“I hate you/I don’t need you” is a terrifically memorable chorus in any genre, but may send chills down your spine depending on your current emotional tenor and devotion to the music of Skrillex, who produced.
4 Minute is a K-pop five-piece with varied talents and, apparently, a very shitty ex; my Korean’s rusty, but this translated version of the lyrics chronicles constant fights, neglect, and condescension in a relationship that’s got to go. It’s also a good reminder that Skrillex started his career in a screamo band, From First to Last, and knows from whence these powerful dark feelings swirl. Yet by far the most satisfying aspect of this song is its pep squad chorus, the way Hyuna and Jiyoon band together with the rest of their crew (Sohyun, Jihyun and Gayoon) to administer their mantra and power the strength to drop a deadbeat dude. The whomping, foreboding trumpets have an analog in “Burial,” Skrilly’s 2015 collaboration with Yogi and Pusha T, but this is crisper and therefore almost meaner. They sound and look like superheroes, which is almost always the point in K-pop, and more effective than not. Now someone tell me where I can cop one of those oversized HATE sweatshirts?