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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It’s a song made for the clubs and for the gays… Allegedly made by one of the composers for Whiplash, but this song lacks the hooks, melodies, rhythms, and vocals that made Whiplash a stunning song. I hate that so many of the lyrics don’t rhyme at all in this song (especially verse 1) so it sticks out like a sore thumb and feels like they’re just TALKING random stuff over a beat. Their English hip-hop girl crush/bad ass songs have this issue though. Like Igloo and K Bye both have lyrics that are just a bit.. strange? Rhythmically and gramatically. Nothing and Te Quiero weren’t like this.. but I guess that’s the quirk of K-pop (non-sense English phrases), but for a group with English-speaking members and had boasted they were an “international group” before the incident.. it just feels weird. Whatever.. I thought maybe they were returning to form after 224 and Who Is She, but this release has been strange.
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Ok, talking about Ke$ha, the flow for the first half of the verse is is the same as Kinky, which is the same as Get Sleazy before it.
This is definitely a knockoff Whiplash, but it’s fine.
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So yeah the video is 100% Aespa coded and copies heavily Whiplash. But the song is literally NMIXX Reality Hurts with a cheap beat. If you do EDM in 2026 you have to try harder.
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Aespa from Temu
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It’s ok. They could’ve done more with this. Wouldn’t have taken much to get it to an 8.
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As an F1 fan (Formula One) I disapprove. I think only 2 drivers are single, so … about those DMs? It’s kind of hard for me not to think about it realistically when there are only 22 F1 drivers in the world (not counting reserve or test drivers).
As long as the comments aren’t as ridiculous as some of the ones I saw when BTS did a promotion for Formula E.
“Oppa looks like a real race driver!”
Me: No, he doesn’t. Look at his thin neck.
I thought I’d like it when kpop and F1 collide, but reality is proving otherwise.
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