Despite debuting under a Big3 company, NMIXX is struggling to compete with other 4th gen girl groups.
Before their debut, NMIXX was expected to follow their seniors and become the next successful JYP girl group leading the current generation of idols. However, amid the increasingly fierce competition of 4th gen girl groups, NMIXX has yet to achieve any major success. Both their debut and comeback title tracks are faced with mixed reactions from the public.
Making their first comeback with the new title track “DICE” on September 19, NMIXX persisted in pursuing the Mix-Pop genre like their controversial debut song “O.O”. “DICE” is a mash-up of various genres such as jazz, pop and hip-hop that brings listeners to experience different musical colors in less than 3 minutes. A mixture of different genres and sounds make the song public-unfriendly and cause NMIXX to once again struggle on the charts.
According to iChart, “DICE” debuted at No.9 on Bugs and No.88 on Genie Top 100 Realtime, and was nowhere to be seen in the Top 100 of other popular digital charts in Korea.
Netizens think that JYP did NMIXX dirty by implementing a musical direction that doesn’t suit the group. NMIXX’s debut song “O.O” also drew plenty of negative reviews for being too difficult for general listeners to digest. Even fans of the group are showing concern that the Mix-Pop concept is damaging the growth potential of NMIXX.
Moreover, the problem with NMIXX not only lies in the music. The distribution of screen time between the members has also sparked a controversy. Many viewers have complained about JYP’s blatantly unfair distribution of the members’ screen time in “DICE” MV. Some even called the MV “Kyujin, Sullyoon, and friends”.
In about two and a half minutes of “DICE” MV, there are about 49 seconds of Kyujin’s solo screen time and Kyujin in the center. This is a large amount of screen time for one member in a 7-member group. In addition, the thumbnails of both NMIXX’s title track MVs are Sullyoon. Fans are demanding JYP to be more fair towards other members as they also deserve to shine.
It is uncertain if JYP has something big planned for NMIXX in the future, but as for now, it is clear that the group’s talent and potential are being wasted. With such a well-rounded lineup, if they were given better songs, NMIXX could have achieved better results and been considered a strong contender for 2022’s “Rookie of the Year” award alongside IVE, LE SSERAFIM, New Jeans, and Kep1er. However, JYP’s strategy seems to be sabotaging their own group.
Source: billboard
