It may simply be my exhaustion with current K-pop trends speaking, but I feel like agencies often learn the wrong lessons from their successes. aespa’s most successful title tracks have hinged on varying levels of repetition, but ever since last year’s Whiplash it feels like SM Entertainment has been on autopilot with the group’s material, offering retreads of a monotonous song structure wrapped in different musical guises. June’s Dirty Work suffered from this approach and new single Rich Man also struggles to break free from its repeated catchphrases.
Judging by any metric, aespa are one of the biggest girl groups in the world. However, songs like Rich Man don’t feel worthy of that title. I dig the track’s grimy, guitar-infused instrumental, but there are many points where the energy drags unnecessarily. This is most evident during the chorus, which deserves a weightier arrangement that would help distinguish it from the verses. It doesn’t help that Rich Man‘s “la la la” hook is puny and throwaway, barely even trying to offer an interesting melodic centerpiece.
Instead — as always — Rich Man relies on charisma. Charisma is awesome and the K-pop industry has a surplus of it. Charisma can lift a so-so song, but you know you’re in trouble when even charisma starts to feel monotonous. Charisma without the means to channel it feels like a beautifully adorned box holding nothing. I wouldn’t say Rich Man is “nothing,” but it’s a pretty boring entry into the overstuffed self-empowerment sub-genre. There are only so many times you can say “I am a rich man” and expect your audience to be enthralled. It’s a whole lot of telling and very little showing, which makes the whole exercise feel stilted and surprisingly joyless.
Hooks
6
Production
8
Longevity
7
Bias
7
RATING
7