GOT The Beat Mini-Album Reaction

This !

Koko3op

There is literally like 2 standout vocal moments in this whole albulm and they have some of the best vocalists in kpop

Jonathan

I get it! I’m yet to really listen with earphones but I haven’t playlisted yet either

Koko3op

Very disappointed with this album, all of these girls are such phenomenal vocalists imagine if this album was a ballad-rnb-acoustic moment UGH such a missed opportunity. I understand they are a "performance" concept team but I mean, I go to SM for VOCALS. Hyoyeon is the only one here I would immediately associate with their concept, because many of her solo songs correlate with this sound you know? None of these songs got playlisted unfortunately.

serenity

Agreed Nct Dream is my favorite NCT unit along with WayV but even SM treats them secondary to 127 which is odd because since the beginning Dream has been the more accepted and popular unit to the GP and I don’t wanna act like 127 is the only boy group who are struggling on the charts but compare them to Stray Kids they match in terms of sells but in terms of streams 127 get blown out the water showing this NeoZone sounds is not working so I don’t want to just erase the NeoZone sound because I do like a lot of 127 title tracks but I want that to stay with NCT so Aespa can establish a sound, and project groups like GOT and SuperM can be something different not blend in with NCT

Ariana Thompson

To be clear NCT 127 only recently started selling decently well for an SM group. NCT Dream is the NCT unit that is most popular domestically, and I think they are the unit that won music shows first if I'm not mistaken. The reason they are so heavily invested is because SM sees them as the future direction of their company. Even their name, Neo Culture Technology, is adapted from a term SM created and uses in their mission and vision statements.

Monte

Ok I LOVED reading this. I didn’t know 127 wasn’t a great seller domestically since they seem to be invested in quite a lot by SM. Such a shame SM does not look after their female acts. It is very clear that GOT wasn’t nearly as thought out for sure, I feel similarly. I think that’s why the energy for some of the members for Stamp on it is a lil non committal. I don’t think they were planning to do another project with the SAME unit. It’s all a bit of a mess. I really wonder if I’m gonna eat my words and end up living this mini loool

Koko3op

Bdhshdhshsjss

Koko3op

Perfectly said!!!

Koko3op

They're making them sing songs bad singers could sing and that's FRUSTRATING

Taeyeon looks really good though….that’s needs to be said to end on a positive note.

Ariana Thompson

SM needs to wake up and realize that they are about to get left in the dust if they don’t start diversifying their sound amongst their groups and start putting more attention to their women because they are the only ones keeping SM relevant to the GP. Excluding solo activities because soloist wise SM music is very diverse (INVU, 28 reasons, Gasoline, Dice, and even Ten with birthday) but SM groups like you said are all starting to sound the same and it all under the umbrella of NeoZone which I don’t know why that is happening when NCT, 127 in particular is their worst performing artist domestically chart wise and streaming wise and I love NCT 127 but that’s mainly through their b-sides which tend to be more R&B influenced which SM has excelled at since their conception so I don’t know why they don’t lean into that anymore except through their b-sides. I understand they want to be the home of experimentation but they need to stop experimenting different loud noises and experiment in different genres with their groups and actually pay attention to public reception and adjust to the direction that kpop is going toward musically, conceptually, and visually. Like INVU stood out in 2022 because nothing else sounded like it. It was new and refreshing and the focal point was her vocals and the MV was gorgeous simple with a clear theme. I’m a chef and one thing they alway told us, the better the ingredients the less you have to do with it to bring out the best product which connects to my problem with this GOT the beat album. You have some of the best female vocalist and performers in the the industry and you bury their talent in these loud obnoxious noises for what reason, and I have a theory for it. Although SuperM and GOT the beat are similar in formation they aren’t equal. SuperM was a planned out group with the purpose to target the west and you can see the effort SM put into them based on the Jopping how they promoted them before and after debut, a planned to tour to promote their album but then you look at GOT the beat 😂. They weren’t meant to be their own real group, they were meant to be the opener for SM’s new project GOT which was suppose to a opportunity for various different collabs between SM women, which they did nothing with, and because SM tends to undervalue the popularity of their women it seemed like they were caught off guard by the success of Step Back and the unit (which in a year outdid Jopping with no budget) and had to scramble to put something out to follow it. So because of that GOT the beat feels rushed and a plan and identity for them was never really thought out and they just adopted the sound plaguing SM at the moment which sucks because GOT the beat could’ve been a big thing if they actually put time, thought and effort into them. Now I’m not even sure if we are every going to get anything new from GOT the beat because they weren’t meant to be a real group like SuperM is. Again and this suck because in this time we’re kpop are debuting children younger and younger GOT the beat a group filled with powerful seasoned woman could’ve delivered a grown woman sound that no other company give you right now.

