Xikers have a pretty crazy range when it comes to their song reviews on this blog. It seems that I either love or hate their material and there isn’t much room in between. For every Bittersweet there’s a Red Sun. For every Do Or Die there’s a Koong. So, where does new title track Breathe fit on this Bias List scale?
Well… it ain’t great, folks. I found last year’s Witch a disappointing title track when the fantastic Bittersweet was waiting just around the corner, and I fear that pattern has repeated itself here. There’s a certain brand of xikers track that is all about being deliberately obnoxious. I appreciate the oppositional attitude, but the music itself just isn’t pleasant to listen to.
Taking xikers themselves out of the equation (they’re a very talented group and the rap here is fine), there’s nothing about this song that appeals to me. The production is claustrophobic and ugly, melding tinny trap percussion with lumbering bass and an uninspiring stomp. There’s no real hook beyond the guys shouting “breathe, breathe, breathe” in a flat line that echoes the monotony of the instrumental. To be honest, it’s not even obnoxious or bratty enough to be fun. The song just kind of sits there, limp and plodding. Judging by the album sampler, there’s far more interesting music surrounding this track, so I’m not sure what made Breathe a candidate for promotion.
| Hooks | 6 |
| Production | 6 |
| Longevity | 6 |
| Bias | 6 |
| RATING | 6 |
The Bias List // K-Pop Reviews & Discussion 
anyway what bts songs are yall bumping atm? bts reunion is on the corner so thats why im asking
for me im so addicted to i’m fine rn, its got such a cathartic melody and drum-and-bass beat, and the lyrics are top notch and fit the love yourself theme like a glove
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can you take your bts hype train elsewhere? i’m here for xikers
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and im here to talk about anything but xikers
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(pls dont turn into a flame war pls dont turn into a flame war pls dont turn into a flame war)
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yeah nick pls delete this thread i think i accidentally poured gasoline here 🙏🙏🙏🙏🙏
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glad you realized, pls be respectful
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I’ve been listening to Fire, Cypher 3 and fake love on repeat the past few days.
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Dionysus, Boyz With Fun, Silver Spoon, and Jungkook’s solo album, if that last one counts.
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I need u. I’m pretty sure this is my favorite bts track ever
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I Need U is also my #1 BTS song!
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the hyyh trilogy has always been my favorite bts era and i consider it one of the greatest album trilogies of the 21st century
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Magic Shop is my number one favorite BTS song.
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*sighs* KQ, did you not notice how much traction Bittersweet got in comparison to Witch and that even you guys promoted it arguably more than Witch? If you guys were smarter, you’d make Highway the title track instead of… Breathe (but again, they also chose to promote fuckass Red Sun over Supercalifragilistic and yes, I’m still traumatized by and salty over that)
It’s your average boy group slop, but with a lotta gimmicks and self-seriousness. The gasps throughout the track and the clunky, chanty “breathe” hook makes the gimmicks even worse. I find the production alright, the bass kinda slaps. I’d probably find it somewhat passable if it wasn’t that gimmicky, but it’s these gimmicks that make the song almost unbearable.
6.25 (5, 7, 7, 6) for me. I just hope they promote Highway as well cause these guys are meant for the rock sound.
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I AM STILL SO SAD THAT SUPERCALIFRAGILISTIC GOT FORGOTTEN.. it has so much potential
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My god, it had so much potential, like, club music was a rising trend back then, the song was perfect for the trend and, and not to mention, it’s the strongest track from Trial and Error imo (and my fave B-side/overall song from them tbh). I’ll never forgive KQ for not promoting the song (+ 10% of my hatred for Red Sun also stems from it being chosen over Supercalifragilistic for promos)
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it’s a little tame i’d say, even tho the bass is great and so are the raps. wish they’d gone a little more out on this. album has some great b-sides as per usual. somehow xikers make me like pretty much everything they release, so i’ll be listening to the title on loop anyway
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kinda underwhelming after WITCH tbh. Glad Junghoon is back. I feel like this group is kinda flopping. KQ needs to get better creative direction for these boys. Need to learn in harder to the spooky shit with a rock sound. Right now everything I see looks so generic like they could be any nugu boygroup. They need something to help them stand out. The rap line is really talented, like bangtan rap line level talented for an idol group. (I hate to bring them up but it’s the truth)
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I’m not a fan of them but no boygroup ever made a title track similar to this
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I’m not a fan of them but calling this generic I can’t understand. No other boygroup has made a title track similar to this, this is the first time a boygroup does a rage trap song (at least for a title). They are quiet their own thing in general, thanks to those rappers with unique tones mostly and that Beastie Boys approach they are trying.
