I am preparing to write an album review for SEVENTEEN’s fourth studio album (and its repackaged version) this weekend. But in order to review that album, I have get some song reviews out of the way. Prior to the release of Sector 17 (the repackaged version of their fourth studio album) and the title track _WORLD, SEVENTEEN’s leader subunit (featuring S.Coups, Woozi and Hoshi) pre-released the single CHEERS with a special music video. That is the focus of today’s review.

CHEERS makes no hesitation or apologies with diving into the hip-hop genre. I personally would have expected this release to come from SEVENTEEN’s hip-hop team, as the genre is literally in their unit’s name and CHEERS is probably 120% in the realm of hip-hop. But technically, the leader unit of the thirteen member group isn’t really known for a specific style or sound, so the unit has free reign and no specific constraints over what styles they put out. Don’t get me wrong, I have no qualms with them deep diving into hip-hop this time around. CHEERS is quite a fun track thanks to the catchy flute hook and the dynamic/upbeat energy that comes from the instrumentation. The lyrical hooks were quite strong and leaves a positive impression. The bridge brought on a neat peak to the song and serves as my favourite sequence of the song. Even each member had a stand out moment – Hoshi’s is the ‘Eondeongi pang pang‘ (more on that in the choreography section), S.Coups whispery sequence in the second verse and Woozi’s smoother delivery in the first verse. However, my biggest issue with CHEERS is the heavy autotune that coats the song from head to toe. While I did get the autotune helps hype up the energy, makes CHEERS more dynamic and delivers a degree of charm to the song, there were certain parts that felt unnecessarily autotuned. Some refinement would have made CHEERS a much stronger and less overwhelming track.

The music video undoubtedly goes down the hip-hop path, as well, with a heavily influenced music video that fits in well with the genre and song. There isn’t really any other way to prose this video, in my opinion. It hits all my expectations. With this video, I presume the different scenes we do get have some sort of meaning. Or, it could all be intended to be lighthearted or stylish, and my years of KPOP reviewing has taught me to over think everything. I don’t know. But it was a fun watch and the trio matched the energy of the song really well.

I am not going to dilly-dally over the choreography section of the review and get straight to the point. Hoshi’s hip bounce is the most memorable moment of the entire routine. It was a fun and vibrant move that definitely steals the show. The rest of the choreography was also fun and energetic as the song, but not as much as that two second move.

Song – 7.5/10
Music Video – 8/10
Performance – 8/10
Overall Rating – 7.8/10