Last week, WayV pre-released the upbeat High Five, building on the funky energy of this spring’s Give Me That. Now, it’s time to move back into edgier territory. Title track Frequency melds old-school hip-hop rhythms with the harsh performance style many expect from the NCT universe. Compared to similar efforts in this mold, the song feels pretty middle-of-the-road.
There are so many tracks like Frequency floating around the boy group landscape. Turn your head in any direction and there’s a group of guys shouting at you over a hip-hop beat. A.C.E happened to be the most recent, and thankfully Frequency doesn’t go as over-the-top loud as Pinata. However, it suffers from similar issues. For a shout-sung chorus to work, the instrumental has to be absolutely dynamite and the song should counter its brashness with contrasting moments of melodic clarity.
Frequency‘s hook is so-so and the song doesn’t offer enough highlights surrounding its chorus. At two minutes forty seconds, there isn’t enough time to develop any ideas. I could have done with more of the nimble keys during the pre-chorus and would have enjoyed hearing the verses’ engaging raps given more spotlight via an instrumental that pushed and pulled on the rhythm. Instead, Frequency plays by all the expected rules and comes across as a copy of a copy. It’s perfectly solid but wholly unremarkable.
| Hooks | 7 |
| Production | 8 |
| Longevity | 8 |
| Bias | 7 |
| RATING | 7.5 |
The Bias List // K-Pop Reviews & Discussion 
I love its brashness, though it could use a better hook. Also, the “plululu” or whatever that was before the chorus was lowkey a choice 🤠
8 (7, 9, 8, 8) for me.
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I almost laughed out loud. Who thought it would be a good idea to add a goofy imitation of a phone ringing?!
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I rate songs from J-Pop, T-Pop and so on, but they are in a separate folder from K-Pop. Since this song was released in Korean, here are my thoughts:
I like the final section, there is an adrenaline rush there… and that’s all
my rating is the same
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I love the NCT soundscape (most of the time) but I just can’t understand why it’s so hard for SM to keep the sound that caters to every subunit… The song isn’t bad but I wish WayV’s music felt like their own rather than a rebranding of NCT 127’s abrasive music.
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I kinda knew you wouldn’t like this but I’m digging it more than I expected.
8.5 for me
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(that was supposed to be an enumerated list, not freeform poetry)
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It shows up as a list for me! (though I like the idea of freeform poetry…)
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Rare skip from Wayv
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I don’t hate it. It has a few funny goofy moments, but that’s the only unique thing about it.
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The video for the Chinese version came out today.
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Yeah, another one of shouting over a hip hop beat. wip wop wip wop.
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