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It is time for another review for a newly debut group. This time, we are covering a female group who is garnering a lot of attention. According to Wikipedia, this six-member female group received 2.4 million views within 24 hours of their music video release on the 12th of November. And their single album, Star To A Young Culture, sold over 10,000 albums within the first week – the first female debut to do so this year. Massive feats for a newcomer. STAYC, for those who don’t know, is the first female group to be produced by Black Eyed Pilseung under High Up Entertainment, who is extremely well known in the KPOP community for the many chart topping hits they have produced previously (TT and Roller Coaster to name a few). The member lineup consist of Sieun, Seeun, Sumin, J, Isa and Yoon.

STAYC’s debut single is titled SO BAD. But the song isn’t so bad itself. My first impression of the song was that I noticed the song had a recent APINK (I’m So Sick era onwards) vibe. To make sense of this, I did some research and STAYC’s producer, Black Eyed Pilseung, actually was the producer of those APINK songs. Go figure! It will be interesting to hear if this song was previously directed to APINK’s discography (but was rejected), as this is a common event that occurs in the music industry. Though the more I listen to SO BAD, the more I get the impression that this song was reserved just for STAYC. Firstly, I felt the instrumental was more relentless compared to APINK’s work. The retro instrumental’s bubbly effect just felt like it was continually coming at us and never felt like it took a breather. Secondly, I feel the members really do a good job of putting their own spin. It felt like there was a fair bit of attitude in the song, which is courtesy of their vocals. I quite like this, as it is this element that gives the song some oomph and drive, which really helps strengthens the song. I particularly like the pre-chorus and chorus sections of the song, which had the most energy and colour in the song. I also really enjoyed the whole bridge section, which had really satisfying high notes and showed off more vocal power. The group’s rappers’ voices are surprisingly deep, but I was totally digging their parts. I would love to hear more of them in their songs Overall, SO BAD lives up to the hype that they have generated. I just wonder if they can continue it with their subsequent comebacks.

I personally am not a fan of the video. While the editing was good and the quality was amazing for a small company, I just felt the sets were a bit typical. It looks like a mash up of different music videos put together. That aside, the group’s visual game is evidently strong, with their closeups blowing me away. They looked really stunning.

Their choreography was actually quite good. There isn’t really a killer move, however, though I was impressed with their introductory sequence that opened the song. It was different, but there was a nice formation and had this interesting aura to it.

Song – 8/10
Music Video – 6/10
Performance – 8/10
Overall Rating – 7.4/10