“XngHan & Xoul” may not be a familiar name yet, but “RIIZE’s Seunghan” certainly is. Seunghan debuted with SM Entertainment’s RIIZE in 2023 but was forced out of the group soonafter for insanely ridiculous reasons. For a moment, it seemed as if he would re-join their ranks, but fan toxicity caused him to debut as a soloist instead. He remains with SM alongside a dance crew (hence the name XngHan & Xoul) and has made his long-awaited step back into the industry with Waste No Time.
Truthfully, I had no idea what to expect from this debut. I remember Seunghan saying how much he enjoyed hip-hop and that seems to be the preferred mode for most male K-pop artists. However, Waste No Time is targeted much more to the dancefloor. It takes many of today’s popular trends (ie: early-2000’s percussion) and kicks them up a notch or two, resulting in a far bouncier track than most of his peers. Apart from a needless tempo shift after the first chorus, this works well for Seunghan. He doesn’t have the most distinct voice, but his light tone glides over the song’s buoyant groove. I especially enjoy the hints of brass that pop up here and there.
True to form, I long for a better chorus. I appreciate how Waste No Time takes a melodic approach to its centerpiece, but the hook is so repetitive. I’m afraid this will blunt the song’s longevity, though I’ll always be happy to hear a bright jolt of energy like this on my playlist.
| Hooks | 7 |
| Production | 9 |
| Longevity | 8 |
| Bias | 9 |
| RATING | 8.25 |
The Bias List // K-Pop Reviews & Discussion 
Grade C? But well, I had a soft spot for Seunghan even if I was (and still am!) an ardent Sungchan ult, so you can tell how devastated I was when Seunghan was put on hiatus and even cried a little to his departure (cheesy I know…). But I’m glad that he’s back in the industry cause he’s too talented to be shelved and I admire how strong he is to endure all this for this long and still stand strong.
For this song, I like how muted, yet full of life the production is. I always felt that Seunghan would nail the dance genre so I’m glad to see him debut with this kinda sound. Like you, I wish the chorus wasn’t so repetitive and it definitely affects the longevity. But overall, I enjoy this.
Rating’s the same, and I would kill for Seunghan to do a song like R.Y.U.S.E.I in the future, I could literally envision him sing the chorus
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Grade B! Sorry about that.
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Reading your comment just made me think about how he would’ve ate up Impossible 🥲
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love him going the dance pop route (I never doubted it in the first place). I prefer Heavenly Blue, but I still really enjoy this.
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The chorus has a synth double kick bass drum effect with the vocal artificially clipped which creates an interesting and perhaps sense of urgency.
As for the rest of the song, I still just don’t understand why companies have soloists record songs that are meant for multiple voices and vocal styles and ranges. Worse, have them record in a clip here clip there format so there is no way to sing this through live live ever.
(Compare and contrast to Nam Woo Hyun’s “Only” release yesterday which sounds so live and authentic.)
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As a pre-debut riize fan, I would be lying if I said I’m not still sad about him being forced to leave the group, but can we just take a moment to talk about and appreciate how strong of a guy he is? If it were anyone else most likely would’ve gave up on being an idol altogether after everything he went through, but he decided to redebut as a soloist and continue chasing his dreams despite everything, so that just makes me admire him even more than I already did. And he seems genuinely happy now as well, so I’m happy for him too. I still don’t really trust SM to handle his career properly after how badly they fumbled him in riize, but his solo debut is already doing pretty well, with over 50k albums being sold today, so I think if he continues to do well and exceed expectations, he may just be treated like a proper artist. As for the song, I was honestly expecting a R&B title track because he did say he liked R&B/Neo Soul too at one point, but the dance pop route fits him just as well.
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This is mid.
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