Steadily gaining popularity, 82MAJOR is beginning to form a name for themselves within the K-pop scene. Characterized by the unique meaning of their name, 82, representing South Korea’s calling code, combined with the word “major,” means that the group wishes to become a boyband that represents Korea.
The group entered the spotlight soon after their debut, as news began to spread about the group’s member, Yechan being the younger brother of fellow K-pop idol, Keeho of P1HARMONY. During that time I was able to hear about this news as well, and since then, they’ve been on my radar. I’ve seen several videos of the group going on various shows and programs to put themselves out there for K-pop fans to get to know as a group. After seeing their fun personalities, I had high expectations of a catchy album that would have me hooked; however, my expectations were not fully satisfied.
The album starts off with the title track, “Stuck.” It begins with the lyrics “Bounce back it’s my time / This display is too small to hold me, ha” and uses lyrics such as “Ladi-dadi, I’ma put on my tie / My reflection in the mirror is too fly” during the pre-chorus, which embraces confidence and talks about captivating others. Unlike the interesting lyrics, it left a disappointing impression on me as it lacked any aspects that stood out. Title tracks aim to pull listeners in with their unique composition which “Stuck” is unable to do. Despite the lyrics being packed with meaning, the song failed to create interest for me to continue listening to the rest of the album.
In comparison to the previous track, “Thorns” is no better. The song starts off with an interesting instrumental that sounds futuristic, somewhat reminiscent of the kind of songs that NCT127 produces. But this was the only part of the song that truly held my interest. As the song goes on, it’s clear that their songs aren’t heavy on the beat drops or containing any prominent beats that stand out within the song. Of course, other people may enjoy this kind of style, but to me, it feels like it lacks the variations to make it stand out against any other song I’ve listened to. Instead I changed my focus and ended up searching for the English translation of the lyrics. As I read through the lyrics, I was shocked to see that it was a love song. The track’s Korean title, 가시밭길도 괜찮아, roughly translates to “even the thorny road is okay” which along with the lyric, “Said you can’t, why you givin’ up? / It’s still too early to give up, no burn out” symbolizes the difficulties of a relationship. Regardless of the lack of interesting beats, the lyrics were definitely the stand out aspect of this track.
Moving on to “Face Time,” this turned out to be the album’s most redeeming track. Off the bat, the track’s intro sounds similar to the one for BABYMONSTER’s debut song, “Batter Up.” There are more singing parts in this song than the others, which made for a nice change up from the constant rapping in the previous tracks. However, while listening, I heard some questionable lyrics such as “Vuitton on screen, okay, big backed, all my bros, yeah / Look at my neck, yeah, kiss all on my face, yeah” which left me confused on the direction the song was taking. At first I assumed they were utilizing the popular phrase on TikTok, “big back,” as a reference, but then the next part about their necks and faces didn’t correlate with that saying. Thus, I am still left wondering what they meant with those lyrics. Regardless of the track’s confusing direction, it was the most pleasant to listen to so far, as around half of the song is in English, giving some variation to the previous songs that were fully sung in Korean.
“Gossip” is the album’s final track, which luckily was just as good as “Face Time.” As the title suggests, the song is about gossip and not caring about what others have to say. This song was definitely the best out of the four tracks, since I tend to enjoy more energetic feeling songs and this track embodies just that. The upbeat instrumental is a nice change up from the first half of the album and holds the ability to retain my interest in the song instead of losing it halfway through. The track ends somewhat abruptly at the end, but rather than leaving me wanting more, the abrupt ending fits well with the track. It juxtaposes the energetic instrumental, which is a great variation I wished to see within the first two tracks of the album.
“X-82” may have started off rocky, but despite the album falling short of my expectations, I found myself enjoying the final tracks. 82MAJOR is unlike the other groups I listened to before even if I couldn’t find myself fully immersed in the album. The style of their songs could be the perfect fit for those who enjoy tame rap songs without the overpowering instrumentals.
