The biggest secret when becoming successful in KPOP nowadays is making multiple comebacks. The very moment a gap between comebacks is a month too long, artists run the risk of being forgotten. This is especially important in the year of your debut. And Stray Kids has definitely taken this on board. With two comebacks already under their belt this year (District 9 and My Pace), the group is not going to be forgotten any time soon. And now their third comeback of the year, I Am YOU was released yesterday, so let’s have a closer look.

While District 9 and My Pace have primarily been about intensity and impact, I Am YOU takes a step back. It has been described as ‘sentimental’ on KPOP news outlets and I think that is a perfect way to describe the song. Despite that, the instrumental does have a particular Stray Kids sound to it, which I can’t really define it. Instead, when you hear it, it kind of makes sense. I thought the song had a nice melody and I liked the way the rappers were presented in the song. Vocally, this has to be their best title track yet, mainly because the step back from intensity definitely caters for their talents. The chorus was catchy (those English line at the start of the chorus are beautiful) but I feel like they could have done something to it to make it even more appealing.

The music video features scenes (and music) from the My Pace music video at the very start, which indicates that this is some sort of continuation. After the events in the previous music video, the members basically hang out with each other, creating a small oasis on the top of a building for themselves. It was nice. I did think they took a somewhat soft route in terms of issues, which does make sense but I personally felt the video was lacking. I did think the choreography scenes on the truck was cool (even though I know it is CGI) but it gave the video that kick that we got from past Stray Kids videos.

[Updated] Like the song, they have toned down the energy to make it fitting for the song. And it was quite fitting for the song. Despite it being slower, the performance felt very strong and felt equally as impactful as their more powerful dances tracks. I think the best word to describe it is ‘smooth’. The chorus was my personal favourite section as this was when the smoothness kicked in the most.

Song – 8/10
Music Video – 8/10
Performance – 8/10 [Updated]
Overall Review – 8/10