Rather than promote a follow-up track from their recent album, BABYMONSTER have taken the rare approach of releasing a new song just a month after their comeback. This reminds me of the old days of album repackages, which I miss very much. They made comebacks feel more like eras and stretched out the excitement. Unfortunately, BABYMONSTER’s Choom wasn’t particularly exciting and Sugar Honey Ice Tea doesn’t fare much better.
We’re in a weird era of K-pop girls sing-talking about sugary sour drinks over club beats. That’s a hyper-specific trend, but how else do you explain this double volley of Lemonade and Sugar Honey Ice Tea? As with aespa’s song, this has its fun moments but is overall let down by its lack of melody. The thing about this style of “charismatic” talk performance is that it feels extremely put on. Yes, K-pop has always traded in artifice (and I love artifice!), but without the sense of a beating heart behind the facade you end up with hyper-disposable drek that may get your blood moving in the moment but ends up being empty calories.
So, what makes Sugar Honey Ice Tea different from a classic K-pop track like… let’s say… T-ara’s Bo Peep Bo Peep? Both are silly, irreverent catchphrasey tracks over propulsive electro beats. However, Ice Tea is a constant stream of “I, I, me, ME” posturing and lacks the candyfloss hooks this style demands. It takes itself weirdly serious, as evidenced by the momentum-killing trap drops that fracture the song’s flow in service of — I assume — some bid for musical credibility. Terminally online K-pop fans will counter this review with a “you just hate fun!” critique, but if “fun” is what Sugar Honey Ice Tea is aiming for, there are so many things it could do to be legitimately cheeky. Instead, this is a copy of a copy, corporatized down to its bone.
| Hooks | 6 |
| Production | 8 |
| Longevity | 7 |
| Bias | 7 |
| RATING | 7 |
Grade: C-
The Bias List // K-Pop Reviews & Discussion 
Hmm. On one hand, I appreciate the energy of the beat but on the other, I wish they were more ambitious with their music and melodies! The girls are cleary very passionate about music and talented and with the right material, they could be very good!
7.5/10
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I love iced tea, lemon especially, but suddenly, I don’t crave it anymore. Iced mocha still remains as my favourite drink.
Rating’s the same.
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great beat but overall, it’s a chop.
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This songs still so outdated if it was released 10 years ago…
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I’m usually fine with this new trend of chanting vocals but the performance here goes way past ‘dancefloor cool’ into just sounding bored. It’s like they popped a valium before recording. The beat itself isn’t too different to something 2ne1 would have had 15 years ago but say what you will about those girls but they never sounded like they were counting down the seconds. The mv is similar low energy and boring. I don’t get why this had to be its own thing instead of a bside to their last album.
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Ah, YG, I really don’t understand you. I’d even like to understand your logic, like someone trying to understand a friend. After all, what’s the plan? U build the entire identity and appeal of a group around an emotional image and a connection with the fans, but when a new group emerges, it seems to simply push the previous one to the background little by little. That’s the impression I got with iKON and Winner
What bothers me is that it’s already difficult for the public to become attached to a group. And then you base a good part of that appeal on musical formulas and tropes that already seem worn out 🫤🫤
Ugh… how I hate it when I end up making deeper criticisms than simply commenting on a simple song. I love music with electro beats, but of course, in adapting it, they had to use the same structure, the same “spoken” vocals, and the same attitude
But anyway, shall we move on to the next one? How about a drop with “lalalala i’m badass, clik clak bada bing bada bom, i’m badass”?
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Yikes.
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comparing this to bo peep bo peep is so offensive to t-ara 😭
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it sounds too much like Supernova especially the last part and the video is Whiplash adjacent. Just a very lazy track with vaguely interesting production drowned by the worst lyrics and zero originality. Sad honestly.
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