When a song hits big in K-pop, the industry tends to drive that same sound into the ground over the next few years. With aespa’s Supernova and Whiplash both major hits in 2024, it was only a matter of time before pounding club beats and spoken-word attitude lodged itself within the girl group oeuvre. STAYC’s new single Bebe may be the most clear example yet. It’s a step in the right direction… with some major reservations.
To get us back to an exciting place in K-pop’s girl group sound, two ingredients are essential. First is a jolt of energy, in contrast to the muted palette that’s lorded over the industry for years. Second is dynamic melody, replacing the “I’m so cool” sing-talk that has had a similarly iron grip on so many recent songs. Bebe gets the first part right. Its production is high-octane and glistening, keeping momentum high right from the start. In this way, the track reminds me of Kara’s brilliant 2014 single Mamma Mia — an emblem of what a big dancefloor smash can strive to be.
Unfortunately, this is where the comparisons end. Bebe is nearly all sing-talk, and some parts work better than others. The first verse is brisk and exciting as the girls’ vocals match the speed of the instrumental. I’m less convinced by the chorus, which feels more like an excuse for people on the internet to say “she’s serving _____!” than a properly conceived hook. The drawling delivery doesn’t work for me and Bebe quickly becomes repetitive rather than thrilling. Without a proper refrain to grab hold of, even the dynamic instrumental begins to fade into a chintzy background thump. It’s a shame, because so few girl groups are attempting this tempo and the song could have been incredible.
| Hooks | 7 |
| Production | 9 |
| Longevity | 8 |
| Bias | 8 |
| RATING | 8 |
The Bias List // K-Pop Reviews & Discussion 
I wonder if they wanted a Korean track that hit a similar nerve to Poppy, which got the biggest reaction when I saw them live. But this works for me, it’s fun to see StayC try out this cool club sound.
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I immediately thought Poppy when I heard it too
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When it comes to chasing trends, what I noticed is that the industry just doesn’t realize what actually made the trend-setting song work so well. In Supernova’s case, it’s the way the hooks are structured that made the song so addictive + how the main hook + side hook (that “ah oh ay” one) just connected well together in the outro (+ the electro/dance floor beat helped facilitate the hooks), though Whiplash did fail a bit in having hooks as dynamic as Supernova’s. Or with these NewJeans-ripoffs, what made NJZ/NewJeans’ songs work well was that the production (despite its repetitiveness) happened to remain upbeat and dynamic (like Super Shy’s drum-and-bass production remained at a solid tempo and was upbeat) + NJZ also drabbled in between several genres while maintaining a solid identity and the groove which made their songs work well, while their copycats kept things too subdued. Or for an older example, ITZY, their songs had a dynamic production and actually had some great melodies (like Dalla Dalla and Wannabe), while their copycats focused mainly on the chanting/sing-talk. It’s like trying to replicate a dish, but neglecting that one main ingredient that made the dish so good.
Anyways, enough yapping and on to the song. Love the dynamic club production and the verses, but the song was begging for stronger hooks. What a shame, cause I’d have elevated my rating to high 8s, hell, even a 9!
Rating’s the same and methinks it’s time we add “sing talk” at the bottom of Nick’s bias triggers list :p
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what happened to BEP? they used to write some of the best melodies in k-pop songs. these girls are up there in terms of vocal skills of the current generation but they gave them… this
don’t even get me started on how 80% of the song’s lyrics are in English. it just screams desperate for TikTok virality.
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I was wondering them the same thing. Is this a BEP production then? I miss their patented sound, which I haven’t in years now.
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it is BEP and 2 other people
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Please stop! Where were you on “GPT”, the previous comeback? You want great melodies & voices? So you already got them. Since GPT failed in the charts, the production team is reexploring & rethinking older STAYC sounds, in a fun, dance, cheeky-icy vein.
Another thing is RADO only worked on it (Choi Kyusung – the other BEP – is probably working on their future girlgroup) with the rest of the usual team, FLYT & Jeon Goon, plus will.b, a producer who worked with STAYC for a long time but on b-sides only so far.
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For me, peak B.E.P. are songs like Apink’s I’m So Sick, %% (Eung Eung), Dumhdurum, and Dilemma; Chung Ha’s Gotta Go; and STAYC’s So Bad/Like This, ASAP, Stereotype, and Run2U.
And early BEP isn’t too shabby either!, with Sistar’s Touch My Body; Miss A’s Only You; and Twice’s Like Ooh-Ahh, Cheer Up, TT, Likey, and Fancy; Got7’s If You Do.
Those are all some heavy-hitting K-pop classics! So I’m sorry, and maybe one day I’ll feel differently, but for me, Teddy Bear, Bubble, Poppy, and the rest aren’t in the same league.
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the fact that they choose to go back to the sing talk section for the outro instead of doing some spectacle with the instrumental and vocals is making me really mad lol
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Seeing the comment section, I was really hoping Muchos would have commented first. Anyways, I liked the song.
