DRIPPIN unveiled a fruitful era last year with their multi-part Villainz project, scoring two spots in my top ten K-pop songs of 2022. Much of that was due to the involvement of production team Newtype, who continue to work with the group on new single Seven Sins. Unsurprisingly, the song is solid. But, its sound and style don’t thrill in the same way as past title tracks.
For me, it’s really an issue of tempo and energy. I can’t fault the group’s performance. Even minus a member, they bring plenty of verve to the song. And as a slow-burn, r&b-influenced groove it works well enough. But, there’s no moment that pulls Seven Sins beyond that. The chorus recalls a neutered version of last year’s Zero, lacking the impressive guitar distortion that gave DRIPPIN a larger-than-life presence. Apart from a last-minute injection of drama, Seven Sins plays things a little too safe. It’s a nice addition to their discography, but far from revelatory.
| Hooks | 7 |
| Production | 8 |
| Longevity | 8 |
| Bias | 8 |
| RATING | 7.75 |
Grade: C+
The Bias List // K-Pop Reviews & Discussion 
For me, there is too heavy of a contrast between the lyrics and the music. The lyrics speak to being a R&B slow jam. Isn’t. Nothing really sexy about bum clank bum clank. That clank. That clank just isn’t sexy, at least not in my book. Its industrial and cold and bleak, more suited to copying Depeche Mode moods than to someone trying to copy 90’s R&B slow jam.
Instead the song is a stealth plodding dark theme style kpop boy group song at 0.8x speed. Click 1.15x – listen, it sounds like of that type. But you can’t because the lyrics demand that “we can take it slow, nice and slow”.
Its an easy pass for me.
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I like this. It’s the kind of K-pop loopy I’ve been missing.
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Those martial drums are inexplicable but entertaining.
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I think there are some interesting things going on in the instrumental (kind of like libidO by OnlyOneOf) but the melody is too languid for it to go anywhere. I do like the addition of strings toward the end. I’m not a big fan of last year’s title tracks but I can see that they have the potential to stand out among current bgs. This song feels like a bit of a step back, though.
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Usually I love the dark bg vibe even if most others are tired of it 😂 This time though I think I really agree with you… especially on the word “safe”.
Ngl, my hopes were a tad too high. Not just going off the Zero-One effect but also because Seven Sins is a concept I really love and have always wanted to be seen more in kpop. (I have even imagined Dreamcatcher executing a wholeass series with this concept because that will be BEAUTIFUL 😭). The trailer too seemed to capture some of the essence and so I kinda hoped against hope….
For a concept that could have used more imagery, more rawness…. this felt rather safe and tame to me too 😅 I feel the song itself is alright – but when coupled with such an ambitious and rich concept… it doesn’t capture the epic vibe I envision.
Or maybe it’s because I have been spoilt silly by this :
Warning : It’s Vocaloid and ancient 💀… but the ambience of this music is what I hope for with this concept. The above song is just the last in a series and there are even songs for each Sin and elaborating them…. I think it’s perhaps my own fault for holding this concept with such reverent regard that I expected something with a more vivid/powerful vibe. 😂😅
I’ll probably enjoy their performances of this but here’s hoping I get the Seven Sins I want someday in kpop 🙂
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This style is nice. Mix it in with some cold, EBM, libidO-esque industrial beats, and some SM-like harmonies, and we have a nice cool track. Nice, but not great. The languid pacing isn’t also doing it any favor. The song and the overall video sounds and looks like “if DRIPPIN took some notes from The Boyz.” Overall, nice, but wouldn’t stay that long in my playlist.
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In terms of mid tempo ish songs, I’m sad to say that this does nothing for me. I strongly disagree with the idea that this song receives a similar rating to Boys Planet’s Over Me when the latter has a much stronger chorus and melodies in general despite having the somewhat languid pacing that is often criticized in this blog. Drippin has never missed for me yet and this was sadly a miss. I hope I can find a gem or two in the besides of the album.
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