From house to hip-hop, and the screen turns red at that moment: Girls' Generation-HRS 'Skibidi'

Today's NONOL PICK is 'Skibidi', the title track of the debut single released on August 31 by Girls' Generation-HRS, the new Girls' Generation unit. Hyoyeon, Yuri and Choi Soo-young started out in 'Fake Kim Hyoyeon', content on Hyoyeon's personal YouTube channel, and became a real unit. Five weeks after release, it was still No. 6 on the Bugs weekly chart for the last full week of September. The label introduced the song as starting in house and moving into hip-hop, and the rhythm's backbone really does change in the middle of the song. The official performance video, released instead of a music video, changes the screen's colors at that very spot. Timestamps follow the SMTOWN performance video.

0:25 · A kick on every beat

From 0:25, where the song starts, the kick, the lowest drum, lands on every single beat. Measured, the gap is 0.46 seconds, 129 times a minute: the 'boom, boom, boom, boom' house rhythm common in club music. On screen, the three, in matching white tank tops and jeans, dance with the dancers in a white studio.

1:50 · The bass disappears, the screen turns red

At 1:50, the bass drops out entirely for eight seconds. At the same time, at 1:51, the screen switches from the white studio to red and blue light. And from here, the kick stops landing on every beat and starts to stagger. Between 1:52 and 2:20, the median gap between kicks is 0.6 seconds, sparser than the house sections on either side and stepping around the beat. This 30-second stretch is where the rhythm crosses over into hip-hop.

2:02 · Black and white, and baseball caps

At 2:00 a heavy bass returns, and at 2:02 the screen goes black and white. The three dance with baseball caps pulled down low. The word 'Skibidi' comes from an internet meme; the lyrics use it like an onomatopoeia and tie it to the message 'let's make our own new path'. Hit lyricist KENZIE wrote the lyrics.

2:30 · The screen narrows to vertical

At 2:22 the bass drops out again for eight seconds, then at 2:30 the song returns to house with a kick on every beat. At that moment the screen narrows to a vertical frame, like a phone screen. Until 2:36, it's like watching a short vertical video. The label also said Arabian-style string samples are scattered throughout. The single also includes 'Lowkey In Love', led by retro brass. Apple Music