When SEVENTEEN’s S.Coups and Mingyu announced ‘Hype Vibes’, their first joint release outside of the boyband’s main catalogue, it seemed obvious what path the record would take. The pair make up half of the group’s rappers – aka the hip-hop unit – and, thus, it stands to reason that their own project would put its focus firmly in that world.
‘Hype Vibes’, though, delivers a curveball. Sure, there are hip-hop moments peppered across the tracklist and opening song ‘Fiesta’ – a lightweight-but-addictive rap track that promises partying “like a rock star” – isn’t going to raise any eyebrows. But there are also some surprising turns that challenge your expectations about what the two members – known here as CxM – would produce.
Take lead single ‘5, 4, 3 (Pretty Woman)’, which interpolates the instantly recognisable 16-bar blues riff from Roy Orbison’s ‘Oh, Pretty Woman’ and uses it as a launchpad for S.Coups and Mingyu to take on new roles as lovelorn crooners. “You walk that walk, bad thoughts, jaw drop / Can’t keep my cool”, the former admits, before his bandmate adds in falsetto: “Everyday Sunday baby, I’m tryna sin with you”. A fun feature from Philly rapper Lay Bankz reciprocates their flirtations and brings new layers of attitude to the track.
Closing song ‘Earth’, meanwhile, starts off sounding like it wouldn’t be out of place on one of Coldplay’s more recent albums, driven by stadium-ready EDM-pop and big “woah-oh-oh” chants. A minute in, though, its soaring highs nosedive into an earth-shaking beat and juddering, bassy synth line. It’s not exactly revolutionary, but it at least feels like a refreshing step away from what could have been something more straightforward and by-the-numbers.
Perhaps ‘Earth’ feels more unconventional coming after ‘Young Again’, a plodding pop-rock ode to making the most of your youth. “We get loud / We get wild / Never, never be this young again,” the pair sing over a simple drum beat and bright acoustic guitar. ‘For You’, which S.Coups and Mingyu also led the creation of, fares better – a sunkissed tribute to friendship that feels like it was directly inspired by the bandmates’ time recording this project in Los Angeles (“Chasin’ sunsets, palm trees all around us / I’ll trade all this for you, for you”).
‘Hype Vibes’ might be uneven in places, but its bright energy wins out and brings cohesion to the release, even when its creators are moving unpredictably. Above all, it’s a valuable lesson not to box ourselves in and, as S.Coups and Mingyu do here, let people surprise you.
