Song Review: DRIPPIN – Weekend

Apart from the status of Golden Child’s contract (by my count, their renewal deadline is in… nine days?), the biggest Woollim Entertainment mystery is which of its artists will be the first to break the agency’s dreaded three-track album curse. The last time a Woollim artist released more than three songs at once was all the way back in 2022. That artist happened to be DRIPPIN, and now the guys have returned with their second comeback of the year. By Woollim’s dwindling promotion standards, I guess they can be considered 2023’s winners.

Weekend marks DRIPPIN’s attempt at anthemic summer fare. The group has released a summer comeback before, but nothing quite this punchy. The song’s pop rock sound is straightforward and radio-ready, bounding forward with incessant energy and feelgood vibes. It’s a nice match for DRIPPIN, though Weekend is too straight-laced to showcase much personality.

This is a case where personal bias wins the day. Objectively, Weekend is nothing special within its genre. Its chorus lacks the unique melodic perspective to stand out and its production is unadventurous at every turn, simply hitting the expected beats. Yet, I’m a sucker for this overall sound. So even if Weekend doesn’t thrill me or engage my emotions like TWS’s similarly-pitched hey! hey!, I’m always down for some good, guitar-laced fun. In a severely underwhelming month of K-pop, I suppose this gets the job done.

Grade: B