This is something that I wish EXO released before all the contract controversy that accompanies every S.M. boy group that isn't SHINee. "Call Me Baby" is a dance track through and through, despite the song name suggesting otherwise. The instrumental is good, perhaps even underrated but this combined with the vocals make for a solid background. The choreography is sharp, focused, and coordinated. The dance moves themselves are slick outside of the move at 1:19, and there is ten times the crotch grabbing for all the insane fangirls to fangirl over. Hooray? Visually, it seems that the members who used to look awkward now look pretty good, and the members who used to look good now look awkward. For example, Suho and Kai can't work the hair they have, while Lay and Chanyeol are swagged out. Xiumin needs to cut his hair, and Tao and D.O always hilariously look tired and angry respectively. EXO continues to love playing with the camera for transitions, and I doubt they'll stop until they get sued for doing that so many times it causes headaches.
The vocals in "Call Me Baby" is yet another piece of evidence that Baekhyun, D.O, and Chen (I've given up using his real name, as silly as I still think it sounds) carry all of EXO on their backs. Now, this isn't to say that the others are bad. On the contrary, I'm still a fan of Suho's voice and Lay impressed with his reach and falsetto, but the true EXO subunit is essentially Baekhyun, D.O, and Chen. As long as S.M. keeps those three they can still have a successful "EXO," a la Girls' Generation-TTS. Strip away the instrumentals and other members and what you're left with is excellent stuff from these guys. The bridge is also really good and transitions into the dance break / rap rather well, something that EXO has historically been strong with, as "Wolf" and "Overdose" bridges were also highlights.
Chanyeol was already one of the best rappers from S.M. and this is a good rap to prove that. Tao is sort of in the same realm, but Chanyeol's voice is far more suited to rapping than Tao's. Unfortunately, the inclusion of extras (Xiumin, Sehun) hurt the rap in my opinion. Not that the short jumps in weren't appreciated (since they had so few lines otherwise), but the cringeworthy English is terrible and should never be used again. "Never don't mind about a thing"? Sounds like normal English, but isn't. Stop. You ruined Chanyeol and Tao's solid rapping.
To say I'm pleased with "Call Me Baby" is an understatement. The vocals are superb, rapping on point, choreography smooth. The camera transitions are so routine for this group I almost can't be upset about them, and a variety of structure in both the singing and dancing makes the song all the more enjoyable. If S.M. could manage their groups like they do their music it'd be an entirely different story.
[ Overall: 92 / 100 ]
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