Review

Song Review: KiiiKiii – Pop Off Pop Off

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KiiiKiii blew up big time this January with their hit 404 (New Era), quickly establishing their place at the forefront of this generation’s girl groups. They’ve also become one of the architypes of K-pop’s current dance trend, blending hyperpop with early-2010s EDM. Personally, the first word that comes to mind when I think of them is “aesthetic.” Their creative team has the visual and conceptual side down. I’m waiting for the songs themselves to flesh out in the same way.

It’s hard not to hear the influence of Charli XCX in new single Pop Off Pop Off. The song plays almost as a highlight reel of her various sounds and textures, extending 2024’s “Brat summer” to 2026. While the energy is admirable, I find it difficult to connect with this overall style. It all feels so fleeting and artificial, down to the incessant vocal effects. Though I wasn’t the biggest fan of Brat, that album’s brilliance was its willingness to let humanity poke through the machinery. Lyrically, that vulnerability is of no interest to Pop Off Pop Off, which means the song must connect in a different way.

Back in the early 2010s, that connection came through idiosyncratic vocal performances and robust melodies. Those elements are stripped away here as well, replaced with a thumping (but disinterested) club beat and chirpy sing-talk hooks that become so anonymous they might as well just be another loop in the mix. 404 (New Era) also went heavy on the sing-talk, but you were able to hear KiiiKiii’s vocal tone and character front and center. Here, they might as well be replaced by AI. It’s like hearing an old Katy Perry or Ke$ha song squeezed until all we have left is the concentrate. This might be cool and trendy, but it neglects the features that make great pop music so endearing and timeless.

Hooks 8
 Production 8
 Longevity 7
 Bias 7
 RATING 7.5

Grade: C

65 thoughts on “Song Review: KiiiKiii – Pop Off Pop Off”

  2. It’s fun, but also very, very sanitised. Like they took a Ke$ha song from the early 2010s and scrubbed off all colour from it till we get a plain white version. Also wish it extended beyond the 2:20 length, but alas, beggers can’t be choosers.

    8 (8, 9, 7, 8) for me

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  3. Idk, they are so charming and the song is so fun its hard to resist!

    I really like how they are developing their sound!

    And also I’m gay so I like this kind of music 😭

    9/10

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  4. It’s always so interesting to me how subjective music can be because this is a solid 9 across the board for me haha. I just really like it and yeah, it reminds me of Kesha but I really liked music from those years and I think this could fit right in if it had come out then.

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  5. Its also like 2 mins long so its hook wears out unbelievably fast. There are signs of maybe potentially being a great summer hit but it falls completely flat with incessant sing-talk that seems to be becoming norm in the industry. Ugh.

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  6. Tik Tok on the clock =meets= you make me feel like I’m living a Teenage Dream =meets= Just Dance gonna be okay ba ba ba bap bap bop bop, wrapped up with heavy holy vocoder effect batman bow.

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  7. I’m so built up from all of their teaser and this is almost a hit or miss to me. I’m glad they fully embraced the 10’s aesthetic and they captured it very well till I’m ’bout to give a 9, but the song length drag it down to 8.

    Why 2:20 only??? With all the teaser they provided and performed, they literally reveal all of the essence of the song, making me feel nothing surprise on this actual title track.

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    • Since you’ve bring up Katy & Ke$ha, Nick, I wonder how would you rate Katy’s Teenage Dream & Ke$ha’s Tik Tok using your grading system? Both will be a 9.5 in my playlist mostly due to the nostalgic bias point, a type of feeling that I’ve been diggin’ recently.

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  9. booooooooooooo 😭😭😭😂😂😂🍅🍅🍅🍅🍅🍅🍅🍅🍅🍅🍅🍅🍅

    ok being serious it was a lovely post to read especially the last paragraph but at the same time 🍅🍅🍅🍅😂😂😂😂😂

    Idk the song just brings me so much joy! It’s such an earworm I could play it for hours on end. It feels like it was made for me from the post-chorus instrumental change to the backing vocals behind the “kiiikiii bring the magic” line, to the “scream like baby” lyrics and the lower/talking tone during the verses.

