Song Review: ITZY Make An Impressive Comeback With "M.A.F.I.A. In The Morning"

by

ITZY - 마.피.아. In The Morning 

Review

"M.A.F.I.A. In the Morning" is a weird misfire that finds the girl group conforming to generic girl-crush trends rather than forging their own unique identity. The song borrows heavily from the bombastic, trap-influenced style popularized by BLACKPINK, but comes across as a cheap imitation rather than a fresh take.

The verses are weighed down by sluggish, talky rap delivery that fail to showcase the members' vocal abilities. A brief melodic pre-chorus courtesy of Lia and Chaeryeong injects some much-needed color, but the chorus quickly devolves into an irritating chant of nonsense phrases like "I'm the mafia" and "ring-ding-ding-ding". It's catchy, yet annoying in the same same time. The minimalist beat and weirdly-pitched synths are more headache-inducing than suspenseful or mysterious. Overall, the song lacks  memorable hooks, and ITZY's signature energetic spark.

The music video fares slightly better, with powerful choreography and attempts at self-referential styling, but the girls' charisma is smothered by a monotonous, overly serious tone. Deviating from their established sound to chase trends stunts ITZY's artistic growth rather than signaling maturity. In trying so hard to be "bad-girls" ITZY have lost what makes them special. "M.A.F.I.A. In the Morning" is a generic, outdated girl crush track that is fated to be quickly forgotten. Hopefully this is just a momentary identity crisis rather than a permanent new direction.

Release Info & Mini Bio 

ITZY  made an impressive comeback today, April 30, 2021, with their fourth mini album "Guess Who" (stylized as "GUE?? WHO") and the song "M.A.F.I.A. In The Morning" ("마.피.아. In the Morning") as the album's title track. The album, which will contain six tracks, will be released physically on a CD in three versions: Day, Night, and Day&Night and it is the follow-up to their third mini album "Not Shy" which was released on August 17, 2020. 

Track List 

  1. "마.피.아. In the Morning"
  2. "Sorry Not Sorry"
  3. "Kidding Me"
  4. "Wild Wild West"
  5. "Shoot!"
  6. "Tennis (O:O)"



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