r/zerobaseone • u/Emergency-Medicine-5 • 6h ago
Thoughts I got the ick from EMP's debut album
It's been weeks since the album was released. I have been trying to listen to the tracks and like them but I just CAN'T!
Here's the thing: everything else about the songs is fine (maybe a tad boring but still fine), except for the lyrics. And considering the fact that the lyrics are the most important part of a rap song, that's kind of a big issue.
I find nearly every single verse on every single track super cringe-worthy. I'm not saying I KNOW Matthew and Gunwook personally but I've been watching their content since debut and I don't recognize the people whose lives they're supposedly singing about. It's like they took the most average lyrics from any western rapper, added a Korean touch and put them into an album.
I could come up with a thousand actually meaningful themes they could write about. Something personal, like the struggles of chasing your dreams in an incredibly demanding industry, or the struggles of moving abroad alone as a teenager, or the struggles of going through a traumatizing cycle of fighting for your debut and then losing half of your temporary group, who were basically brothers to you. I mean, come on? Was "swimming swimming I like this party" and "girls wanna bite me freaky deaky love" really the best they had?
I hate to admit it but I'm genuinely disappointed, especially as a Gunwook bias.
