Review

Song Review: ENHYPEN – Outside

Posted on by 27 Comments

As time has gone on, any enthusiasm I mustered around ENHYPEN’s recent title track Bad Desire (With or Without You) has fizzled. The music just feels so undeveloped, trussed up with overly dramatic visuals that only serve to highlight how threadbare the actual sound is. This extends to their newest album, which is getting a second shot of promotion with follow-up track Outside.

I like this even less than Bad Desire, though it feels like the more intentional track of the two. I see what they’re going for here, even if it’s not for me at all. This style of heavy trap posturing is nothing new in global music and fits a group who is more performance-focused. But even if the genre isn’t my thing, a good song should still have some sort of hook and sense of development, right? Outside passes by in the space of two minutes, coming and going without any high or low points. It’s simply a bunch of guys grumbling over a trap beat with the occasional slurred autotune dragging down an already lethargic energy.

What amazes me most is the level of budget that went into promoting such a whiff of music. The accompanying video looks like a set piece from a huge movie, promising equally dynamic sounds. If only HYBE would spread the finances more equitably between elements of ENHYPEN’s comebacks. After all, K-pop is still a music business first and foremost. or at least, I thought that’s what it was supposed to be. We may have crossed that rubicon years ago, in which case this post-apocalyptic rumble of nothingness provides a fitting soundtrack.

Hooks 6
 Production 6
 Longevity 6
 Bias 5
 RATING 5.75

Grade: F

27 thoughts on “Song Review: ENHYPEN – Outside”

  2. This one is… okay. The production is meh generic trap, though I lowkey vibe with the percussions here. The “we be outsi-i-i-i-i-ide” hook is also kinda brain tickling for me, but yeah the verses are a massive let down and the melodic pre-chorus being a bit too polished for my taste. Bad Desire fell massively for me (that fucking autotune…), and I’d prolly prefer this over the former, even if not by too much.

    6.75 (7, 7, 7, 6) for me.

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  6. ~ Sigh

    It’s incredible when the groups who have the budget use it to release truly innovative and inspired music (ex: EXO’s Mama). It’s even more incredible where groups who don’t have the budget release something amazing and enthralling (ex: Road-B’s Nonstop). What’s perhaps most irking to me, is when groups use their hefty funds to release music like this. It feels like an attempt to overcompensate for the lack of effort put into the music itself.

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    • Yeah I would rather have a kpop or other group or whatever just sing in the one language rather than switching it up like some do with mix of english and their own language like Korean or Japanese. I mean just stick with one or the other if gonna do english then do english I mean at least that way ya can understand what they are saying anyway because dunno about you but I ain’t fluent in Korean or Japanese.

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    • they have Loose, Too Close, Helium and Flashover in the album. It is a mostly vocal based album. Outside kinda sounds like a song you’d put on if you were just cruising in your car and chilling. Instead of boring like everyone else is saying, I think of it just chill, and just a toned down but still a bit hectic type song. Just my opinion though and I understand, just down agree with others.

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  11. Ni-Ki’s “we be out si i ii iii ide” hook is catchy and also a good use of his voice tone, but that’s it I guess, I wish they would just promote Helium instead which is a significantly better song on this EP and also has a member participating in the production

    Didn’t feel like giving this one a score cause I still treat this song as kind of a guilty pleasure even if the hook is the only thing I actually enjoy

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  12. Oh, I actually liked this more than I thought I would after reading the review! The outsi-i-i-i-i-i-de part I found pretty catchy. Even so, it never seems to go anywhere and doesn’t feel like much of an actual song, almost more of an idea or a concept that I’m not sure what to do with 😭

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  15. “Guys grumbling over a trap beat” can be hit or miss in kpop but Outside what a hit for me!

    I guess I’m the only one here who’s bopping along to “Was a pretty boy, but it’s getting ugly” 🗣️🔥

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  16. IT’S ALREADY MASTERPIECE, WHY IT’S “F,, NO NO NO IT’S ALWAYS “A,, OUTSIDE’S ALL THINGS WAS SOOOO GOOD, MV, VOCAL, DANCE, AND VISUALS I DON’T UNDERSTANDING BYEEEEE STUPID WRITER!!!

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    • im a huge enhypen stan but I promise there’s no reason to comment that like it is NOT that deep bro. let the writer have their own opinions and if you don’t like stop reading and log off buddy 🥀

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  17. although i *can* get ppl calling it boring, i can’t help but feel like they’re saying that mostly cause they haven’t listened to the full album. personally, if this song was a title, a pre release single or anything else, i would agree that it’s stepping a little low for them. however, in the end it’s really just a bside. and i feel like when you listen to the entire album, from which every other song is either vocal (helium, loose) or has a fresh instrumental to back it up (flashover), a song like outside works nicely. it breaks the usual formula and it’s daring into a sound enhypen has never really done to its fullest before.

    that said, i don’t know if it works well as a promoted bside. it’s like i said: it works well with the album as a whole. but if i were to chose a bside to promote, i don’t think outside would’ve been the one. it doesn’t sound bad necessarily, maybe just not interesting enough to have promotions by itself? at first i thought they were going to promote helium tbh. (i’m a little biased here i love this song lol) but i think, as good as it is, maybe they thought it was too close to their usual sound and wanted to try showcasing something different o especially cause i feel like outside is the kind of sound the members themselves like right now… and since we’re seeing more of this genre in kpop recently (or at least from what i’ve seen), it not *completely* crazy to promote it. but i still don’t think it was their best choice.

    by the way, i never really understood this thing where enhypen *has* to promote a bside every single album. i mean, especially when they already had a pre release single, now half of this album is promoted. idk, sometimes it feels a little too much. I love them so i’m happy they’re doing it, but it just doesn’t feel necessary to do it every. single. time. i mean, skz promoted a bside for ate last year and that was the first time since no easy in 2021. and they’re still doing well i’m notcomplaining, but i just don’t think it should be viewed as something absolutely necessary. sometimes, it’s enough to represent albums with one title. idk why they feel like they need at least 2. especially for albums like du, i feel like all the songs are better when you listen to the album as a whole, not by themselves.

    that said, i think it’s the first time i’ve felt this strongly against promoting a bside. the promoted bsides sounded fine to me in all their last albums.

    anyway, sorry this is really long lol.

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    • it’s promoted bc of the sentiment behind the song … they’ve gone from walking the line to finally crossing the line after 5 years of being active. not everyone will get it and that’s okay

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  18. I kinda like the stuttering Outsi-i-i-i-de. Don’t know why. But I don’t like the rest very much. Maybe it works in context, but in that case why promote it instead of something that would stand alone?

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