Anderson .Paak has become a go-to global collaborator for K-pop acts. In recent years, he’s paired with G-Dragon and BTS’s RM. Now, he’s joined forces with NCT’s Taeyong, who makes his return from military hiatus with new solo single Rock Solid. Given that 2026 is NCT’s tenth anniversary, I expect we’ll see many more special tracks like this released throughout the year. (The under-fed melody-lover in me requests a Without You redux, please!)

Unsuprisingly, Rock Solid is no Without You. It’s a completely different kind of song, bringing in frequent producer Dem Jointz for a hip-hop banger. In the spirit of honesty, this track was always going to be an uphill battle for me. I don’t particularly love Taeyong’s style of rapping and I find Dem Jointz’s production to be very hit or miss (mostly “miss,” lately). With this set-up, I try to check my biases even more than usual and listen for what a song is trying to do rather than what it’s trying to do for me.

Rock Solid makes ample use of .Paak’s skills as a drummer, throwing down a loose groove that underpins the track with a cool indie rock vibe. Vocals make up a large portion of the percussion as well, with a heavily repeated loop of “rock solid!” running through the entire track. It’s a neat little affectation, I guess, but quickly grows stale. And that description fits the song as a whole. There are some cool things happening on a micro level, but the macro’s monotonous repetition steals attention from the enjoyable interplay thriving within its lockstep framework. Overall, Rock Solid feels like a playful lark or jam session, not meant to be taken too seriously. With that in mind, I probably won’t think about it much after writing this review.

Grade: C