Popular Music Critic Gives His Two Cents On NewJeans’ “How Sweet”— Netizens React

NewJeans recently released their double singles, “How Sweet” and “Bubble Gum,” on May 24, KST.

For “How Sweet,” it took over the charts right after its release, gaining over 37,000 listeners on the Melon platform. This was also recorded as the highest number of unique listeners for 2024.

Most recently, a post by music critic Kim Youngdae gained much attention from fans on his opinion about the song.

뉴진스의 How Sweet. 신곡이 나왔을때 평론가가 그걸 보거나 듣고 놀랄 확률은 거의 없고 설령 있다고 해도 그것은 부정적인 종류의 놀라움인 경우가 대부분이다. 그런 의미에서 뉴진스는 데뷔 이래 내게 예상치 못한 놀라움을 지속적으로 느끼게하는 몇 안되는 그룹. 평론가로서 무력감을 느낄만큼 그…

— 김영대 Kim Youngdae (@toojazzy25) May 29, 2024

“‘How Sweet’ by NewJeans. When a new song drops, when a critic sees or listens to it, there’s little chance they will be surprised by it, and even if they are, they are usually surprised negatively. In that sense, NewJeans is one of the few groups that have surprised me consistently since its debut.

As a critic, it’s hard to predict the direction to the point one feels helpless, and most of the things that have been released are novel to someone like me who’s been in the industry for a long time.

Interestingly, not just critics but also the public feel this way. NewJeans’ style of music is usually called easy listening, but the music itself is not easy; rather, it’s the ability to take music that could be difficult and make it easy to enjoy. It’s the same for ‘How Sweet.’ They took all the elements of old school, but it doesn’t feel old and is filled with simple and cool aesthetics that don’t require any explanation or persuasion.”

— Kim Youngdae

Netizens agreed with the critic and felt he explained NewJeans’ style of music well.

• “It was boring at first but it gets better the more I listen to it.”
• “It’s not my preference, but aside from that they’ve taken the old school concept and continued to make it modern. I felt that the producer had good taste.”
• “I liked it because instead of taking the freshness of the genre, they took the nostalgia vibe and used in their music.”
• “I’m not a fan but this song is really nice, I also liked ‘Ditto.’”
• “I like it the more I listen to it, I don’t get tired of it. t.”
• “I keep thinking about it, it’s so addicting.”
• “The song is so good. I don’t understand the critique about using the same easy listening tool. It’s always new and fresh.”
• “This music video was my personal favorite. The video matches perfectly with the song.”

• “The song is so good…”
• “It’s paradise if you watch the dance with the song.”
• “It’s simple and straightforward but it doesn’t make it boring and is nice to listen to. It’s so nice.”
• “That’s a good critique of the song.”
• “I was never into any of their other songs, but this song, I like it the more I listen to it.”
• “The song is so good!”

Watch the full music video below!