Of The Music: Ranking NCT's Top 20 Title Tracks - Pt.1 (#20 - #11)
My top 20 favorite singles across all NCT units, ranked and gushed over.
‘Of The Music’ is a segment on ‘Of The Moment’ where I talk about music releases that pique my interest every few months, offering context, thoughts, critique- and mostly gushing! Feel free to reach out to me if there is an album/single/discography you’d like me to check out and write about next (for anonymous messages, you can head on over to Retrospring). Don’t forget to subscribe in order to receive new posts in your email and support my work! If you wish to, you can subscribe to this segment separately. Thank you for being here.
Time to change things up on ‘Of The Music’!
There’s something about K-pop discographies that makes them so tempting to analyze. The common threads of parallel trajectories between groups in the industry? The timely consistency of comebacks? The expectation of conceptual reinvention? An anticipation of skill improvement from the idols? The- most of the time- expected production names associated with different soundscapes and the nuances of their work depending on aesthetics? Catnip to a nitpicky person like me. One that fairly recently- and unsurprisingly- found herself quite at home in arguably the most nitpicky fandom of them all.
NCT (standing for Neo Culture Technology), as I mentioned in my previous ‘Of The Music’ post earlier this month where I reviewed 127’s 2 Baddies among others, is the name for the over 20-member collective that embodies SM Entertainment’s ambitious, futuristic vision of a limitless idol group, where new faces steadily get introduced as the act keeps expanding globally. The plan NCT is most known for to the general public would be the idea of never running out of members, however, due to recent events, it needs to be stated that the characterization of “limitless” should here on out be disregarded in its literal definition, as the company’s co-CEOs have announced that the anticipated 2023 debut of new unit NCT Tokyo will conclude said expansion, with the agency shifting its focus to supporting the current members. Those, as implied, are already split into established subunits, each with its own unique conceptual direction and solid, standalone discography (NCT 127, NCT DREAM, WayV), often getting arranged into various combinations under a flexible-lineup, rotational unit (NCT U) depending on the needs of occasional projects and, once in a year or two, coming together to craft collective albums, showcasing the colors of all different teams and then some.
Given the sheer variety displayed in a discography which jumps across genres and moods, loves to mix and match inspirations from seemingly irrelevant sources and isn’t afraid to get a little wild and unpredictable when it feels like it, fans find themselves never running out of things to both agree on and argue about when it comes to NCT’s music, turning online spaces into roundtable discussion rooms every so often. So, as I’ve unapologetically fallen back into full fandom mode in my own definition (never underestimate how healing that can be) I took some inspiration and decided to rank my top 20 title tracks (singles) across all NCT units in this, admittedly, very self-indulgent post. Disclaimer though: “Ranking” is to be taken with a grain of salt, in the sense that different songs serve different purposes, therefore placements are mostly symbolic and aim to paint a representative picture of the way I personally look at the group’s discography, as well as what I deem worthy of sharing with you. That said, I hope the newbies get to discover some music they like and the fans enjoy this enough as not to attack me over my choices if they don’t *cough cough* resonate (seriously though- come at me, I will fight).
Staring off with our honorable mention:
NCT DREAM – Candy (2022)
I deliberated over whether to count this as a title track or not, since it is one in practice- NCT DREAM’s as of today most recent single and already owner of many record-breaking achievements and milestones- but not in theory; Candy is an H.O.T original and a K-pop classic, released in 1996 by what is generally considered the first idol group to ever be created, slightly rearranged to suit NCT DREAM’s more polished although just as youthful style, and given a festive twist, allowing it to announce itself as a December release that doesn’t massively stand out against the Christmas song parade of the period with its hilariously odd happy-go-lucky breakup theme. This isn’t the first time SM Ent. assigns a- promotional- remake of one of their earlier artists’ songs to a company junior tasked with breathing new life into it, or the first time the result is this good; aespa’s 2021 BoA-assisted rendition of Dreams Come True by S.E.S was certainly more dramatic in alteration but just as much of a pleasant surprise. Honorable mention because of all that. Here nonetheless because it was all I listened to for a month straight. Playful in the verses, pretty and legato in the chorus and all sparkled up, DREAM’s Candy is addictive like a sugar rush, finding the members completely at home in its catchy, bubblegum sound.
