Yesterday, Stray Kids made their return to the Korean music scene with the single Walkin on Water and their mixtape album Hop. It is their first Korean release since ATE (led by the single Chk Chk Boom) and their Japanese release GIANT last month.

Unsuprisingly, the track Walkin On Water is a hip-hop centric number. You can hear that within an instant. Personally, I quite like the choruses. I felt they were are good embodiment of old-school hip-hop in terms of the members delivery and instrumental-wise. I do find the members’ “Brrkt Brrkt” to be cringy, but the rest of the choruses were fine. I do like the infusion of rock elements in the end, which freshens up Walkin On Water and intensifies the song as it hurtles towards its finish. The verses containing the more interesting material, with CHANGBIN, HAN, HYUNJIN rapping and vocals from SEUNGMIN and I.N. BANGCHAN and LEE KNOW feature more in the choruses, while FELIX’s deep vocals make a presence during the bridge and the end of the choruses. Given that this is a mixtape, I wished they could have experimented a bit more with FELIX, who I think needs to be better utlisied (i.e., more than his deep vocals) and have his own rap sequence. And no offense to HYUNJIN, but I prefer his vocal work in the first chorus compared to his rapping in the song. Overall, Walkin On Water is a good track from Stray Kids.

Despite Walkin On Water is a different song than usual for Stray Kids, I liked how their music video doesn’t really differ. There are a lot more solo moments between each member, but the misplaced background people (which is a recurring element to Stray Kids videos) feature in the music video once again. We have motorcyclists and jet-skiers at the traditional Korean building. We also have horses eating out of the car engine and a basketball court at the same location. I also liked the arrow surrounded dance locations for this music video. The music video set at the traditional Korean buildings and FELIX’s solo moment in the bridge also gives off Thunderous vibes.

The footwork in the performance is a highlight. They add the bounce and embodies that hip-hop energy quite well. The synchonisation of their upper bodies must also be commended. Altogether, a very cool routine.

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