Last year, The Black Label’s rookie girl group MEOVV released a pair of singles. Neither Meow nor Toxic did anything for me, with the first being oddly inscrutable and the second quite boring. But as they say, “the third time’s the charm,” and MEOVV are back for another try with pre-release Hands Up. Once again co-produced by the prolific Teddy, the song sees the group borrowing equally from current trends and K-pop’s past.
Hands Up does not open with much promise. Its most irritating instrumental riff hits us right at the start, but the song improves from here… at least for a while. Overall, I’m a fan of the insistent beat. It’s nice to hear a new track with such a steady pulse, and that energy drags Hands Up‘s less-than-thrilling composition over the line. Much of its melody, structure and even performance feels like reheated BLACKPINK, which is to be expected given its composers. This makes Hands Up feel quite extraneous, but that’s not automatically a reason to dismiss it.
Apart from moments in the chorus, I’m not convinced by Hands Up‘s hooks. The rapping in the verses often feels awkwardly placed and the more melodic segments play things so safe that they risk flattening entirely. The song unfolds with a lot of vocal affectation, as if the girls have been instructed to sing in a certain way to fit within this specific musical universe. This makes it difficult to connect with Hands Up, even as that steady beat continues to resound in your head.
| Hooks | 7 |
| Production | 8 |
| Longevity | 8 |
| Bias | 7 |
| RATING | 7.5 |
The Bias List // K-Pop Reviews & Discussion 
Ooh, I like this one! The Brazilian funk beat of the song keeps the momentum ongoing and makes the production catchy and upbeat. The hooks are okay, but the “let the water fall~” part is a sweet earworm that tickles my brain the right way. The verses are serviceable, although a bit forgettable. But overall, it’s a decent effort and the best of their singles runs so far.
8.25 (8, 9, 8, 8) for me.
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Jesus… only I know how difficult it was for me to listen to that. The attempt to create an ornate melody with flutes ended up making the listening experience very uncomfortable. The choice of timbre, which should sound light and enveloping, seems forced and artificial. And the vocals? Ugh… The head behind the management of this group isn’t helping them
6.25 (6, 6, 7, 6)
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It sounds like Girl Crush circa 2021. I don’t hate the song, I just don’t like it.
My mind went to Tri.be (“tri be be da loca”) but make it 2025 with a more constant beat. Something between their Rub a dum and Doom doom ta.
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this group need a proper identity, the song isn’t the worst, but this sound like a blackpink song far too much.
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Well, at least the quality is objectively better than MEOW even though i enjoy MEOW more
Rating is the same
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I hate the choices the producers make here. I like that pulsating beat and if it were paired by a strong melody, this could have been big and anthemic. Now, it kinds of ebbs and pitters. Please hand’s up and arrest these producers (couldn’t help myself) for this missed opportunities.
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oops….opportunity*.
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I Kinda like it. For me its one step above Meow or same. Love the chorus with their fluent English. NOT BAD MEOVV 👍 #gottagivecredits to the song being 3minute long.
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I like all of MEOV’s releases so far and this is an interesting direction that is pleasing. I can see how some of the choices would be grating for some, but honestly this song is a nice energetic jam. I would disagree that it doesn’t sound like Blackpink at all, but maybe that is because I used to listen to Blackpink a lot so it is not as apparent to me.
8,9,8,9 = 8.5 for me.
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ignore my double negative above, I mean it DOESN’T sound like BP to me.
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I like the chorus…that’s it. I wish they did a different outro though, maybe add something more energetic in the final part? As it is, I feel the song wanted to go places and it kept getting reigned in. 8?
I just saw a performance and they sold it well, so I’ll give them that.
My untrained ears did not catch Blackpink so I went to Tri.be’s Spotify page and it definitely sounds like them.
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I think there are times when we don’t a constant beat and I think that’s the case for the verses. They leave no impact but maybe could’ve been broken up by don’t interesting production
I wish we got a full chorus at the end
The chorus and bridge unfortunately are good here. This could’ve been a playlist has if it wasn’t for those pesky verses
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body is still my favorite song from them and i wish hands up went with a slinkier, darker beat than the flute-esque sound. the beat reminds me of loona’s paint the town, which has the same marching into battle energy. even the mv visuals reminded me a bit of ptt and heya (korean themes). the intro reminds me of o.o too. not all of the sections in hands up meld and transition well together BUT boy am i glad that they gave vocals and a bridge to dance break outro. this is a step in the right direction.
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I like this a lot. “let the water fall” is so euphoric it sold the song to me.
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The last
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oops i meant the last 30 seconds really lift the song up for me
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This is generous af TT i thought the song was shit and annoying. they looked good tho so id give a 3/10 NO more
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