WayV to me is the top C-pop group at the moment and the best we’ve had in a long time. Most C-pop groups these days are pretty average so I am always excited when WayV releases new music.
Today, they dropped their new mini-album, Kick Back, and the MV for the title track with the same name, Kick Back. The album overall is incredibly strong. I like pretty much all the tracks. For this post, I wanted to talk about the title track.
I think the song starts off quite well, you get a good glimpse of their excellent vocals and rap off the bat. They’ve improved enormously over the last two years. Yang Yang and Hendery have really grown as rappers and seem much more confident. (I feel like Lucas has always been quite good) I was happy that even though WinWin still doesn’t have many lines, his lines are at least longer and more substantial. Of course, the vocalists, Qian Kun, Xiao De Jun, and Ten are as strong as ever too.
I’m not going to lie though, going into the chorus, I was quite disappointed. The hook is the biggest problem here. It felt a little lazy and obnoxious with all the “Kick, kick, kick, kick, kick…”. I think they could have added in other words and make it into a simple line of rap because the rest of the chorus is full of great energy. The pre-chorus was so strong, I had expected them to carry the energy into the hook.
It’s unfortunate to me because I think this song would have been close to perfect had they changed up the hook. I don’t think any artist should have to sacrifice good music in order to be catchy and go TikTok viral which I am pretty sure is exactly the reason why the hook is the way it is. It’s a shame so much music these days are composed for the purpose of going viral on social media. I feel like if your music is truly good, it’ll be popular regardless.
I’m quite curious as to what Kun, as a music producer, thinks of the hook. I have a hunch, had he had enough say in this, the hook would be different. There is just no need to repeat “Kick” that many times.
Anyway aside from the hook, I love the rest of the song. Unfortunately, it’s not one I would put on a playlist because I do not want the hook swimming in my head 24/7. As for the rest of the album though, many tracks are definitely going to put onto a permanent playlist. And I think WayV did a superb job with the whole album and should be proud of themselves for all their efforts.
MISOE MUSIC HOUSE 