질주 (2 Baddies)

The record

질주 (2 Baddies) is NCT 127’s fourth studio album, released on 16 September 2022. It carries twelve tracks and the title song shares the album’s name. SM Entertainment’s album introduction on Bugs calls the title song “a fierce hip-hop dance number in which an addictive signature synth meets a powerful vocal”, and credits Dem Jointz, Andreas Öberg, Cutfather and KENZIE among the writers, with Taeyong and Mark on the rap-making. The Korea Herald reported from a press conference in Seoul on the day of release, where Doyoung said the members had set out from the beginning of production to make a masterpiece. The repackage Ay-Yo carried these tracks again on 30 January the following year.

Reviews

Idology (아이돌로지) carried Binunmul’s short piece in ‘Monthly’, its round-up of September 2022 releases. After setting out why the rap comes to mind first with this group, he wrote: “But — amusingly, or ironically — NCT 127 is made up largely of members whose strength is the vocal, and with a history of several well-made ballad and R&B tracks behind them, the vocal too carries great weight in the group’s identity.” He read the record as placing a number of vocal-forward tracks to state that strength plainly, and wrote that by building a drama inside itself the album offers a new way of listening and arrives at a sense of completeness.

NME’s Carmen Chin published her review four days after release. “But for most of ‘2 Baddies’, NCT 127 tap into sultrier stylings and R&B,” she wrote, adding that the group had dialled up explorations they had made before on B-sides.

Rolling Stone India’s Divyansha Dongre published her review on the day of release. Of ‘Time Lapse’ she wrote: “The mixing is great, weaving the maturity and smoothness of R&B with an addictive K-pop soundscape, making this a truly experimental and well-produced track.”

Among the tracks

The slower songs are where all three pieces meet. Binunmul wrote that “on an orthodox ballad track like ‘Gold Dust’ in particular you can feel the fine vocals of Doyoung and the other members”. The album introduction glosses 윤슬 as the word for ripples glittering in sunlight or moonlight. Chin wrote that “the mid-tempo ‘Time Lapse’ begins with slow buzzes and twinkles against gentle croons, before it begins to build momentum”, and that “its tight production is further elevated by some of the best lyrics from NCT 127 in recent memory, which comes as no surprise given they were written by Taeyong and Mark”. She called ‘Crash Landing’ “a similarly understated gem”.

On the faster songs the rap leads. Of the opener Chin wrote that “‘Faster’ is defined by its heavy bassline and alto vocal tones; it’s an immediate club-ready banger that spotlights member Mark’s knack for riding the most eccentric of beats”, and of ‘LOL (Laugh-Out-Loud)’ that it “follows suit with funky, chugging guitar riffs that culminate in an endearing neo-soul celebration of living in the moment”. Of the closing track Binunmul wrote that “gathering the end of the narrative into the fan song ‘1, 2, 7 (Time Stops)’ let the album carry a meaning worth holding on to as well”.

Numbers

The Korea Herald reported that the album arrived about eleven months after the third studio album Sticker, and that five songs were played at the press conference: the title track, ‘Faster’, ‘Time Lapse’, ‘Crash Landing’ and ‘1, 2, 7 (Time Stops)’. The album introduction to the fifth studio album Fact Check records that this record passed three million copies sold for the second album running and entered major charts around the world, the Billboard 200 among them.