In celebration of Drippin’s first amazing album release (please check out the single, if you have not), I thought I’d do a review in their honour.
Drippin’s Villain series has been quite a shocking one. It’s mainly because I never thought of the boy group exploring genres through their villain concept. Though their single Villain showcases how impactful an understated song can be (and how it can steal the spotlight of one amazing b-side), Zero is definitely the superior comeback.
Villain: Zero is composed of tracks that are not usually up my alley, yet, and I don’t really know how, Drippin sells it really well. I’m not someone to be into rock, hell I’m not someone to be into the usual 4th gen bg sound, but if any boy group wants to replicate the sound with any chance of standing out of the crowd, they should look up to Drippin. Zero is the best ‘dark 4th gen boy group’ song, while the b-sides of Game and Trick and Treat emphasises how well the idols do with the genres of tropical house and nu metal. If anyone needs to breakthrough, it’s Drippin, and I hope at least one person begins listening to them through this review.
Tracklist:
Zero (single)
Game
Trick and Treat
Zero
Written, Lyricism, Arrangement, and Composed by: Corbin (NEWTYPE), Beatie (NEWTYPE), TAK, 1TAKE
The electric guitar riffs in the intro foreshadow what experience we are going to have as the hip-hop beat starts to thump. The hook plays it safe, though catchy it is simple. To many people, the hook of “I can be zero or I can one,” would be too simple, and I think the lyricism in this single can be criticised a bit, but I enjoy it. The guitars in the verses jolt as the beat keeps things flowing. The performance of Zero, no offence to the boys, can be quite overdone at times. This includes Cha Junho’s first lines and Alex’s first rapping part. “Extra more, extra large, extra special,” does make me laugh quite a bit, and the lyricism in these segments (especially the first, the second does well improve). The pre chorus slows down the tension we felt during the previous verse, placing energy on Yunseong’s vocals (who’s an absolutely great singer) as soft synths emotionalise the track. The beat aids the vocals, as the lyricism becomes more melodic. As someone who loves a fast beat, the second part of the pre chorus is for me. The beat picks up and fades in, creating tension that was lost, as Minseo continues from Yunseong’s point. The production rocks in the chorus. The electric guitar returns as the beat drops in such a fulfilling way. If anything, I wish the chorus was stronger, I think it fails to use the energy given to it in the pre chorus, however the second-part of the chorus makes up for it. The instrumental between the bridge and second chorus has this industrial rhythm to it, which surprised me at first, but now I’ve grown to enjoy it. The bridge is absolutely amazing, creating the emotion through the members’ voices as a flute aids them in the background. The beat picks up, and then baam! The fast-paced drums return. I love this segment, it showcases how well K-pop would be with drum and bass. As the song comes to a big finish, we are left tired. Zero really is a song that creates an experience and is cinematic, and though the song writing may fail at times, the production picks up the slack and creates this strong track. Especially for a dark 4th gen bg, this is great.
Hooks: 8
Production: 10
Longevity: 9
Bias: 9
Total: 9
Game
Written by: Yi Yi Jin, tru (153/Joombas), ZNEE, Andy Love, Waveshower
Lyricism by: Yi Yi Jin, tru (153/Joombas), ZNEE
Arrangement by: Waveshower
Composition by: Andy Love, Waveshower
This tropical house track is not what I usually expect from Drippin, however it suits them pretty well. Yunseong’s tone in his ad libs sets the tone well: Emotional and soft, which is anything but the production. The guitar starting off is soft as well, but don’t let it trick you. When the beat hits, it will hit the end. Piano chords enter as the verses start, which aids the rhythm of the guitar. The lyricism flows, it’s connected well, and showcases the melancholy side of the song-writing well. The beat is teased when entering the pre chorus as the power of vocals is increased, setting up the tension for the chorus. Then the chorus hits us like a ton of bricks. The belts are full of tense power yet they are still raw, they feel emotionally broken to me. The tropical beat supports the song writing, as it fuels much of the energy of the track. Majority of the power of Game comes from the drums itself, and is the star in the song. Strings play to enhance the melodic emotion. The background vocals add to the rawness as an electronic rhythm is there for like no reason whatsoever. I’m not someone who likes Dongyun’s rapping skills, but he sells it in Game: It’s stable, strong, and gets the job done. I enjoy the bridge, it’s short but really feels like a resting stop before the final chorus. Overall, Game is a very strong tropical house track. No wonder it was promoted.
Hooks: 8
Production: 8
Longevity: 8
Bias: 9
Total: 8.25
Trick and Treat
Written by: CR KIM, Kim Subin (AIMING), Christoffer Semelius, ON CLASS A
Lyricism by: CR KIM, Kim Subin (AIMING), Christoffer Semelius, ON CLASS A
Arrangement by: Christoffer Semelius
Composition by: CR KIM, Kim Subin (AIMING), Christoffer Semelius
Trick and Treat has all the factors of a K-pop song stacked against it. The lyricism in the chorus kicks off the song as the members shout their lyrics, creating an obnoxious atmosphere. The drums clash as the electric guitar is the majority of the rhythm. The hip-hop esque drums itself are much of the support of the energy in the verses, as the members tagteam to deliver (over delivered) raps. The jumps of the orchestra adds to the power, but then the song becomes more powerful as the track returns to the chorus. Hyeop enhances this song so much, his tone colour is so sultry that I feel like it shouldn’t work, but it does, especially the ad libs at the start of the bridge. The howlings do take me off guard, but if anything they’re kinda funny. The bridge extends on the orchestral jumps as the percussion takes lefts and rights. The final chorus is quite satisfying in many areas, just the feeling of chaos from the structured bridge. The outro leaves us tired. I should not like Trick and Treat, if anything I should hate it: It has everything I don't like about K-pop in it. But for how obnoxious and loud it is, this one knows it, it’s self-aware of its own annoyance, and kind of has fun with it? And that’s what I love, when a K-pop song realises something and pumps it up to 1000%. Trick and Treat isn’t meant to be deep, or dark, or ‘different from the other songs’, it’s there for fun. And being annoying. And I love being annoying.
Trick and Treat is like Exo’s Drop That. Both are shameless in what they’re doing but I love when songs don’t care about that.
Hooks: 8
Production: 9
Longevity: 10
Bias: 9
Total: 9
and excited for your top bsides and singles 
