I don’t know what’s gotten into me this year, but there have been several boy group tracks I’ve loved that — in the past — I might have dismissed as “noise music.” I suppose as this trend has softened it’s made the sound less infuriating. Or, maybe the songs have just been more fun. Chief among these examples was NCT Dream’s summer comeback BTTF, which tempered its noise with a truly majestic chorus. New single Beat It Up nixes the majestic melodies but catches the occasional groove that sets its apart.
Between the song’s repeated vocal riff and Dream’s own performance, they must say “beat it up” a couple hundred times throughout this track. There’s not much variety among the chants and taunts and Beat It Up could do with a bit of melodic respite. Instead, the song lives or dies on the success of its rhythm. The instrumental is by far its most compelling aspect. It’s a maximalist version of popular Y2K influences, overstuffed and busy where other K-pop productions would opt for a more minimalist approach.
I can imagine a much more interesting song thrown over the top of this instrumental. As it stands, Beat It Up feels like a series of disconnected ad-libs, almost as if the composers and/or performers were just making things up as they went along. There’s no defineable chorus, even as the “beat it up” refrain is repeated ad nauseum. This makes the song feel more like a sketch than a fully-developed release.
Hooks
7
Production
8
Longevity
8
Bias
8
RATING
7.75