[Rossini - Semiramide Overture]
Umu: Before we begin this reaction
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let the reaction begin!
Umu: NCT!
Ju Young: Mmm, oh, this group...
SO many men.
Umu: Well okay, so-
Jory: We're the baddies.
Umu: Although you will have to compete against the other reactors
Umu: for the role of 2 baddies- no?
Jory: No. Umu: for the role of 2 baddies- no?
Adam: Um, so we're reacting to a video about us?
Jory: Girl, no.
There's no competition, what competition?
Will: We're the, we're the Worsties. Umu: Like Kayla and Adam...
[t/n: Or perhaps The Baddest?]
Umu: The song's Korean title, '질주'
translates to "Too Fast" which partially explains why there are,you know, like, a lot of cars.
Johnny from NCT explains:
"It's talking about just moving forward,
not caring about what others are saying about you
and just going fast and looking forward into the future.
And the song is written by Aron Bergerwall, Ellen Berg, Louise Lindberg, Moa "Cazzi Opeia",
Parker James, Tony Ferrari, and IMLAY.
Kayla: Yes.
Umu: So we got a full team behind them.
We ready?
Adam: Ye. Three a-two a-one.
Ali: Kinda sounds like a car horn.
Ali: He agrees.
Liam: Ohohoho! Rachel: Oh wtf?
Kevin: Why does it go so hard? Owen: I don't know what they're saying.
Kevin: Why does it go so hard?
Will: It kind of goes pretty hard. Jory: It's kind of sick, dude.
Kevin: Oh, I like the staccato dry synth bass.
Ju Young: Wow!
High!
Liam: Oh dude, that on top of the syncopated bass line?
That was awesome.
Rachel & Jory: Blue's Clues?
Adam: It's a very bright voice.
Kevin: Even this pre-chorus is working.
Maybe I'm still in the NCT state of mind.
Like it's still them, I feel their character.
Ju Young: Okay, give me the chorus.
Yes.
Kevin: Ooo~
Ju Young: Yes.
Kevin: WHY IS THIS WORKING?
What is this pocket thing that they are doing?!
Liam: One Por-
Rachel: 2 Baddies 1 Porsche.
Liam: What a line.
Umu: The bells!
Jory: The percussions. Will: Yeah, I liked that, that is great.
Liam: Mmm~
Rachel: Do you hear the, like, cowbell? Liam: Oh yeah.
Ju Young: Just so you know, I can't f#%king drive.
Woah
Henry: What a shot too, oh my god, like...
sidestepped on the Porsche with the abs just out.
Jeez.
Jory: This is a different pre-chorus. Will: I like that percussion part.
Ju Young: I love his voice.
Like honey.
Henry: That riff too? Umu: They cut the pre-chorus in half.
Henry: I didn't notice.
Liam: Why did that buildup catch me off guard that time?
It was...
Was it, like, shorter?
Rachel: I liked that, did you see? (Liam: Yeah)
Ju Young: Give me the bridge!
*The bridge is given*
Ju Young: YYYEEEEEEEEEEEEESSSSSSS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
[+10 damage] Ju Young: Sorryahahahahah!
Liam: Oh yeah, oh yeah! Rachel: That's so trippy!
Liam: That's like heavy side chain.
Ju Young: Oh my god, listen to this, listen to this!
Ali: I am
Liam: Oh yeah.
Kevin: Oh!
Liam: This four on the floor, just get it going.
Kevin: Double time.
Liam: And now we're back, oh yes.
Dude, the vibrato on that?
Kevin: OOoh!
Will: Solid ad-lib, that was cool. Jory: F#%king rad.
Will: Woah! Jory: That's so cool.
Will: Ah, I wanted that four on the floor for longer.
Kevin: Wow, you know?
I think the song has outstayed its welcome but I don't care!
I even like this outro!
Umu: NCT Na Na Na's!
Iconic!
Jory: And pose.
Will: That was like pretty good. Jory: That was actually really fire.
Umu: I can't read your facial expressions.
Kayla: No one really can read my facial expressions.
Umu: You were either like smiling through the pain
or you were actually, like, amused with this song.
I can't tell.
Kayla: No, it was a really fun song.
Umu: Okay.
Kayla: I was just like trying to keep up.
I was trying, I was like, Mm~
Oh, we are next, we are up to the next part.
Jory: It was tight. Will: The time feel of the beat is great, but like,
Will: the, like the synth line is really cool,
it's like all pitch shifted and like chopped up
and it's like way behind the beat, really like, just (Jory: Just filthy synths, it's awesome.)
distorted and like crunchy and awesome.
Also the vocal part groove too,
it was like totally in there with the track.
Rachel: I liked a lot of the variation in rap verses,
not only rhythmic variation
but they also, like, higher pitch, lower pitch, like...
It's not like monotone, they're not like *singing one pitch*
Liam: Yeah, there is some good inflection happening, yeah.
Rachel: Inflection, sort of.
Umu: OoOoOh!
