It's been almost a year since the seven member group ENHYPEN ventured out and tried a new sound, and dare I say, it's one of their best sounds yet. On July 4, 2022, the group released their third mini-album titled MANIFESTO: DAY 1, which came with six new tracks including the title track “Future Perfect (Pass the MIC).” The songs range from hip-hop to a pop track written by Jake to their fans, ENGENEs. The album brought new opportunities to the group, as the album made history by entering the Billboard 200 chart at No. 6. 

Title Track

“Future Perfect (Pass The MIC)” includes a sound of both a drill song and hip-hop, which was pretty new for the group. The dark colors in both the concept photos and the music video showed a new side of ENHYPEN, but it's very clear that they enjoyed it. The title track starts off powerful and sets up the meaning for the whole song—the need to draw their own path and walk on it too. Throughout the song, you hear lyrics that basically plead for them to be separated from their past, like in the pre-chorus when Sunoo says, “I wanna stand on my own feet,” and, “Draw our own future.” The boys were obviously formed on a show, but it's very clear they want to be separated from that point in their lives and break free from what the industry expects from them. 

The rest of the album includes dance-pop and hip-hop-influenced sounds that show both the vocal and performance sides of the group. The only B-side track that got a music video was “ParadoXXX Invasion,” which speaks on the backlash the new generation has received about the change that they've brought to society. A paradox is something that might sound right but holds a lot of contradiction, so the boys are the invaders that prove society wrong. While the music video is colorful and the choreography is complex, so are the lyrics which is something ENHYPEN knows how to mesh well together. 

Something that was different on this album compared to the others was that the intro and outro titles were not titled in their natural format (for example “Intro: Walk the Line”), which is another example that shows how the boys were breaking out of their old era and into one where they could choose their destiny. 

This album brought a lot of experiences for the boys, like selling out their first ever tour in America and Asia, MANIFESTO. Since the release of this album, there have been many teases of a comeback, and ENGENEs are patiently awaiting what's in store for the group. Until then, they have MANIFESTO: DAY 1 to listen to.