#20 NCT DREAM – We Go Up (2018)
As suggested, we’re only going up from here so NCT DREAM’s last fixed lineup title track “pre-reassembly” takes the spot at no20. A song that is such a visceral experience in itself, the music video falls into a supporting role of all its details and quirks; right off the bat, a fishbowl for bubbly water sounds and the comeback’s signature symbol of a flag with a drawn-on coyote to match the wild animal growl sampled just 3 seconds into the instrumental. The thing about coyotes is they live in family groups. So when SM Ent. was still set on proceeding with the initial plan for NCT DREAM’s graduation system, supposed to be put in place on the premise that the unit remained a space for only the youngest members of the collective, and thus announcing eldest member and leader MARK’s departure from the lineup upon turning a legal adult in South Korea, what was meant to be their last era together was bound to be tinged with some bittersweet emotion. The decision was eventually unmade and the system abolished, with MARK returning to the now fixed 7-membered group that would go on to explore more diverse concepts with each release, in 2020. Yet, We Go Up will always be associated with an underlying unease despite its optimistic tone, reflected in the paradox of descending instead of- initially presumable- ascending notes in its chorus (although beautifully contrasted by the “and we go!” phrases towards the end). The playful production holds room for ceaseless adlibs, and as a result MARK’s presence is felt all throughout the track, emphasizing the rest of the members’ lines, as well as the importance this release places on being a family affair. He calls the members “his babies” to this day.
#19 NCT U – Make A Wish (Birthday Song) (2020)
What is arguably the catchiest whistle riff you’ve ever heard ushered in the RESONANCE era in late 2020; NCT’s second collective album was a big event, split into two parts, the first of which assigned its main single to a selection of members from all different units. This is a song that not unlike plenty of others in K-pop, especially considering the huge trend of edgier concepts in recent years, makes use of the Phrygian dominant scale- referred to by many as the Middle Eastern or snake charmer scale- a mode with an “exotic” color that, when applied to your standard pop, EDM or hip-hop based music, produces a unique, alluring effect that instantly makes a track stand out. It should be noted that, as the style tends to be associated with culture, the use of it alongside very particular conceptual undertones comes with controversial implications of its own. Make A Wish certainly echoes the western hip-hop/RnB sentiment of the ‘90s and early ‘00s in its own way, an era notorious for its Bollywood and Middle Eastern sampling, for which a good reference point would be Justin Timberlake’s Timbaland-produced (Oh No) What You Got; reminiscent of JT’s smooth quality down to the vocal technique of the higher, breathy sections- cleverly juxtaposed by raps so low and growly, a middle register is pretty much nonexistent in the song. This might’ve been higher in this ranking if instead of a second chorus, it took a direction frequently favored in other NCT singles of cutting off the pre-chorus to let the bridge in early, and only brought back the gripping hook line of “I can do this all dayyyy” in the middle 8, so it doesn’t get too repetitive too fast. Other than that, a beautifully three-dimensional banger; the minimal hip-hop beat supports remarkably inventive verses and breaks, and the main vocalists’ call-and-response during that reverie-inducing bridge makes for the biggest highlight.
#18 NCT 2018 – Black on Black (2018)
A bit of a meta pick here, so let me explain myself. It’s interesting to look back on the negative reviews at the time of this release, mostly because they aren’t unreasonable at all. Black on Black, the- supposed- centerpiece of the first NCT collective album, NCT 2018 EMPATHY, set expectations high with its announcement as the first song to feature all active members at the time in its performance. “18 guys on a track” could stand for endless possibilities, thus the concept carried an air of novelty for a second that, however, got quickly grounded when the final outcome happened to be a very slightly reworked version of a largely instrumental track previously performed at MAMA 2016 by the members who then had already debuted. Black on Black is designed to suit a dance stage more than anyplace else, featuring hard-hitting beats reminiscent of the solid dubstep foundation of 2012’s MAXSTEP, a previous occasion of SM Ent. bringing together some of its best dancers for a performance of similar nature, although leaning a bit more into electro-house and allowing the mic to only 3 members, rappers TAEYONG, MARK and LUCAS- the latter’s verse relatively lackluster next to the other two, truth be told. The answer to what makes this song worthy of its position is hindsight, as well as an active choice to look past its function as a dance piece and more towards its intention to establish NCT as a collective nothing short of beastly- if the positively disturbing animalistic growling and roaring in it is anything to go by. Black on Black withholds much of the members’ individual charm, but carries the pack energy of a thousand wolves, emphasizing the uniting force- the uniform, if you will- and assigning the bravado to just a couple of leaders. Taking into consideration the knack for pushing boundaries displayed across NCT’s discography to this day, for such an unorthodox release to have stood- clumsily, but still- as a single only two years into their career makes for a daring moment of foreshadowed audacity not to be overlooked.
