Monsta X’s Joohoney has just released his second mini album, though he’s also put out a handful of mixtapes over the years. This follows digital pre-release Push, which failed to capture attention despite a notable team-up with IVE’s Rei. Now, he’s back with an even more notable feature — legendary boxer Muhammad Ali in the form of his iconic “float like a butterfly, sting like a bee” audio clip.
And… that’s all you really need to know about this song. It’s gimmicky, cribbing that well-known quote as its spoken-word chorus and surrounding it with an ugly synth loop. Elsewhere, the track blends rock production with Joohoney’s hard-hitting rap. It’s not a particularly enjoyable listen in any way, as he spends most of the time shouting at listeners to prove his resolve. But when it comes down to it, I just can’t get past that chorus. It’s like the audio version of a cheap t-shirt with some cheesy, overused motivational phrase written on it. I suppose Sting could get you pumped up to go to the gym, but I can’t imagine listening to it in any other context.
| Hooks | 5 |
| Production | 7 |
| Longevity | 7 |
| Bias | 6 |
| RATING | 6.25 |
The Bias List // K-Pop Reviews & Discussion 
Help, when I saw the feature, I assumed it was some random rapper who had the same stage name as the boxer himself 😭😭
But as much as I wanna enjoy some of its abrasive moments, it is just not… compelling enough. Maybe cause we’ve seen several versions of it over the years? But idk
Rating’s the same.
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My initial quick glance thought “hey wow someone got a collab with Sting”. I was quickly and sadly disabused of that notion.
As for the song, its all abrasion all the time, and then runs out of ideas by the 2 minute mark. Pass.
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As soon as I saw the title and the feature, I knew what was about to be in store. But it turned out worse than I expected. As much as I love the guy, I cannot bring myself to listen to it ever again.
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this might be a stretch but i feel the shouting felt ‘excessive’ in some way that it resulted in it not being effective and felt like he was ‘performing’. that for me was a bit off-putting (especially the “float like a butterfly sting like a bee” part)
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