BOYNEXTDOOR’s extended roll-out continues with their second pre-release One And Only. I liked their first song just fine, even if it felt a bit unassuming given the powerful backing of Zico + HYBE. I’m heartened to see a big-name boy group debut with music that has a lighter, bouncier touch. But, One And Only delivers many of the elements I feared might come from a Zico-produced idol act. To put it bluntly, I find the song obnoxious.
The problem with a track like One And Only is that it plays like a bunch of TikTok challenges strung together. It’s so desperate to offer meme-able clips and catchphrases that it ends up feeling overly workshopped and incredibly corporate. Zico and Poptime lay down a solid groove and the group seems quite talented. Their fresh-faced energy would be addictive given a less cloying track, and I have faith there are better things to come.
I’ll fully admit to more bias than usual this time around. Longtime readers will know one of my pet peeves involves pop music being too pleased with its own cleverness. Instead of a fun time, One And Only feels like a “look at how much fun we’re having!” advertisement. The signposting is too obvious and the chant-heavy hooks don’t carry enough weight to offset this approach. Hopefully, the upcoming Serenade will be the best of their three debut tracks.
| Hooks | 7 |
| Production | 8 |
| Longevity | 8 |
| Bias | 6 |
| RATING | 7.25 |
Grade: C
The Bias List // K-Pop Reviews & Discussion 
Now I wonder if you are going to review Jinyoung’s (or all 4 producers’) song from Fantasy Boys.
Jinyoung finally is back to K-pop!
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I wasn’t even aware! Are they out yet?
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Jinyoung’s Hold on Tight
WINNER Seungyoon’s Run
(G)I-dle Soyeon’s Spaceman (lyricist)
2PM Wooyoung also wrote a song, but it won’t be aired until next week. But they will perform the song on Music Core this Saturday.
Sorry for hijacking BOYNEXTDOOR’s post though!
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The other amazing thing about these performances are how live they are. Live live singing. Singing and dancing their hearts out. Count me IN!
I mean, listen and look at how much better, how much verve there is when a group is fully present in the song in that space. We are present in that space. The room crackles with excitement that you can hear and feel.
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Yeah, I wonder if we will collectively get to a point where the real and imperfect becomes preferred over auto-tuned and autogenerated perfection.
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*sigh* one might hope so. But these days, still, sometimes people just want to hear their biases “omg so stable” and willfully don’t care.
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Their latest performance on Music Core – not as “live” but still “live” enough to show their abilities.
Wish this song can reach more people though. Such a waste of the producers’ effort just because the show itself is flawed and not popular.
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despite its 3-minute runtime, this song still managed to drag
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I can see where you are coming from with the criticisms, but the song still hits the right spots for me. I’ve been playing it the whole day, and I’ve only grown more fond of how it doesn’t take itself too seriously, both in its production and lyrics. When taken at face value, its lyrics can be seen as somewhat obnoxious and almost leaning to narsacistic , but when paired with the song itself, and the way the production is somewhat stripped and never really goes all the way (which is personally a pet peeve of mine as well), one can tell that at the end of the day, it is meant to be a bit of light hearted fun and I’m here for it.
I particularly like the tempo shifts in the chorus, which add to its playfulness and make the song feel somewhat dynamic. I can see myself playing this quite often.
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I think it is cute, though the refrain is rather jingle like. It sounds like a junk food snack ad on youtube, one that comes in 5, 15 and 30 sec version.
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“one of my pet peeves involves pop music being too pleased with its own cleverness. Instead of a fun time, One And Only feels like a “look at how much fun we’re having!” advertisement.“
this might be a stretch, but i think theres a term for this, “emotionally manipulative,” though i think it mostly applies to film. like when the movie feels like its saying “look how sad these characters are, now cry” instead of letting the characters earn that moment
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