Just like NewJeans’ soft, lightly experimental sound went on to influence years of girl group releases in their wake, I fear we’re about to see the same with Cortis’s success. Hopefully, this will be more REDRED than Acai, but either way I’m worried this means even less melody/theatricality/singing and shorter songs for K-pop in the coming years. An early indication of this shift may come in the form of new multinational group WAYF BOYS.
The guys have debuted with their take on a sparsely-produced shout-along hip-hop track. Their talent is immediately apparent, especially during the song’s vocally-led moments. In another world, these talents would be used in service of a killer R&B track or a more fleshed-out hip-hop banger with scale and scope. Instead, WAYF BOYS DO places them firmly within Gen-Z trends. We’re talking trap beats, repetitive chant-along hooks and the same damn phrasing seemingly used in every one of these tracks.
To their credit, the guys bring a ton of character to the mix and their English-language lyrics are sure to raise some eyebrows. And refreshingly, their vocals aren’t smothered in tons of unnecessary effects. However — and this is probably my bias talking — this just doesn’t sound like K-pop to me. I worry that, with mainstream music in the toilet right now around the globe, an industry that used to be its own dynamic thing is slowly morphing into mid slop I can already find in the States (among many other places). I hope WAYF BOYS have more musical ambition than that.
| Hooks | 6 |
| Production | 7 |
| Longevity | 8 |
| Bias | 7 |
| RATING | 7 |
Grade: C-
The Bias List // K-Pop Reviews & Discussion 
“Ain’t nobody do it better than the WAYF BOYS do”
Baby, I can find many other bgs do this exact same sound, sit down 🙏
6.25 (6, 7, 6, 6) for me + some brownie points for that ice line.
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Unfortunately the first thing I think of when I see them is that first photo I saw of them on my twitter timeline a few months ago with all their pants down 💀 doesn’t help that I actually know (ish) one of the members irl…
Anyways my reaction then was that CORTIS has unleashed something evil into the boy group landscape and that’s still my reaction now
I also can’t with them positioning themselves as pioneers of “Nu-Kpop” or whatever they’ve been going on about in their marketing 🙄 points for the ICE line though
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HELP you can’t just drop that piece of information
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LOL it’s not really all that juicy or anything 😭 but Anderson’s from Toronto and I knew of him through the Toronto dance / K-pop dance scene
He’s arguably not the closest K-pop connection I have anyways since when I was in Vancouver my sister was in the same air cadet squadron with Matthew of ZB1 hahaha
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now wtf 😭 this is wild
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I looked it up so you don’t have to: WAYF (not to be confused with WayV) stands for “Where Art Yields Freedom”. I mean, sure. That is was Wayf boys do. Not to be confused with WayV.
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Yeah I certainly can see CORTIS influences here. I really wonder if this is really the kind of song trends that Gen Z likes these days. If this is really the future sound of KPOP, oh man the future gonna be so bleak. While I do have my own complain about the insular nature of JPOP industry, at least they have not been affected too much by this horrible trends yet.
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I already knew they were gonna be another LNGSHOT / CORTIS type of group.. the way they brand and talk about themselves is giving hip hop wannabes though. I like the meaning of their name (Where Art Yields Freedom) but c’mon… it’s just an excuse for them to not be constrained by the pristine Kpop idol image, so they can swear and do controversial stuff like drink alcohol, party, hookup, pose shirtless, etc etc. Not very innovative IMO.. maybe if their next songs included raps with attitude, flair, and had lyrical substance beyond “I’m so cool yuh yuh yuh flex oh yuh yuh” then MAYBE I’ll get it, but this is just another yada yada “edgy” boys GEN Z group.
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Waif boys sounds like a male anorexia tumblr tag…… #sorry
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😭😭 this is a crazy line and I would love to know your reasoning behind this thought (not against it, just very curious!!!)
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#waif meaning young small and thin, I feel there is a clear connection… if you search it on tumblr it’s already used by some ed tumblr bloggers on there. Sorry to bring everyone down lol. I’m assuming wayf is pronounced as waif of course
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THIS WAS TORTUREEEE. just why!?! I saw their acapellas reels on Tiktok and thought they were going for a 90’s R&B sound but I WAS SOOO WRONG. we don’t need another Cortis/Lngshot. We need innovators, creators, and outside-the-box wacky thinkers. And the Music Video and the Trap Rnb Beat that sounded like they got it from Youtube was crazy and why are they throwing so much shade on a DEBUT!?!?! I just wasted 3 minutes of my day.
6(6,6,6,6)
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Their image and sound seem extremely doctored to press all the right buttons with their target audience (gen z kpop fans who think “edgier” music is the coolest). Because of that I’m immediately turned off. This is the same issue I’ve had with Cortis and Lngshot: the amount of effort put into having a carefree, rebellious concept feels forced and fake, which is exactly the vibe they’re trying NOT to give off 😂 they’re trying so hard to be iconic by mistake that it’s clearly not a mistake (to reference their gg counterparts)
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I’ve never been much of a fan of hip-hop / trap in the K-pop scene, it’s an approach that very few groups actually manage to pull off successfully. So, to me, complaining about this is the same as complaining about a braggadocious hip-hop track released in 2015, except the melodies seem even more annoying
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I think Monsta X handled it well with their debut. They were branded as a hip-hop (idol) group to begin with and their music, brand, and talent matched it. Jooheon and IM are incredible rappers, and the vocals and dance are great as well. I’ve yet to see a current “hip hop” branded boy group even take on the style and attitude Monsta X started with. No one in this generation can even rap nearly as great as those two.
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In fact, Monsta X has a really strong side to them in this regard, even though my favorite song of theirs doesn’t actually feature this genre. But if I had to pick a prime example of theirs in this area, I would definitely choose the track Unfair Love
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The ending of the MV tho…
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