And we're off to a creepy start with the "Where do you live, do you live alone" whisper as soon as the song begins. Now I don't know what this contributes, but for the sake of the song I like to pretend the lyrics are "Where do you lift, do you lift alone" for shits and giggles. It makes the few times the lyrics show up funny rather than creepy. I immediately fell in love with the verses. Hani and LE provide a delightful contrast that is just fantastic. Hani's sweet and composed vocals cut right into LE's frantic and aggressive raps. LE has plenty of good material out there but this is some of her best work to date. This contrast and flip is not only played out in the verses and voices but the characteristics of the girls in the video. Hani acts coy and almost shy, carefully approaching the person of interest, while LE isn't afraid to get up in his face and spit some lyrics at him. Hani's pure white work attire is the opposite of LE's black (and red) outfit(s). Other aspects follow suit, showing a perhaps classic office / work setting for Hani's lines and for LE the same set is used, but the lights are flashing violently, and the static effects on the screen tear and distort vision in the 2nd chorus, while Hani's scenes have stable lighting and camera.
Unfortunately we go right into Junghwa's super awkward prechorus. I know she doesn't have a very good voice, but the filter / extras certainly don't help her much. The general sound is just awkward, no other way to describe it. Her parts in "Up & Down" were also just as awkward. Thankfully it's short and we're blessed with some glorious chorus from Hyerin and Solji (mostly Solji). The chorus itself is short but strong, similar to "Up & Down." The bridge is surprisingly good at building up into the final chorus and would have been better without the creepy English. Anyway, I'm glad Solji continues to get efforts to showcase her skills because she has a powerful voice that we'll get to see more of as EXID continues to grow in popularity.
The most obvious sign that this song was influenced or paying homage to "Up & Down" was in the choreography. The girls are practically doing the same dance which is either good or bad depending on your point of view. On one hand, making slight adjustments (like hopping / waving instead of pelvic thrusting) is cute and is just playing off "Up & Down," and on the other we could've seen some new choreography for this song. The dance overall is an average effort.
EXID have had quirky videos since before "Up & Down," so I'm not surprised that this song is sort of the same. Using censors was questionable and a little bizarre but I guess the idea was to poke fun at having previous work get censored by all the broadcasting companies that do this to everyone. Of course they troll all the viewers by revealing all the cute and completely innocent images on the walls and stick their tongues out and laugh it off. In the end, "Ah Yeah" is certainly the child song of "Up & Down." Despite that, it's a strong release that stands by itself without too much outside help. The contrast and bounce in each verse is exciting, and Solji's power vocals carry the chorus and end of the song. What I'm most curious is to where EXID will go from here, after brandishing the power of "Up & Down" and "Ah Yeah."
[ Overall: 92 / 100 ]
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