SAID, I actually like the EP a lot. “Time’s Up” “Power” and “Pump Your Sneakers” are fun dance tracks, some electronic and disco influences in there. “99%” is better than the title but falls into the shouty trap again. “Bestie” is a better than average fan-song closer. 3.5 stars overall.
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I was disappointed with Younite because I love their debut tracks, so I couldn’t rate it more than 6 :’)
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