Since their debut in 2023, n.SSign have struggled to forge their own sound, shifting genres and energy with each comeback. For me, they’ve yet to better the stunning ballad Higher, which displayed a vocal ambition we don’t often hear in K-pop these days. New single Itty Bitty introduces a bit of bombastic funk but ultimately becomes yet another generic boy group banger.
There are moments of promise anchoring Itty Bitty. The powerful chorus has touches of SHINee, though they’re smothered by somewhat dull production and a throwaway “la la la” post-chorus. The verses employ the kind of stuttering, NCT-esque beat we’ve heard hundreds of times over the past few years, sacrificing drive for copy-and-paste posturing. Verse two injects some needed sonic drama, but there’s only so much you can do with a line like “she got me oh so sticky.” Major side eye emoji on that one, boys…
Ultimately, Itty Bitty scratches enough baseline boy group itches to work as a fun stopgap, but in a year desperately in need of 9+ rated standouts, my playlist doesn’t need any more stopgaps. I’m looking for a group like n.SSign to truly knock things out of the park and I sense they can do that if given the right material. Itty Bitty takes some tentative steps in the right direction, but leaves me wanting more.
| Hooks | 8 |
| Production | 8 |
| Longevity | 8 |
| Bias | 8 |
| RATING | 8 |
The Bias List // K-Pop Reviews & Discussion 
hi nick! do you think there’s any buried treasure in kiss of life new album?
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This sounds like NCT Wish, if they managed to maintain the vibes and sound from Songbird and Dunk Shot, and it’s a compliment cause I love those two songs lol
The verses are decent, serviceable, but the chorus is really fun and addictive, I wish they extended the outro so we’d get to hear the chorus for a third final time with some good ad-libs, but overall, I really love this one.
8.75 (9, 9, 8, 9) for me.
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What’s up with the brain MRIs in the mv 😭 really not quite sure what to think of that
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shake & bake isn’t any better i don’t think, but i was very confused for a sec towards the end of it when i heard the same lalala melody as the recent tripleS song lol
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they might be saying “na” in this case, but still
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nick can you include prizm’s new song in the global roundup? i listened to it and its great!
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Thanks for the rec! I’ve seen this act before but never followed them too closely. This song’s great!
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if you want here are some more recs for the group
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On my weekend road trip through the mountains I had only my green ipod, and I was wishing for whatever ipod had nSSign “Higher” on it, because the scenery felt like that song. Also not on the green ipod was any John Denver, which would also have been apt for the mountainous state I was driving through.
Almost Heaven. The clouds were so close. I had to do the math. Where we live vs where I was driving, I was halfway to the clouds.
… …
OK, back this song. The lyrics give me serious side eye. Its one thing for a metal hair band back in the 80’s to talk about being sticky, its another for an insulated kpop boy band to sing about the same. Worse, most (all?) of the lyrics are in English, so we can hear and understand it all too much. I don’t think I have on my “Kpop lyrics in English” ranking list “Really, you’re singing about that?” category. Maybe I should add it.
Pass.
For those not familiar, here is “Higher”.
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