Kick starting this week is Lee Jin Hyuk, who has returned with a new single, Work Work. This new single is the title track off his fourth mini-album, Crtl + V, which also dropped today. This is Lee Jin Hyuk’s first solo release since his April comeback with 5K and SCENE26. Lee Jin Hyuk also made a return to acting since his April comeback, which ahs kept his 2021 busy.

Work Work is another one of those songs that just come off as just pleasant. I do find it fun, bright and light-hearted, but I don’t find it exciting as what 5K ended up snowballing into becoming, which seems to be his best release thus far. I like the melodic style of this new song, which was the main driver of why Work Work received that pleasant descriptor. While the song does still fall into the hip-hop genre, I do feel like a pop vibe really creeps up in the song’s instrumentation and also adds fuel to that pleasantness. I will admit that all of this styling does make Lee Jin Hyuk’s rapping style in Work Work more approachable, light and enjoyable than usual, but I do prefer a bit more edge when it comes to rapping in general. We do get a bit of oomph as the song ramps up to the final chorus, with Lee Jin Hyuk giving us that mentioned edge with a faster and stronger delivery. I think this was what the song should have gone with from the get-go to really grab my attention and (hopefully) shake off that ‘pleasant’ styling. I do like the extension at the very of the end of with a dance break instrumental sequence. Lee Jin Hyuk had something similar in Bedlam, which I noted to be the best part of that song when it was released. I liked seeing that being replicated here and in a fitting nature of Work Work. Overall, Work Work is a pleasant track, especially when you consider what else is out there at the moment.

Work Work is all about the imbalance caused by work and love, and how it is hard to find that balance between the two. In this video, I think the love aspect is portrayed by the fun he is having. The cute gummy bear in the video doubles up as a lover, but also adds to that playful vibe that the song and video had going on. We also do see a bit of the work-side, with Lee Jin Hyuk busy in the recording studio and on set as assistants and staff continually follow him. It was a nice colourful video that works well with the song.

A decent routine for this comeback. It fits the bill and works tandemly with the song, with some good moments throughout. Though, still notably standard. I did wish the dance break at the end offered something more than a repeat of what we saw throughout the rest of Work Work.

Song – 6/10
Music Video – 7/10
Performance – 7/10
Overall Rating – 6.5/10