Review

Song Review: Xikers – Koong

Posted on by 70 Comments

Xikers - koongMuch of Xikers’ debut mini album felt like underwhelming ATEEZ cosplay, but follow-up single Rockstar stood out as an undeniable high point. Fresh and colorful teasers for their upcoming album have me cautiously optimistic, even if pre-release Koong is probably the worst K-pop song I’ve heard all year.

Honestly, this borders on unlistenable for me. Between the shouting, the aggressive autotune and the ugly production, Koong is an all-out assault. I’ve got nothing against abrasive music, but this is abrasive and boring music. There’s little songcraft to be found in the “boong boongs” and “koong koongs” of the track. If I’m being generous, Koong‘s second verse makes a decent showcase for the group’s rappers. But even here, they’re stuck at a decibel-shattering level of delivery that quickly grows exhausting. I’m scared to even mention the moment at the 2:59 mark, which is a downright traumatic experience.

I guess we can take heart in the fact Koong is not officially designated as one of the album’s dual title tracks. But if this is what the agency is offering as a taster, I’m nervous for what’s to come…

Hooks 4
 Production 2
 Longevity 5
 Bias 1
 RATING 3

Grade: F

70 thoughts on “Song Review: Xikers – Koong”

  3. I can’t believe I’d rather listen to ASAP than this. How did we get here from Rockstar 😭.
    The 3 is mighty generous from Nick

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  5. I just wish the background track was a little more dynamic and I didn’t think that flourish at the end really hit. But it had a groove and they really dug into the rap. I like it better than the last umpteen Stray Kids singles I’ve heard.

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    • It’s not healthy to scream a lot, but at least SKZ know how to sharpen their screams in an ethereal way, like those well-crafted rough stones that decorate an aquarium. However, this song is just a pile of scrap metal.

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  9. Oh Nick… your review piqued my interest and tempted me to jump the line of songs I have to listen and I went straight ahead and listened to this abomination…. wtf 😭😭 There wasn’t even a song here. Like… why was there no background music? This makes Sticker sound melodic in retrospective. And even JustB’e Tick Tock was more entertaining musically! Heck even Tempest’s sudden switch and that Dragon Fly High song from last year had some really melodically decent bits!

    And that awful auto tune. I’m sorry but I sincerely wish KQ loses the key to their auto-tune equipment room – because it sounds absolutely awful. Not even beloved Ateez could carry off the auto tune that well let alone these guys 😭

    Most of the times when your scores dip below 5-6 I do end up liking those songs…. but this time…. that 3 is generous and right.

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  11. This is my first time of seeing a score of 1 in any category omg 😭I don’t hate it as much as you tho, I feel like ive heard this type of song from so many bgs that im not phased, just disintrested

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  12. If this is 2020 i will try to play it back a few times to see if i can get along with the song more. Now I’m too lazy to call my brain to calculate how many points to give. It’s just too boring so I don’t want to whine or something. This song will go to nothing in a few minutes after first listening

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  13. Aw now Nick, just like how songs >9 are special and song = 10 are fairly rare, doesn’t the same distribution happen on the other, lousy end of the scale?

    I mean, sure the song is a noisy pile of crap. A compilation of the worst of this subgenre. But is it a 3? A 3 is Lay “Sheep” which is in its own category of crapitude. Perhaps a 6 to me, lowered by a half point each for each Koooooong! shout (at 2:58 and 3:26) down to a 5.

    (If I cared more, I would look up what this Koooong! means, since they repeat it so emphatically so often. I do not care.)

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    • I’m looking for a comment like this because i also think it’s not like “why does this trash song even exist i could go on with my life not knowing this song but at the same time this is so iconic” 3 but more like a mid “another noisy autotuned bg song against the other 10,000 noisy autotuned bg songs” 5 that you just forget existed after listening to it because there’s literally nothing to it that you can’t even bother to feel anything such as love/hate.

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  14. i loved the part where they said “it’s koongin time” and koonged all over my eardrums! truly one of the songs of all time!

    i’ve been waiting a long time to make this joke dont judge me

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  18. I was too curious not to press play. Oh…oh no…

    Verse 2 was better than verse 1. There was a nice close-to-melodic moment at the start of the bridge before 2:59 happened… o.0

    Those are the only redeeming qualities I can find, but they’re not nearly enough to save this one. It is not for me. Can’t take it seriously, and trying to would require me to listen to it again. I’ll pass.

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  20. With this low of a rating I was at least expecting something unusual. But this isn’t even bad in an interesting way imo it’s just bad. Longest 3 minutes and 30 seconds of my life

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  22. itll be absolutely hilarious to see how KQ wraps random shouts of “KOONG” into some pretentious K-pop storyline lore.

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  23. No offense but I’m against your opinion the song is amazing and they are a rookie group I’m all for it I’m a fan and will never change that and I’m an Atiny they are doing what they love all the negativity is just blatant and wrong your not even given them a chance. You have your opinion and all the fans are nothing but positive I love Xikers love this song and excited for more to come you don’t like it don’t listen to it don’t focus on this group focus on who you like because nobody literally asked you or anyone else to watch it. I’m just saying.

