DRIP


DRIP

Album ∙ K-Pop ∙ 2024

BABYMONSTER

YG Entertainment launched BABYMONSTER in April 2024, hoping the seven-member girl group would follow in the footsteps of their ultra-successful company predecessors 2NE1 and BLACKPINK. DRIP, BABYMONSTER’s inaugural full-length album, gives young members Ruka, Pharita, Asa, Ahyeon, Rami, Rora, and Chiquita a first proper chance to build towards those K-pop ambitions.

“Tonight, the stars are shining bright,” they sing on the title track, a dramatic EDM dance number that fits right into YG’s rich tradition of “girl crush” swagger songs. “Baby got passion, ambition, and I flaunt it,” sings Thai member Pharita, before Korean singer Rami comes in with “Look at that every move I make, I feel it in my bones.” Co-written by BIGBANG’s G-DRAGON, the track sustains its bouncy energy as it builds to a sparkling, sustained high note from Ahyeon, before launching into the high-powered outro. On the English-language rap track “CLIK CLAK,” the girls are “spending money, charge, charge, charge,” just like their sunbaenim LISA. But in B-side “BILLIONAIRE,” they argue that there are qualities that money just can’t buy: “World is mine, yeah, life is so unfair/Money don't compare, I got something rare/Feeling like a billionaire.”

BABYMONSTER slows things down, giving listeners a chance to appreciate the richness of their vocal tones, on the minimalist love song “Love, Maybe.” The theme continues on “Really Like You” and the thumping dance track “Love in My Heart,” co-written by Japanese members Ruka and Asa (“I won't hold back anymore/Give you all of the love in my heart”). Rappers Ruka and Asa get another chance to shine in the nursery-rhyme-like “Woke Up in Tokyo,” an official subunit song. The album wraps with the previously released summer single “FOREVER” and a remix of the group’s debut track “BATTER UP,” tying their young discography together and laying out their master plan: “Screams will turn into cheers, loud, surprisе/Yo, the rise of the monster/My way will be shining forever, way.”

Listen on Apple Music

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