Bold and oozing with swagger, South Korean group NCT 127 made their comeback with the release of “Regular,” the band’s first predominantly English-language single on October 8. The Latin-inspired dance track and its flashy music video give a sense of the confidence with which this 10-member group looks to turn the heads of global audiences.
The song begins with a vibrant, syncopated beat, accented with clapping. This is a distinct characteristic of flamenco dance rhythms, known as palmas. This is made thoroughly NCT 127-esque with the addition of a heavy trap beat as rappers Mark and Taeyong kick off the song with their charismatic flows. Despite these two acting as the centerpieces of “Regular” and the group boasting a large roster, the title track allows every member to show off their chops, including Jungwoo, the group’s newest addition. The song is peppered with growls, cheers and yips from the members — Taeyong, Taeil, Johnny, Yuta, Doyoung, Jaehyun, Winwin, Mark, Haechan and Jungwoo — as well as cash register dings. Every voice comes together in the anthemic chorus, as the members sing “I just made a million and I'm still not satisfied / 'Cause I need the bag on the regular.”
Set in a futuristic, sci-fi city, the visual for “Regular” shows the boys’ sharp, expressive choreography interspersed with scenes in which they partake in street gang-like debauchery — sitting on moving cars, parachuting off buildings and walking around with a tiger (a symbol of Korea and its people) as they sing about their unstoppable success.
SM Entertainment’s Seoul-based unit of the NCT ecosystem was recently named Apple Music's "Up Next" artist, and premiered the song first on Apple Music's Beats 1 Radio before performing it for the first time on Jimmy Kimmel Live! to a sold out crowd. “We wanted to focus on spreading our music to the world,” Canadian-born member Mark said of the title track. “We needed an English version of the song, and we wanted our international fans to listen to it, as well.” NCT 127 will continue to make a number of U.S. appearances to promote their first full-length studio album (with addition of Jungwoo), Regular-Irregular, out October 12.
Check out NCT 127's performance on Kimmel:
