WAYF BOYS are one of the new-gen groups I’m increasingly unsure fit within the realm of “K-pop.” Yes, they’re from a Korean agency and yes, their members are Korean/Korean-American/Korean-Canadian, but their music so far has been performed in English and feels targeted to an international audience. As such, the standards with which I approach a song like Swag change.
I know Justin Bieber just had a critically-acclaimed album of this same name, but I find it difficult to glean what enjoyment could possibly come from a song entitled “Swag,” a term so overused and dated that it’s lost all meaning. As I’ve mentioned so many times on this blog, I’m unconvinced by songs that try to tell me how awesome an artist is unless they have legitimately awesome music to back up the sentiment. This Swag is as predictable as you can imagine. Trap beats, gurgly synths and a repetive, triplet-phrased arrangement with little-to-no progression.
In this way, WAYF BOYS feel like a more pop-minded CORTIS. I hear potential in their vocals and on-record personalities, but the material thus far has been pretty bad. I assume Swag is supposed to be a bit of a joke, and in this avenue it succeeds as a gen-Z memey way. Listeners who are already invested in WAYF BOYS might get a kick out of it. For the rest of us, there’s nothing new to get excited about — except maybe the cool instrumental switch-up during the song’s final moments.
| Hooks | 6 |
| Production | 7 |
| Longevity | 7 |
| Bias | 6 |
| RATING | 6.5 |
Grade: D
The Bias List // K-Pop Reviews & Discussion 
Dear Nick,
I hope this message reaches to you in good faith. I may not speak for all of Gen Z, but as a late Gen Z girl born in 2006, I can’t help but be offended that you think something like this can appeal to me, even if in a “memey” way. I like my music melodic, rich in a good dancefloor drive or some groove, not something so boring, so devoid of personality and sounds like a bunch of posers trying to sound “fun” and “cool” but failing miserably. I DON’T like my music “memey” or trying so hard to be “relatable” but ends up being so meh, I find digging through my nose more entertaining than listening to this.
Next time, please don’t associate me with the target audience of this nothingburger, or else I will find you and subject you to X:IN’s or Ravi’s or CORTIS’ full discography (minus REDRED) or Eternity’s I’m Real, the mosquito imitation in YooA’s Selfish or that “KOOOOOOONG” scream in xikers’ Koong looped for an hour and that’s a promise ૮ ˶ᵔ ᵕ ᵔ˶ ა ♡
Yours sincerely,
Annietime21, a regular The Bias List reader and commenter
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Haha point taken!
But, you’ve gotta admit that this sound seems to be very popular with gen z acts… especially in k-pop…
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Thank you for restoring our faith in youth again, one little step at a time.
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As a fellow ’06er, I second this 🙌
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With how much KPOP exploited this type of meme song I admit that I have certain prejudices that the majority of Gen Z actually forward this kind of song too. If there is no suitable demand, why would KPOP produce these kind of “garbage” regularly. ATEZZ’s Bad success also did not help and almost made me lost faith in korean youth taste. How shocking……
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For me, “swag” means free stuff one gets from boring places that may actually be useful. For example, I have a little bluetooth speaker I bring on camping trips from some startup at a conference booth years ago. Free, useful, and idunnowho.
If its not free and useful and emblazoned with some company logo you have no intention of doing business with, then it isn’t swag.
This song might be free and idunnowho, but it isn’t useful. It’s not swag.
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Yeah, I think that unless your name is Justin Bieber and you’re dropping what’s potentially the best album of your career, then your record should not be named Swag, lmao.
To be fair, I was so worried when JB revealed that the title was Swag becase I was expecting trap-pop reheated nachos from 2020. In the end, the album sounded nothing like that, thankfully.
As per this song/group, it perfectly encapsulates the concerns I have about the word “Swag” in 2026! It is just so cringe lmao!!! At the very least you can tell that the CORTIS guys like being goofy inside this genre. Meanwhile, LNGSHOT’s influences are more late 90s R&B-oriented. This is just hard to even listen in an ironic way, because it’s taking itself seriously.
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Waif, really? Are they trying to hint at “stray”? They failed! These waifs are SWAGLESS!
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