Red Velvet’s group work may be quite infrequent at this stage in their career, but a full album from member Irene should tide some fans over. She made her solo debut in 2024 and has also been active in a sub-unit with fellow member Seulgi, but a full project like this affords extra opportunity to develop her own sound. That sound seems largely tied to the dancefloor, though I wish title track Biggest Fan remembered that Irene is a singer as well.
You all know how I feel about this “talking over a club beat” epidemic in K-pop. I love upbeat material, but have become so frustrated that these dance beats have somehow taken the place of melody. To me, melody is the single best predictor of longevity. It stands the test of time. And with regards to melody, Biggest Fan is a pretty big offender. Very little (if any?) of the song is actually sung. Instead, Irene skirts through the brisk club beat with various cadences of talk. From verse to chorus, Biggest Fan hinges on attempts to create catchy catchphrases. Unfortunately, I’m not in the catchphrase business. Otherwise, I’d be reviewing novelty t-shirts instead of music.
I’m a big fan of Biggest Fan‘s production and wish it had an actual song to support. The beat is bright and buoyant and carries its propulsion through its entire runtime. It’s a nice mix of disco, electro and more modern dance sounds. But at the end of the day, production is rarely what I remember about a song, and Biggest Fan‘s irritating sing-talk hooks are unlikely to grow in the way that Hearts2Hearts’ similarly talky RUDE did. A requesite “La La La” conclusion doesn’t add much to the recipe.
| Hooks | 7 |
| Production | 9 |
| Longevity | 7 |
| Bias | 7 |
| RATING | 7.5 |
Grade: C
The Bias List // K-Pop Reviews & Discussion 
This song makes me feel like it is one of hearts2hearts rejects
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ENOUGH WITH THE “LOOK AT ME, LOOK AT YOU” LYRICS GOD DAMN.
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“Unfortunately, I’m not in the catchphrase business. Otherwise, I’d be reviewing novelty t-shirts instead of music.“
LOL
This song sucks!
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This song fell flat for me and the album too that I feel like maybe I am the problem . I was a big fan of her debut project and it seemed to offer me more of what she can do than this project , especially that its a full album. I am probably going to listen to her debut album and then this album , maybe it will grow on . There were some songs that I think I enjoyed but are not memorable .
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I feel the same. Her debut is definitely stronger than this. I did enjoy the album, it’s not groundbreaking, but it has some sweet moments, imo.
Honestly, I think what I enjoy the most is her voice. I’ve always really liked her tone, so it’s nice to hear it in a full song when she’s actually singing.
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“Unfortunately, I’m not in the catchphrase business. Otherwise, I’d be reviewing novelty t-shirts instead of music.”
LOL
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Help I don’t understand😭
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As an RV stan, this was definitely not it. I know Irene is not the strongest vocalist in the group, but she can sing, why would they give her these “talking over a beat” tracks? I was hoping for a more melody-driven chorus when I heard the “I’m your biggest fan” line in the teasers, it sounded so catchy, but I guess this is what we’re stuck with.
I will say, I did enjoy the “looking at me, looking at you” part more than most people seem to. I feel like it would’ve worked better as a post-chorus for a stronger melody.
The album is pretty good, imo, there’s definitely better title track material there than this, and she seems to have her sound figured out.
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totally agree… i feel like not to dismiss her solo capability but irene & seulgi has worked SO fcking well as a subunit i was geared up for something cvnty like tilt, naughty, monster
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I’m a luvie, so let’s say that I AM biased. I liked that song but I agree. I honestly wish it was longer with a third chorus bombing in your face.
Still I’ll continue listening to it as I am VERY biased and everything RV gives me I’ll take
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this whole album feels pretty derivative, like they just gave her whatever they had on hand. i remember like a flower being pretty consistent all the way through so that’s a bummer. the most memorable song is probably the trap imogen heap SPIT IT OUT, but even then i’m probably not coming back to it. biggest fan was absolutely a h2h reject
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i’ve felt this way about a lot of older sm idols recent albums (yunho, boa, a little longer back minho as well). the songs are faceless and feel like they were just taken from a huge collection of drafts they had laying around.
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i’ve been a reveluv for three years now- this song sucks. full stop. i feel like i listened to it on x2 speed with how little song there actually was. the material sm is giving her has such little substance to it that i don’t think her solo career is going to be as memorable as seulgi, joy, or wendy’s as a result, which is a shame because i like her a lot. like a flower was a fine debut but now we’re immediately taking a nosedive in terms of musical quality.
haven’t listened to the b-sides yet (i purposely avoided listening to the highlight medley as i enjoy going into albums blind) but if they’re anything like the title track, i kind of don’t even want to listen to them. i was legitimately excited for this album, too…
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I’m seeing everyone calling this a h2h reject but Im not hearing. Regardless Rude’s production and hooks were pretty threadbare and one tone and relied heavily on worn out tropes so I actually like this alot more than h2h rude which I found very disappointing…
8.5/10
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Also her album is phenomenal!
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The whole chorus is just the repetition of 2 notes… such a lazy approach, uncreative, unappealing and fully disappointing. Even the verse offering more than the chorus.
5/6/5/9 (6.25)
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To echo several other comments, I love her voice and wish she’d straight up sing more. Her lines are always my favorites in Irene/Seulgi
Biggest Fan: It’s fine. Not for me, but it’s fine.
Best Believe: I liked it but it didn’t go anywhere.
Don’t Want to Get Up: This could be a great club track, something like a Carly Rae Jepsen song, if it just got more aggressive with it
Face to Face: very light notes of Shontelle’s “Impossible”
Million Miles Away: Nothing happened.
Love Can Make A Way:
Spit It Out: Wasn’t this a Solar song? Idk, kind of boring.
Black Halo: This is this the first song that made me look up from my phone.
MTV: The melody sounds like something but I can’t put my finger on what.
Wasteland: Yeah ok
Over all, I like the production this album a lot. Just the songs themselves are kind of lackluster. They need to commit and stop being so dreamy. It’s frustrating because there is a decently consistent vision here but it’s all songs that go on the album to be skipped. It’s like an entire album of RV’s “Underwater” or “Wings”.
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I really do not care for her voice on this track. Irene’s rapping has never been the highlight of a RV track for me so I don’t care to see it highlighted. But her singing here is also so… nasal.
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And I may get chewed out for saying so, but whenever Nick complains about “talking over a dance beat” songs I expect something drag queen worthy, and this wasn’t that. It wasn’t cunty. 😦
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SM has definitely lost their musical touch… they had some hits left after the Director resigned but it’s clear they have no direction for any of their current artists. SM was always company that would pass around their demos but this was clearly for H2H and Irene’s singing is horrible for this song.
Irenes never been a singer and it shows more here, her tone is always flat and has no distinctiveness. I’m confused on why they’re pushing with her solo work… Seulgi and Joy are much better options. RIP Redvelvet music run 2014-2024
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I prefer Like a Flower over this.
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