#17 WayV – Kick Back (2021)
If WayV were to be encapsulated in one word it would be “cinema”. Yet, NCT’s C-pop subunit and first attempt at the brand’s localization (meaning the members sing in Mandarin and mostly promote in China) sheds just a bit of the high glamor that is typically characteristic of their concept in this 2021 release which comes as the fourth and final installment to an unofficial series of more-or-less formulated singles. The minimal bass and snap intro echoes classic NCT grit and grime, followed by rap flows that work well in the first verse and simply hold the second up, to give way to arguably the most anthemic pre-chorus of NCT’s discography with a melody that soars and soars until it’s harshly pulled back down and into the sickeningly catchy (positive), low-key hook of “We got that kick kick kick kick kick kick back”. Kick Back’s cleverest trick lies in its delayed hook by two excess beats that perfectly set up that unpredictable anticipation- the “tick-tock, tick” which reads as a reference to the group’s previous single, 2020’s Turn Back Time although, as clarified by writers KC and Alawn who didn’t know the track was going to be assigned to WayV when coming up with the concept, that parallel is, surprisingly, purely coincidental. The signature dance break enters disguised as an outro in this song, completing it in a far more interesting way than if it didn’t exist, yet lacking some of the impact of its other counterparts. WayV’s melodic string and brass sections are always a delight, occasionally accentuated here by rhythm inflections that very satisfyingly give off the epicness of an action movie soundtrack.
#16 NCT 127 – Simon Says (2018)
NCT 127’s first entry at no16. Named after the longitude coordinate number of Seoul and representing a goal of bringing K-pop to the rest of the world, the collective’s face and first fixed subunit has become synonymous with K-pop’s musical boundary-pushing quality by sporting an affinity for the experimental, the out-of-the-box and the unabashedly weird. Still, the core is never sacrificed. Harmonies are peppered all throughout the genre-agnostic Simon Says, an equally confident and dismissive of bullshit amalgamation of glitched-out, bassy hip-hop- the song starts off on a guttural scream straight out of a Death Grips track- and almost classical touches- in its power vocal-lead and string-adorned bridge. The chorus, bossy and lethargic- perhaps a little too much to be heard three times- is the kind you can imagine singing, or rather chanting, with friends in the car on a night out, or at a concert; there’s truly nothing quite like screaming “real vibe killaaaaaa” at the top of your lungs. And remember the Phrygian dominant scale from earlier? In another of its applications, it laces Simon Says with an underlying sinisterness, perfectly highlighted in the moderately minimal music video where the members are shown wearing customized masks that eerily cover their faces. A little detail I personally love here is the mention of “NCT noise” in the lyrics, a term that seems to be held up as a badge of honor by the group, encompassing the loudness and grit of their sound and brand which, although tends to earn 127 odd looks, remains a vital part of their identity and charm at all times.
#15 NCT DREAM – BOOM (2019)
“The dancing child with an innocent face now smiles and sets this track on fire” sing NCT DREAM in their first official 6-member lineup title track, explicitly setting the stage for a career pivot, arguably more sonic than conceptual. Released smack dab in the middle of summer 2019, and although an elaborate declaration of arrival at maturity lyrically- or maybe exactly because of that premise- BOOM doesn’t try to be anything more than the perfect pop song to get down to- and that it achieves. Kicking off on a skeleton of stripped percussion, each verse gets more melodic than the last, to explode in a minimal, earworm hook. The members’ lines are always accompanied by background vocals in all the right places, voices clear, confident and at the very front. I could talk about the beauty of that twinkly pre-chorus all day; how rich and shiny it sounds- on par with the boys’ prince-next-door attire in the music video- how spot on are its harmonies and prominent bass, how it ushers in a second dimension to the song that takes it straight to the next level. It’s so good the choice to bring it back at the bridge strikes more as necessary than uninspired, especially when- just like the second time- it is complete with a slight lyrical change that offers just the right nuance of texture for the ear. BOOM combines youthful and sophisticated, as well as it does groovy and laidback; smooth on the dancefloor and assertive in pulse.
