[Review] Youth – Lee Know (Stray Kids)

7 hours ago 6

Stray Kids recently made their comeback with their fourth studio album, KARMA, led by the title track CEREMONY. However, I still have a backlog of song reviews related to Stray Kids that I have yet to post, including the solo tracks from their Hop mixtape and the unit tracks from their Mixtape: Dominate album. I have already made a start on this backlog, with Lee Know’s solo single from Hop, Youth, up next. For the other reviews of Stray Kids’ solo songs from the Hop mixtape, see the links below the music video.

Lee Know’s Youth goes down the dance pop side of KPOP with a funky disco instrumentation. It is straightforwardly fun and upbeat, just as you would have expected with such an instrumental. In addition to the music, Lee Know’s vocals, right off the bat, fit in perfectly. He shines throughout the single with his fresh and pleasant tone, whilst also adding to the song’s brightness and energy. The pre-chorus was probably my favourite part as it offers the best that Lee Know has to offer as a singer. And Youth’s pre-choruses are just so repeatable. The chorus had a fun and catchy hook, and I enjoyed the bubbly pop nature of Youth’s centrepiece overall. I do wish Youth had some grit (in some shape or form), just to break up that consistent pleasantness. I think this would have done wonders for Youth, giving it dimension and more layers to enjoy. But overall, Youth is a nice solo single nonetheless.

The music video starts off in the midst of a bingo game, where an old lady cheats by pulling out a completed bingo card. However, the actual bingo card is missing the final letter ‘U’, hence why this raises suspicions with other players and management (which Lee Know is part of). While the rest of the management is made to play along with the situation, Lee Know breaks ranks, tells management that they should accept the win, as he will search for the missing ‘U’. He catches the ‘U’, which cues celebrations and allows the old lady to win the game. Obviously, the reference to the letter ‘U’ isn’t just the letter, but also the person who is willing to stand alone and be themselves (per the lyrics).

The choreography for Youth is cute and bubbly, complementing the song well. The jumps and energy that both Lee Know and the dancers put into the routine, and that we get out of the routine, are ideal for such an upbeat song. I like how the routine keeps things fun and lighthearted, especially the part where the dancers had to copy Lee Know’s surprise move(s) at the end of the routine.

Song – 8/10
Music Video – 8/10
Performance – 8/10
Overall Rating – 8/10