[Review] I LIKE IT – BABYMONSTER

BABYMONSTER joins the lineup of summer comebacks with a music video and promotions for the side track I LIKE IT from their 3rd mini-album, CHOOM. This release follows on from the May release of the said mini-album and title track of the same name, and the June digital single Sugar Honey Ice Tea (which I will be reviewing soon).

I have come to the realisation that I like YG artists best when they release pop-leaning music, as opposed to their usual hip-hop sound. I LIKE IT offers this pop sound through vibrant, bright synths. The upbeatness of I LIKE IT makes me want to dance and sing along to the catchy parts of the song, while there appears to be a bit of a twang mixed into the first verse, which adds a fun element to the song. What I also liked about I LIKE IT is the refreshing focus on vocals. For me, AHYEON really shines throughout I LIKE IT (her high note was impressive), though the rest of BABYMONSTER hold their ground quite well. The chorus brings a brightness to the song, while the post-chorus hooks were the aforementioned hooky bits of the song that I really enjoyed. That and the repetition of the song’s outro are stuck in my mind. The only aspect of I LIKE IT that holds it back for me is the background to the rapping in the second verse. It draws inspiration from reggae, which is suitable for summer, but I find it unnecessarily slows the flow of the upbeat energy that is coming from the track overall.

With this being a “summer comeback” for the group, their music video sees the members hanging about outside and having fun. All of the video is vibrant, colourful in the daytime and cool, breezy during the nighttime. Pretty much what you would expect to complement an upbeat summer track. The members look great throughout the video, and I feel like there is a slight badass vibe (i.e., ice cream set on fire) still making it into the video to keep to their usual image. The most interesting bit of the entire video is the ending, where the final music video for MOON (another side track from their CHOOM mini-album) is announced for an early August release. It is just an oddly plain announcement tacked onto the end, which I don’t think was needed and could have been done elsewhere through other media.

The choreography for this comeback was fun, bubbly and refreshing. No move really stood out to me, but I enjoyed how much the members enjoyed performing the song on stage. It is great seeing this side from them, and that is something that has me coming back to I LIKE THAT‘s stage performances.

Song – 9/10
Music Video – 8/10
Performance – 8.5/10
Overall Rating – 8.6/10