IDID Breaks Norms and Breaks Out in First Comeback “PUSH BACK”

Photo: Starship Entertainment

Starship Entertainment’s rookie boy-group IDID returns with their first ever digital single PUSH BACK. The seven-member boy group, fresh off the heels of their September debut album I did it., opts for an equally original, yet edgier take on their concept of raw, honest ambition. 

“PUSH BACK” leans into double entendre: pushing the listener to challenge the world themself, while also not letting insecurities hold you back. “Don’t Push Back!” the song goads, leaning against both its own title and an early-2000s-esque hip-hop beat. While more rap-driven than its predecessor, “PUSH BACK” sticks to what is now becoming IDID’s signature sound. The song pulls with the minimalist instrumentals that laced through their debut album, matching elaborate layered vocals and rap amongst clever percussive effects, one-off riffs, and strong bass-driven lines. This approach makes the song smartly underproduced, catchy, and clever all at once: sonically matching the group’s concept of eager, boundary-breaking authenticity. 

Full of laid-back street-style swagger and the group’s trademark watery vignettes, and humorous plotlines, the music video follows the members as they attempt to track down a lost fish at their restaurant job. The music video, tongue-in-cheek, parallels the members with their own, sought-after fish. Even as they attempt to lure it back to their dinner spread, the members themselves run from lures, endure insults, and break free from the confines of the world around them. The fish and IDID both push back against their constraints, making their way to freedom. It’s a cheeky storyline, reflecting the contradiction of the song in its own metaphors: melting IDID’s debut ice cube motif with the choice to liberate oneself (and one’s red snapper) from the boiling confines of society.

PUSH BACK’s accompanying B-side “Heaven Smiles,” continues IDID’s contrasting, vocal-forward musical philosophy: an aggressive, pulsing bass-line drops out into emptier, punchy bite-sized guitar lines, with non-stop layered vocals to keep moving forward. IDID thrives in these sonic juxtapositions. The outro is acutely sharp, taking an R&B, airy ad-libbed bridge to a repeating punchy post-chorus, before “Heaven Smiles” doubles back in one final catchphrase refrain: “1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8! 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, Levitate.”

Still only a few months in the industry, IDID’s rookie ambitions shine in PUSH BACK. By pairing an innovative concept with sharp instrumentals and vocal-forward production, Yonghoon, Minjae, Wonbin, Yoochan, Seonghyeon, Junhyuk, and Semin are rookies to watch, pushing forward, while also, of course, pushing back.

Edited by Bryn Claybourne