CRAVITY Debuts as the Center of Gravity
CRAVITY became a topic of obsession as they made a huge debut with their first mini-album, Hideout: Remember Who We Are - Season 1. Within days of release, the group achieved spots on various music charts, including No.1 on the U.S. iTunes K-Pop Albums Chart. The group’s popularity began before their debut, as they consist of well-known trainees, including contestants from the survival show PRODUCE X 101 and former members of X1.
The Single
Title track “Break all the Rules'' is a song bursting with energy and life. With the members synchronizing “Turn it up,” the track sets the tone of an anthem to gather your clan to break all the rules. The grand opening sets up for a steady verse and once again heats up with energetic verses and snappy rap lines. The track finally reveals its true self as a heavy electro pop song as the duo Jungmo and Minhee lead the pre-chorus. The proclaiming chorus radiates swagger from the very first listen, as it kindles every listeners’ fighting spirit. Rather than standing alone against the world, the members believe in the strength of unity and call out to their fans to gather. The empowering lyrics aren’t a new phenomenon in this era but are irresistible nonetheless. “Don’t cool down my flame. You’ll burn yourself trying to surround me,” Allen declares while Serim follows, “I become what I dreamed of. Cuz I said that it’s just around the corner, checkmate,” unraveling their fierce shades as acknowledged rappers in the group. Though the single is too quick to frame the members’ potent, it serves as a perfect preview to make the listeners curious about the group.
The Music Video
The song is accompanied with a powerful music video as the members flaunt their mature and confident shades. The music video begins with a puzzling cubic box, symbolizing the frustrated and confused state of the members as they are stuck in multiple cube boxes. Imageries of the act’s unique color is very well expressed visually, as shots capture Jungmoo in a plain white background while his aura is purple with passion, Minhee in a bright and lively dark blue suit on a similar colored box while the other boxes seem faded and lifeless, and Allen being tied up with red strings that restrict him from moving. The initial choreography of the group is also performed within a checkbox.
As the video goes on, the members can’t contain their frustration anymore and blast out with zeal and passion to break the curbing cubes and rules. The limitations are eased as the shots shift to Hyeongjun unleashing himself destroying the boundaries and Serim’s flower garden bursts with fragrance. The spirits of the members are also depicted in the form of fire and water elements, making the clip more supernatural. And as the climax nears, the members show off their powerful choreography above the cubic box. As for the group’s role in the video, the members do justice as performers to coequal the setting and CG effects. On the whole, the music video does compliment the single greatly while visually serving a feast to the audience.
The Album
Being the debut album of the group, the EP is well constructed for the listeners to venture from heavy to peppy genres. The playlist begins with a hard-hitting track, “Top of the Chain,” as it begins with establishing the group’s dominance as rookies. Following the title, “Jumper,” a track produced by their senior Jooheon from MONSTA X scores huge with the fire spitting verses and rap. After a similar fast beat song, “Blackout,” there is a shift in the mood. “Stay” tunes in as a sweet promise song as the group and their new fans foresee a long lasting journey together. “Cloud 9” and “Star” are similarly sweet sounding, which addresses the fans with delight.
Blooming from Starship, the tower of MONSTA X, they do emit a hint of their seniors' flavor in the album, yet stand up to all the preconceptions and expectations. But we can still agree that there is a long way to go for the newcomers to fly with their own aura and style in the future.