    9.5/10 for me I’m a sucker for this song. Maybe it’s because I’m too young to have fully enjoyed kesha

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  10. I find the song ridiculously short but also insanely addictive, like a morning ginger shot, it’s not enough and too much.
    What I love here is the structure:

    bare chorus, verse, pre chorus crescendo, chorus and then that POST chorus that’s actually the best part of the song. They nailed the concept, this fever dream of cluelessness, EDM Rihanna, Cobrasnake and Kesha, all in one bag. So in a way the stupidity is the point. Uncomplicated hyper pop, no irony or meta message.
    On the plus side, the track works great in the EP as all the songs are this 2010 jukebox that flows well together. I’m totally biased but this is the best EP of the year so far.

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  11. I really like how the beat reminded me of early 2000 eurodance vibe, but the appreciation stop there. The song started off strong, but it failed to delivered a great dance classic and ended on such a weak note. The bridge to outro part is usually reserved for the song highlight, but it became the most underwhelming part of the song. Maybe I would have enjoyed the song more if the beat went more wild & crazy towards the end, alas we were left with such an unsatisfying feeling after listening to the song. The other tracks in the album were fine, nothing stood out but it complement the whole EP well.

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  12. I personally think KiiiKiii just delivered the best Kpop EP of the year. I think part of the appeal of hyperpop is taking what makes pop artificial and dialing that up to a hundred and finding humanity in that. And it really depends from person to person whether they find that enjoyable or not but for me KiiiKiii really nailed that with this and the rest of the EP and idk I just really love it.

    or maybe im just way too young and way too gay LOL

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    • With all the comments like this in a frenzy, I popped over and listened to the EP. Yeah, for 15 minutes there, because that’s as long as it all lasts, the songs flow and vibe in a super sugar candy fluff bomb of fun. I am happy you and Metric~ and a few others above found happiness.

      For me, I already have my go to hype cycle songs, among them …. back in the day when we shared physical mix tapes and mix CD’s, this one landed on my desk. I shared it further with work buddies. We had no idea what the heck it was other than it was like a New Order extended mix EP but happier and Japanese. About a decade later, out of the blue, one of the guys sends me this link because He Had Found It. The Source. Turns out there is or was a whole vinyl DJ mix album of this song, and it was called Niji by Denki Groove. I swear I have listened to this for hours while typing away, like I am doing right now.

      Sharing, because sharing is caring.

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    • Love it or hate it, this is one of the most thematically consistent EPs from post-2020 k-pop, really nailing that specific 2010s sound. I don’t love all the songs, but an extended version of Candy Sugar Sex Magic Lonely Hearts Strawberry Alarm Phone (or whatever) is quite welcome!

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  14. 8/10

    honestly love it. Very Kesha. Even tho it’s short and truncated it’s a fun bit. The album is surprisingly refreshing and well made imo.
    Did anyone notice Magic pink flip phone is longer than the music video?

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  15. They’re flaming me on Twitter for having this exact opinion, so I’m glad at least someone’s hearing what I’m hearing. It’s pastiche to the nth degree, so you’re left with nothing but air.

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  16. I definitely hear the Kesha comparisons… the old Kesha, the one with the dollar sign. It’s not a bad song, it’s just a sort of kpop take on Kesha, if that makes sense, because like all kpop takes on actual good music, it’s quickly stripped of any individuality that gives either the song or artists a proper identity. I would give it an 8 or the same 7.75, though, if only because it’s a far better genre/aesthetic for kpop to take on than the other hyperpop/Y2K trash most girl groups have been doing recently.

    I think if KiiiKiii go this same style with producers who have serious experience in the area, they’d deliver a more authentic take on this kind of music, which is admittedly a very good genre, so I’ll patiently wait for better versions of what they’re doing so far. They show promise but no results… yet.

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    • They actually worked with some of the most famous hyperpop Korean artists like The Deep on the whole EP. So I do think they nailed the combination of quirky kpop atmosphere and pure hyperpop

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      • They did nail the combination they were aiming for, to be sure, it’s just that the combo was a sort of… clean, kpop-like production throughout the EP, if I’m saying this right? Apologies; English isn’t my first language. KiiiKiii are probably one of the few 5th generation girl groups I can actually get behind, even if I’m yet to become a fan, because their production team seem to know what they WANT to do.

