Review

Song Review: aespa – Rich Man

Posted on by 89 Comments

It may simply be my exhaustion with current K-pop trends speaking, but I feel like agencies often learn the wrong lessons from their successes. aespa’s most successful title tracks have hinged on varying levels of repetition, but ever since last year’s Whiplash it feels like SM Entertainment has been on autopilot with the group’s material, offering retreads of a monotonous song structure wrapped in different musical guises. June’s Dirty Work suffered from this approach and new single Rich Man also struggles to break free from its repeated catchphrases.

Judging by any metric, aespa are one of the biggest girl groups in the world. However, songs like Rich Man don’t feel worthy of that title. I dig the track’s grimy, guitar-infused instrumental, but there are many points where the energy drags unnecessarily. This is most evident during the chorus, which deserves a weightier arrangement that would help distinguish it from the verses. It doesn’t help that Rich Man‘s “la la la” hook is puny and throwaway, barely even trying to offer an interesting melodic centerpiece.

Instead — as always — Rich Man relies on charisma. Charisma is awesome and the K-pop industry has a surplus of it. Charisma can lift a so-so song, but you know you’re in trouble when even charisma starts to feel monotonous. Charisma without the means to channel it feels like a beautifully adorned box holding nothing. I wouldn’t say Rich Man is “nothing,” but it’s a pretty boring entry into the overstuffed self-empowerment sub-genre. There are only so many times you can say “I am a rich man” and expect your audience to be enthralled. It’s a whole lot of telling and very little showing, which makes the whole exercise feel stilted and surprisingly joyless.

Hooks 6
 Production 8
 Longevity 7
 Bias 7
 RATING 7

Grade: C-

89 thoughts on “Song Review: aespa – Rich Man”

  3. The verses are great this time, but yeah, the chorus is a bit too repetitive. I dig the production though, though it needs stronger hooks. Dirty Work somewhat grew on me a bit, and I feel like this might too.

    7.5 (6, 8, 8, 8) for me. Also, how did Dirty Work rose for you? I thought that it would fall for you 😭

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  4. the “I am a rich man” phrase is very repetitive and the instrumental is so flat. all that tease about a rock-inspired track only for the electric guitar to sound muffled except in like the last 30 seconds. I’m here for taking care of your vocals and all that but let these girls belt and riff and run again. that used to be one of the things that set them apart from their peers so every comeback after Armageddon have been very uncharacteristic to me. (though I did enjoy Whiplash even without that particular element.)

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  5. The hook is used too repetitively, they’re going for another whiplash and it didn’t click.

    There is not enough vocals either, the final chorus was a drag like dirty work, at least drama and armogeddon had the vocal elements

    Overall sounds like an nct scrap, SM is just bored at this point, but the girls are at their peak where anything sells

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    • I mean that does seem accurate as all any posts on this blog or whatever it is called tend to do is just bitch about kpop and how it has gone downhill or how there don’t seem to be any good songs or groups out there or that kpop ain’t what it used to be. That and it seems lot of comments on said posts tend to be in that same trend as well that are quote critical and really say nothing good about the songs much at all. What was the phrase if ya have nothing nice to say then don’t say anything at all?

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        • That along with in posts and comments usually always on about lyrics or choreo or the companies behind the groups too. Or someone talking about how kpop ain’t what it used to be and so on.

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      • That’s been the trend lately, yes, but as recently as July there were plenty of tracks receiving positive write-ups.

        At this point, we need to ask ourselves if it’s an issue with the reviewer (me) or an issue with the songs (ie: they haven’t been very good lately). That’s impossible to answer because it’s subjective and would have a different response depending on the person.

        I can say three things for sure, though:

        a) I’m not the only one expressing these opinions about song quality. I’ve seen a burgeoning consensus in places of K-pop discourse that the music just hasn’t been that great lately. Again, it’s subjective — but if enough people are saying it, there must be something to it…

        b) It might not seem like it, but I’ve actually been pretty engaged with K-pop this year and have quite a few acts that I think are releasing great work. We’ve just been in a 6-8 week period of doldrums since the end of July.

        c) This blog will rarely be unadulterated praise. I have a naturally critical mind. That may not be what you’re interested in reading and that’s totally okay, but even the songs I love will likely receive some criticism because I enjoy thinking about art and entertainment in this way. I realize it’s not the norm anymore (especially online), but hopefully it’s a niche that some people are interested in.

