It’s BTS week, which means new releases apart from that album have been pretty infrequent. However, another world-conquering K-pop group has a treat of their own. Stray Kids’ Hyunjin released solo track Lover on his birthday alongside a lo-fi music video. For an act with as much cachet as they have, most of Stray Kids’ work hasn’t ventured past full group material. It’s interesting to hear a member tackle a song all their own.
To add to the appeal, Hyunjin composed Lover‘s lyrics and co-composed the music itself. When you think of self-producers within the group, he’s not the name that immediately sticks out. His sonic perspective on this song owes a lot to current trends. Male popstars of our era seem to love this sludgy trap-infused sound. I’ve found it quite claustrophobic and dull from the beginning, but now that this specific musical salad has become the default for so much 2020s music it barely elicits a reaction at all.
Hyunjin croons in a higher pitch than expected, giving his vocals a rough, unpolished flair. His performance has a similarly warped, slurred effect as the instrumental, making Lover sound tortured. The melodies are largely repetitions of the same phrasing over and over, adding to the monotony of the song. It’s clear that this is the aesthetic Hyunjin was aiming for and I’m glad he got to flex his skills. However, the song is not for me at all.
| Hooks | 7 |
| Production | 7 |
| Longevity | 7 |
| Bias | 6 |
| RATING | 6.75 |
Grade: D+
The Bias List // K-Pop Reviews & Discussion 
this was a surprise! do you usually cover skz record releases? there are quite a lot of them
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his gorgeous face and body were the only thing that kept me watching. Some people just aren’t good at songwriting… Him and Felix should leave it to the others.
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His song “quill pen” was very good, if you ask me.
But it’s definitely an anomaly in his discography, and it looks like it’s going to stay that way….
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Anyway, yeah, he sure is beautiful.
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Despite his repeated insistence that he wants to be recognized for his talent and motivation rather than his appearance, his striking looks still tend to eslips everything else. The unwavering admiration from fans, offered without even a trace of doubt, only reinforces how often this happens.
On a different note, it would be fascinating to see how both fans and outsiders respond if, in seven to fifteen years, he pivots toward becoming a director oft short films/music videos or a creative director for fashion brands, rather than following the more conventional path of remaining an actor, as many former K-pop ‘visual’ do.
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He could release music without accompanying visuals or without his face— he has done that before— but I think Hyunjin also loves his face, despite what he says, and I can’t blame him. If I looked like that I wouldn’t know how to act…
Re: future career paths I can see this for him!
I honestly do not see Hyunjin going the actor route. I don’t think he has any particular interest or aptitude in it. And honestly, the skz member who’s the best at acting is Lee Know by a mile… though I don’t know if he’ll go for that either.
Aside from what you mentioned, Hyunjin is strikingly talented as a visual artist. I think he could go in a lot of different directions and be successful and happy.
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what a weird objectifying comment. untitled, taste, cover me, dlmlu, escape, long for you, love untold, all very well written and some of the best descriptive songs in their discography. felix also has some great lines especially the verses he wrote in runners and fnf.
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Sucks for Felix man only a couple lines huh. I guess his life really is so unfair 🥀
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i mean there are some great lines in his solo tracks too but also some not great lines lol
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Wdym yeah my life is unfair 😢 the one and only woman I love. Left me unprepared 💔
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i fear you just hold them all to a higher standard lol some parts of unfair are bad but some parts are great. if the first verse was in korean and you read it as a translation you’d think it was great. i see you on every comment section under skz songs and its always negative like maybe you just don’t like sincere lyrics. you need it in korean so you don’t understand it or you need it mumbled so you can ignore it but thats actually just not hyunjin or felix’s problem lool
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It was interesting to read your assumptions and projections about what I feel and think about my actual 2 favorite members of a group that I like, but it was not asked for or particularly needed. Have a good one
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Consider, at least, that I hold artists that I like to a higher standard than artists I don’t give a fuck about, which used to be considered normal behavior before you all decided liking an artist means you need to worship them like a dog. Bark bark
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one or two songs sure…every recent release tho? for example saying quill pen is the only well written song in hyunjin’s discography? i mean maybe you just don’t like them? maybe they’re never going to reach the standard you hold them to because you want them to be a different group entirely with different creative goals and messaging…genuinely it just shocks me that anyone could say that when hyunjin has written so many songs with substance and with clear care in his writing and to have them all disparaged makes me wonder if you just don’t like him as an artist.
