Review

Song Review: BABYMONSTER – CHOOM

BABYMONSTER’s new era opens in earnest today, with lead single CHOOM the first volley of continued promotion over the next month or two. Unlike past efforts, this song was barely teased before the full thing dropped, which always makes me a bit nervous. If you’ve got a killer track, you’d usually want people to know and build anticipation. Sadly, with CHOOM BABYMONSTER do not possess that killer track. Hiding it during the pre-order period was probably wise.

The subject matter here is ultra familiar. “I’m the best,” “We won’t stop,” “I’m a queen,” etc. I’m not the only one tired of this corporate “empowerment” trope, am I? This time, it’s tied to the clunky onomatopoeia “choom,” which is repeated constantly throughout the chorus. A percussive instrumental adds some interest, though its heavy tones don’t boast much character and feel a bit too leaden to build a groove worth dancing to. And singing? Well, you’re not going to get much of that here. It’s hard to add melody to a monosyllabic word like “choom,” so the girls spend much of their time chanting and talking and occasionally rapping.

Choruses are difficult for K-pop writers these days, with true standouts hard to come by. CHOOM‘s hook is mostly empty space, gaining brief life as the girls deliver an ascending line that echoes the instrumental’s sharp force. Sadly, this never amounts to much and the song’s climactic chant ends things on a dispiriting note. I refuse to believe this is the best a once-great agency like YG can offer for one of its marquee acts.

Hooks 6
 Production 8
 Longevity 7
 Bias 7
 RATING 7

Grade: C-

28 thoughts on “Song Review: BABYMONSTER – CHOOM

  1. Far better than their pre-debut/debut releases but far off Forever/We go up, not awful but certainly not memorable.

    7.25(7,8,7,7) I guess?

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  2. I don’t see any talent from the whole YG crew, they are just that type of producers who write the same songs in the same way. Add some Arabic instruments, add some Moombahton beats, add some 808 bass or simply heavy bass, done. And the lyrics are always about flexing, I am rich, famous, good looking, anyway i am the king i am the diva. In 2010s it maybe work, but it is 2026, babymonster’s songs sound nothing different from a decade ago.

    Liked by 2 people

  3. It sound almost exactly like their own song Drip, similar structure, even similar choreography, especially at the end with the booty shakes. The album is also not good, just copy-pasting other songs. First track Moon sound pretty much like IVE’s Hypnosis. Other songs have samples used in their previous works. I’m kind of done with this group, honestly :-/

    Liked by 1 person

  4. I know they’re not translating it in the video subtitles, but I think choom here is just 춤, or “dance” in Korean. So not quite onomatopoeia, in my assumption. Still, lousy song.

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  5. okay I am clearly in the minority but I absolutely love this. The production is fire and it makes me want to dance.

    I was obsessed with Drip too. Babymonster is generally a hit with me.

    Liked by 1 person

  6. I certainly do not feel any ‘new era’ vibe from Babymonster new releases. The song structure felt similar to previous release We Go Up where they fired continous rap attacks first before serving up melody part.

    However, We Go Up had good vocals parts to be enjoyed, while this talk chanting part did not give any punch so the song just feels empty. Even the repetitive choom is not catchy at all. It is unfortunate the song did not play to the best strength of the members at all.

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  7. Talking about music, is YG evolving backwards?

    The talent is evolving, but the music production? I think they’re stuck with old producers. Their musical taste needs to be re-evaluated.

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  8. Not up to the level of their last few releases…it gets better with repeated listening through. I wish they were with a different agency. (7.5/10)

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  9. you all don’t know what you talking about this is the most amazing and upbeat song ever of babymonster and the cheography is fire 🔥

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  10. This is a worse Drip. I like Drip, but I don’t want to rate this.

    I will say I like 60-75% of Babymonster songs or so. This is not part of the 60-75%. Even with their stuff I like, I see barely any creativity from YG since Babymonster’s inception. They need to shake up something over there.

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  11. Babymonster 4 life
    choom 100% slayed it and is the most amazing song from babymonster i haveever listened too💖💖

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  12. are you going to do a buried treasure for the mini album? my personal favorite is probably “I LIKE IT” — it kind of seems like your style, too??

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  13. Stop saying negative things about there new song choom and stop hating on it. Be patient there new music videos that are going to be released may be better

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        • There are some glazers in the comment section under this review that shouldn’t be on here. This blog is supposed to be a safe place from them, where everyone can talk about whether they like a song or not.

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          • Hi, mom here. Breathe and scroll on by.

            I spent many many hours with my daughter selling Girl Scout cookies, some 2,000+ boxes over several years. Eventually, she learned the response is always smile and “Have a good day”, no matter what the person says about why they can’t or won’t buy girl scout cookies. There were about 10 standard replies. The most perplexing regular reply was from “scraggly-looking guy”, usually carrying a case of beer, looking over and saying “Appreciate it”. I mean, what, but the response back is always “Have a good day!”. … … if scraggly guy with case of beer had it in a cart with other items, there was half a chance, but scraggly guy with case of beer on shoulder is no chance.

            Meaning, if someone comes here and writes “why y’all so mean this song is like everything to me”, which is a common posting, breathe and scroll on by. We all need more joy in our lives. Let them have their moment.

            Liked by 1 person

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