Stray Kids Steal Our Hearts With ‘CASE 143’ And MAXIDENT

MAXIDENT is finally here and spoiler: it’s so good we can’t stop listening to it – Stray Kids has released a masterpiece yet again.

Stray Kids tried something different with ‘CASE 143,’ as it is their first title track that is a love song, and it totally paid off. Stray Kids didn’t take the love concept lightly at all and they went all out in the best way possible. MAXIDENT and ‘CASE 143′ are proof of Stray Kids’ creative genius, and it’s the perfect follow-up to the massive success that was ‘Maniac’ and ODDINARY.

‘CASE 143’

‘CASE 143’ doesn’t sound like any other Stray Kids song, and yet it’s everything we love about them. And yes, there are already a couple of love songs in their discography – but none like this. It’s fair to say that there’s no other love song like this in the entire world. They didn’t go for the straight-up cheesy, lovey-dovey concept. They took the concept of ‘love’ and truly re-invented it in their own way. It’s Stray Kids we’re talking about after all.

There is so much to say about this song because of the amount of layers and small details in the production, lyrics, and even choreography. ‘CASE 143’ is a whole experience on its own: with an extremely catchy and clever hook, fun melodies, and impactful rap verses. It is quite impossible to get tired of this song. Stray Kids simply took the love concept to a whole other level.

And we can’t possibly skip over the music video – which might be one of their best music videos to date. Similarly to the music videos for ‘ALL IN‘ and ‘CIRCUS,’ in this one Stray Kids have clones and are both the criminal and the police. There are so many scenes and different settings that make the music video so fun to watch. Let’s just say there’s more than one surprise. Again, the concept for this comeback is just everything.

The B-sides

But it wouldn’t be a comeback if Stray Kids didn’t release a skipless, perfect, mini-album. MAXIDENT is exactly that – every single one of the songs is not only incredible, but it’s also unique and different. Stray Kids keep raising the bar when it comes to self-produced music for themselves but for everyone else. Additionally to ‘CASE 143’ and the Korean version of their Japanese title track from earlier this year, ‘CIRCUS,’ Stray Kids gave us 6 masterpieces as b-sides.

As soon as we saw in the tracklist that ‘Chill’ was a Han song, we knew it would be one of our favorites – and we weren’t wrong. The laid-back RnB and hip-hop feel to ‘Chill’ make it such a highlight, and the lyricism – as expected – is just incredible. The song explores the feelings of a break-up and a fight. The way Han describes the feelings through his lyrics is just top-tier as always.

‘Give Me Your TMI’ and ‘Superboard’ are on the most fun side of things. To say that ‘Give Me Your TMI’ is a wild ride is an understatement. The song already went viral even before its release, with only its unveil video, among the Five Nights at Freddy’s fans. It’s fun, it’s witty, and its production might be one of 3RACHA‘s best. Similarly to ‘CASE 143,’ there are so many parts to highlight – it’s really a ride of unpredictable musical genius.

And talking about genius and witty: ‘Superboard’ is just on another level. It’s fun, lowkey unserious, and yet it’s so good. Now, this song will get stuck in your head in a way that no other song ever has. It’s songs like this that only Stray Kids could not only write and produce but also pull off as perfectly as they do. This side of Stray Kids is just everything to us.

The Sub-Units

Ever since IN LIFE, Stray Kids has been releasing sub-units songs and MAXIDENT is no exception. And just like for IN LIFE, this time the sub-unit songs are: 3RACHA (Bang Chan, Changbin, and Han), Danceracha (Lee Know, Hyunjin, and Felix), and Vocalracha (Seungmin and I.N). Every song shows different sides of the group and truly expresses the energy of each unit – it’s quite literally the best thing ever. Just like IN LIFE once again, the songs were performed live before their official release and we already knew how great they were but the studio versions just hit differently.

As you might have guessed by its title, ‘3RACHA’ pretty much embodies everything 3RACHA stands for. (And yes, rapper Bang Chan is back everyone, it’s a beautiful day to be alive.) Every single verse is just incredible and shows their untouchable skills as rappers and lyricists. 3RACHA know how unique they are and we love to see it. Closing the songs with “While they’re complaining we’re producing” just says it all.

Now, imagine ‘Wow‘ and ‘Red Lights‘ had a child – that would be ‘Taste.’ And has to be one of the greatest things that happened to us. Hyunjin said himself the song was created as a continuation of ‘Red Lights’ and it totally feels that way. ‘Taste’ is captivating, memorable and just a masterpiece – and their vocals. The chorus just hits in a way that is unforgettable.

And last but definitely not least, ‘Can’t Stop’ is the perfect fun and bright pop-rock song we’ve all been needing in our lives. This song could easily be used as an anime OST and has a similar energy to DAY6‘s brighter songs. So yes: it’s amazing. ‘Can’t Stop’ is just a boost of serotonin and it embodies Seungmin and I.N‘s energy so well.

Stray Kids keeps getting better with every single release, creating one of the best discographies in the entire industry – writing it, composing it, and producing it. MAXIDENT has not only already exceeded our expectations, but it has already broken every single record Stray Kids had already set themselves. Recording over 2M stock pre-orders, this album turned Stray Kids into the fourth-ever group to sell 1M copies on the first day of its release. And we can see why. There’s nothing stopping Stray Kids at this point.

How obsessed are you with ‘CASE 143’? What’s your favorite song out of MAXIDENT? Be sure to let us know by tweeting us at @thehoneypop or visiting us on Facebook and Instagram.

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