Did he kind of laugh? Did he, "Look at my e-e-e-e-eyes"
Oh that's so cool, he kind of laughs, he's like, "Look at my e-e-e-eyes"
Umu: How do you do that and make it sound- "Look at my e-e-e-eyes" Henry: Yeah, but it's definitely like the ahahah,
Henry: But it was like the "Aha~", like the chin stroke.
Rachel: That! Like, that's Mark, right?
Rachel: It's not like notes, but... Liam: It's just creating an interesting contour.
Rachel: Phrasing!
Liam: Eheheyeah.
Rachel: Phrasing! Movement! Direction! Liam: It helps like kinda, like ins-
Rachel: Sorry!
Liam: It helps like that kind of incessant rap kind of thing
like not get stale to your ear, you know? (Rachel: Yeah, there was a lot of variation.)
Ju Young: I really like that transition, like with the voice.
Like it's like a low timbre, and then it gets to like a mid, like a high-mid,
and I feel like-
Ali, this is your first NCT song,
see, like they're going back to the deep...
and then they go back to the high,
like I like the balance of that with the voices.
Like, I feel like they order it very well.
And it's back low.
And then it's everything together.
Very much enjoyed that, it's like a little roller coaster ride.
You know?
Umu: One of you commented a little bit on the red hair's voice,
about his bright timbre?
Adam: Yeah, it was very, *mimics timbre*
It was very soothing, I liked it.
Because sometimes you listen to the groups, like,
and you're just like:
"Who's singing? Who? I don't know who's singing."
But when he came on it was like:
"There he is!"
Kayla: It's more in the mask area but it's
- how should I put this -
It's like light. It's not harsh.
Adam: I liked the contrast because the guy after him had such a
a rich voice, which really brings out his even more.
Umu: Would you say his was the most standout to you?
Adam: Yeah. Definitely.
Umu: What about you, Kayla?
Kayla: I remember like one white hair...
Umu: 1:56
Kayla: Yeah, that was a milestone marking for me
in this music video.
Adam: Was it the voice or the abs, Kayla?
Kayla: Maybe both.
Umu: And then when it comes to the vocal production,
what are your thoughts?
Jory: Sounded good.
Wasn't like over-compressed like it usually is.
Umu: Okay.
Will: Yeah, I mean it's certainly like, it's certainly compressed, Jory: It's like definitely compressed but...
Will: It's certainly pretty crunchy too, in terms of like distortion,
just like some of that distortion was like a little bit,
it added some like kind of warmth, I feel like. (Jory: Yeah)
Will: Some more like low-mid area. Jory: It sounded like tube distortion.
Umu: That's so interesting because when I read the comment section
when fans were critiquing this song they said that
the effect on the vocals for the chorus is what turned them away from it.
But for you it's what added depth to the sound?
Jory: Like, which chorus? Umu: The "Two baddies, two baddies, one Porsche"
Jory: I mean that's just delivery.
Jory: It is distorted.
Will: Yeah, I mean it is distorted.
But it is not anything too extreme to me.
I mean there is a pretty similar amount of distortion on like most pop vocals,
I mean depending on the style, but...
Umu: I guess it just pops more since it's just a bunch of people yelling.
Both: Yeah.
Will: It's the stacked yelling and the forceful delivery,
Will: like you said, yeah. Jory: It's if you put like,
Jory: If you stack your vocals and you put distortion on all of them
it builds up really fast,
and that could have been something that they did but
I think, I don't know, the stereo spread was good enough
Jory: that I wasn't like overwhelmed. Will: It doesn't sound overpowering.
Umu: That groove. Henry: I don't know, like the classic pre-chorus,
I hadn't noticed them cutting it short but that's a good way to subvert expectations.
Jory: I liked the first one more, I thought.
Will: I also did because I liked that percussion there coming in
Will: halfway through the pre-chorus. Jory: The first one was longer and the halfway part of it
Jory: it was like a different melody and it was just super sick,
I liked that one.
What I love about them cutting the second pre-chorus in half,
it's something that SM started to do in 2021[sic]
I think they might have even done that with 'Punch',
chopped it in half,
but if something is cut in half, you know something is coming later,
so we knew that like the 3-part bridge was coming,
we knew that like an outro or dance break was coming.
Henry: For time's sake. Umu: And so that was really exciting, like that,
Umu: that made me look forward to what was going to happen next and I'm like,
"You're cutting this part in half for a reason,
and so I'm excited to see why."
So I really liked that choice.
Let's break down that bridge pleeeaaase!
Will: There was some like... There was some stuff going on there, (Jory: Yeah, there was some wacky sh*t.)
but it's pretty low-key.
Will: Like what is that, what is going on there? Jory: It's a cool chord and then he comes in on the wrong note.
Will: Alright, well let's see, what key are we in?
We're in D minor.
So a B♭, is it a minor?
*plays minor 3rd of B♭*
Oh yeah it is, it's definitely a minor.
It might be like a, something like that.
Jory: Ah, that sounds pretty close actually Will: Like a minor-major kind of thing...
