ONF Dazzles With Intense Choreography in “춤춰 (Ugly Dance)”
Only two months after the release of their first full album and obtaining their first win, ONF is back with repackage album City of ONF. Title track "춤춰 (Ugly Dance)" and its accompanying music video open with references to previous title track "Beautiful Beautiful," but quickly derail into something new while still uniquely ONF.
Key visuals from the "Beautiful Beautiful" music video were the all-CGI futuristic sci-fi setting and a group of dancing robots, both of which open the music video for "춤춰 (Ugly Dance)." The song itself begins with a sample of the brassy, upbeat instrumentals from "Beautiful Beautiful," but that's where the overlap ends—with even the track titles being perfect opposites.
Where the "Beautiful Beautiful" video gave us a cinematic narrative storyline, "춤춰 (Ugly Dance)" is all about the performance. The video is set in a stark white studio, setting off half the members' vibrant new hair colors (Hyojin in red, E-Tion in blue, and MK with green roots), and it's here that we stay. While it is a performance video, it doesn't make for any less of an entertaining watch, as it features some of ONF’s most difficult choreography yet. It sounds simple enough by description, but the fast-paced editing that has the members constantly switching between all-black and all-white outfits is anything but, and the video will keep viewers on their toes.
The performance video style allows for new fans to easily match voices to faces, giving each of the five vocalists a chance to shine, notably Hyojin with a powerful high note, as well as deep-voiced rapper Wyatt with one of his smoothest sounding verses compared to the usual hard-hitting sound his voice brings. The lyrics continue ONF's journey of loving oneself first, essentially stating, "Nothing in this world is easy, so you might as well do what you want."
City of ONF contains two other new tracks on top of the 10 originally released on ONF : My Name: "My Genesis (Übermensch)" and "The Dreamer." The former flips between '80s rock electric guitar and jazz influences, opening with an attention-getting riff that isn't uncommon for ONF. The title references the Nietzsche concept of übermensch—the human ideal. ONF brings life to this notion of "a goal for humanity to set for itself" with their [translated] lyrics:
"I believe in my energy, I play like a child, my world is infinite, I'm not afraid..."
"...I overcome myself, I create myself, there are no boundaries among dreams."
The song is packed with direct implications that the perfect human experience is one where people are unabashedly themselves, encouraging fearlessness in forging one's own path.
Possibly a sequel track to ONF : My Name's "The Realist," whose lyrics end on the note of "I'm dreamer," "The Dreamer'' slows things down with a softer R&B sound. This track approaches ONF's idea of self-care from a different angle—being gentle with yourself. The lyrics highlight the fact that even while pursuing one's dreams, things don't always go as planned, but that's not a reason to give up:
"Is the moment when dreams come true the happiest? No. I'm happy even now that my dreams are fluttering in my heart."
With respect to the pressures that young people face to find their place in the world as quickly as possible, it's important to remember that everyone moves at their own pace, and there's no shame in pursuing your dreams while also enjoying where you are right now.