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Double Review: Kai - Ride or Die & Nothing on Me
Kai's new title track sucks. I am not even going to try to review it, that would be a waste of time. Thankfully, the album has two absolute gems in 'Ride or Die' and 'Nothing on Me'. Thus, I am going to review those two.
Ride or Die
'Ride or Die' is my favorite song of the EP. If one day, I had the talent and debuted as an R&B artist, I would pick something 'Ride or Die' as my favorite title track. The song has an open space vibe and feels like floating in the open world. The production bass line is especially effective, adding a sense of ambition in the relatively un-ambitious track and EP.
Kai is a rapper for me, and I would love to see him embrace a high-concept rap-rock anthem like 'Mama'. But, if has no plan to do so, his vocals would work great with a track like 'Ride or Die'.
Of course, the gem moment of the track is when that synth comes in. It is such an ambitious and effective moment. I just wish that space-synth would be heard more throughout the finale.
Rating: 8.75/10
Nothing on Me
'Nothing on Me' is short. But boy, does it use its time wisely. Opening with some weird and creepy distorted synths, 'Nothing on Me' is a pure adrenaline rush for 2 minutes 40 seconds.
The opening build pays off with the weirdest drop you have heard in a while. The synths are unstable, and this makes what would be an uninteresting drop pay off as an ace move. The build before the next chorus and the next chorus both are equally as good.
From start to finish, this song is a wild ride. Also, for the EXO-SC album, Chanyeol's solo track was called 'Nothin', and Sehun's solo track was called 'On Me'. I doubt that this is a coincidence (or maybe the EXO fanboy in me is springing up again).
Those two songs are impressive indeed! Tbh, SM has been lost on the singles but the bside magic is still there for me. Those are strong songs for Kai and well encapsulates him. Btw, what did you think about Ghost9's comeback? The mixing was horrendous for me personally, but now I kind of get used to it. It just bothers me how messy it is even worser than some old K-Pop songs. But the composition and arrangement is A+. It is legendary up there for me. What do you think about the mixing? Maybe it is just my hearing.
ReplyDeleteThe mixing was bad. I have already written a review, it should be up early tomorrow. I just need to edit it a bit before publishing it. Thus, I won't give my thoughts yet :)
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