xikers made their comeback on the final day of the week with the single We Don’t Stop and their 3rd mini-album, House of Tricky: Trial and Error. It is their first comeback of 2024, after their debut with TRICKY HOUSE and first comeback DO or DIE.

There is a whole lot going on in We Don’t Stop and you never know where the song was going next. But despite being a lot, We Don’t Stop always revisits a common denominator in all its sequences – 90s hip-hop. And true to the song’s title, xikers don’t stop in We Don’t Stop. They constantly delivered throughout the track, particularly impressing me with their expressive rapping style. This, in combination with an ongoing rock influence in the instrumentation for We Don’t Stop, creates a promising start to the song and brings out an even more profound hip-hop influence. The chorus ends up being less memorable, with the instrumental overpowering the group’s delivery in a few regards. I wished this was not the case, as a more prolific chorus could have made We Don’t Stop unstoppable. The post-chorus soft ‘Break it, Break it down‘ was a really nice palate cleanser and provided some much needed relief from the robust energy that comes off We Don’t Stop, yet it doesn’t stray too far from the rest of the song. A heavier dose of synths come into the play in the second verse before the rock style comes back into the play for the chorus and bridge. Finally, We Don’t Stop ends with a slower paced but energy packed hip-hop anthem sequence, which really emphasised the 90s influence and formed a dramatic and impressionable end to the song. Yeah, a lot going on as I have already mentioned. But this lot is pretty great, minus a hiccup or two.

Just like in the song, xikers and the production team for this accompanying music video leans into the 90s hip-hop style strongly via the members’ outfits. There is also some cool set designs and some cool effects in the video (like the bouncing buildings in the second post-chorus sequence). Apart from that, it is a rather straight forward video that complements well with the song and the group’s youthful energy.

Two things stand out from this routine for me. The first is how fun it looks. This sells the choreography and reflects the energy of the song quite well. The second, which might also contributed to the first one, is the group’s expressions throughout the routine. They were really into it and made the entire choreography even more expressive and memorable, as a result.

Song – 8.5/10
Music Video – 8/10
Performance – 9/10
Overall Rating – 8.5/10