[Subtitles by youtube @anisian] Rafael: *EXCITEMENT*
[Rossini's Semiramide Overtune plays]
Henry: *plays NCT 127 'Superhuman' opening chords on piano*
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Let's get to reacting~
Jason: We're ready to roll Ju Young & Umu: kiCK iT
Ju Young: kiC- oaghhh Mark: AHHHHHH (NCT 127: WAHHHHH~!)
Umu: You are now reacting to NCT 127's title track, 'Kick it' off of their 2020 Neo Zone Album,
The lyrics express the members' willingness to fight to break barriers like Bruce Lee and create a style all on their own,
Henry: I love Bruce Lee Umu: The music video was inspired by multiple martial arts movies,
including the Bruce Lee classic, 'Enter the Dragon'
Kevin: I'm sad I haven't seen 'Enter the Dragon', but also the Chinese characters, so it says Kick it, but before the semicolon,
it says 'Hero' (英雄), there's also a popular Chinese martial arts movie called 'Hero',
so we'll see if there's any reference to that... I haven't seen that either so...
Umu: The song is composed by Dem Jointz, Mayila Jones, Rodnae "Chikk" Bell, Deez, and Ryan Jhun,
Jamal: 3, 2, 1, Blast off
OOOOH,
Sick animation!
Henry: Oh that's hip
Raffi: oH?
Henry: Oh they rhyme 'things' with 'Lee'...interesting
Kevin: I don't know about screaming Bruce Lee's name 3 times...that's discouraging for me
Owen: I like the setting (Ju Young: oOOh~) Kevin: THAT'S different though, that's encouraging
Sam: Woahhh~
Very nice vocal harmonies in the back
Jamal: The-that was a-
that was a ii-V right? Yeah
Kevin: What? They're still sustaining the-
Chill vibe
Leon: Hmm
Cloud: This is a good like lean back, and just kinda groove
Rafael: Yeah, he's ballin [Alexa play 'Punch' by NCT 127 😉]
Sam: I wonder how many times they kick in this video
Stephanie: Oh no... hahaha Leon: Ha...
Stephanie: My parents used to yell at me for doing that haha
Jamal: Triplets, alright
*repeats rhythm*
Jason: *snort chuckles* wEEE (Ju Young: Haha) wEE wEEEE
Sam: I also think it's very interesting how the verses are very, very hard very like,
energy filled and then the pre-chorus or the-
second part of the verse, becomes very much more lowkey
Ju Young: I like the 'Na-Na-Na's' they're doing in the background
Bridge! (Jason: Niceee~) wOA~ wOW~
Jason: I like the little chimes in the back
Ju Young: Oh my god his voice
Rafael: *vibing hard with the song*
Sam: Mhmm~
Henry: I like this build up a lot, this is-it's a lot of graduation,
oh they kinda eased into it
Kevin: It feels very scattered but yet it's coming together into something
That was Bruce Lee's scream!
Raffi: Wow...
Ju Young: Oooh~ oh-oop
Raffi: So much energy here, like you're hearing a-the singing is like faded-
a little bit less (Sam: Yeah) and the speaking is still like the prominent part (Sam: Yeah)
L: Mhm St: Wow
U: WoWW? St: That was a lot hahaha
Sm: That (Rf: Wow, well done) unison side kick was really cool mmhm
U: bruCE LEEEEEEE~
Js: YEah that's kinda all I got out of it (U: BruCE LEEEE) Haha sorry (JY: Ok-)
U: There was more to it (Js: No, there was a lot, there was a LOT more-) there was like the main-
Js: So overall, something that I thought was cool was like the background,
the *imitates beginning bassline* it had that really major like-like there's a lot of gain on it,
making it really kinda- (U: Distorted?) Yeah, very distorted,
Kinda like putting gain on a guitar in-in a-or when you're playing like metal, so I thought that was pretty cool
U & H & Cl: *imitating beginning background bassline*
H: Yeah, yeah it's fresh Cl: No, it's um i dOnT knOW iF i woULD sAy frEsH~ but like it's got that like,
industrial like moving- like unrelenting kinda groove to it (H: Okay, I get that, no I get that yeah) yeah
Js: There were some chords in there that were actually really different and pretty nice,
Rf: There was one very clear highlight for me U: Yeah, that was-You freaked out, that was cute
Rf: Cause, it was cool *instrumental plays*
Rf: *plays piano* And then they do this like-
You-you know that I like these chords uh... Jm: Definitely
Rf: It's like the 'Cyclic Episode' progression where you just take like a minor 11 chord
*piano* and then go down to a minor 3rd *piano* that-that harmonic device is-
*piano* That's like-that's like my- one of my favorite chords to use or like, favorite two chords in a row to use
Minor 11s and 3rds (U: Oooh~) Very modern Jazz
U: Jamal did you have a favorite section, one that you vibed with most?
Jm: Yeah that-one-the time when that guy just hit us with like 8th note triplets
U: *humming triplets Taeyong's section* Jm: Yeah (Rf: The rap section)
Js: Who's the-the grey haired guy?...
Him!
Jm: *imitating Taeyong's rap*
U: Taeyong Js: He has fantastic cadence and flow Jm: *imitating Taeyong's rap*
U: Taeyong Js: He has fantastic cadence and flow
Jm: The second verse? Second verse was lit
O: Feel like that middle section,
I like that how it ki-(U: The dance break) Yeah the dance break, the-like that was-it felt like a different song to me
U: Mhm Ow: Yeah, just the-
O: The colors were a lot more interesting (K: Mhm) Yeah
than the rest of it, (K: So- oh...) the rest of it felt very similar
U: How so? Ow: I think the same-
bass line and percussion, I mean they went into halftime and they played around adding and subtracting things,
but it-it felt like it had the same...