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        • This is all well and good, although personally I found it absurd to dub Soda Pop (from Kpop Demon Hunters) as the best of a generic bunch and witness commenters forming an echo chamber of agreement. I mean, really, that is pure insipid Permission to Dance pastiche, and yet…

          It’s illustrative of a larger trend on this blog where female acts largely reap 7s and boy groups are graded on a curve. I know that taste is subjective and the site is literally called the Bias List. But I feel like commenters (not you) take particular pleasure in complaining when a girl group releases a mediocre song. And as complaint begets complaint, is it really being critical or is it just homogenous negativity?

          You have a narrow standard of what constitutes good music. That’s fine. But I’ll bet that many don’t read the review and the rating turns them off the song without giving it a chance, which again is not your fault but possibly worth thinking about. Your opinion may hold more sway than you realize. But I’m not here to tell you what to do! It’s your blog, after all. Just some food for thought.

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          • I’d argue there isn’t a more consistent and balanced reviewer of kpop than Nick on the whole internet. They properly grade on a bell curve where MOST material is rating around 7.5, which they have noted in their scoring is equivalent to a C. 9s are suitably rare and 10s are maybe one or two a year. Same with 6 and under scores, you don’t see many because there shouldn’t be many.

            Then when I read the reviews, they reference musical facts about the song and then how they affect Nick’s enjoyment of it. Whenever a song is not to their taste, they go out of their way to complement certain elements of it. For example, they liked the gritty guitar and applauded how Aespa have charisma to spare. So I don’t think it’s fair to say that Nick holds any responsibility for poisoning a comments section, if anything they do a lot in their review to subvert that.

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            • I totally disagree with the “There shouldn’t be many 6 and under scores”. I wrote once or twice that I feel the scoring system is quite flawed in my point of view cause it’s really hard to understand the difference between say a 7 and a 7.5 , and then between a 6 and a 3. There’s just no sense of scale, the low grades just feel too arbitrary cause at 7 nick already dislikes the songs quite a lot. While for example 9-10 you can understand by how Nick reacts that it’s working as intended. I understand this is the internet and giving low scores to a song will get you more hate but I’ll never shut up about the flawed system.

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            • Sure, but if you read what I wrote, you’d know that I was referring to the likelihood that people don’t read the review, which is often quite evenhanded, and take the rating for granted. I’m not attacking anyone here, you can relax.

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          • Personally I think the song isn’t terrible, but it comes off as a little flat, and I think a slightly more energetic chorus really could have improved it. Aespa has better songs as well as word songs then this; it’s solidly in the middle for middle for me.

            Finally, Soda Pop is a good, fun, and harmless pop song. It’s fine if you consider it silly or insipid, but you are doing exactly what you complain Nick does in that comment. Just saying.

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            • “you are doing exactly what you complain Nick does”

              I have no platform and no influence, so I can’t actually host discussions inviting everyone to rag on Soda Pop, no.

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          • I mean… every single one of my lowest rated songs of the past 6-8 weeks has come from boy groups or male artists. I agree that a lot of gg songs end up in the 7s/low 8s — especially these past few years. But, in general, bgs release *a lot* more material than girl groups and because of this there tends to be a greater variety of musical concepts (and thus a greater chance a song will appeal to me). In response to this stylistic range, I find myself doling out higher highs and lower lows to bgs. Funny enough, it’s the exact opposite with global pop artists!

            I’m not going to take the time to do it, but it would interesting to see what the average score is between the genders over a certain period of time. I wouldn’t be surprised if they averaged about the same… just with more extremes in both directions for bgs. Then again, I could be completely wrong!

            I agree that I have my biases — especially when it comes to certain tropes/genres/presentations — but I’m afraid that’s just part of the blog. You either love it or hate it. I try to remain open-minded and listen to everything, but I also know I have to be myself because no one wants to read someone who’s pretending to like/hate something instead of sharing their real feelings.

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            • (and if it’s any consolation I don’t like Soda Pop either. It would have been ranked in the 7s had I written a review. It’s simply the song from that movie that is least likely to make me want to gouge my ears out because it’s nonexistent fluff rather than actively annoying earworm)

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            • I respect this levelheaded explanation. I knew there were parts of the picture I was missing, so I appreciate the insight about greater fluctuation in boy group ratings. It does clear things up considerably that Soda Pop lands in the 7s for you.

