Hi everyone!
I spent quite a while trying to figure out what song I ought to focus on for the first post, and due to their unique move with the most recent comeback, I chose to review both versions of NCT 127’s new single, “Regular”. Below is the link for the English in case you haven’t seen it and would like to avoid being lost while reading.
But for those who don’t know too much about NCT 127, I’ll present a bit of background. NCT 127 is a sub-unit of the SM Entertainment boy group, NCT. The letters stand for Neo Culture Technology and the 127 represents the longitudinal coordinate of Seoul. Appropriate, seeing as they are the Seoul based unit.
The group has 10 members: Johnny, Winwin, Yuta, Mark, Taeyong, Doyoung, Haechan, Jaehyun, Taeil, Johnny, and the newest addition as of September 17th, Jungwoo. Now, to be entirely honest, I still can’t match names and faces yet other than Mark and Taeyong—mainly because of their prominence throughout most NCT songs thus far.
But onto the actual review itself.
Lyrics
I’m someone who prioritizes lyrics over sound when it comes to music, so the first thing I did was compare the English lyrics and the translated lyrics. I’ll link them below in case anyone would like to read them:
It became clear to me quickly which I preferred. While both sets of lyrics send a message of how hard the boys have worked to get where they are and how they’ll continue working until they’re satisfied, the Korean lyrics go about it in a less braggadocious way. It makes sense that the boys are expressing their sense of pride in how well they’re doing, but somehow the English version manages to make it sound far more boastful, whereas the Korean maintains the idea that even though they’re doing well, they’ll continue trying their hardest to surpass their limits. There’s a subtle hint of humbleness, which I honestly think the English version lacks.
The words have a better flow when sung in Korean; the English lyrics are not quite as clever and clear (still not sure how “drippin’, water faucet” ties in with anything at all), but considering the fact that they totally ventured out of their comfort zone by doing an English version, it’s a solid attempt. I personally feel that the Korean lyrics do a better job in conveying the message of the song and my favorite line has to be “Stars in the city, in front of the CT, there’s an N. We don’t chase after wons, be the one one one”. This line caught my attention due to the word play: they talk about being stars in the city and incorporate their group name into the lyrics, tying it in with the word city; the boys then go on to talk about how they focus on being number one rather than working for the sake of wons (Korean currency), which I thought was an incredibly cool.
As a last thought, I was skimming through line divisions to see how many lines each member got, and I think there are a few members that got no more than 1-3 lines by themselves. It’s hard to ensure that everyone gets an equal share with a group this large, and more often than not, parts are distributed based on whose voice suits them best, but I do hope that in future singles, other members will have more solo lines.
That pretty much sums up my thoughts on the lyrics themselves, now for the visuals.
Aesthetics
Honestly, I have nothing bad to say about the music videos, which isn’t unusual when it comes to K-Pop visuals. As can be expected, the colors are vibrant and captivating, the fashion attractive and flattering, and the choreography suits the song very well. It didn’t come across as too powerful or too laid back, which I appreciate coz I think I pay more attention to choreography than anything else when it comes to visuals.
The scenes of the members on the streets strike me as pretty powerful just because they make such a point of emphasizing how successful they are, so seeing them walk and dance throughout the streets of Korea almost pounds in the idea that they own the place, they have that much influence. I like the tiger walking alongside Mark—it showcases their confidence, because the tiger is a symbol of courage and power in Korea, so the fact that they integrated symbols of their nation in was a nice touch, in my opinion. My only note is that it would have been helpful to have subtitles for the Korean video, not just the English, but minor details. Overall, a top-notch job for the music videos.
Sound
The song is catchy without a doubt. In the grand scheme of NCT 127 singles that I’ve heard (Fire Truck, Cherry Bomb, Limitless, and Chain), I’d say ‘Regular’ has definitely made the best impression on me. It’s not overwhelming to listen to, it sticks in your head but not so much in an annoying way (for me, at least), and the flow of the song was great. There weren’t any parts that I found to be choppy; the rappers had a slower flow for this track and appropriately so, and the vocals sounded smooth. The only thing I’m iffy on is the ‘brrah’ that comes in during the chorus, but it’s not a big enough negative to make me dislike the song as a whole. Although, I will say that I prefer the Korean version to the English one.
To be honest, this comeback makes me a bit more excited for future NCT 127 albums, because I’ve never followed them consistently to begin with and this song has the potential to change my mind. I applaud them for releasing the track in English first, that’s a pretty progressive move for K-Pop and I’m totally in support of it. I hope that this was an interesting read and thanks for the support! If there’s any requests for which song I should cover next, feel free to comment and let me know what your thoughts on the song are!
Until next time,
—Zephyr
Musical Musings 