Photo = YG Entertainment

 

BABYMONSTER’s ‘춤 (CHOOM)’ is showing off its powerful addictiveness.

 

The title track ‘춤 (CHOOM)’ from BABYMONSTER’s third mini album, released on the 4th, drew mixed reactions immediately after its release. Some found it unfamiliar due to its synth riff with a strong oriental color and direct lyrics such as “Mon Tue Wed Thur Fri Sat Let's all get in” and “I'll show you my Choom.”

 

However, its momentum was far from ordinary. The music video surpassed 15 million views in just half a day after its release and went straight to No. 1 on YouTube’s worldwide trending chart, and it has now exceeded 100 million views. According to Hanteo Chart, first-day album sales also reached 387,871 copies, breaking the group’s own record. The live broadcast held on comeback day recorded about 1.57 million views in one hour, increasing by more than 400,000 views compared to the previous release. As reactions continue to pile up saying the song becomes more addictive the more you listen, we looked into why this song has a “curry flavor.”

 

The reason this song sounds unfamiliar lies in its sound structure itself. ‘CHOOM’ is a hip-hop dance track that layers a “guna” rhythm over an addictive synth riff and heavy bass. Guna is a repetitive and hypnotic beat pattern derived from Indian music, creating a structure where the body responds first the more one listens, rather than immediately catching the ear at once. While the bouncy synth riff instantly grabs the listener’s ears, the heavy hitting sounds leave a strong impact, and the chorus section where the beat shifts is considered the key point that raises the addictiveness of the entire song.

 

This oriental and Asian-colored sound is, in fact, also a strength that YG Entertainment has steadily honed over the years. BLACKPINK’s ‘FOREVER YOUNG,’ released in 2018, was a song that added BLACKPINK’s signature charisma over moombahton, a Caribbean and South American rhythm, while ‘HOW YOU LIKE THAT,’ released two years later, completed its unique identity by combining oriental sounds with EDM sound based on hip-hop beats. ‘CHOOM’ can be seen as a more strongly refined version of the so-called “YG-style curry flavor” that follows that lineage. The fact that it feels unfamiliar at first and divides opinions, but becomes addictive the more one listens, is also a shared trait. YANG HYUN SUK, executive producer, saying that it would be “a new album unlike anything shown before” can also be read in this context.

 

As the gradually addictive sound was joined by solid live skills, the atmosphere quickly turned around. Starting with MBC’s <Show! Music Core> on the 9th, BABYMONSTER appeared one after another on major music shows including SBS’s <Inkigayo> and Mnet’s <M Countdown>, drawing praise with hand-mic live performances. Their sharp rapping that cuts into the ears, refreshing vocals that stretch out powerfully, and live technique that freely controls dynamics according to the sound development drew responses calling them “a group whose live performance is better than the digital track.” The <Show! Music Core> stage video recorded 2.58 million views on the day of broadcast, the highest among the performers that day (May 9), and the following May 16 stage also surpassed 1.6 million views. Their unwavering singing ability even over dynamic performances and commanding power that takes over the stage in an instant proved the addictiveness of ‘CHOOM’ through direct experience.

 

The numbers also support this. In 13 days after the comeback, they gained an additional 250,000 YouTube subscribers, surpassing 12 million subscribers in total. Achieved about 2 years and 2 months after debut, this is the fastest record ever for a K-POP girl group. They remain firmly at No. 1 among 5th-generation girl groups, and even when expanded to all K-POP girl groups, the figure ranks 3rd following the ‘CHOOM’ comeback. In addition to topping the iTunes Worldwide Albums Chart, they recorded 601,005 copies in initial chodong sales, marking an increase of about 50,000 copies compared to their previous release.

 

The essence of curry flavor is that it becomes more charming because it is unfamiliar. ‘CHOOM’ is now proving exactly that. This is why curiosity is growing over what kind of “dance party” BABYMONSTER, who will begin their second world tour in Seoul this June, will create in concert venues larger than broadcast studio halls.