Sticky

The song

‘Sticky’ is the title track of the digital single KISS OF LIFE released on 1 July 2024, which carries ‘Sticky’ and ‘Te Quiero’. The music video went up on the official channel a day earlier, on 30 June. The song is neither a pre-release from a record nor a track on one; it stands between the first single album Midas Touch, three months earlier, and the third mini album Lose Yourself, four months later. S2 Entertainment’s album introduction on Bugs presents it as a release made for the summer, and says the group return with an easier, brighter energy than they had shown before. The same text says the keyword of freedom the group have carried since their debut runs through this song too, drawing a picture of moving like a butterfly with no destination set inside a life that runs on without pause.

Reviews

Billboard picked the song for ‘The 25 Best K-Pop Songs of 2024’ on 7 December that year. J.B., who wrote the entry, read it as the summer song that fixed the group’s place internationally, and wrote that “beyond its chart success, ‘Sticky’ perfectly encapsulates KISS OF LIFE’s feel-good yet mature sensibilities”. The entry goes on: “The track’s bright rhythm contrasts sharply with the group’s earlier hip-hop and retro-inspired releases for a refreshing sonic shift that lets Julie, Natty, Belle and Haneul deliver a playful yet polished new performance. With the worldwide resonance for ‘Sticky,’ it is evident that versatility is key for KISS OF LIFE.”

Four days later NME placed the song fourth in ‘The 25 best K-pop songs of 2024’. The entry says the quartet tried a more relaxed, playful turn that summer and that “the results were fabulous”, and that “despite its minimalist production, the quartet easily fill the space with skilful, melodic vocal runs and riffs, with main vocalist Belle leading the charge”. It calls the song “refreshing and addictive” and writes that “this Afrobeats-inspired track bursts with flirty energy, whisking you off into a tropical getaway teeming with romantic tension”.

Numbers

Billboard set out the song’s chart record in the same entry. It was the group’s first entry on Billboard’s South Korea Songs chart, where it peaked at number seven; it broke into the top 100 of the Billboard Global 200; and it reached number ten on the US-based World Digital Song Sales chart.

The music video

Idology (아이돌로지) picked the song’s video in its 2024 music-video selection in February 2025, where Cho Eun-jae wrote a single line about it: “If you were to put a thumbnail on ‘the summer of 2024’.”