Stray Kids announced their latest mini album well in advance, first teasing it with the release of its opening track Run It back in June. That song offered an interesting branch away from the core Stray Kids sound, attempting a more World Cup, anthemic energy. I thought this might mean they would take a big swerve with This & That, but the song turns out to be quite similar to past efforts.
I can’t begrudge a group building upon their signature sound. After all, that’s what I’ve urged so many of my favorite acts to do! This & That offers no real surprises or evolution of the Stray Kids sound we know. In fact, it’s a pretty tame version of it. The hook has a laidback hip-hop vibe, catchy but not unique enough to stand out among the many groups peddling something similar. It builds itself around the simple, mindless repetition that has made ATEEZ’s Bad such an unexpected hit this summer, so maybe the same will happen here. For me, it all becomes pretty monotonous. The chorus probably sounds better clipped out and shoved in a TikTok video.
Thankfully, the production is more dynamic than the songwriting. While the instrumental doesn’t boast much obvious progression throughout the track, its industrial beat gives the group something fun to play with. It reminds me of the textures SM Entertainment tend to use with their hip-hop tracks and I could easily hear any NCT unit performing this. Stray Kids have enough individual personality to make it their own but don’t really capitalize on that here. This flattens what could have been a very dynamic piece.
| Hooks | 7 |
| Production | 8 |
| Longevity | 8 |
| Bias | 7 |
| RATING | 7.5 |
Grade: C
The Bias List // K-Pop Reviews & Discussion 
It’s cool, I love the synth textures and like you said, it sounds very NCT-esque. But I can’t get past that corny chorus though 😭
7.75 (7, 9, 8, 7) for me
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I have not liked a title track from them in a long time but I really like the production on this one! I appreciate the energy and I think it helps to carry the meh hooks throughout the song!
8/10
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It’s a song alright
8.5/10 (7, 9, 8, 10) for me
(also the fact that this might be their last ot8 comeback in a while really worries me)
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Wait whattt!
I’m out of the loop, why would this be the last ot8 comeback for a while?
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i think the OP meant because of military enlistment
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lee know has to do military service im pretty sure
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the song would be perfect for me if they added one or two lines in the bridge. it sounds so abrupt. with how nice the change up is having it be a bit longer would’ve been good
8.5/10
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It’s alright, i like the production better than their last few comebacks but the hooks are still lacking. Where are the melodies y’all 😔 I think the song has potential to be great but settles for fine. 8/10
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After you is a banger tho! A little generic but probably adding to the playlist after a couple more listens
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How does the chorus manage to both suck and be an earworm at the same time?? It’s so utterly boring but immediately got stuck in my head. I guess that’s the purpose of catchy hooks.
Production is super neat; I think the instrumental would be good for when you want to do your chores with a little energy.
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tbh i miss skz la la la era sm
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I don’t like it but then again I just don’t enjoy their sound. It never sounds like music to me. I always try every title track from them that comes out and I never liked any of them so their music is not for me and for others to enjoy.
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Yeah this is quite tame compared to Stray Kids past releases. The production is very nice and it held a potential to be an earworm like REDRED, but the song just trudges on like a droning sounds without anything special happening thorughout the beginning until the end. Even the hook “This & That” felt like a short addition without any meaning at all. Maybe Korean MZ gen like this kind of tiktok-esque song more looking at how ATEZZ “Bad Bad” doing quite well on donestic charts, but its obviously not for me. I will just listen to Run It thank you very much
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hmm its a bit forgettable. A one time listen. Ateez’s Bad also suffers from that minimalist repetition and maybe its the performance factor, but has that x factor that draws you back in (atleast for me!).
Changbins rap sounds so flattened and muted in this..Idk it just lacks that SKZ punch. Maybe they are trying to soften their sound but its a bit…boring.
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Just last night in the car, darling daughter and I were debating whether their most recent single was any good, and that we were debating it meant that it wasn’t half bad and possibly even good.
This one here has an actual hook, a rare thing in kpop these days. It’s a very hooky hook even if it seems obvious now that we all hear it. The descending eighth note line leading to “this and that”, I thought of two other examples while writing this sentence, so it pulls upon familiar motifs. On balance, I am going to say, yeah sure.
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I’m moving on officially. I changed my icon so nobody can say shit to me anymore. LOL
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I’m going to miss the Hyunjin icon.