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  17. see idk if id listen to this often (its as blatant of a ripoff of tik tok as it gets) but this does early 10s revival better than the vast majority of artists attempts to do so (both kpop n not) bc it doesnt forget to be intentionally silly. there was a complete lack of irony that ran through the best of that specific sound that i miss so much (n this exact same sentiment applies to frost children but i like them a lot more bc their melodies r much better)

    also i was the perfect age for this kind of music n the visuals in the mv back in its era so a decade n a half later its interesting seeing kiiikiiis creative team interpret it through a modern lens n if u know ur aesthetic history ud know theres a mix of very different points in time from the early 10s here. like the song n the shutter shades the girls wear r very 2009-2010 yet the keep calm and ___ n galaxy print n ig filters in the video r strictly 2011-2014. kinda the same thing that happened to “y2k” where basically kpop conflated the term w the whole of the 2000s though the beginning n end of the decade were far different sonically n aesthetic wise

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    • I think this is why it’s failing to connect with me the same way it is with other listeners. Rather than a specific statement, it feels like a nostalgia reel of various aesthetic touches… a mood board, or even a highlight medley rather than a fully-realized idea.

      I was never a huge fan of Tik Tok when it first came out, but one of its biggest assets is that Kesha was SUCH a big character at the center of it all. By allowing the production to largely subsume the performance here, you lose that character and it begins to tilt toward pastiche. I’m not saying KiiiKiii aren’t talented or charismatic, but with music like this they feel more like a muse for an aesthetic than a driving force who are taking these nostalgic touchstones and bending them to their will.

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      • I think you’re touching smtg key to what makes Pop Off special for some of us. 

        Funnily even if I get the Tik Tok obvious callback, the song reminds me more of club era Rihanna “We Found Love or Where Have You Been”, the EDM anthems with a deep nostalgia and emotional core. So to me Pop Off mimics this good time nostalgia, playful times but through a social media / short attention span / IPhone culture prism. This throwaway colorful egomaniac  2010s nostalgia works like an antidote to our current messy world right now – let’s have fun there’s no tomorrow  – 

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  18. I enjoyed this! It’ll never compare to the actual songs made during the eras it’s trying to replicate, but it’s still a really good sendup of those sounds and a welcome addition in the current k-pop landscape. I find the MV way more suspect, mainly because throwing frutiger aero and other early 00’s stuff in with a song that’s clearly an 2010’s riff feels like a desperate and mismatched attempt at nostalgia mining.

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  19. Kesha was one of my favorite childhood artists so this song is an automatic 9/10 from that alone. Early 2010s music and throwbacks to that era are my kryptonite, I can’t deny that 🙂‍↕️. That era was magical!

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  20. As an original Ke$ha diehard, this sounds nothing like her, nor Katy Perry.

    As I’ve said other places, the closest is David Guetta’s Who’s that Chick ft. Rihanna. You could maybe argue one of the tracks off Britney’s 2010 Femme Fatale, or even the work that Dev did with The Cataracs.

    But Ke$ha sounded nothing like this.

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    • Thank you omg, it sounds like 2010s dance pop but it’s derivative of that sound not necessarily pin-pointed to a certain artist.

      This also sounds nothing like Brat, again it may be derivative of Charli xcx, but unlike Candy Pink Flip Phone I don’t hear the hyperpop in this.

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    • waitttt omg u just gave me an idea……what if kiiikiii did a 2010s europop saxobeat kind of song (ie dancing in the dark mr saxobeat stereo love etc)

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  21. This is weaker single compared to 404, but I prefer the whole album over Delulu Pack. I do wish the songs were longer, but it’s nice to have a group this unique in terms of what music they’re doing in K-pop.

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  22. i’m incredibly nostalgic for the early 2010s era, music, tech, and everything-wise but i’m not feeling this. song’s too short and the music video is shoehorning in trendy Y2K visuals when they don’t even match the decade the music is attempting to mimic. i get that this kind of pandering was inevitable after the Y2K trend but i would rather listen to an ACTUAL 2010s pop song than this.