Umu: Okay, so when it comes to these chords, why do you think they chose them, just like-
Will: Well they're colorful.
Will: They're kind of a cool color, so I mean- Jory: They're super colorful, they're all really dark.
Will: The first chord, is it a-?
Jory: D minor.
Will: It's just D minor
and then we go this one:
*B♭ minor major7* kinda thing or *with G* something like that,
and then this is the only problem part, is:
*B♭m(M7) with D♮ above* [t/n: The D♭ (minor 3) and the D♮ (major 3) clash]
so *B♭m(M7) with D♮ - to Gm*
and then the next thing was the, we're, *Gm* here,
and then we go to like, *Cm7-Dm7*
it's kind of a...
Jory: Which I do really like, actually, in this.
Jory: I like the E♭ to D thing. Will: Yeah...
Jory: And also the bass just isn't respecting the chords at all. Will: Cool sound effect.
Jory: It's just like *sliding around* Will: Oh right, yeah, like the slidey synth thing.
Will: Which like, is cool, I don't have a problem with that at all. Jory: Rad. Yeah, I'm into it
Ali: The forward synth, the brighter sound,
it goes into like microtones, almost,
like in between certain keys
and then they're brought up to pitch,
or sometimes they're not even brought up to pitch.
Jory: Just the way the synth moves around,
it kind of just like hides the sharp corners that the harmony creates.
Rachel: It's hard to pick out because
it's used in like this really not articulate bass, or synth thing, (Liam: Yeah, it's like really liquid.)
like because there's no articulation it doesn't (Liam: Like there's that G minor.)
it doesn't feel weird when you're listening to it.
Yeah, but all this melody stuff is really...
Liam: Pretty diatonic.
Rachel: Pretty diatonic, yeah.
Liam: Which is really cool.
Cuz it kind of keeps you grounded
but everything, like the floor is kind of shifting underneath you.
Kevin: At the end, instead of, I don't know if it's a scale up,
but you know, there we go:
Big dominant chord and then go *tonic*
They did pure F major [(♭)III in D minor]
And that was the dominant,
like they didn't even change it, they just went here *F*
and then they went back to D minor.
I had not heard that before.
Owen: That's a thing.
To use III as a dominant.
Kevin: Yeah, I mean it fits,
and I feel like maybe in the context of other music I have heard it
but I feel like it's never that pure,
like I heard the F in the bass, it didn't move,
I heard the chords, there were no other notes in between
and it didn't shift very quickly,
I'm like "Wow, they're really sticking with it"
and it kind of supports the rest of the song's sort of,
yeah, the impression.
Umu: Yeah so for when it comes to this song
and you are kind of familiar with NCT's sound already,
how is this for you?
Did it like check all the boxes when it comes to what you want in an NCT...?
Liam: It did that
but honestly it felt like more balanced or stable than it usually is.
Rachel: I think it, like, I agree with that.
Cuz usually it's like hella bassy and hella...
Liam: And there's not a lot of mids. Rachel: There's not a lot of mid sounds but I think they fixed that.
Rachel: It was very bassy but I liked it.
Rachel: Like I think it kind of balanced out. Liam: Yeah, it didn't feel hollow.
Rachel: Like 'Sticker' did.
Liam: Hihihi, yeah.
Rachel: We have feelings about 'Sticker', but you know,
Rachel: We won't get into that. Umu: I think everyone has feelings about 'Sticker', you know?
Kevin: I really think this fits with NCT 127's sound.
I think the tempo is kind of similar to a song like 'Sticker'
where this gets a little, you know, it's a- yeah-
It might be really close in BPM actually.
"Two baddies two baddies one Porsche..."
*Sticker flute joining in*
Owen: Yes, it fits with their sound for sure.
Did I enjoy it?
*Dramatic pause*
I don't know if I actually did.
I wasn't sucked in
in a way that I have been with NCT in other ways,
especially 'Sticker'.
For some reason 'Sticker' just like had a thing
and it just grabbed my brain and just like forced me to watch it
and for some reason this song did not do a similar thing.
Not that that's the only way- Kevin: It was the cowboys.
Not that that's the only way to appreciate music but...
I wasn't hooked in this song.
Kevin: This is definitely the sleeker side of NCT.
Yeah...
The songs that I think about,
the ones like "I wanna see you dance, yeah"
which are very different,
but the production ideas are kind of similar,
like a little more skeletal, a little more straight-forward,
lots of staccato, and yeah, simple but punchy ideas.
We got a solid beat,
we got a repetitive hook that's pretty catchy,
Owen: Because it's uncomplex. Kevin: And we're just gonna spin it infinite times
Kevin: And it does hearken back to yeah, I think,
the simpler ideals of hip-hop and rapping
and I think it just really works on me.
Owen: So this one felt pure because it was very straight to the point,
there was nothing superfluous about this song.
I think everything had a purpose.
Kevin: Yeah
Owen: Like it was all very...
I don't know how to re-say what I already said, just better.
Ali: I like this guy.