U: Energy?...Textural experience? K: ETHOS?
O: All of those words that just mean that it had the same idea
K: When in doubt use the word ethos haha (U: Haha) it makes you sound very smart hahaha(U: Hahaha)
K: Yeah, Bruce Lee was badass, Bruce Lee was awesome,
I liked it referencing 'Enter the Dragon' during his rap verse, if it was just 'Enter the Dragon' in the rap verse,
and then Bruce Lee's voice on the bridge, that would be great,
but then they scream 'Bruce Lee' 6 times, like in every chorus (O: Yeah in every chorus) And I-I don't know,
I-I think it's too much, it's too in your face with what it's going for,
It stops becoming its own thing, at least in my view-it's like wh-in those songs where like-
for example Avril Lavigne has a song ['Here's to Never Growing Up'] that starts with 'Singing Radiohead on the top of our lungs'
and I remember it because, she's singing radiohead at the top of her lungs, and it's more about how great radiohead is,
and that song is absolute... (O: Yeah) badness...(O: Right) but this song is not absolute badness, because musically,
I'm gonna have to differ a little bit, because I think there is a lot happening,
but yet I also got the feeling that it ended up feeling oddly same-y, and I actually think it's because it did so much,
but I didn't know how to process it, it was too confusing for me, an-and the concept plus with kick it,
and the Chinese name Hero, I'm like 'Oh it's gonna be that badass concept' and I like that they went R&B
Especially that moment like they went R&B in the second verse,
the second chorus hit with that bizarre, it's not even drop, it's just the beat gets slapped on,
and then a few measures later, the bridge starts, and they're in that chill vibe again,
and it felt like you know there was a build up at the end and stuff that made-that made it a bit more hype,
but that midd-that first 2/3rds it really felt like it was a struggle to really be on the wavelength of this song,
cause I find it fascinating, it would probably be this fascinating enigma of a song (O: Yeah) that I'd listen to and be like,
~this is really strange~ (O: Yeah) But I wouldn't vibe with it-I wouldn't call it complete success in what it tried to pull off
O: It kind of feels (K: It's interesting) like an essay that you write,
where you take the first couple paragraphs to figure out what you're going for, and then it starts flowing,
and you're like (K: Uh-huh) 'yeah this is the essay' and then you rewrite the introduction,
Like that's what you do right? (K: Yeah) It feels like they didn't necessarily rewrite the introduction
O: To-to go with (K: Yeah) the rest of the song
St: 2:50 something, around there, I feel like that was-
the beginning of like a buildup, and then I thought it was gonna reach a climax after a few seconds,
but it didn't really quite go to a big climax, it actually grew,
and then actually kept on growing, like really gradually, and then it reached this pause,
and then I was like 'What? Where's that climax??'
And then they just started doing like the same thing *vocalizes*
I was just really expecting like something new and like really climactic, but um-
at the-at the beginning of that buildup I-it was really exciting, I could feel the energetic-energetic buildup
L: My favorite part is at...
When he kicks through the doors- (St & L: Hahaha) U: And the man goes flying?
L: Yeah haha and like the music just stops and then only vocals, that was brilliant,
and I also love like how they use the modes, because this is I believe phrygian or like?
This mode really goes with like the shouting thing (U & St: Mhmm) Yeah
U: So that didn't get on your nerves at all? (L: No) You thought it created a good atmosphere?
L: Yeah U: YEahhh~ (St: Mhmm)
Rf: I-I think that it's really interesting that that chorus is spoken, like that's the repeated part,
it makes you wanna move, it makes you wanna dance
U: Can we dive into the dance break actually? Because no one's dived into it rhythmically yet and I think it'd be cool
O: It's an interesting part- (K: we can go in...) U: Like what makes that successful, that section fluid?
K: I mean there are some cool bass lines and the chords are cool
O: The chords are REALLY interesting (K: Yeah) Yeah very complex,
And they get the job done too, which is-this is important (K: Yeah)
K: Woah
O: Yeah, so this is amazing! This is so cool!
The visuals of it, I-everything the whole experience of that just short clip was fantastic
And then it continues, and that's what makes it great
K: I wouldn't say there's anything rhythmically really cool-really special about the dance break,
but it's the fact that the dance break is on a buildup (O: Mhm) I think-
I think that's so cool, cause most dance breaks they're like, they either introduce a new hook, or-
U: Oh they're usually in a rival point K: Yes, exactly (O: Good point, good point) Yeah
K: And I like that, it carries the energy, and then it delivers I think on the drop,
and in a way that the rest of the song doesn't
Yeah
O: Yeah
U: Why do you think the dance break's successful?
O: I just think it nails the vibe, (U: Mhm)
I just think the producer, whatever they did, they just made some magic in that just short bit,
and that was fantastic (K: Mhm) Yeah
Sm: So, this is one of those songs where the video makes it very enjoyable to listen to,
and there were some really, really cool parts of this song, I...
really enjoyed the-the contrast between the verses and the prechoruses and then the bridge,
I thought when he was sustaining the high note while,
everything under him kind of shifted and changed, and then he went up a half step and everything,
grew in-grew in energy, and then it did that like triplet-spfspf-uh triplet drum beat like stop almost,
and then it just went all out again,
I was-I was thinking, aww that's cr-I think I actually said out loud, 'Oh that's so cool'
*flashback Sam* Mhm
That sequence was really cool!
Did I say it? (U: Yes you did) I sure did
[BGM: Pentagon's "Dr. Bebe" // Subtitles by youtube @anisian]
Js: I'm gonna do like a-*Yahhh* I'm gonna do like a real high kick...
I used to take karate... *deep inhale*
*Jason in pain* UAGHOHH-OOF *sad boi violin sfx*