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Awww. I still love hyunjin forever but not like I used to. I’ve actually been more of a Lee Know person for a while now if I’m totally honest with myself 😭
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My expanded thoughts are basically that I agree the production / the beat is sick in various places, it’s just not enough to save the song for me. I am surprised you didn’t make what is to me the obvious comparison: it’s reheated CORTIS.
But actually what bothers me more is there’s not a single track that I liked on the album— other than the festival version of the title track which, like the vanilla version, has very cool production. The instrumental doesn’t match the song at all though lol like it is jarring.
The rest of the album made me feel like I was listening to music for children. And of course, I’m getting older, but so are skz! And their music wasn’t always like this! This album seems to confirm what I already suspected, that they are catering to their younger audience because the demographics have shifted as they’ve explored in popularity. Ironically this means their sound is less mature than it was when they debuted nearly a decade ago.
Some army on tumblr recently tried to hurt my feelings with “you left bts for skz so you have bad taste.” To which I said, I’m about to leave skz for Steely Dan, so what now!!!
I will probably always have some level of attachment to the members (like I do with bts whether I like it or not) and I will keep giving their new releases a listen (as with bts whether I like it or not). But I am at the point where I have to depersonalize so I don’t crash the fuck out LMAO
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i really dont get the feeling that the music felt less mature or like it was for children. it didn’t have as much of skz’s experimental/hip-hoppy/hardcore sound for sure but it’s natural for a group’s sound to evolve as their career goes on. i’m tired of seeing people trying to make their personal dislike for skz’s new musical direction (which is totally fine, it’s ok for the music not to be to your taste) into a legitimate objective issue like “they’re making music for kids” or other ones i’ve seen like “they’re losing their artistry,” “they’re getting lazy,” etc. just because the music isn’t as noisy doesn’t mean it’s for children. also crazy to call the title track reheated cortis when skz has been doing songs like this for a while, since before cortis debuted. i love cortis but it’s just a weird thing to say
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the only thing i can think of that’s somewhat similar is how you can already see fans using the lyrics/chorus as tiktok edit audios. this and that basically means i’ll take/do both, i don’t want to limit myself to one thing. i can already see fans using this and that, this and that for edits showing two options they like, two things they like doing, etc.
red red/green green can be used as red = something you don’t like/want vs green = the opposite. both basically giving fans an easy phrase they can match to whatever they’re editing. very tiktok friendly way of writing a hook.
but i’m curious what similarities op was thinking of because i don’t really see much beyond this 😭
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It’s a repetitive catchphrase chorus with very little happening melodically. To me it sounds more like Cortis than like a skz song. That’s my opinion. And yes it does feel like gimmicky tiktok music which is very Cortis. idk. To me it sounds very similar, maybe I’m crazy. I don’t really want to relisten to the song to give you a more detailed opinion right now because I don’t really like the song lol
REDRED is a much better song than this by the way. And I don’t care for Cortis generally speaking
The idea that the music feels less mature is of course also my personal opinion and I realize I didn’t qualify it with “this is just my opinion” but how many times do I really need to say that in order to not get shouted down. Please.
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I agree with you that there’s very little happening melodically but SKZ doesn’t stray away from repetitive catchphrase choruses, especially with their more recent releases. We got songs like Do It and Ceremony. I think this song is just very monotone in comparison, like it’s very one-note with the low vocals. Usually their choruses have more vocal lift and higher register vocals. It’s getting more and more obvious they’re really trying to pander to the tiktok crowd with this song.
No, it’s fine. You don’t have to keep saying it’s just your opinion. Everyone here knows these are all our opinions. I was just curious if there was something else you were referring to.
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Yeah, that’s very true, it’s part of the reason I haven’t liked a title track from them since Chk Chk Boom. What you say about the lower register is a big part of the Cortis vibe for me too, it’s like “cool” “lazy” rapping. This song in particular is very low-energy for them, although so was “do it.” I don’t think either of those songs sound like Stray Kids…
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Same here, I was pretty big on Stray Kids for a couple years but maybe it’s okay to grow out of love. This song in particular was just an okay attempt and it doesn’t feel as overstimulating and messy as their other tracks with their signature sound.
I think that since “Do It” they’ve been releasing more listenable stuff and their most recent EP is better than Karma as a whole. But I think most of the magic is gone for me.
