Though it has obvious commercial firepower behind it, Teddy and Kush’s The Black Label has also developed a reputation for infrequent comebacks and — at times — dated production choices. With all the talent involved, it’s a bit surprising how little the agency actually does. That work schedule will be tested with the debut of their first idol group. MEOVV arrives with plenty of hype, but does their first single live up to expectations?
It feels like we’ve crossed a threshold when it comes to a certain style of K-pop track. You know the type: more concerned with style and attitude than melodic or sonic cohesion. A song like MEOW feels like a parody of itself, twisting tropes we’ve long since tired of and neglecting the core elements that make a K-pop single really pop. Not to be the old guy in the room, but I was listening to 2NE1’s early material the other day to get a sense of where these tropes first gained traction. They were also a group closely tied to Teddy, but the material felt sharper, less gimmicky and always anchored by the kind of mass appeal hook that would have you singing along from first listen.
MEOW has hooks, but they mostly involve chanting or badass posturing. The song feels belabored by the need to deliver a BLACKPINK-esque throwdown. Where’s the sense of fun? Adventure? Inspiration? How many of these “look at how cool I am?” girl groups can the market really support? From MEOW‘s limp instrumental to its monotonous “yeah yeah yeah” centerpiece, I fear (and hope?) we’ve reaching the nadir of this particular style. It’s long since worn out its welcome and this song brings nothing new to the conversation.
| Hooks | 5 |
| Production | 7 |
| Longevity | 7 |
| Bias | 6 |
| RATING | 6.25 |
The Bias List // K-Pop Reviews & Discussion 
I have the same problem as you. The song is too predictable (hell, I literally predicted in my reply to one of your tweets that the “yuh yuh yuh” would make up 50% of the song! Damn me and my intuition!). I’m not feeling this at all.
The “yuh yuh yuh” gets stale very quickly and becomes obnoxious quickly (even worse when it makes up 50% of the song). I liked the verses and pre-chorus, but man, that’s pretty much it.
I am confused as to what to rate it, cause I’m just bored with YG/TBL’s choices for their girl groups. But I’m giving it a 6 (5, 7, 6, 6), cause see my second paragraph. I also considered giving it a 5.75 with bias being a 5, but this is just boring music, deprived of any originality, and isn’t a 5.75- bad imo.
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I don’t think it’s bad but it’s very lackluster for a debut. Teddy didn’t even produce it, but I’ll still blame him since he’s the CEO.
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Oh I LOVED the vibe of the verses and that “bridge” part right before the ending but the chorus…
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also their vocals are like incredible? for a new group
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Another Blackpink carryover that I’m so freaking sick of is the luxury brand showboating. That blatant focus on the Chanel bow is just as bad as NMIXX singing about Coke Zero in their debut. Can we ditch this “luxury brand collaboration bait” era ASAP? Because the accompanying Kpop isn’t Kpoppin.
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It seems like they didn’t wanna fully commit to a specific vibe. The teasers had me sure we were in for another Blackpink but Meovv tried to be badass, posh, and cute all in one–it didn’t work. Shame cause the girls have good auras but the material does absolutley nothing for them.
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I’m definitely not a fan. The whole “yeah yeah” line was quite annoying, and to have it play throughout almost the entire song made it worse. I also think that chorus wasn’t really interesting. However, I did like the pre-chorus and some of the verses. I would probably give it a 5 (5, 6, 4, 5). YG/TBL have been disappointing in terms of music lately.
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why make a new song when you can recreate du du du a bajillion times?
6.75/10 for me (7, 7, 7, 6)
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kek, this is bad
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Agreed.
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commas commas commas 🥴😭
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It has a lot of similar elements to SHEESH by babymon but without all of the good parts of SHEESH that made it semi-enjoyable
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It feels exactly like Babymonster. Talent is clearly there, and some of the verses are even decent. The bare bones of potential sometimes peak through. But it’s all absolutely destroyed by that god-awful chorus. Even Blackpink rarely had chorus’s this bad- empty and repetitive and shouty, sure, but there was usually better execution.
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I feel like there’s just something missing here. Like someone else said, it’s lackluster and doesn’t really stand out as a debut.
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From the earlier stuff I heard about these girls it seemed like they were more suited for an IVE-type sound…I can see the similarities to Babymonster but at least Sheesh was memorably and inescapably annoying while this is just annoying. I really hope they change direction.
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This ain’t it, like someone else said…they’re trying to be sleek, cool, but a little cute. Of course I went to kpop profiles to see how old they are and yup, as expected, they’re young, all under 19. Give the girls a fun, fresh, concept, I’m tired of kpop being so “cool” bring back fun or if not, bring back something boisterous.
