#2Baddies

[moontaeddybear]

220926 Relay Dance

[bestbubu]

🌹💚 NCT 127 TAEYONG

[zaranuriya]

johnny explaining the meaning of 2 Baddies, the hardcore way

Ollie was me btw when I first heard the line "2 Baddies 1 Porsche", my innocent-summer-child-self even got to a conclusion that was like.. "2 baddies? are they referencing to NCT 127 but missing the seven?"

[dearlyminhyung]

mark ending fairy // 2 baddies music bank 🧚‍♀️ ✨ 

[editkpopwallpaper]

NCT 127 "질주 2 Baddies" Concept 2 Wallpaper

[nerdyshy]

A Critical Look into NCT 127's Music

A Critical Look into NCT 127's Music

By H.D

Hello, this article is to open up a discussion about NCT 127’s music and to provide a new perspective that isn’t all praise and no criticism. 

The points in this article will be my first impression of the music, what differentiated their music from boy groups at the time and current opinions of their music. Keep in mind the first half of the article is my analysis of their discography before the 2 baddies album was released. The second half will be addressing the issues that were discussed earlier and whether these issues apply to the 2 Baddies album release. 

The Beginning

To keep this short I discovered NCT 127’s music by chance on YouTube. I watched their Cherry Bomb music video one day in 2018 and I loved it. If I could go back and experience watching it again I would. I was impressed and surprised at how experimental the song was. It had a good balance of vocals and rap that I appreciated. When I got to their songs that weren’t title tracks, I was amazed at the variety they possessed in their discography as there were songs that could satisfy someone like myself who was picky with the music I listened to. There were no skips in their earlier albums. 

Forging their own path

What made NCT 127’s music unique when I was listening to their songs in 2018-2019 was the producing, arrangement and vocal/rap were pushing the boundaries of what was acceptable in Kpop. They were a trendsetting group that had authenticity and individuality. I read that many fans, critics, and casual listeners thought differently and thought it was a bunch of noise and hard to listen to. However, it was a good decision by their company to take this route. At the time I was comparing their music to other boy groups to find similarities or differences and I realised that nobody else was doing the experimental fusion of genres coupled with interesting choreography. 

Add in their stellar live performances and I had a deep appreciation for the group’s persistence to not to be pressured by the industry to follow the trends. Instead they choose to forge their own path, one that many boy groups have adopted for themselves. The NCT 127 sound back then had the longevity, replayability, creativity and cohesiveness that I loved. 

Opinions on the music before the release of 2 baddies

I’m going to talk about my current opinions about their music in 2022. The amount of songs they have that I don’t like or have been skipped regularly is growing and that’s a problem. The track listing for their albums Neozone and Sticker is awful. It starts off well with a nice flow between the first few songs. Then the middle and ending sections of the albums are messy leaving me unsatisfied and bored. 

Let me give an example:

On the Sticker album the final three songs road trip, dreamer and promise you are not placed where they should be as they drag the album quality down. Those songs are weak and they are placed there to fill up the album run time. Another example is on the Neozone repackage the songs non stop, make your day and the prelude. Out of the three songs I only remember and listen to nonstop. It’s disappointing that the other two songs are forgettable and serve as filler songs. The point of a repackage is to make sure the new songs are memorable but it wasn’t the case here and it's a shame. 

It may seem that I hate their music but I do not. I think their albums in 2020-2021 are packed with filler songs that don’t need to be there. Filler songs in my opinion disrupt the flow of the album and make it difficult for me to get through a comfortable listening. The filler songs make the album quality go down which in turn make cohesiveness unattainable. 

To conclude, while I still enjoy their music, it’s longer giving the greatness it used to have. They need to work on removing filler songs, making sure the tracklist is arranged carefully so the listeners can enjoy an album that’s not a chore to get through. If they can do that, the replayability and longevity of their music will return. 

2 Baddies - The Turning Point 

With the release of the 2 baddies album in 2022 and the upcoming repackage Ay-Yo  let's take a look to see if my opinions about their music have changed. 

The issues that I had were:

They need to work on removing filler songs in their albums 

Arranging the tracklist so the listeners can enjoy an album that’s not a chore to get through. If they can do that, the replayability and longevity of their music will return.

Analysis of the main single and album as a whole

2 Baddies 

A few adjectives are needed to describe this song. A lackluster, boring, bland trainwreck. 2 baddies being a title track was the wrong decision. I tried to see if there were any parts in the song that I liked and there weren’t any. The raps were underwhelming and the lyrics/instrumental seemed like an afterthought. This song shows a regression in their sound as the “catchy chants”, repetitive chorus and no satisfying conclusion make it hard to listen to. The final chorus relies on the na na na’s to make it fun which it isn’t. 

Album B Sides

This album is saved by its b sides. Songs like faster, tasty, time lapse, gold dust, 1, 2, 7 (Time Stops) etc is what makes the album memorable. This album is really great. There’s no filler songs and the tracklist is arranged with care this time. The replayability of the songs is back as I went back to listen to this album many times. I can’t comment right now on the longevity of the album as a lot of time hasn’t passed for me to make a sound judgement on that aspect. 

To conclude, the issues didn’t apply to the 2 baddies album which is great. I believe that they have fixed this with the 2 baddies album. However, songs like 2 Baddies show a regression in their sound and relying on worked previously isn’t going to cut it in my opinion. Hopefully, the Ay-Yo Repackage album will be just as awesome as Favourite.

[lenamaarie]

Doyoung - 2Baddies

[the-art-turd]

[nctzzzenn]

[jjongslight]

I-

[moontaeddybear]

221224 SBS Gayo Daejeon

[cerujongrafik]

NCT 127 — 2 BADDIES POSTER 🚘 Another Y2K-inspired poster but for NCT 127's 2 Baddies this time around 😎 Made two versions of this poster btw, which version do you prefer? 🌟

[gonie16]

질주. . . . 달려가고 있다. #질주 #2baddies #NCT127 #서울숲 #SEOUL #Korea #iPhone12ProMax (at 서울숲) https://www.instagram.com/p/CjEW8uwPpQh/?igshid=NGJjMDIxMWI=

[editkpopwallpaper]

NCT 127 "질주 2 Baddies" Concept 1 Wallpaper

[nct-leetaeyong]

220916 NCT Lee Taeyong at 2Baddies Album Showcase © tyrant syndrome do not edit, crop, or remove the watermark

[fullsunstrawberry]

let’s get officially married

HELL YEAH IM IN ‼️‼️