FIFTY FIFTY is a four-member female group who made their debut under Attrakt in November 2022 with HIGHER. Unfortunately, I have not reviewed their debut song just yet. Today’s focus is not on their debut, but rather their latest single, Cupid, which was released 3 months following their debut in February 2023. Since then, FIFTY FIFTY have been rising on the charts, becoming the fastest KPOP group ever to chart on the Billboards’ Hot 100 and one of only 6 KPOP acts to do so. Cupid is also quite heavily streamed on Spotify, with the Korean and English versions of the song reaching an almost combined 74.5 million streams at the time of writing this review.

With amazing stats and feats achieved by Cupid just a month after its release, it definitely warrants a listen at the very least. Cupid is described as a retro single combined with minimal disco beats and funky baselines. To me, the retro influence in Cupid comes in the form of a city-pop release. And the instrumental is kept very light and minimal throughout Cupid, with a consistent beat in the background. Nothing too fancy or out of the box. But it is something familiar, and I think Cupid really took advantage of this feeling. What definitely draws you to the song are the vocals. It too is quite light, but it is in the forefront of the song which allows the group to showcase their vocals more vividly compared to other releases. They do a decent job and I like the very subtle cutesy colour their vocals bring. It also helps that Cupid‘s melody does have a catchy tinge to it, and the melody is just like the instrumental – familiar and inviting. It is also quite simple in nature, which goes a long way in some cases like Cupid. When it comes to the rapping, I like how it gave Cupid a bit more of a punch and keeps the song from veering into overly consistent and neutral territory. Altogether, Cupid is undeniably pleasant and charming. I can definitely see why it is rising on the charts and achieving the goals that it has and will achieve.

The music video is more on the more traditional side. The lyrics paint the scene where the members were falling in love (i.e. trusting Cupid), but it turns out their crush did not reciprocate those feelings and rejected their advances, which resulted in the members calling Cupid stupid. We see all of that happen in the video, including one of the members (Sorry, I haven’t learnt FIFTY FIFTY members’ names just yet) cringe at the couple sitting in front of them. I did like how the colour tones in this video was pleasant, which works well with the song. I particularly liked the final choreography wide shot (where the members are dressed in dresses), which is a good example of this pleasant (yet bright) colour tone. The ending with just the one member sitting in front of her TV is a bit ambiguous. It might highlight the fact that she is alone now, or maybe a hint towards a future video.

For the choreography, I wasn’t exactly sure what I was expecting. But I did not think this performance would be fun to watch. Well, consider me wrong. I quite enjoyed the bounce of pre-chorus routine, and the pleasant cuteness of the chorus. The smiles and energy they put behind the choreography also made it worthwhile to watch.

Song – 8/10
Music Video – 7/10
Performance – 8.5/10
Overall Rating – 7.8/10