#14 WayV – Turn Back Time (2020)
With its modern hip-hop base, dramatic pre-chorus, effective hook and zero hesitance to go places, many could say that Turn Back Time embodies the culmination of WayV’s sound as we know it that came fairly early in their career, and I wouldn’t argue. The group’s busiest and darkest-coated title track holds space for a lot of things; from confidently announcing itself in NCT’s discography with a distorted bass loop, to being comfortable in the WayV niche of film soundtrack with both unabashedly lyrical and delicate vocal intervals, and going out of its way- masterfully accomplished by producer duo Moonshine- to give the dance break a metal twist with aggressive guitars and complex rhythms (which may or may not have served as inspiration for the middle 8 in aespa’s most recent 2022 Girls; I can go on and on about the parallels between aespa and NCT’s discographies as conceptual sibling groups- it’s no secret that The Matrix and its sound design has done a number on both, just take a look at the on the nose outro of Turn Back Time’s music video), reminiscent of a Hysteria by Muse. In true action figure fashion, chaos doesn’t disturb WayV or stop them from delivering a relaxed, swaggy head groove as they chant “Stop, rewind, turn back time” in a killing part that flawlessly rounds up the song’s energy. The show-stopper though is a moment towards the end, where member TEN interjects with a “take it away” adlib which, literally, takes the instrumental away for a second, utilizing the brief silence to prolong the last chorus by dropping the glorious stacked harmonies back in with maximized impact, resulting in an undoubtedly memorable grand finale. Turn Back Time is aggressive, haunting at times, elegantly eccentric and most definitely the track I would show somebody if they asked me who WayV are.
#13 WayV – Take Off (2019)
Nothing. Beats. The groove. WayV’s first comeback launched the formula, though without shooting for the stars just yet. Slightly contrasting debut Regular- nothing more than the Mandarin version of 127’s Latin pop-influenced single released a few months prior- Take Off is the song that most explicitly introduces the slick, smooth operator concept of the unit by counting down to ignition (Turn Back Time’s chorus-integrated “5, 4, 3, 2” provides an obvious callback here, as confirmed by songwriter Adrian McKinnon) as neon green plane graphics and the signature “V” for “vision”- also a repeated adlib in the actual track- make their appearances first in the music video. Built on a relatively simple hip-hop beat carried by catchy flows that keep the energy consistently palpable all throughout, Take Off’s structure is not afraid to get adventurous, whether that means skipping a pre-chorus here, trading a post-chorus for a dance break there, or introducing an entirely new element right before the end. This is a track quite unlike WayV’s follow-up singles in the formula realm, more low-key in its cinematic influence and committing to a much subtler ebb and flow as opposed to aforementioned examples of drama and grandiosity, yet somehow… goes harder. Every little addition and switch-up has its place here, working holistically and calculatedly, leaving no clunky bits or saggy spaces behind whatsoever- a remarkable thing, really, when you know how reckless songs that emerge from the K-pop machine can get with their phrasing when sacrificing verse for chorus and substance for catchiness. Harmony minimal and melody significantly less ambitious, Take Off takes your standard trap snare and hi-hat and fledges it out into pop excellence by messing with structure in all the right places.
