There’s been a fair amount of controversy around the promotion of Xiumin’s Whee!, as SM Entertainment seem to be up to their old tricks of blocking artists who have left the agency. Xiumin remains a part of EXO, but he’s embarked on his own solo career under new management. Whee! is his first work under the INB100 label, also home to bandmate Baekhyun.
Anyone who’s listened to K-pop over the past year will instantly recognize Whee‘s shuffling beat. The sound is quite trendy and — at this point — overdone. This arrangement stymies an otherwise decent song, giving it a strong air of “been there, done that” when it should feel fresh and fun. It’s hard not to hum several other notable solo projects from male artists over this production, especially when Whee! struggles to deliver iconic hooks of its own.
Xiumin makes for an amiable conduit for this throwback sound, skirting through the rhythm with ease. He’s equally at home crooning and delivering a more staccato style of vocalization. Whee! never lets up, layering rhythm upon rhythm. It’ll get your head nodding for sure, but with so many other tracks of this style to choose from I don’t see it sticking around my playlist for long.
| Hooks | 8 |
| Production | 8 |
| Longevity | 8 |
| Bias | 7 |
| RATING | 7.75 |
The Bias List // K-Pop Reviews & Discussion 
Classic SM, they never change, eh? (:
As for this song, it’s a good effort at doing the trendy sound that has plagued K-Pop for a while now. The wobbly synths alongside other random jabs of synth add a sense of groove and liveliness to it and Xiumin’s performance is also pretty good. I hear some rhythmic bass playing faintly in the background so I can only wonder how this track would sound if the bass was amped up? Maybe I’d elevate my ratings! But overall, it’s a decent, groovy track and I see it enjoy good longevity.
8.25 (8, 8, 9, 8) for me.
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I had to check if I had left the youtube speed at 1.1x or 1.2x but I had not. It sounds artificially rushed. Even the choreo looks like chipmunks waving their arms comically fast.
0.85x is about perfect, lets the song breathe.
As for the content of the song apart from its speed, its about typical of this year.
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I agree been there done that type of situation, they don’t dare to something new or refreshing the same formula watering down and i think xiumin had more potential with coming something different but i guess not
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this is like a song any male idol solo can do… i kind of expected more from xiumin? maybe this kind of music is what he wants to do, but personally i wish he can go down onew’s path and release some solid albums
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It’s… I can’t say one good thing about it. How I wish any former EXO would make something that sounds remotely close to good music. What a loss this group is to true music lovers.
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