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they said cvnt within the first 12 seconds of the song and j is looking like a maknae, just for that they deserve tens tens tens across the board
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“feels more like an excuse for people on the internet to say ‘she’s serving _____!‘”
i am literally the exact target audience of this song, this is probably like my favorite song of the year so far
(also they probably didn’t say cvnt lol but i like to imagine they did)
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I just came here to ask where you even heard “cunt” because I don’t think there is a word that sounds like it in the whole song… you got me hyped for no reason
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at around 0:11
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You must have been manifesting that word because “‘coz I like that” sounds nothing the same 😅
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Thank you Nick lmao, I felt gaslit
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no, guys, the word cunt is in the LAST 12 seconds, please watch the mv and listen to the song on spotify properly to hear it <333 it’s ok if you don’t get it the first time, just hit replay!!
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Honestly a pretty solid streaming tactic you’ve got there LOL
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I like the instrumental a lot but some of the vocals are…eh
8.25 (7, 9, 8, 9)/10 for me
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I’m there with you, biggest offender for me is the drawling (thanks Nick for the perfect word for this) in the chorus. Sounds like the singer is giving up and phoning in the line.
Ultimately though, I liked this aside from that.
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what an instrumental this good, i really dont care what they do on top of it. 9 for me.
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*with omg 😭
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I’m going to bop to the instrumental version of this for sure.
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This slaps, especially post chorus part. I understand your dissapointment of the sing-talk chorus tho
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I’m a big fan so for me this is another good, not great STAYC song (b-sides might be better). They have a great discography over all and this may be a slight dip, but I came to love “Cheeky,” “GPT’ and their Japanese singles, so I’ll enjoy this too. Not my favourite STAYC style though…but I can see why they want to get beyond “Teenfresh”….8/10 seems about right 👍👍
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They really fell off, no?
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naur !! 😔
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It feels very high street clothes shop soundtrack, which is to say that it will find an audience. … that audience is not me. I do appreciate the spritely pace of the song. I don’t like all the vocal fry at the every of every single line.
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I think one of StayC’s trademarks, for better or worse, is their vocal fry. It’s in most of their songs.
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I went back listened to the StayC songs I have on my ipods, and it seems I self-select for those that don’t have as much vocal fry. … I forgot about the “Bubble” song, that is a little pocket of fun there.
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As a fan of STAYC, I instantly love their bright songs, but when they switch to a different sound like this, it takes me a while to warm up to it. However, I appreciate how they alternate between styles with each comeback. I’m 100% certain they’re going to release a sweet pop song that will appeal to the younger audience next time.
For this time, I was expecting BEP to take fashion pop farther and I’m actually surprised they didn’t. If you tell me this is a Dress To Impress collab, I’d believe you. Which isn’t a bad thing, I love that game. I just wish it went farther than that! Where’s STAYC’s fun youthful phrases? Where’s the Sieun and Yoon runs at the end?
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i maintain my position that scissor sisters’ let’s have a kiki is the best “sassy talking over a club beat” song
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y’all spot the whiplash inspiration in the mv? not being a hater, i thought it was interesting actually.
anyway, stayc doing a club beat is fine and well if it was paired with better hooks & vocals. they have a great discography but the problem with it is that they peaked with So Bad and the only way away from the peak is, well, down.
Cheeky Icy Thang went from low 6s to high 7s-8s for me, though, so i hope the same happens for this.
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People complained so much about Cheeky Icy thang (I loved that song) that they went into the completely opposite direction and gave us this song.It may grow on me in time,I’m always impressed with how they can effortlessly tape into whatever vibes they want to ! Love Stayc very underrated group !
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Agree. But imo STAYC is not only underrated: they are also misrated: since it’s produced by BEP, some people want it to be TWICE back from the 2010s; since SO BAD was great, some people never gave the following works a chance; since the girls are good vocalists, some people don’t accept voice modulations or sing-talk, etc.
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Yikes, this isn’t an 8 for me lmao.
Why do they insist on doubling down on spoken English? Sounds terrible.
Disappointed with BEP and the direction they’re taking Stayc in. Second miss for me.
No wonder their popularity is tanking all over the place…
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Nah, I like it. Much more better than Icy Cheeky Thing, that was mostly ruined by horrendous Konglish. No shit koreans didn’t like that song. The mix of Korean and English was ridiculous and would drive natives crazy. This one is also has a lot of English but it’s more tolerable. But tbh recently the use of English in kpop started to annoy me. When this weird way of ending verse line with a random english word will finally end? Just sing the whole sentence in Korean good lord…..
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To be fair, I think English has been in kpop songs since kpop was a thing. And I’ve seen people complaining about it for as long as I’ve been into kpop lol. Which is almost a decade now.
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I wouldn’t say Supernova or Whiplash.