#12 NCT DREAM – GO (2018)
Youth doesn’t only comprise hope, rainbows and candy, but also the rebel spirit, anger, defiance. In an endeavor to unleash a different side of themselves, teen-aged NCT DREAM partook in a sound exchange of sorts between the, then, two fixed NCT units as part of the NCT 2018 EMPATHY album, taking on the left-field, heavy beats typically associated with NCT 127 in a song that introduces itself with the spoken phrase of “Change your ways”. Full to the brim with a sense of urgency and the obvious desire to carry its turbulent energy across to the listener, exhorting them to speak out against an imposed oppressive fate on youth- of course while having to stick to keeping things as vague as possible thematically, as is common with a lot of K-pop’s highly stylized efforts at political messaging- GO sports adventurous production by The Stereotypes (Bruno Mars, Beyoncé, more recently TWICE and B.I), complete with abrasive, glitchy electronic notes, motorcycle engine-resembling synth and aggressive, distorted adlibs. This is also a pleasant occasion of visuals and sound being each other’s tells, with the music video featuring camcorder clips, clad in neon lights and late night mischief. The collective spirit purposely emphasized by strong, choral choruses and unisons all throughout EMPATHY, given that the album symbolizes the first time all NCT members came together, is perhaps the most prominent here, with the hook taking the form of a big, almost atonal chant and the somehow flawlessly ironic lines of “We're so young, we're so freaky / We're trapped inside a box, losing our real selves”. GO plays with rhythm and switches between belted musical phrases to low-key, fast raps where flows are perfectly enhanced by the instrumental, but my personal favorite moment lies where the essence of the unit shines through in this otherwise atypical for them concept at the time; member HAECHAN’s delivery of the most melodic and, similarly, optimistic part of the track during the bridge (“Without even knowing where I’m going / I won't live inside this chaos”), embodying the voice of a dreamer, accompanied by the only reappearance of the song’s intro chords in all of its duration.
#11 NCT 2020 – RESONANCE (2020)
One of the reasons I love NCT’s music is that only in one of their songs would you hear the phrase “We gon’ resonate” followed by the most obnoxious, distorted- borderline demonic- effect in repetition of the latter word. Yes, RESONANCE is no11, which to many may seem as baffling as the very nature of the track; a collage of different parts extracted from some of the era’s singles and B-sides, among which also the chorus that ties everything together in what predominantly functions as a bombastic performance piece for all 23 members that constitute NCT 2020. We have a lot to talk about. RESONANCE combines four NCT U songs- each member included in at least one of the lineups, resulting in the majority of them having substantial lines here, contrary to predecessor Black on Black- slightly altering their mixes to suit the amped up energy desired, the job, however made easier by the tempo proximity of three of the tracks, ranging from 101-110 BPM; the aforementioned Make A Wish’s first verse is the slightest bit sped and glitched up, its bridge completely stripped of bass when attached to the latter section of the song, while percussion remains in place all throughout the second verse of 90’s Love here, both linked by the two-part chorus taken from the album’s Pt. 2 B-side Raise The Roof, significantly more impactful in this context than that of its original studio version. The biggest deviance in tempo, though still very manageable in this case, lies in the use of Work It’s wisely chosen bridge section, ushered in by a “drop the bass” adlib and faded out with a slow-motion transition leading into- of course- a dance break. It is odd. Perhaps outrageous. And kind of awesome.
The very first time the chorus enters it’s with none other than the iconic “ooh wee” interjection reminiscent of the one in Ciara’s 1,2 Step (very similar to what also occurs in possibly SM Ent.’s most successful experimental endeavor to date, yes I’m about to mention aespa again, talking about none other than their 2021 smash hit Next Level). Whether the reference was intentional is unknown, but maybe a reason why this song works has, in fact, to do with something about merging past, present and future- like those album interludes suggest. The SM Ent. music-making brand is often associated with nostalgia-induced futurism, drawing familiarity from earlier music eras to glue together structures and sounds largely unprecedented in pop music. I mean you do have a New Jack Swing song called 90’s Love placed amidst a chaos of sirens, noisy dubstep and electronic transitions, in a sequence that could read as nothing more than a medley but is actually one of the most avant-garde musical propositions in the industry. The company is no stranger to 2-in-1 singles given the likes of SHINee’s 2012 classic Sherlock (Clue + Note) and SuperM’s earlier 2020 One (Monster & Infinity), but RESONANCE is SM Ent.’s thesis and most definitely NCT’s as well; with a central theme across all songs involved that can be encompassed in Make A Wish’s “I can take you anywhere” and a braggadocious, combative hook that recruits the listener into the group’s mission to change the game, RESONANCE unabashedly states that whatever you are looking for here, you are sure to find.
Thanks for tuning in to pt.1 of this ranking! I’m so glad to have you here and I hope this was an enjoyable read. Pt.2 is coming next week with the top 10 and even more passionate rambling, so make sure to check back here or subscribe to receive new posts in your email.
Comments are always appreciated! Feel free to reach out to me in any way you prefer. I would love to hear from you!
Have a wonderful week!