A week ago, i-dle’s Yuqi pre-released the satisfying ballad Gone ahead of her new single album. Though I enjoyed the song, I’m typically not a big ballad lover and rarely listen to them outside of the context of an album. Because of this, I was much more interested how her title track M.O. would sound.

My favorite Yuqi track is still 2021’s trance-rock Bonnie & Clyde and it’s not even close. Not only was that song a total rush, but it sounded different than anything any other artist was releasing. In contrast, M.O. feels like something that could have come from many different groups, including Yuqi’s own. She’s such a charismatic performer and I love her deeper-toned voice, so she sells M.O. better than others might. The song fuses multiple generations of hip-hop influence. I hear some early 90s breakbeats but also the thump of early 00s Dr. Dre/50 Cent pop/rap.

With this said, the production lacks a killing point. The beat is steady and solid but there needs to be one defining musical flourish — that irresistible earworm — that gives M.O. its signature. To further the classic hip-hip comparisons, I’m thinking about the high-pitched synth loop in Dre’s The Next Episode or the theatrical strings in 50 Cent’s In Da Club. Otherwise, M.O. runs the risk of becoming generic. Yuqi’s vocals and star presence prevent that from happening, but they shouldn’t need to do such heavy lifting.

Grade: C+