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A lot of them have substance and I appreciate that, they are just not what I appreciate musically, and Quill Pen is far and above the best in my opinion. I really don’t care what you think that means about me personally.
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lmao you’re literally changing what you said earlier but sure. if you appreciated that you’d have said hey he’s more than a pretty face he has actually written a lot of songs with substance its just not my style, quill pen is the best out of all of them. but you decided to disparage them like you do under every other skz post.
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I think he is exceedingly talented in many other areas but his solo output has just not been very good. In terms of solo work I think that Han is the most consistent and I think that his stuff will probably be most compelling to me once they start releasing solo works in an official capacity.
I’m sorry that chafes you so terribly. It’s incredible to me that my comments have pissed you off for such a long time but you have resisted blocking me. I’m hoping today might be your last straw. Sincerely
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it doesn’t bother me at all i just think you should be honest and again you’ve pretty much walked back the statement that a lot of hyunjin’s solo work has substance. its just you’re in every comment section hoping skz just changes who they are its weird to me but ofc you’re completely allowed to go in that circle! have a great day lool
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Having substance is not the same thing as being good 🤷♂️
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idk if you know this but liking music is subjective. so you can not like a song but still appreciate the art for what it is. which is something you didn’t do when you said quill pen is the only well written song. saying a song has substance means he can write, even if you don’t like the song yourself. maybe give your fave the flowers he deserves when he deserves them instead of agreeing with people who think he’s only good for his face and body and should stick to looking pretty 😭 it would be insulting toward any artist but wow seeing it from someone who has him as their pfp is just sad.
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ok, be sad then. Please don’t reply to my posts anymore lmao
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It’s a bit late, but I also want to mention that I trust his sense of color more than his ear for sound. His playlist tends to be filled with moody songs that lean heavily on Trap, rarely featuring any explosive or distinctive melodies. Still, he’s made several key decisions for the group, so fans adore him and worship his influence, even though I completely don’t connect to his music choices.
On the other hand, I notice that Minho is really into energetic dance music and is a fan of Gen 2 K-pop, but it seems like he doesn’t have much influence when it comes to the final decisions in the group.
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We neeeeeeed Lee Know to take over for JYP
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Sigh…. Beautiful gowns.
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That high pitched chorus “lover lover lover … “, the choice for the timbre being half whine half sung is just not working for me. He shifts from a pleasant, competent falsetto to that by choice. Whyee?
The chorus is about 15 seconds long with 4 repeats of the “Lover lover lover …” line time 5 times we get that sequence, so about half the sung part of the song is just that melodic line at that timbre at that intensity.
What is the vocalist trying to tell us that we can’t get one time through of that sound? It doesn’t build, it doesn’t diminish, it doesn’t shift, it tells this thin part of a story and that is all, in that timbre that is not exactly sonorous on my ear buds.
Pass.
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Stray Kids are always dropping random solo and unit songs on their YouTube channel. Songs that they wouldn’t put in their regular albums but that they still want to share with fans. This is one of them (sometimes they have MVs, most times they don’t), so it’s surprising to see it get reviewed when it’s technically just in their side discography. Maybe because of the slow week.
But anyway, it’s a little repetitive so not my favorite Hyunjin song. 7.5 in that I’d playlist it, not click on it often but also not skip it if it came up. I do like how different it is from other Hyunjin projects.
He’s an artistic, bold songwriter that’s always down to experiment, so I can see how his style might not be for everyone. But when I was new to the group I used to not care for him, seeing him as only a visual and a dancer, and it was actually his songwriting that won me over and made me like him a lot as an idol. He’s worked on several of my favorite SKZ official group tracks so I hope he doesn’t stop working on this craft. He’s not my bias, but he’s the member I’m most excited to see solo work from.
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