K-Pop A-Z

K-Pop A-Z Review: EXO – Call Me Baby

Posted on by 5 Comments

One song. Every day. Alphabetical order.

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Call Me Baby (from Exodus / Love Me Right – 2015)

Enlisting new jack swing legend Teddy Riley as songwriter, Call Me Baby felt like the next evolution in EXO’s sound upon its 2015 release. The song has only grown more impressive with age, acting as the kind of megawatt Pop Star single we rarely hear these days. Its instrumental resounds with commanding bass, insistent rhythm guitar and crackling energy. The melody line is built around this production to brilliant effect, harnessing the song’s momentum to forge an unrelenting stream of hooks. Its real centerpiece isn’t even unveiled until a minute in, preceded by a catchy repetition of the song’s titular refrain. Once Call Me Baby explodes into its blissed-out, layered chorus, you assume you’ve heard the best the track has to offer. But, you haven’t even made it to Baby’s dizzying breakdown, which makes iconic use of EXO’s moniker before letting its groove do the talking.

 Hooks 9
 Production 10
 Longevity 10
 Bias 10
 RATING 9.75

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5 thoughts on “K-Pop A-Z Review: EXO – Call Me Baby”

    • Yeah, I kind of agree here. Listing the final review as “9.75” is a good “stats for nerds” reference (which I think you should keep). But not rounding the final score up to 10 seems a bit.. ..fastidious.

      I’m not suggesting you retroactively change every review you’ve made thus far, but maybe new reviews (and revisits, such as this one) can round up the 0.25’s to 8.5, 9, 9.5, 10, etc..

      Or not. Your site, your rules. I can live with either.

      Liked by 1 person

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  2. This song just oozed charisma and sex appeal in a way that most kpop songs can only dream of. Everything about both it and the video has a confidence that entrances and truly is them at their full power. I’ve yet to like a song as much by them before or since

    Liked by 1 person

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