              Thanks for replying!

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              • No problem! I enjoy conversations like this and the chance to explore my own biases and think about both the strengths and limitations of this blog. Everything you mentioned in your initial comment already runs through my mind quite often so you are in no way wrong to question it!

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        • I think an “issue with the reviewer” would mean disliking everything in a way that feels forced and at odds with what people have come to understand about your taste.

          That’s not the case though and in general your taste has remained pretty consistent over a long period of time as far as i can tell. therefore, if you enjoyed more songs a few months back compared to now, then it must simply be an issue with the songs in relation to your taste as a reviewer. yes it’s your opinion on the songs but that alone doesn’t constitute an “issue with the reviewer”, as that’s just what a reviewer does. it would have to come across as consistently disingenuous for it to reach that i think.

          Just thought i’d say this as i wasn’t convinced it’d be impossible to answer whether it’s a you issue or a song issue. it felt like there was a definitive answer haha

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        • I do get that you have been a great lover of kpop and your blog has for the longest time been the first place I go to to get my first review (there are actually basically no other good sources on the internet today) when a new video drops, but the last few years I have gotten the feeling you really would feel better just to move on. Point in case is that your reviews of music from the rest of the world often feel more interesting and relevant. I often nowadays feel a trepidation visiting your blog to read about a song I like, as it will most surely get a “meh” review and “It isn’t as good as it could/should have been”. Not even a passionate hate, but just tiredness. I do actually agree a lot with some of your issues like the shortness of the tracks, but I also feel that it may not be that kpop is moving in the wrong direction but rather that it is moving ahead. I personally still get moved by current songs like Viviz “la La Love” and now “Rich Man” . Also, I do think one must take into account the whole medium, ie the MV itself. I mean the MV for Rich Man just cannot be ignored and just reviewing the song itself is like ripping a work of art in two and then reviewing just one half. It is like here in Europe , the Eurovision supposedly should just be judged on the songs own merit when it is obvious to everyone that the show is what everyone comes for (too). Maybe the focus of your reviews should somehow change so that it becomes more fun (for you)? I used to review kpop for a lot of years and went through the same kind of stagnation and realized it was more of a chore than being fun after maybe 5-7 years.

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            • I would rather defend Rich Man than most other recent music videos, like Dirty Work. Now that is a song that goes on my nerves. Rich Man is such a joy to experience, so I have no problem stanning it. 😉

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          • this is exactly my problem with this website. not like the reviews are bad (they’re well-written, entertaining, consistent and they keep me updated with kpop), I’m just scared that songs I like won’t be treated well. which is fine since everyone has their own tastes! either way, keep it up nick! i’ll keep reading even if I don’t agree 🙂

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    • The video is hideous, the chicken scene is embarrassing and the song is plain bad, one painful hook on repeat. All platforms and even the fandom agree.

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      • OMG haha *this* comment is what I’d be writing in my reviews if I was really as “hateful” as people like to claim! And I mean that with all the respect Fujirock, because this made me lol

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        • the original comment made me mad at how irrational it was, more rage than hate haha. Plus we need to acknowledge that they teased so much the song with expensive and flashy visuals it’s all the more disappointing!

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  7. Literally only the first part of the prechorus worked for me. The song seemed poised to head into to a SMP style wall of sound chorus. But alas, la la la was what we got(again).

    Reminds me of the absolutely banging Turn Back Time and how those crunchy electronics could have sounded here.

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  8. I genuinely love Whiplash because repetition works in an EDM post Charli XCX track. The pulsating beat is so good I don’t mind it. However Rich Man is a whole other story. An ad gimmick repeated 100 times with nothing around. The production is interesting, the guitars a cool addition but there’s nothing else. Baffling when everyone thought 2025 would the year of Aespa’s crowning. They have so much talent and like you say Charisma, it’s a real shame.

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  9. 5/10. Bad repetition. Its so bad because its not even interesting to listen to, “i am the rich man” and the “la la las” are in whisper tone that makes it has 0 power in the chorus. I’m disappointed honestly

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  11. This song is such a disappointment, I’ve got a lot of tolerance for repetition, but the rich man catchphrase was old by the 3rd time of the dozens of times they repeat it. Then the la la’s felt like a twist of the knife after the continued rich man repetition.