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I meant the creative direction. I like most of their music, but I think their MVs always give SM box and I feel like KQ is putting all the budget into Ateez lol
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I would mostly agree with you. KQ’s other group Ateez seems to be doing quite well right now, even preparing to go on a tour while Xikers seems to be a little shoved off to the side. These boys’ vocals are killer, and I love how well they sing live, so KQ utilize it better.
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I feel like with KQ going public and Ateez reaching enlistment age if their next comeback won’t be a huge deal with a big budget? They’ve got to think about the next generation. They don’t have any other idol groups and I don’t think they’re planning another debut right now? Plus the Xikers boys are still SOOO young. Around the two year mark is when Stray Kids broke out with God’s Menu and Xikers just had their two year anniversary. Even Stray Kids was called a flop at first. Regardless I’m getting cheap tickets to their upcoming tour before I have time to see if my predictions come true.
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eh I don’t get the apathy this is a stupid banger the kind that xikers is probably the best of the new school of boy groups at making mostly due to the uniquely obnoxious voices on display that this song knows to put front and centre
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Yechan and Sumin rapping back to back always gets me hype asf. I love when this group gets punky and bratty sounding.
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Anyway, for every Breathe there is a Highway.
See you soon at Buried Treasure?
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it’s fun, but I can see why you might not like it
8/10 for me (8, 8, 8, 8)
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I feel like for this album and the last album KQ have chosen one of the worst track on the album to be the title track. I like all of the bsides so much more than breathe. That being said I will probably have this album on loop, I really enjoy most of the songs.
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Yeah, the album’s pretty good imo (apart from Breathe and You Hide We Seek). And atp, it feels like KQ has to give xikers the weakest/worst tracks of the album to promote (Rockstar/Xikey though the entire debut album was pretty weak; Koong; Red Sun; Witch though it’s 3rd among the Watch Out album tracks for me; and now Breathe). I hope KQ’s smart enough to promote Highway like they promoted Bittersweet
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You Hide We Seek is a great hip-hop song with the rapping front and centre. I get the indifference towards Breathe but YHWS has a lot more to it.
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well, rockstar and red sun were my favourite songs of their respective years so maybe it’s just that catering to the tastes of people like me lol. For rockstar that instrumental is unmatched, and for red sun it’s just so much fun to shout along to the song while bopping my head at a dangerously large amplitude
not gonna defend koong though, that one’s a crime against humanity
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I really wanna love Rockstar. The lively verses, energetic production really engages me, but for the life of me, I cannot get through that disjointed, grating chorus made worse by that autotune. If it weren’t for the chorus, I would have easily bumped it to the 9s and it would have been one of my 2023 highlights, but instead is in low-7s and I have avoided that song since it was first released.
For Red Sun, I find the shouting, 6ix9ine-esque delivery very annoying and tiresome (+ 10% of my dislike for that song stems from it being chosen over Supercalifragilistic for promos).
But ofc, it’s a matter of personal preferences and I respect that (:
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I feel like for this album and the last album KQ have chosen one of the worst track on the album to be the title track. I like all of the bsides so much more than breathe. That being said I will probably have this album on loop, I really enjoy most of the songs.
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Delete this duplicate.
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Another shouty loud song which takes itself too seriously. Another one that makes me yearn for the days of Block B.
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Is the first title track that I like about them. You don’t listen to rage trap and it shows. This is a Playboi Carti rendition and a very good one I might add. I wonder why no boygroup jumped onto this trend before but if one group was the one to do it given what I listened of them it was clearly these guys.
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I loved WITCH. Thought it was clever and fun. I like this song a lot, too. It suits their trickster image. I imagine them choking you at the same time they’re yelling at you to breathe.
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eh
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NOT BAD
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I’m a huge roady I became roady since February 5th last year. I love this song so much! it made me extremely hyper.
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Breathe is a great song
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maybe my standards have dropped or something but I actually ended up liking this a lot
there is something about the instrumental that makes me feel kind of…claustrophobic almost. The difference here is that I like that a song can invoke that feeling in me
or maybe after a couple years of washed out pop songs I’m just feeling nostalgic for the kpop of better times lol
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Intense, fun, catchy enough, great rap section. Sounds like a 9 to me on first listen.
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irritainment at its finest. I Koong you all.
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I don’t care what you want to say about xikers and it’s not the first time you dislike their discography. BUT, I ABSOLUTELY LOVE THIS SONG!!! No one can beat the boys when they’re doing bangers.
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I love it too! I think that the boys chanting “Breathe” somehow just completes the song. In fact, when I woke up this morning, it was the first song I listened to. And after that, I watched two of their newest performances of it.
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