82MAJOR are on the run. Well, at least they are in their latest music video to TAKEOVER,  accompanied by their 3rd mini-album SILENCE SYNDROME. If it’s your day one with 82MAJOR, six prison escapees getting down on a train track while dressed in soft pink pyjamas with bunny motifs will be the first impression you get. And as far as vibe samplers go, it’s pretty accurate for laid-back hip-hop dwellers. With a rapper to vocalist ratio of 2:1, 82MAJOR have always orbited around the genre, and TAKEOVER quells any fears that they might’ve shifted from that sound this comeback. The beat features a pressing, yet muted alarm; it simulates the nagging of an undone seatbelt warning as they patronise their opposers. The hook is one of many shouted choruses boy groups like to do these days, softened by the smooth prechoruses, and justified by some rather impressive rap verses for such a young group.

You can get through the whole mini-album in 12 minutes, so it’s easily replayable after it hops from track to track. The second of which, Heroes, continues the cooler-than-you feel TAKEOVER introduced. It starts with a muted mantra, before we’re pulled out of the water with a line from the deep-voiced Seokjoon: “Young leader, one in a million / I got more than a trillion.” It’s light in composure, but features some traditional flute and strings action, driving the punch of the sheer attitude exhibited in the verses. 

Passport features a more Western influence: a hip-hop sound without mercy. The premise is quite fresh, inciting fans to literally travel to see them perform (yes, that’s really what the song is about): “If you wanna see a concert bring a passport / Country to country so you prolly gon’ need more / we make you dance body to body sweat more / bring a passport bri-bring a passport.” Besides Yechan’s addictive hook, the track also gives the boys a chance to boast about all the travel their luxurious careers as artists afford them, referencing paparazzi flashes and passports overflowing with stamps. Such an unconventional bid that all the boys participated in the writing of is truly a respectable one, as we don’t always see rappers in K-Pop truly go all out with the smugness.

Which is why Promise You will completely catch you off guard. It pours sugar into a savoury meal, altering the flavour of something that already had its solid identity prior. If the song achieves anything, it certainly expands the scope of what 82MAJOR’s sound is all about. The boys’ own penned lyrics tell all; it’s a love letter to fans, whom it will be primarily appreciated by: “I really need you to stay, I’ll protect you / You’re the start of my day, you’re my life.”

Haters can’t poke sticks at reinforced areas; now everyone must know the boys that were born from hip-hop are able to get out of their comfort zones and traverse new lands. In short, SILENCE SYNDROME is a confident endeavour with a palette cleanser at the end for those who prefer heartfelt vocals over relentless hip-hop. But really, if you don’t like hip-hop, what are you doing here?

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Written by Maddie Armstrong

Featured image courtesy of GREAT M Entertainment

_{View of the Arts is an online publication dedicated to films, music, and arts, with a strong focus on the Asian entertainment industry. With rich content already available to our readers, we aim to expand our reach and grow alongside our audience by delving deeper into emerging platforms such as K-pop and Asian music more broadly. At the same time, we remain committed to exploring the vibrant and ever-evolving global landscape of film, music, and the arts, celebrating the immense talent and creativity that define these industries worldwide.}