Or maybe kpop could take a breather and just stop debuting groups for a while. I’m no die hard kpop fan but the field has become so oversaturated and it becomes hard for groups to separate themselves from another. Like in this case this could have easily been a Baby Monster or Blackpink song, hell even Bad Villian could have done this.
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The song isnt as bad and honestly I don’t see the black pink or Babymon image y’all are trying to force on meovv. The song was catchy and I see it as a feel good song. And can we stop comparing fifth gen to 2nd gen already, it’s annoying.
Even in Hollywood, Bollywood, cpop, jpop, music evolve and so has this generation. Its about time y’all appreciate that this is the trending concept.
Expectations? Oh please. Y’all never had any expectations for meovv because it was a black label group. The hate already started before the debut.
The song isn’t bad. It’s a good song you can vibe to if you want to hype up your friends or yourself. It’s a song to make you feel good. Not everything has to be deep.
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And everyone keeps saying we want fresh concepts, cute concepts, girly concepts, then go for groups that give you that. Yg and Bl don’t have that identity and I hope they never will. If YG or Bl pop up with a group similar to I’ve ordered New Jeans or Aespa, I’m sure y’all would open your mouth and accuse them of following the trend. I’m so happy they keep to the trend and if the so called cool music ain’t for you, then find a group that does it for you and leave the cool group to us that like it like that
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nmixx discog laughs at your comment, and apparently your bias debut
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“Not everything has to be deep” you’re right, this is just a bad song.
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Total earworm of a song, fun and addictive. I don’t even pay attention to this girl-crush style of songs most of the time (though I have nothing against it, to each their own) but this song is simply a good time.
Oh and the “yuh yuh yuh” that everyone here seems to be losing it about is apparently “야옹 야옹 야옹” (“yaong yaong yaong”), which is meow in Korean haha. (Did I mention it was fun?)
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… … … yeah, not for me., moving on.
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disappointing they didn’t lean into the high teen concept like IVE or even darker magical girls (wjsn, izone, gfriend, etc). this “edgy badass girl” vibe is so dated and doesn’t do anything to be unique either. i was hoping for something sleek with a spy or secret witches concept since their entire identity is about cats. just strange how the energy of their teasers, which were pretty fascinating, do not match the personas they put in this mv. i think even itzy’s earlier stuff (club bangers, high energy teen concept) would’ve fit them much better than this.
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It doesn’t even feel edgy or badass. It’s almost like it has no identity at all and is a total throwaway song. And since they debuted with it as a single, the group has no identity either. Like I have absolutely no idea what their sound will be in the future. If they miss on their next track, any hype or interest they had pre-debut will completely die.
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I think I might enjoy this if they lost the “yuh yuh yuh”, but that’s unfortunately half the song.
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Joke of a label, what are they even doing in the studios?
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The production is downright obnoxious with the “yo yo yo” or whatever. It’s a shame because the vocals actually seem very good and distinctive, but they are so underutilized as is the charisma of the members. The song should complement its performers, but it fights them instead. And by only debuting with this as a single, I have absolutely no idea what their future sonic direction will be. The song itself has no musical identity other than obnoxious, so the group doesn’t have one either.
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Should’ve made the song from the instrumental in the group’s trailer. Lost opportunity, and what we got in turn was lackluster and forgettable to say the least. I’m too bored to even rate it
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yeah… at first i was enjoying the song, but it went nowhere while never ending. it just kept going, but it got stale really fast. the final minute of this song could kill a party.
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Why even debut in the first place when your label has a girlgroup with the same exact sound? The song isn’t ear-bleeding, and the girls are talented, but you could give Meow to Babymonster and nothing would change. Just seems like a waste of talent, time and money.
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The “yeah yeah yeah” hook is good. The dancing with multiple bigfoots was great. The fact that so many of their visuals remind me of other idols (dahyun, yooa, somyi, boa) is also good(?). Can’t even be disappointed at this point, I’ve come to expect lackluster material from certain places now.
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As much as I’d love to say, “yes, you are definitely the old guy in the room,” I think this production style has been aging with us and sadly it is aging a little bit like milk.
The song is not unlisteneable and it has some interesting moments (especially the pre-chorus). Unlike other songs in this style, the chorus at least has a couple more lyrics to follow and it’s just not the song title being repeated throughout the section.
I don’t love it but I see some of its charm!
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I listened to the song several times already. I can’t deny it’s regressive but the tune is catchy (i love the pre-chorus), the prod is great, the voices blend very well.
Now i’m very doubtful about the group itself though (except Narin). I’m not sure they are as good as the main others.
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