Ariana Thompson

That’s very fair. I hope you’re right.

Koko3op

If SM truly plans on releasing more sub-units under the Girls on Top umbrella, then this album works for me. Since this is the performance unit, they seem to have gone with more experimental production. I anticipate the other units (if they ever actually happen) will go in a different direction. I enjoyed elements of each song, but there were also parts of each song that I didn't like at all. I appreciate that we got something sonically different from them. It's interesting to see SM suffering from the oversaturation of a trend that they popularized (along with Monsta X/Stray Kidz) in "noise music" (which is ultimately just EDM trap and hip-hop production blended together). I think fans of the respective groups won't like this album since it doesn't match what people are used to hearing from them. Outside of Mala and Rose, the songs sound similarly aggressive and heavy, which doesn't make for an interesting listening experience. If the GOT the Beat makes another comeback, I'm hoping for some variety (although I would be fine without any ballads, cause that's not what I want from a group like this).

Monte

GEHSHSHSHSH hit the nail on the head!

Koko3op

Going into this as a Taeyeon/RV stan was so scary bc noise music could not be further away from my music taste, I loved Stamp on it and Rose grew on me but the rest of the album makes me want to hide in my room and listen to Taeyeon & RV's r&b songs to cleanse my ears lmao

HavikaM

Ahhhh nice! Perfectly said, better than me. Like why did they not invest in them properly. It’s just NCT/Aespa song rejects now. Such a shame. Doing it for bsides as well as sad. I’m glad the Korean public is equally disappointed.

Koko3op

I was waiting for your reaction to the mini album & you literally articulated all the points I had!! The first 3 songs sounded like one continuous song to me I had it on in the background and didn't realise. Not saying the songs are bad I enjoyed them I can appreciate noise music at times but not for a whole damn mini album and definitely not when we have these powerhouses all here :( I'm also not a fan of SM pushing this sound on to all their artists like is it really by force for everyone to be from Kwangya? Aespas music is great and is a part of their musical identity, same for NCT but SM please stop dashing the Aespa/Nct vault at all the other artists and actually put time in to creating a sound for GOT I was really waiting for some rnb gems even a nod to INVU/Velvety b-sides like how difficult was it to get these amazing womens schedules to align & this is what SM does omg T___T Not surprisingly the Korean reactions to the album are the same with most people saying how can you have all these amazing vocals on an album and give them only these songs :((((( I'm begging SM to give these girls an RnB album I'm tired of the random raps too and my girl Hyoyeon can SING SM what is going on?? it's like they're forcing in rap lines in to these songs when she can hold a note please SM omg save me lmao anyways appreciate your takes as always <3

hope

Noo go ahead!! Ha I completely understand why you’d wanna rant. Yeah outlaw could’ve been binned for sure. Maybe this is why some of the members energy is different this time compared to step back. They know they were being given trash.

Koko3op

Disappointed is the right word because there is just too much talent in this group and for them to be given NCT rejects is almost offensive 😅. I have many problems about how SM has handled the GOT unit idea and their musical direction like I can rant but I’ll spare your comment section. I could easily ignore all of that if the music is good and there are some tracks I like Goddess Level, Rose, Mala I think are okay…Outlaw should’ve been thrown away and been replaced with the R&B track of the century that I know they could deliver but it’s really disappointed like I’m sad because I don’t think we are getting another album from this unit and its just such a waste of talent. It breaks my heart the more I talk about it😂

Ariana Thompson

Honestly I can't believe it! It's such a shame. Comparing it to SNSD's album it's really a let down.

Koko3op

Relistening with you has made me dislike it more lmao coming from someone that didnt enjoy super m and has only recently discovered nct bsides, this feels like a bad rendition of nct. With this lineup of strong artists, im really disappointed. Not even one r&b song? I feel robbed 😭

Hibz

Interesting!

Koko3op

Yeahh sameee

Koko3op

I didnt enjoy this album. I think rose and mala might grow on me but overall its not my vibe. I think most songs had some parts i would've liked but i felt the production threw me off a lot

Hibz

Interesting seeing your comment. I’ll have to see what was not connecting for you cause I thought you’d love it, it was nearly no skip for me

Skipz12