To me, the closest song to this (lyrically, at least) is Kiss of Life’s “Get Loud”, in that several lines are lifted almost directly from Julie’s part.
The instrumental is almost dated, reminiscent of Marina’s Froot album.
Not bad, but it feels derivative and I’m not sure it’ll be one I revisit frequently.
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Not sure about how it is related tbh. Maybe because J’s lines on the beginning sound the same than Julie’s at the beginning of the “Get Loud” second verse. And all that sounds like (G)I-dle’s “My Bag”.
About the instrumental, sure it sounds dated: this is called dance.
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STAYC, twice:
Dancin’ around in my tight dress
하고 싶은 대로 해 cause I like that
Look at me what I do I’m so priceless
At the same time lookin like a 막내
Oh excuse me made you a little salty
숨기려고 해봤자 다 티나 like you lunge
Yeah so had enough fed up with you girly
보기 싫은 건 때론 과감히 편집
Vs KIOF:
Dancing around in my tight dress
I’ll be doing me in the crowd, looking priceless
미친 듯 춤춰봐 Like that
If you feel the same, gotta get here ASAP
Other boys said I’m a little salty
절대 관심 없어 금방 질리고 말 Plastic
Gotta level up
Gotta get naughty
Baby when I groove 날려줘 Confetti, yeah
Dance music has changed significantly over even the last 15 years. 2009 is not the same as 2014, which is not the same as 2016 or 2018 or 2022. The instrumental does not feel current.
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Uh oh… well I hope KIOF are not feeling litigious because this is kinda crazy
I have to think it’s just an unfortunate coincidence though, because what’s the point in blatant plagiarism, obviously people are going to notice…
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Update: the instrumental in the beginning reminded me of “Radioactive” by Marina off of ‘Electra Heart’, not any off Froot.
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I hear this too! The reheated nachos are still good though, radioactive is a great song.
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Ah! The famous “I would love the song to be as the songs i love” 🙄
Anyway, i agree with the influence of the success of “Whiplash” — but not really on the influence of the track itself. BEBE totally shares the “POPPY” (nov. 2022) and above all “Cheeky Icy Thang” (jul. 2024) legacy.
As usual, the work on voices is amazing. The girls sound very distinctive and organic, using many variations in the singing techniques & interpretations (Sieun is absolutely phenomenal about this!). The second verse is one of the most dramatic switch. J is also remarkable all along the track. The other girls do great on their usual roles.
I’m just starting to dive in BEBE and i already feel that i’m gonna appreciate all its layers even more, as i did for every of their singles so far. Thanks STAYC!
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So much listening later, i can say it: this is the new STAYC/BEP’s masterpiece, next to RUN2U. One of the richest & best produced song i ever heard. K-pop at its peak.
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This is such a club banger, the instrumental is relentless and the girls are further fuelling the energy on top of it. I don’t understand the comparisons to Whiplash unless we’ve collectively decided that aespa now own all-back high-fashion outfits; in terms of sound and song structure I don’t see much of a similarity. If anything the song that Bebe most reminds me of is STAYC’s own Poppy, especially the pre-chorus → chorus → post-chorus progression feels very similar. (Which you won’t hear me complain about because Poppy is one of my favourite STAYC tracks.)
Sieun must have been “feeling some type of way” when they recorded this because they just gave her all the choruses and she absolutely nailed them. J is the other member that stands out here, opening all the verses with a shot of sass and personality. The others are tasked with infusing melody to the song and they’re rounding it out nicely.
The song structure is very satisfying too, let me see if I can count all the parts: verse → pre-chorus → chorus → post-chorus → verse → pre-chorus → chorus → post-chorus → bridge → chorus → verse. I like how the post-bridge chorus explodes with an even more amped up instrumental compared to the previous choruses, but then the repeated first verse pulls back the energy a bit to close out.
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i loved it. Awkward English has always been a part of kpop, but it can be a good thing for me depending on the delivery. It’s fun here, not self serious. It’s also nice to hear STAYC tackle a totally attitude heavy track. I don’t want that to be their direction going forward but it’s a fun diversion.
we got the English out of the way now….
Si, c’est moi
as a proficient French speaker I was confused why they used si here (usually used in response to a question in the negative) instead of oui. The song is missing context
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As a very bad French speaker, I didn’t even clock the weirdness of “si c’est moi” because the way they delivered it was cool… which is probably the answer. I think “oui c’est moi” wouldn’t have sounded good.
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you know what? knowing the industry, they totally used it because it because it sounded better. Lc9’s intro comes to mind
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The song has stuck in my head for the past few days despite it giving up its breakthrough potential with just that indifferent attitude. It’s more to my taste than Aespa’s W.
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loved on first listen. 10/10 for me, production > melody every time
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Spot-on review. The production is great, having a fast-paced club sound like that feels so refreshing. But I wonder what this would have sounded like with proper vocal melodies and less sing-talk…
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