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When C mentioned that This&That was the hardest track he had ever worked on, with 14 different versions of it, I felt even more intimidated by the whole thing. I lost my connection to their music back in the 5-star era, but remained in the fandom largely out of habit. I don’t often engage with the fandom or participate in any of the usual “fan duties” anymore, and I find One Label’s behavior increasingly difficult to understand. At this point, I am fairly convinced that 3racha have become trapped in an echo chamber, where the feedback they receive lacks both authenticity and diversity.
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So this site filters out by way of AI all the comments that don’t coinside with the authors views about the new song This and That. All I have been reading and hearing about on other sites and platforms is how good it is. As for me, This and That is very catchy. It’s a good song. Stray Kids produce their own songs unlike other groups. Don’t come at me because I know which groups do and don’t produce their songs. As of right now Bang Chan is the most credited kpop idol on Komca. Now let’s see if my comment gets up here or if the AI decides it doesn’t like it.
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I can assure you that AI plays no part in this site and no filters are ever used. I can count on one hand the number of comments I have deleted over the past decade and that’s only when they are particularly offensive to others. I am a staunch advocate for freedom of speech, even when it’s negative speech directed at me.
Different sites have different audiences, so it makes sense that there would be spaces where fans are voicing their excitement. Good for them!
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why would you expect every review to have the same opinion and i know you had to scroll thru the 10 or so comments giving the song higher ratings to even make this comment hello 😭
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I can’t decide whether or not I like this song, but I guess that means there’s a chance it’ll grow on me. It definitely sounds like a SKZ song though, and no matter how I feel about the song itself, I’m just happy this isn’t another “Ceremony” TT. Also, hopefully this is the end of the Charlie-Puth-writing-camp era of Stray Kids, iykyk :’)
Right now, 7/10 for me :)))
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sigh. Another singtalk chorus track. The only part i genuinely liked was the bridge but it was around 5 seconds long. Run It is way superior and actually showed a fraction of what Stray kids is truly capable of. This felt such a chore to listen to and I need them to be the modern answer to B.A.P but yet we’re stuck with music like this and not music like that.
6.75(7,7,7,6)
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I loved the song. Its ok to have a catchy song, that can be used in tik tok edits or reels etc. It doesn’t diminish their work as artist. In fact it can bring more exposure to them. I’m very happy with this album.Do it, Karma, S Clss, Maxident, Maniac, Noeasy, etc I realize the title and Bsides are just as great. Ceremony i wasnt a fan on first listen, took me at least 10 times to really understand it . And now it hits hard! Im excited to get to see them hopefulyl play it in Mexico for Stray City. Traveling from Seattle to see them!
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I didn’t have all too many thoughts about the song on first listen, but I heard the album and got to the festival version and didn’t realize that it wasnt the same thing so was very pleasantly surprised by that second ‘listen’ thinking it was much better than i rmbed the first time around, who knew that i was needing some hardstyle/videogame skz music :’D
i also enjoyed after you and back then for what they are (not sure if id loop any of the songs i mentioned this post but glad i had more positive thoughts abt their album than ive had in recent years :’D)
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I like that it doesn’t feel like it’s desperately trying to be a massive title track. It has that confident, playful Stray Kids energy, and the members sound comfortable on it. The hook gets stuck in your head too 😭.
Is it their most insane song ever? No. But is it good? Absolutely. And I can understand why I have it on repeat.
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The Hardstyle festival version of this track may crank the energy up to eleven, but it still lacks the allure and melodic impact needed to leave a real impression. In the end, it just feels noisy, much like Lalalala. I still find the original more effective. The festival version of Chk chk boom however, is a different case. It genuinely improves on the original’s weaknesses and delivers a much more exhilarating listening experience. Seeing them perform This&That and Chk chk boom back-to-back at this year’s Gayo Daejeon Summer festival only made the difference clearer, as the superior maturity of Chk chk boom’s beat stood out immediately.
As a side note, I have grown increasingly tired of the tactic of releasing countless versions of a title track. The later versions are often stuffed with flashy, excessive instrumentation, to the point that the original starts to feel like an undercooked demo rather than a finished statement. It makes me wonder how Run it might have sounded if it had also been given remixes with grander instrumentation, especially since they have said that several B-sides on this album were once considered title track candidates.
To me, getting too absorbed in intricate, fussy details for too long seems to have eroded the more organic instinct for creating musical sections that feel genuinely progressive. Many songs in recent years leave me feeling as though they simply stall out instead of developing into something more. After you and Farming on this album are noticeable examples.
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