As the complete musical antithesis to many of the ever-present sounds of the k-pop landscape, NewJean’s sudden debut and almost instantaneous growth remains a welcome surprise. Their sheer vitality and magnitude of success however remains utterly insane regardless, with each single almost always dominating the charts. And much like everyone else, I wasn’t immune to their charms either with debut effort Hype Boy coming in as my favourite K-pop song of last year. A notable achievement regardless but one especially for a group so young. OMG comes as the lead single of the groups first single album and while it initially failed to leave much a of mark, its utter ubiquity made me fold quite easily.
I think what really hindered my initial enjoyment of OMG was the strength of its predecessor. Coming off the heels of immensely successful and utterly gorgeous Ditto, a song that’s only gotten better and better since its release, OMG‘s more aloof nature felt a little throwaway and slight. Devoid of the instantly memorable hooks of their near perfect debut efforts or the tight, transcendent production of its immediate predecessor, OMG in my mind fell to the sidelines alongside the middling Cookie. But soon enough, thanks to my good friend TikTok and the countless edits featuring the song, it wasn’t long till OMG‘s charms won me over. The initially throwaway nature of the production managed to unveil its many charms, constantly evolving throughout the course of the track whilst still tracing a clear through line. In fact, it’s this sense of simplicity that gives OMG such immediate replayability. The muted synths and skittering hi-hats alongside its more poppy RnB leanings lend perfectly to current global listening habits whilst still retaining the nostalgic soundscape that they’ve build their name upon.
But just like all their efforts, the real star of the show is the strength of the tracks hooks and the sheer personality on display here. Both the chorus and pre-chorus are perfect examples of this, each harnessing hooks that find the perfect middle ground between repetitive and catchy. And while the titular repetition during the chorus seems to be (fairly) be what has taken most peoples fancy, I’m much more partial to the pre-chorus’ rapid fire “who is he” hook. The second verse is also a highlight, forgoing the usual expected slowdown for an upbeat verse that maintains the upbeat energy of the chorus whilst still veering in new exciting directions. This continues into the bridge, which introduces a new layer of percussion before moving into a wonderfully rhythmic vocal segment. A real highlight moment that kind of overshadows the climactic chorus which comes around as a bit of the slowdown from the moment that preceded it. And while OMG may never be my favourite effort from the girls, it no doubt maintains their unstoppable ascent to the top.
Verses: 8
Chorus: 8
Production: 8
Performance: 8
Final Rating: 8 / 10
KBopped 