With Kai serving his mandatory military enlistment, it’s been just over two years since I’ve gotten to write about one of his solo singles. But now that he’s back, he’s wasted no time getting into the studio. A new mini album is on the way with pre-release Adult Swim tiding us over in the meantime.
This isn’t fair to Kai at all, but I often crave something different from his solo music. The world is so short on a certain kind of virtuosic male popstar that dotted pop music’s past. I’m thinking Michael Jackson, Prince, George Michael, Usher — or in K-pop terms, Taemin. It’s much more common for these acts to embrace a moodier, vibier sound that feels deliberately modest. To me, this simply belies their talent. Such is the case with Kai and Adult Swim. The song seems aimed for maximum virality, hinging on a spoken-word, catchphrase hook that literally anyone repeat. That’s the thing, though. I want popstars to deliver work that I can’t replicate. That’s the fun in being a fan!
Even by these standards, Adult Slim is quite slight. Beyond its mumbled hook, the track offers a muted verse over percussion that’s feeling more and more generic within SM Entertainment’s recent output. The melodies are so-so, killing time but never offering interesting turns or flourishes. Adult Swim begins to pick up toward its finale, but even here the song relies on clipped, repetitive hooks that don’t elicit much of anything. In another world, this style could be repurposed into something hypnotic and compelling. But for as exciting a performer as Kai is, Adult Swim is doing very little for me. Maybe SM should have spent his enlistment time crafting the biggest, best comeback song they could find.
| Hooks | 6 |
| Production | 7 |
| Longevity | 8 |
| Bias | 7 |
| RATING | 7 |
The Bias List // K-Pop Reviews & Discussion 
So we waited for 2 years for this? Kai, I love you, but you deserve better. But given it’s a pre-release, I hope the pre-release doesn’t disappoint.
The song’s incredibly generic, with nothing spectacular, and the spoken hook lowkey frustrates me. The outro was promising, and I can’t help but imagine what if that was the main hook and the outro was even better.
6.75 (6, 7, 7, 7) for me.
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*the main release doesn’t disappointment
dammit.
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awful!
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based on kai’s previous output, i feel like this should be the exact thing to expect from him :0
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This song was divisive for me. I like the verses, I hate the chorus, I like the bridge, and I love the outro. I honestly wish they’d used that outro as the chorus. And then it just ends so abruptly just after the outro starts to really pull me into the track. It’s too short, and it could have been so much better! Kai’s title tracks have not to date been my cup of tea (the b-sides on his first two albums are another story entirely), but this one could have easily been my favorite of them were it not for that chorus. We’ll see about the main release!
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Yeah no. I’m disappointed. When you said that the world is short on “virtuosic male popstars” and that choosing a moodier, modest sound sometimes belies their talent, I immediately thought of Jungkook. The reason why Golden worked so well is precisely how completely he embraced this role, he understood the assignment, he went for it and sold it 100%. Luckily he has the talent that is necessary to do that, but my point is, Kai has it too! That’s why I’m frustrated. This isn’t me uplifting an idol to bring another one down. Kai has everything, he is gorgeous, he is an amazing dancer, with insane stage presence and a great voice. I know he can deliver that. And he gives us this. I feel that the goal was to deliver a sensual kind of song but it’s not even that sensual, the instrumental is weirdly uplifting/feel good where it should have maybe been darker. But in the end it’s not uplifting either because it’s too flat. Idk I’m very confused. I generally don’t like commenting on songs I dislike, and I do it only when it’s about artists that I respect and Kai is one of them. First Hobi gives us Mona Lisa and now this. Ugh.
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Yep, you got my point entirely. There are so few currently active male popstars who could fill this role that I naturally get disappointed when one chooses to record music that could have easily been delivered by any number of lesser artists. Obviously, I have no right to tell Kai what his sound should be, but it’s just frustrating because no one seems interested in stepping up and filling this “virtuosic male popstar” role.
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Ten seems to be on the edge of it, but for now, Taemin and Key are the ones hitting the spot for me 🤣
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*verge
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Wonho’s there too 👀
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istg if Jungkook releases a 2:03 minute song where he’s half asleep on his couch whispering “work it out” in the place of a chorus while looking at me suggestively sipping his margarita, I am leaving kpop for good
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I almost turned it off halfway through because it was just unpleasant to listen to.
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They… they couldn’t write a chorus?
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I’m underwhelmed. But at least it’s only a pre-release. Guess I gotta hope that the title track packs some more punch!
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Imagine being exposed as a bisexual and then SM gives you this 💔 Thank god this is not the official single. Kai you will be avenged
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i really enjoyed mmmh and rover but this was a snooze. kai has a polarizing voice that sometimes sounds good and sometimes not. his voice did not sound good here, but maybe it’s just the melodies? the pre-chorus sounds a bit like a nursery rhyme which.. ew. the way he said adult swim the first time shook me tho lol. it just felt like i was watching adult swim again in the middle of the night and a random, distinctly adult swim, song came on during the break. kinda sad he didn’t lean on those types of instrumentals and instead gave us another justin bieber upbeat song (peaches was like that and i hated that).
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The spoken hook sounds very out of place, as if they just made him say ‘adult swim’ one time and went with it without doing more takes or editing it to fit into the song.
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left brain – this is cute but very slight
right brain – OMGWHYISHESOGORGEOUS
holding out hope the album is better, but let’s face it, I’m buying it anyway.
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…….gonna go listen to Nothing On Me to cleanse my ears…….
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I’m sure the title track will be better, or at least worthy of a 7.5 score.
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The fact that we’re aiming for a 7.5 as the high point is depressing! 😅
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I said 7.5 because Kai’s previous title tracks all got a 7.5 score.
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Long time Kai stan here, and could not be more disappointed with this release 😞 hope the actual album is better…
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