As expected, BTS have begun to release follow-up videos from their highly-anticipated ARIRANG album. Many listeners found lead single Swim an oddly muted choice for promotion, and I agree that there are songs on ARIRANG with more commercial appeal. However, for their first follow-up video they've chosen one of my least favorite tracks from the album.
Music video aside (I don't usually factor those into my reviews), I need someone to seriously explain the appeal of this song. I really want to know what people like about it, because to my ears 2.0 is one long monotonous drone of repetitive phrasing over a dull, drowsy beat. Co-produced by Mike WiLL Made-It, the track is essentially one or two rhythmic ideas with slight changes across three (unending) minutes. I struggle to find the appeal of mindless hooks like "You know how I do do do do do" and "Pop pop pop pop pop" and "Ya ya ya ya." Given the amount of time BTS spent on this comeback album, I'm shocked that a song like 2.0 couldn't muster anything more interesting. And given their early influence from the golden age of hip-hop (when lyricism was king) this feels like a major downgrade.
Perhaps a jolt in energy might have salvaged 2.0's repetition, or at the very least made the song come across as somewhat fun. Instead, we have a self-serious screed over a cavernous instrumental that builds to nothing. Take this verse, for example:
"Pop, pop, pop, pop, pop
Pop, pop, pop, pop, pop, uh
Baby gettin' too lit
Rah, rah, rah, rah, rah, rah (Yeah)
Hit 'em up like pop (Ha)
Hit 'em with the truth like rah, uh
Time to pay your debt, uh, fear me or fear me not
Let it be, let it bleed, uh, hit a lick, uh, in a split (Stop, ride)"
I mean… okay? So, the lyricism is awful, the sound is monotonous and the song goes nowhere. What exactly am I supposed to be enjoying here? I'm genuinely curious.
| Hooks | 6 |
| Production | 6 |
| Longevity | 6 |
| Bias | 5 |
| RATING | 5.75 |
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