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    • This is literally a kpop review site. No one needs your permission or anyone’s in fact to review a kpop song. Also, he literally listened to the song which is more than enough to give them “a chance”. No offense but I think you’re the one who shouldn’t come here and just focus on your faves 🙂

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    • as i said in my comment giving them a chance is what should be happening due to this is only one song off their comeback album never said my permission was needed to review a song i said what i said i can care less about what you are saying honestly i came here because i see there are negative comments towards one of my favorites so yeah and i believe i also said its his or her opinion which is everyone’s right and i have my opinion so anything else you feel you need to input i dont care i am a proud fan of Xikers and Ateez and will never differ from it i will defend them all soooo yeah dont care about what you have to say any further

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    • Honestly, I saw them live last week and the boys themselves are fantastic: charismatic, good dancers, off-the-charts crowd interaction, good dancing, solid raps. I was very impressed, particularly for rookies. The concert experience they got as Ateez’s opening act really showed.
      That said, I do believe the company is making a mistake, because two of the songs did sound a bit Ateez-lite and honestly, the hard concepts don’t fit them. The softer sound of the other song they performed worked so much better for them (sorry I don’t know the names!). Maybe it is an age thing, maybe it is a vibe thing, I don’t know, but it was just a better fit and I think they should try for that. Particularly coexisting with Ateez, it is obvious Ateez performs harder concepts so much better, and it does Xikers a diservice. I hope the album finds a better and more personal sound for them.

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  24. For me, their debut grew on me immensely and I really like their crazy style. I won’t lie, I kinda like this. It’s not the greatest but I do enjoy it.

    7.75/10

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    • im all for their music and i fully support them in every way possible because i believe they are fully worth it. they are just beginning and it is their second album which is what im saying but from the replies i have gotten seem to think im wrong for my opinion smh people are weird since im part of their fandom i will support them and defend them if i feel like i should

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      • I don’t think the replies to your comment are necessarily in the wrong. I do think that your wording choice could have been different. Nick is quite a reasonable song reviewer from what I’ve seen. Opinions differ and it’s ok to have different opinions but trying to victimise yourself and the group you are trying to defend isn’t the way to go. Insulting others by dragging in other K-pop groups and using names as insults isn’t the way to go either. No one invalidated your opinion, it was you who did.

        Nick (the blog owner) isn’t a hater of Xikers. In fact, he gave their song ‘Rockstar’ a rating of 8.75/10 which an incredibly high rating. Nick just doesn’t like this song and that’s that. It’s fair for Nick to have preconceptions about the upcoming album since this is the only thing we’ve heard from the album up to this point. He never said he wasn’t going to give the album a chance. It hasn’t even come out yet lol.

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  26. It’s not good, but it’s not particularly bad either.
    Is this really that much worse than 5 stars by SKZ? Or whatever drivel they’re making Enhypen peddle nowadays?

    I don’t understand how you give this a 1 in bias, but those Itzy/BP shouty-talky chorus song that you rave about still end up getting a 6-7 in bias score.

    This is an easy target, Nick, this is kicking down!

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  27. Wow this whole comment section is giving Rites of Spring/Electric Dylan/BTS English songs/Sticker energy. I don’t think Koong can carry that intensity on its noisy, narrow shoulders. Anyway, I still kind of dig it the way I dig Omega X’s dopier Latin clang-bangers.

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  28. Wow just… I never thought I would hear a song worse than Nmixx. So much auto tune and where’s the melody?

    Maybe they can consider collaborating with Alan Walker? It had done wonders for Sheep…

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  29. this song made my day tbh. it’s so fucking bad it’s hilarious and the koong! shouts are so unserious too.
    def deserve the rating. i’m having trouble thinking of a worse kpop song tbh.

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  30. I love this comment section 😁 I’m not sure what I just watched, it was obnoxious, hilarious, and kind of endearing. These kids are trying to look tough but its not hitting for me. They’re good performers and deserve better.

    Also, I’m not a fan of the first rapper’s tone. He’s not bad but the tone is a little much. Plus, just cause you can rap fast, doesn’t make it good. I’m just glad this isn’t their title track.

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  31. Norazo songs: We’re the lamest in a hilarious way compared to everything else anyone has got in the entire K-pop industry!
    Koong by Xikers: Erm…pardon my French😬.

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  34. You sure took your time to write a long shitty review on a rookie group…. You got traumatized? Be Fr…
    Sure, they used Auto tone, but it didn’t feel out of place… Only if you just want to be an hardcore hater of the song would you feel that the whole song isn’t good at all.
    The hypocrisy i feel here is sooo… Trust me if y’all had listened to the song before coming here to read this Godforsaken review by the “Expert who knows everything about songs”(smh) most of y’all wouldn’t think of it as a bad song.

    And to that one person who said “I liked the song, only for me to place it amongst the worst song i’ve heard two days later” Be fr…

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  35. “a downright traumatic experience” hmmm… alright… there is nothing new in this song here. it’s well made about at 8.7 / 10, rap line is very good, but some of the choice words written here are a bit weird… like I don’t know how xikers sounds so much like ATEEZ because they are different enough to me that I can’t see them doing each others’ songs. ATEEZ are way more anthemic and xikers are playful and a bit creepy – which fits their Goblin theme. not to mention that it might be a little bit insulting to Hongjoong for having co-produced and co-written all of xikers’ music so far and Maddox said if there was anything similar they threw it out (for xikers’ debut album).

    This song’s lyrics are filled with onomatopoeia’s but if you don’t know Korean well, then you won’t know that and the lyrics might seem silly… it’s actually pretty clever considering their storyline theme. I think it’s a great introduction song to their next album because the fans ate up XIKEY on their last album, which includes the shouting you hate, so it makes sense to tease the more rap heavy performance track. although the album itself seems to be very different from this song. anyway it’s your opinion, it’s far from my least favorite song of the year though. I think it was solid and does the job to get people excited for new music from them.

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  37. wow a 3?? this is a 10 for me, i’ve been obsessed with this song, i like it way more than do or die. kinda wish it was the title track actually

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  39. Can you all stop commenting on this now? I know I sound hypocritical commenting this, but I think the Koong hate train has died down. Let’s just leave this page alone for a while and appreciate their new song, “Do or Die”. If you don’t like that song either, that’s fine too.

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