Choi Yena's New Single 'NEMONEMO' Graded 0.5/5 Stars; Fans Defend Idol 

Choi Yena's new song flopped? According to the music critic site IZM, the former IZ*ONE only deserved 0.5/5 star ratings. However, her fans Jigumi immediately jumped to the idol's defense. 

On Oct. 9th, the Korean music critic IZM took to its official site to give its rating to Yena's new single "NEMONEMO," released on Sept. 30th. 

Out of five stars, the song only earned a half-star and the critic justified this by explaining:

"It's like a song from a game or a Japanese anime. Because of its fast BPM, chaotic synthesizer play, and sharp tone, the lyrics are barely heard making the whole song feel disordered from start to finish. 

The actual sound is also missing in the midst of the cluttered tune and progression and only the sound effects are rich. If the goal is to embody the image of an unprecedently powerful tomboyish like shown in the video through the sound, it's a success. However, if she thought this was music, she made a mistake. There is no music in these 3 minutes and 30 seconds."

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READ ALSO: Choi Yena Names IZ*ONE Member Who Treated Her 'Differently' After Group Parted Ways

The music critic further talked about how her popularity weakened after choosing another genre path when IZ*ONE parted ways. It also mentioned that even though former MBLAQ Sungmin and Block B Zico participated in the song, it still left "no impact."

When K-Netz, especially Jigumis (Yena's fans)  learned about this, they were frustrated that IZM labeled it as a "poorly rated" song because it sounded like a song from a game or anime. 

Fans highlighted that it was actually a good song and that while it is not meant to be liked by mainstream fans, otakus is loving it. 

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Here are some of the comments:

• "It's like a Japanese otaku genre song. I don't hate it, but I don't think critics will like it."
• "It seems like a song that critics would absolutely hate, lol. But the company knew that and still took a chance. They put it out to increase the buzz by making it addictive and a funny meme."
• "But I like 'NEMONEMO' exactly because of the elements that the critic mentioned.  It's like a game music, with a fast beat and a sharp and refreshing vocal, and a repetitive and simple melody, so it gets stuck in your ears right away."
• "I agree with some of what they said, but I don't think it's that bad enough for it to deserve a 0.5. It feels like the genre itself is being ignored, lol. They say you can't hear the lyrics and they're too busy with the sound effects, but I wonder what that critic thinks about a genre like kawaii bass."

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Written by Eunice Dela Cruz