With the ongoing issue regarding Fantagio, I did not expect to hear the return of their artists to the stage so soon. Astro surprised me with their special mini-album and Always You release. And now Weki Meki has returned with their second comeback of the year, the first being La La La. Kicks Kicks, the group’s first single album dropped on Thursday with Crush as the title track.

Crush gives off the same vibes as BLACKPINK’s songs do. However, it seems to be more pop than the hip-hop sound that BLACKPINK tends to go for. Crush is a tad messy with its overload of sound. It does get overwhelming during the initial listen but the song does grow on you as you listen to more of it. I thought the verses were good and I did like the explosion of instrumentation for the chorus (which is what I want when it comes to the most upbeat songs). The chorus was quite catchy but I felt they could have lowered the instrumentation a small amount because their voices were a little overshadowed by the music. I am also not a fan of the ‘Crush’ at the end of the first chorus (and end of the song). It just felt like it was thrown in there and didn’t really serve any purpose to the song. Vocals were okay and I thought they could have given more of Yoojung’s rap lines to another member. But overall, it was still a good song.

Watching this video, I felt like it was a BLACKPINK video mainly due to the presence of the black and pink throughout the video. I liked their concept but felt they could have fully committed. I didn’t like the producers presented the girls as cute and innocent when it came to what could have been an edgy concept. It just defeats the purpose of the ‘girl crush’ concept, in my opinion. Everything else was quite good just the execution of the video was a complete mismatch.

Their dance was a lot sexier and maturer than their previous comeback. And this does suit the song to an extent. It also proves my point in regards to the music video. Because when you see this dance routine, you do not think of cutesy girls.

Song – 7/10
Music Video – 6/10
Performance – 8/10
Overall Rating – 6.9/10