Monsta X is back with another original Japanese release. Livin’ It Up was released two weeks ago and is the group’s 4th Japanese single to date. I was going to review another artist’s Japanese song this week but decided to go with Livin’ It Up because it was a far more interesting song. The group previously released their first full-length album in Japan (Puzzle was the title track of the album) and are currently on their world tour, if I am not mistaken.

What is becoming evident is that some groups (including MONSTA X) are releasing more intensified EDM songs in the Japanese market. And the release of Livin’ It Up confirms this. The song falls into that EDM category, mixed with some hip-hop vibes and a groovy instrumental. Note that it isn’t retro groovy built does give the song a more light-hearted energy, opposed from something a little more hard-hitting you expect from EDM. Jooheon and I.M’s raps definitely give it some roughness and edge from their deeper tone, while the vocalists bring some melody in their parts. Overall, I thought the song was rather appealing. I feel like if the song chorus had a stronger hook, I would have picked up the song a lot sooner (as I thought it was relatively plain when I first heard it).

The music video was mainly made of choreography shots and some close-ups. Some of the dance shots gave me Beautiful vibes, mainly due to the platform they were performing on. I have to be honest though, but I thought the video was rather plain. I didn’t really feel the energy like some other videos from watching the video, which left it underwhelming. If the camera work showed some more energy and punchiness, it would have matched the vibes of the song a lot better.

The choreography was good. It wasn’t as intense as I hoped for but it was a perfect balance between that level of intensity that I wanted to see and the lighthearted sound that came from the groovy nature of the track.

Song – 8/10
Music Video – 7/10
Performance – 7/10
Overall Rating – 7.5/10