Days after pre-releasing Wicked Love, Yena has made her official comeback with Hate Rodrigo. The title of this song has stirred plenty of online chatter. Is she dissing Olivia Rodrigo? Is this a loving reference? Did Olivia herself have a hand in it? I have to give it to Yena’s team. They know how to get people talking!
Ultimately, the discourse around Hate Rodrigo doesn’t mean much. I’m more concerned about whether the song is awesome or not. Yena scores points for returning to the upbeat pop rock sound that informed her first few solo releases, even enlisting (G)I-DLE’s Yuqi as a sparring partner with similar taste. The energy is there. The perky, guitar-led instrumental scratches the right itches. But the song isn’t very… catchy?
“Catchy” isn’t automatically an asset, but punky bursts like this need some element of singalong potential. Just think back to Smiley‘s earworm chorus. In many ways, Hate Rodrigo replicates that song’s structure — down to a tempo-changing second-verse rap. I just don’t think the melodies are there this time. The structure feels flat and constrained — more sing-talk than singing. With all the star power at play, it’s a missed opportunity.
| Hooks | 7 |
| Production | 8 |
| Longevity | 8 |
| Bias | 7 |
| RATING | 7.5 |
Grade: C
The Bias List // K-Pop Reviews & Discussion 
honestly a totally awful and tacky concept. just imagine if madonna released a song named “hate gaga”
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people would call it camp bwahahah
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honestly I really don’t hate it, alas I’m not really a pop punk person (metal or nothing babyyyy) but I appreciate the vibe it’s going for. Could definitely be catchier…. but I do prefer it to her other releases (apart from Love War which I really adore, an unpopular opinion here as everyone hates coffee shops rnb sksksksk)
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Dude, u gave ateez’s bouncy a score of 8, a strong candidate for the worst kpop song of the year. Though I am not a big fan of this new Yena song either but clearly this was a way better and tolerable than bouncy
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this site (commenters included) is very much biased towards noisy boy groups but loves to claim that they want ~melodic~ kpop songs back.. while consistently giving catchy and melodic songs worse ratings than your average nct/ateez/skz release
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Yeah… That’s just an inaccurate observation. He definitely appreciates memorable melodies but there are other factors that go into these reviews
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It still surprises me to read this type of comment and the entire comment section under Bouncy saying it’s the worst kpop song of the year and talking about how awful it is… It’s really not that bad (IMO, obviously) and also not as different to other similar “noisy bg” releases, nor as jarring as some commenters make it seem.
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Why can’t you have an opinion and let him have his aswell?
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Also he bumped it down to 7.75 in his risers and fallers post
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I am responding to DAIKITI, not Nick, and how am I not letting them have their opinion? I am just responding with MY opinion, commenting on how I found it surprising that so many people hated the song. I even added an “IMO, obviously”… It’s just exchanging opinions about music. Sorry if I came off like I was trying to silence someone, but I think I made it clear that it was not my intent.
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I wasn’t replying to you. If I did it was an accident I’m talking to the op. I gave your comment a star. Replying because it says your replying to me
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yena sounds absolutely awful during the chorus
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Nothing more than a watered down version of Smiley. Where is the normal production? Where did the catchy melodies go?
Worse yet, the way the song sounds in general is just…IDK, ridiculously cheap. As someone self-identifying as a pop punk person, I see this as a letdown.
Here comes the rating of mine:
Hooks: 7
Production: 6
Longevity: 8
Bias: 7
Total: 7/10
Let’s hope that Yena won’t deliver another disappointment dose next time🙏🏻.
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I hate to say it but she really peaked at her debut…
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Yena’s dazzling energy is always welcome even if it’s through a song that could have been so much better.
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I 1000% agree. I live for her energy but her songs haven’t been as up to par as Smiley has
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The audio is not nearly as bad as I was expected from all the hullaballoo going around. Catchy at times too. That said, it sounds very teen movie.
Also, yes, the topic is a bit perplexing, but what do I know, me with no TikTok Instagram Twitter Spotify etc accounts at all. The diss track of the year still easily goes to Mark’s “I don’t know how to cook eggs”, who did his all in good fun.
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Yuqi was perfect to bring in that deep voice of hers to balance out all this sugar punk. It’s a little sad she only got one verse, given her part was the only one that stuck with me lol
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I like this a lot more that Love War this is atleast a return to her upbeat poppunk era but i agree it’s a far less good version of her first 2 singles
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I straight-up didn’t realize Yuqi’s part had come and gone until the end of the second chorus lol.
I think the best way to describe this song is the extended version of a Nickelodeon girl-led comedy, e.g. Zoey101, Victorious, or iCarly.
I think what is disappointing for me is that this doesn’t feel unique at all, where as Smiley (and I guess Smartphone) were much more focused on a vision that, although not exactly unique, was at least distinctly Yena.
Versus this is like… Oh wow, another 2000s homage but also featuring the yellow plaid skirt from Clueless? Groundbreaking.
Not really grabbing me at all, but at least she’s making fun songs again?
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The guitar sounds reminds me of the rock-ish songs Disney Channel used to play during commercial break, gave me a sense of nostalgia.
I prefer Wicked Love than this one.
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The one-two punch of Smiley and Smartphone was one of my highlights of k-pop last year! Love War wasn’t my cup of tea so this is definitely a step in the right direction. I think I prefer Wicked Love marginally over Hate Rodrigo, but I really like the outro and how dramatic the whole thing is. It’s probably a 6 and a half or a 7 out of 10 for me- good, but I’m hoping for great 🙂
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I mean, none of her last releases have been particularly strong.
Wicked Game is the better one, but not by much.
Fairly disappointed by this.
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Really want to see the lyrics for this song…
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For such a bold move social media-wise, I would expect the team to give Yena the best they could come up with the song. I appreciate her returning to this sound, I think it suits her really well. Still waiting for her music to reconnect like her first mini album did
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This song reminded me of how I like Rodrigo’s debut album actually, so idk if I did what it intended me to do…
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heads up! The youtube link you posted has been removed due to Rodrigo’s request and copyrighted material
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