Girl group Say My Name debuted late last year, the first act under Kim Jaejoong’s iNKODE label. Despite this pedigree, their single WaveWay was surprisingly faceless K-pop — the kind of song that could have been peddled by just about anyone. New single ShaLala manages to be generic in a different way, though it’s a vast improvement upon their debut.
At this point, maybe we just need to come to terms with the fact that K-pop’s girl groups will be releasing subdued beigepop for the foreseeable future. In all my years listening to K-pop, I’m not sure I’ve ever seen a trend completely consume one half of the industry for so long. To ShaLala‘s credit, the song injects a bit more bounce into this now familiar template, especially when the second verse transitions into an effusive rap. In the grand scheme of this musical style, ShaLala is definitely above average.
Much of this goodwill comes down to the melodies. In another world, the song could be reinvented with a more energetic breakbeat and robust vocal, but even on this muted version I’m quite charmed by the chorus. The girls’ voices have nice character and the percussive backing vocals add a welcome contrast to the airier topline. ShaLala reminds me of something Apink might have released in the mid-2010’s, and that’s a much better starting point for Say My Name that whatever WaveWay was.
| Hooks | 9 |
| Production | 8 |
| Longevity | 8 |
| Bias | 8 |
| RATING | 8.25 |
The Bias List // K-Pop Reviews & Discussion 
almoooost there, it should’ve been a full new jack swing track honestly
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Ooh, this is very cute! The production adds a bit more bounce to an otherwise subdued pop song. If you’re gonna do subdued, then this is how you do it (almost?)! The chorus is catchy, cute, and I do see myself listening to it often.
8.5 (9, 8, 9, 8) for me.
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the existence of ‘beigepop’ implies an inevitable ‘colourpop’ which is only momentarily out of reach….. pls pls pls
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We just have to be patient, kpop can’t hold onto a trend forever
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It’s only matter of time before the current greats of American pop start influencing K-pop (pls pls pls)
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Fun fact: before there was Mixx-Pop, there was color-pop from JYPE. Just a thought for new girl groups.
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I remember 2019 used to be the year of chill trap songs, especially during the summer. Then later on in around the second half of 2020 and to a small extent, 2021, retro took the lead (and for 2022, boy groups were busy imitating NCT/SKZ while girl groups did their thing). This NewJeans-wannabe sound become more prominent during the last year. Give it some time, maximalism will come again.
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god i wish we could go back to retro pop that era was churning out hit afterhit
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Oh, Girl Crush and Dark Theme stuck around for a loooong while too.
This one is so beige, its is beige pasta with beige butter with beige boring cheese. And no salt.
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Straight up, I never finished waveway. I just tried again after reading the review, I couldn’t do it. Considering that I finished shalala three times, I definitely like it better. I’d prefer to think of this as their debut instead. Is it the subdued girl group fare we’ve been getting for a while now? Yes, but at some point we have to recognize that that’s where we’re at and inevitably things are going to shift. So I’ll appreciate the “beigepop” for now.
Speaking of “beigepop” it’s kinda like “Christian horse girl music or “noise music”. it’s a moniker that is created by the people who aren’t a fan of it and I don’t know why (Christian horse girl in particular) has caught on instead of a more objective/positive title
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This reminds me of Slide from Calvin Harris’s Fun Wav Bounces Vol 1, except less funky and more mellow…I think they’re even in the same key.
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