Kiss Of Life returned earlier this month with the latest in a long line of bare-bones summer tracks, capturing the sweltering nature of the season but refusing to do much as an actual song. However, this group often releases special videos for their b-sides and are already back with a video for the more abrasive, upbeat WHAT!.
If Sweat conformed to one current K-pop trend, WHAT! dives fully into another. Talking charismatically over an oontz oontz club beat has been one of 2026’s most overdone recipes, making a song like this feel like a copy of a copy. To WHAT‘s credit, the beat is bumped up to head-knocking levels, which goes a long way for a track like this. The production certainly has presence. Now, it’s time for the songs to match that drive.
Sadly, WHAT! is nothing but spoken-word boasts. Kiss Of Life talk through the entire song, culminating in a “chorus” where they offer a bemused “what?” as the “cameras flashing” around them. This monotone expression is no where near as clever or cute as it needs to be, making WHAT! another pointless exercise in K-pop’s weird obsession with ultra-shallow “empowerment.” It’s dumb fun, but little more than that.
| Hooks | 6 |
| Production | 8 |
| Longevity | 7 |
| Bias | 7 |
| RATING | 7 |
Grade: C-
The Bias List // K-Pop Reviews & Discussion 
Sigh, I could imagine myself in a clothes store, maybe an H&M or a Max or Pantaloons, looking for some nice clothes with my mom during a vacation, her picking out clothes that are far from my taste but she insists so I wear them, and as I walk to the trial room, I hear this song playing in the background. Maybe I’d hum to it while I change and nitpick shit like how the colour doesn’t suit me or the texture is annoying or it feels too tight or loose. Then I tell my mom whether I like the fits or not while the song continues playing quietly. And after a few more grueling minutes of picking out clothes I’d eventually not buy, I leave the store, the song nowhere to be seen in my memories.
Anywho, 7.25 (6, 9, 7, 7) for me.
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i thought this was at least an 8 since you listed it among the honorable bsides
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Yeah… it fell.
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it fell really quickly lol 😭
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Oof, so methinks we got the 2nd biggest faller in the history of the blog, just behind “Oh My God”, assuming your initial rating was an 8 🥴
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It’s one of those instances where I heard the beat and was somewhat pleased but when I actually had to sit down and write about it there was no way to give a song like this a higher rating.
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Hmm…..the music video aesthetic definitely reminded me of aespa Whiplash (black googles, tight-wrapping clothes, catwalking), but the song was clearly anything but good. The beat was actually nice, but the vocals was very aggravating. This kind of talk-chanting song relied on good vocal tones to sell it so what’s the point of editing your voice into annoying chipmunks except for biting our ears off. Giving it 7 points seems to be way too generous…..
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