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  23. i guess to get a good review on here you need to be a group comprised of mainly emaciated teen boys. otherwise, the ephebe blogger behind this site won’t show you any good will! it clearly has nothing to do with musical quality. i thought ‘thebiaslist’ was a reference to the popular vernacular most kpop fandoms use, but actually – it’s a reference to the bloggers own bias toward young twinks! good to know! i won’t be checking in again because there is CLEARLY nothing in here for me. this song sounds NOTHING like any of what it is being compared to here, and i genuinely question whether the reviewer even has ears. i wonder if he is just misogynistic because a gg could come out with the best material of the year and he’ll confidently give it a 7, but shinyu could fart into a mic and sing swiper no swiping and he’d find a way to call it high art and you drones would agree with him in the comments. AMAZING! i guess every single kpop fandom space is an echo chamber.

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    • i guess to escape the wasteland on here you need to be a group comprised of mainly four chicks in green. otherwise, the homemade model behind this wasteland won’t show you any good will! it clearly has nothing to do with beauty in strife. i thought ‘Modelland’ was a reference to the popular vernacular most NY streets use, but actually – it’s a reference to the model’s own bias toward chicks in green! good to know! i won’t be running for my life again because there is CLEARLY no beauty in strife in here for me. this chick in green looks NOTHING like any of what it is being compared to here, and i genuinely question whether the chick in green even has ears. i wonder if he is just misogynistic because Tyra B could run the NY streets of the year and he’ll confidently give it a 33, but Tookie De La Creme could run for her life and sing “he could throw my doggy off a balcony and i’d still ride that dick” and he’d find a way to call it homemade and you chicks in green would agree with him in the wasteland. AMAZING! i guess every single Modelland space is an echo chamber.

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    • You good? Cause you don’t sound good lol. My fave group on here never gets great reviews because Nick and I clearly have different tastes in music and there’s nothing wrong with that. It’s great to have different opinions and be able to have discussions about stuff like this, and taking it this personally when someone doesn’t like music by your fave is concerning. I truly hope your young because otherwise you should really think about talking to someone.

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    • even though i know you’re just bitter that kiiikiii got an average review of a pretty average song, i won’t lie, you are lowkey clocking…. it feels like as the kpop boys get twinkier, nick seems to like the songs more 😭

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    • calling a reviewer a misogynistic pedophile because you don’t like that he didn’t just mindlessly glaze your favorite group’s new song is vile. he’s given other girl group releases high praise, and if you’ve looked at this blog for more than ten seconds, you’ll see that boy groups (including the ones he really likes!!) are not exempt from criticism. not every song is a winner. multiple of my ults (both girl groups and boy groups) have gotten low rankings for some of their songs and i don’t resort to character assassination over it when i disagree.

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    • This is so awesome. In the era of ChatGPT comments it is refreshing to finally see some genuine energy here. I find the use of the word “ephebe” to be particularly inspired. If it were me I probably would have also called him a eunuch just to continue the Ancient Greece theming. A great first effort though

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  26. I straight out hate this song, for all the reasons I love KiiiKiii, and thot CPMHFP was the best song ever; and I hoped the lead song would be different. But Starship released something which sounded like an AI-made track.

    If this stands as KiiiKiii’s summer anthem – great! But usually, you’d build up the group’s image before releasing seasonal EPs. People are still unsure of KiiiKiii’s identity. Either Starship is very confident KiiiKiii gets viral in 2027 or panicking.

    The girls tho… are proving to be concept queens. I see them as f(x) meets Red Velvet and I hope they will get that viral surge soon.

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  28. The album itself is pretty solid. No song is as good as 404, but the album is more cohesive than Delulu pack. I’m determined not to make the same mistake as I have in the past, where I’m put off at first because it is reminiscent of sounds past but aren’t those old sounds I love. I slept on MEOVV at first, but after more listens I found they had their own charisma apart from Blackpink, and after a few listens I find the same with KiiKii and their pop and dance contemporaries here.

    Never2Late 8.25

    Hey, Hi 7.75

    Pop off, pop off 8.5

    Sweet Sour 8.5

    Candy Pink Magic Hole Flip Phone 8.75

    Blue Hour 7.75

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