Be Boys made their debut last year with the well-intentioned, but somewhat clumsy, I’m So Sorry But I Love You. Though I didn’t love that song, I appreciated their bright, upbeat energy and certainly have room in my library for more music of this style. New single Slam Dunk continues the youthful verve but pulls their sound in a more retro hip-hop direction.

Retro hip-hop is one of K-pop’s favorite touchstones. It’s amazing that — all these years later — we still hear so many songs in this genre. Placed within that pantheon, Slam Dunk doesn’t do much for me. Groove is so important here and the production on Slam Dunk feels pretty generic. The song also commits the cardinal sin of fracturing its groove more than once, constantly changing momentum and energy. Just as your head starts nodding, the song upends itself into something new. This concludes in a hyper chant-shout hook reminiscent of NCT.

Beyond these structural issues, Slam Dunk just isn’t that catchy. There are hooks, for sure, but none that fully compel attention. Having heard so many tracks just like it over the past decade, Slam Dunk‘s well-worn tropes tend to fade into the background. Without a killer song to back them up, it’s really difficult to stand out.

Grade: C-