SM Entertainment’s newest addition to their musical ranks, the first sub-unit comprising of six members of the rookie boy group NCT U which stands for ‘Neo Culture Technology’. There’s been an abundance of teasers released which gave subtle hints of what anticipating fans would expect from this group, especially with the guest appearance from Taeyong in Red Velvet’s cover of ‘Be Natural’.
As a new generation of SM artists are being put forward into the diverse and ever changing world of Korean music, the music itself sounds different, almost edgy in comparison to the senior groups of their shared label company. Given the influx of success from EXO, it’s no secret that they’re trying to recreate some of that success with their newest groups. And it’s only early days yet for NCT until the full capacity of the group’s members are introduced, the debut song that’s being discussed in this SOTW seems almost sluggish and dream-like. The sound consists of a mixture of a new age of musical styles such as trap which are often seen to be used in K-pop songs these days. It’s an interesting shift from the overused concept from rookie groups who fall back on the ‘bad boy in a gang’ sort of image.
This particular section taken from the lyrics which states: “It wraps around me, hate is on me
Each day repeats but it’s okay, I’m walking on top of a deep darkness. Look at what is real, that’s hidden over there”. Negative emotions can easily consume anyone, it can either make or break a person given by how well or badly they receive it. But it goes on to say that rather than walking through the darkness, they’re removing themselves by taking a different route by not focusing on the hate but looking for the things that really matter. “I’m still going somewhere. To an unknown place”. Often we tread on a path yet remain unaware of the destination of where we are going in life, sometimes you can find unexpectedly it can be a good thing as it could indicate a new and fresh start. The song eventually reaches a conclusion with: “I’ve been awakened from a deep sleep (Awakened). My seventh sense”. Whether it was a mental or physical journey or even both, this could suggest that separating yourself from the darkness that can threaten to consume you can also eventually release you, thus giving the sensation of ‘awaking’.
First and foremost, the choreography is very sharp and sleek in this as the scenes shifted between the background visuals of the MV and the dancing. And of course the blinding sheet of red throughout is something you probably wouldn’t miss. A collection of the snaps show some of members individually trapped inside a glass box which could illustrate a part of the lyrics in regards to their seventh sense being ‘awakened’. There was another MV released from this group which focused more on the vocals, but I found that there seemed to be an even balance with this music video in terms of the right amount of choreography and the vocal and rapper scenes.
Check out the MV below!