    Moving on to the album, there is only one song that peaked my interest on first listen – Bubble.

    As someone who has appreciated most everything even up to and including Dirty Work, THIS is a falling off point for them. I’ll keep my eye out for the next album hoping for a rebound.

    Rich Man gets 5,7,6,6 = 6

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  12. honestly I really like the song but I wanted it to be louder. The “la la la” part throws me off and repeating “rich man” all the time won’t make it better. Also, the MV is tragic. Ai? Really? I also don’t get the sports theme and farm. It looks bad and for me, SM did Ning and Karina dirty with those outfits. I liked Karina’s chopped bangs in armageddon era but now… Ew. Also, I wished to hear more vocals. The prechorus is just ok and it needs more vocals. The chorus could be better ofc and they could have given more verses to girls instead of repeating “im a rich man” and “imma carry myself”. That’s annoying. The only thing that I really like in this song is the bridge. I don’t want to bother the visuals, but they could have done better too (I MEAN THE OUTFITS OFC.) bcs they’re kinda boring… And I wish they could shine more. Ngl everytime i look at the Ai mv i want to throw up, it’s awful:(((

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  14. After 2 good years SM gave them a boring 2025

    I hope they come back next year with something good cause this ain’t it for me

    Boring single, boring MV (even though there’s a lot happening) and one of their worst choreos

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    • I initially thought this was by far their worst choreography, then I was reminded of the existence of that awful, AWFUL “Girls” choreo…

      Their three 2024 title track choreos were great & dynamic (I particularly love “Supernova”), even “Dirty Work” was quite cool, but this one is just lame.

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  15. For such an incredibly aurally boring song, giving the main chorus such a nothingburger of a choreo was absolutely the wrong move because there was nothing to distract you from how terrible it sounds.

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  17. I have a conspiracy that they’re giving us such uninspired and lackluster material so that when they do eventually come out with a banger, the reception will be much stronger. You know, making the gap bigger.

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  19. The bonework of the song is good but it relies too heavily on a catchy phrase to make up for lack of substance. It’s better than Dirty Work but it feels like SM doesn’t care about the music anymore.

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  20. Cher’s “I am a rich man” comment was such a mic drop moment, and it could have been one in this song if they’d used it sparingly and strategically. But as Spongebob learned when he ripped his pants, each time you repeat the punchline, it loses impact.

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    • I would’ve used it as part of an exciting bridge, personally. The same way Madison Rose used an iconic quote in this banger:

      Using it as an intro exhausts your biggest punch right off the bat.

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  21. I saw this on music bank. They’re charismatic performers and I really like the beat, but I really wish the build up led to an actual chorus. It feels like one step forward one step back.

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  25. Another aespa title track that won’t make it to my regular playlist, similar to Dirty Work. If this is how SM prepared aespa future music direction, it is time to give up any expectation for good songs down the road.

    The song structure is not different from Dirty Work where they hope the phrase repetition stuck to your mind. While the melody parts and song productions are better than Dirty Work, it still could not escape the overall flat vibe.

    Winter – Ningning did their best with the materials given, while Karina – Gisella nailed the raps but there aren’t any part variations to take advantage of like FAMOUS did.

    Yes, I too believe that this kind of song rely heavily on performance parts ergo the charisma or bad-ass vibe of the girls. Hope they can pull it off later, but this kind of song is certainly not really good for casual daily listening.

    The better song in the album is Count On Me which reminds me of aespa past song Hold on Tight

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  26. OK, I will be that guy. Please excuse me.

    Come on all you guys – are you all dead inside? The video is a power fantasy, the girls are just gorgeous and the song suits this perfectly. The editing is just out of this world and works as a miniature action video. This is what kpop nowadays is about. Let’s just flash back to when techno arrived, or heavy metal if you want to go even further; it was seen as being not as good as what had gone before or monotonous by the elder generation. You all sound like that basically, not feeling the vibe at all. I do wonder if you are all here to stan Nick or if you actually have views of your own. I just can’t believe that all of you have this a negative view of this offer from Aespa. I think he would actually appreciate some opposing views. Also, my problem with these songs is not non-existent. I hate how short some of them are. But while often they do fade quicker than classics of old, but a lot of them don’t, and kpop has always had a lot of forgettable songs in the mix.

