wickymickyβs Top Ten Kpop Songs of 2021
6: Tri.Be - Rub-a-Dum
Another rookie group? Jeez, how many rookie groups does this list have on it, anyway?Β
This isnβt their debut song, that was Doom Doom Ta in February. I really liked that song, but you never know what a group is truly gonna sound like or what to expect from them until their first comeback. I knew LE from EXID was one of the producers for this group, and that was super exciting, and yeah I liked Doom Doom Ta a lot, but when I saw that this song was going to be called Rub-a-Dum I... kinda rolled my eyes lol. Thatβs a pretty goofy title. idk, I just wasnβt expecting it to be one of the best songs of the year. I guess you canβt really predict something like that just based on the title, haha.
Everything that Doom Doom Ta does well, Rub-a-Dum does better. And in a more interesting way, too. I love that this song is kind of experimental, from the busy and very varied production to the unconventional song structure. This song straight up only has one verse. It goes Intro > Verse 1 > Prechorus > Chorus >.... Bridge > Final Chorus. Thereβs no second verse. When the first chorus ends, the bridge begins. I feel like itβs because they want you to luxuriate in that chorus drop as much as possible, so they spend the least amount of time outside of it as they can. The Bridge-Final Chorus section is a little confusing too because thereβs a sort of Bridge-Part-2, or a Prechorus thatβs different than the first one, or something... the part where they sing the same melody as the sample of the children in the intro of the song. Which, by the way, is such a great touch. To set that up in the intro and then pay it off right before the final chorus... thatβs really nice.Β Thereβs so much going on in the instrumental and itβs all so fast-paced, I love it. And yeah, I feel like you can really hear LEβs production style all over it, which is great.Β
To be honest, I think everything that makes this song good is really apparent on first listen. Thereβs not a lot more that I feel I really need to get into here. I could talk about how Hyunbin and Mire are one of the better rapper duos Iβve heard in a new girl group in a couple years, with Hyunbin in particular having a voice that really stands out amongst girl group rappers and reminds me of someone like LE who I imagine she probably takes quite a bit of inspiration from, or how Soeunβs deeper voice is so interesting and is placed in their songs at great moments that contrast with other membersβ voices or the instrumental, or even how the beat of this song is just impossible to sit still to, but like... if you listened to the song then you know all that already <3
links to the rest of the list: 10 - After School (Weeekly) 9 - Love So Sweet (Cherry Bullet) 8 - Odd Eye (Dreamcatcher) 7 - Eleven (IVE) 6 - Rub-a-Dum (TRI.BE) 5 - Holiday Party (Weeekly) 4 - Ring x Ring (Billlie) 3 - Zombie (Purple Kiss) 2 - ASAP (STAYC) 1 - First (Everglow)
