Song Review: xikers – Just For Fun (Minjae, Sumin & Yechan)

It’s clear that speaking/rapping over a club beat is not going away anytime soon in K-pop, and while I hope this will eventually transition to singing over a club beat, at least we’re hearing more exciting, upbeat production. From what I can tell, Just For Fun by Minjae, Sumin and Yechan of xikers is little more than a lark before their group’s comeback, but it’s a very fun one. To be clear, there’s a big difference between talking and rapping, as the latter employs rhythm in a much more dynamic way. I love hearing rappers work over a big club beat, especially in a K-pop context. Just For Fun is that big club beat, pausing only once for an unneeded trap breakdown. The vast majority of the track bops along on a seemingly endless supply of energy. This is clearly indebted to CORTIS’s mega-hit REDRED and is definitely the way I prefer my snotty, brash, boy group tracks. The repeated hook isn’t nearly as exciting or idiosyncratic as REDRED‘s, but it’s easy to chant along with. More importantly, the rapping is much better and offers a greater sense of variety that makes the verses incredibly fun. Hooks 8 Production 9 Longevity 8 Bias 8 RATING 8.25 Grade: B