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    • This is a song review site, not a “vibe you got from the music video” site. If he thinks the song itself is dull, he thinks the song is dull. (Personally I’m a huge girls going “la la la” apologist and I thought this was just boring. It’s been downhill since Supernova. Bring back YYJ please!)

      People don’t mostly consume music while watching the music video, they listen to it while their eyes are on something else. An MV can elevate a song for sure, but if it’s nothing without it, then the song isn’t very good.

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      • Actually, this may be my issue – I have always felt that the videos of kpop is an integral part of why I love kpop, I am a very visual person by nature. That said, I do have playlists for only listening, and my “Ultimate Kpop” playlist only accept videos that are good songs too. On the other hand I have a hard time really loving kpop songs without videos. That may be stupid for sure, but there are more than enough hits (usually the ones that get videos) among this subset that I needn’t feel that I don’t have enough good tracks. That playlist I mentioned has over 200 videos I think.

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        • I just wanted to give my two cents and say I agree that most aespa music videos, if not most K-pop MVs, are extremely appealing and everything else you mentioned. That’s the thing with discourse about K-pop visuals–most groups are not lacking in this regard, and music is what sets each act apart. However, I would agree that concepts play the important role in the genre, which affect both visuals and music and are definitely considered on this site. With that being said, I feel there’s nothing wrong with the blog focusing on the music aspect of this genre, and Nick, along with other commenters, either didn’t mention the music video or provided their own valid opinion on it–no one dismissing the music video as not being a part of the genre, but just choosing not to comment on it for the purposes of this blog.

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        • I think if there was a poll, the regulars here would tend to favor music over the videos, on balance. Audio over visual.

          For me, I rarely pay attention to the music videos. For me, its all about the music. How does it sound in my earbuds at work. How does it sound in the car on my multiple ipods. Any song that I can sing along to at full volume being That Person in the car next yours, that’s me, that song gets an extra point or three.

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    • As a supporter of almost every æspa’s songs that have been made MVs (year 2024 was phenomenal), i think Nick’s note is fair – and we could even be harsher.

      I disagree with the fact this is a good MV. CGI & editing effects all the time don’t always make an audacious or innovative MV. By the way, i found the song is really dull. There’s no audacity or at least a strong part (typically one of their famous bridges). The girls never shine.

      I supported “Dirty Work” because it was an unexpected laid-back hip-hop track that dared to break their 2024 momentum. But i’m not so easy and won’t fall for this actual dirty work.

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  27. It is a bias list for a reason, differing opinion or even negative review is okay as long as it does not contain malices, such as targetting the artist (please only review the song)

    I do not know if majority of this site regulars stan Nick or not, but I am sure not all of us stan aespa (fandom members). It seems most are KPOP casual listeners who did not have any obligations to praise every girl group projects, aespa included.

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    • I agree in general, but the “bias” in the blog name cannot become a catch all for explaining all disagreements one may have with the way reviews have been going. I just felt that the bias (haha) of the comments cannot be only explained by the perceived quality of the video/song, but a general group behaviour instead. I mean *look* at the video, it is such a work of art! Again, this isn’t wrong if people want to behave that way, but I had a probably regrettable need to point my disagreement with this. I feel this blog has a greater potential (if Nick agrees) for discussion than it has been showing the last few years.

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  28. The rock energy definitely does the heavy lifting for me, and I agree with a previous commenter that the melodic pre-chorus is the best part of the song. The lalala hook would also work for me if it was tied to a more effective chorus, but it’s definitely still catchy. In fact, I think the song work much better, even with the reliance on catchphrases, if it leaned into the chugging energy and added a few more dynamic parts, implementing a salvo-of-hooks structure (sort of like how Nick describes f(x)’s Deja Vu). 7.75 for me (6, 9, 8, 8)

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  29. it’s like they tried to go for a whiplash with that repetitive, sing talk hook. however, whiplash actually made it sound great while here it’s just eh…

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  30. Hook has been living rent free in my head since they first previewed it. The instrumental is a little flat, but overall love the song and message. Definitely not my favorite from their singles over the past couple of years. In fact, may be bottom of the list for me. However, still really feeling it.

    7.5 / 10

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