There’s no denying that K-pop has entered a techno trend. This isn’t the kind of techno music that swept the industry’s first generation, though you can still draw comparisons. There was a time around 1999 where it felt like every other new idol track came underpinned with a steady club beat. As a lover of uptempo dance music, I’m never mad about this development and I’m curious how it will continue to spread throughout this new era of K-pop.

I particularly enjoy when rap music meets dance music, as both genres thrive on rhythm. Park Woojin’s new single Stamina is such a concoction, though I’m not sure it does much for me. Most of this is down to the delivery, which feels relentlessly intense in a way that often borders on obnoxious. Woojin is a fine rapper, but the track is so stuffed with repetitive phrasing that it barely has time to breathe. Because of this, Stamina plays like a flat line all the way through. This flat line happens to be incredibly energetic, but a series of peaks and valleys would better draw out the song’s charm.

Grade: C