CURRENT #23: SECRET NUMBER- WHO DIS?

Released: May 19th, 2020

Some things to point out first; one of the members, Dita, is Indonesian, which would make her the first to ever debut in the K-Pop industry. Indonesia is not the largest country population-wise in Southeast Asia, but also one of the biggest consumers of the K-Pop franchise worldwide, and so with an already huge fan-base also corresponds to high expectations for Secret Number. The second thing is that their agency has also done a pretty good job promoting their dancing skills with covers well before their debut, and so it's also not a surprise their debut single Who Dis? emphasizes those kind of performances. As talented as the girls are, Who Dis? musically fails to show off a captivating performance of its own. For an urban hip-hop track that is designed with the choreography in mind, Who Dis? actually has a complete song structure, with a couple of parts sounding more like a vocal performance rather than a dance-centric one. Right off the bat though, I find the opening squeaky-like saxophone riff to be more annoying than attention-grabbing. Things don't get much better until the pre-chorus hits, and suddenly it feels like the world just stopped spinning. I'm solely talking about the part where you only hear the vocals and the atmospheric-like chords, and not with the trap beats, it's a breath of fresh air that will be truly appreciated, as it is very short-lived. The trap beats kick in and we head to the chorus. Now although the chorus is a traditional chorus, it lacks the fierce power that one would expect from a song that is heavily focused on hooks and the amplitude. I would have liked to hear more of an emphasis on the brass, maybe holding on to some of the notes rather than making them brief. The repetition also ruins the section's direction, as I would have appreciated a change-up in the second part of the chorus and maybe have the girls sing higher notes or use more minor notes on the way back down to the interlude. Once again in the second verse, that saxophone riff paired with the rap is not a good combo. The final part of the song is actually the best part of the song, relying on a middle-eastern orientated melody to depart from the saxophone hook, and pairs a lot better with the rap. The chorus also has the desired brass that I so desperately wanted to hear.

Musically, the song struggles to find a life of its own, but the girls have it going with a hook that is often used in the western world. This and the electric energy Secret Number brings on stage are the right ingredients needed to exhibit a successful debut. The world is their oyster for them, and Secret Number should continue to explore different styles and methods of choreography. The song may not show off much, but its only the beginning of a long but promising journey for them.

RATING: 7.15/10