Zico’s ‘Grown Ass Kid,’ 1st HYBE Album Led by ‘Freak’ – Billboard

Zico has been one in all fashionable K-pop and Korean hip-hop’s most prolific artist-producers, and his long-awaited return seems poised to proceed his reign of thought-provoking, addictive hits.

Zico’s first assortment of latest music since 2020, Grown Ass Kid, comes after the star accomplished his required navy service for South Korean males in the course of the bulk of the worldwide pandemic. Understandably impressed by the occasions of the world, Zico’s new tracks lean on lyrical and musical themes of modern-day chaos.

Buzz single “Seoul Drift,” launched forward of the EP with a music video, has Zico reflecting on disappointments introduced on by the pandemic (“Two Christmas Eves/ Flight to Europe canceled/ Solo live performance and Vogue Week/ Only a crimson X on the problematic calendar”). Now in 2022, he’s making up for misplaced time, celebrating survival and transferring from “offline, which means that I ought to cross that line.” Regardless of the straightforward summer season hip-hop manufacturing, “Seoul Drift” is cautiously celebratory as Zico embraces the day “till there’s a crack within the earth.”

The brand new single “Freak” takes an analogous strategy however ups the disaster. Declaring everybody “freaks,” Zico discusses how right this moment’s chaotic world has made us all equals over a beat drop that sounds able to take over TikTok. He raps, “There isn’t a major character on this state of affairs/ Citizen 1, citizen 2, everyone seems to be an additional…/ Don’t count on any particular therapy/ From hipsters to pop stars, everyone seems to be an additional.” The accompanying music video has Zico and pals starring in a doomsday-situation story the place the world is burning whereas everyone seems to be concurrently documenting it on their telephones.

Elsewhere on the EP, new tune “Trash Discuss” is a traditional hip-hop observe that includes rapper Changmo; “Nocturnal Animals” is a slow-grooving, experimental R&B observe with rising rapper Zior Park; and “OMZ Freestyle” spotlights Zico’s spitting expertise.

Grown Ass Child is Zico’s first launch beneath his new label household, HYBE Labels, the identical system housing Okay-pop powerhouses like BTS, SEVENTEEN and ENHYPEN of their respective companies. After leaving his longtime label dwelling of Seven Seasons (that also homes his boy band Block B), Zico based the label KOZ Leisure in 2019. He signed singer Dvwn, and HYBE acquired the company in late 2020. Having a creative-in-control like Zico within the household continues to provide HYBE an edge over its competitors, with Grown Ass Child proving that the star stays introspective whereas pushing new boundaries.