Boy group

History and character

“Boy group performance” is the strand of male title tracks built around group choreography: powerful hip hop, trap or EDM beats, aggressive rap, stadium-style sung choruses, spectacular dance breaks and a strong concept (dark, fantasy, rebellion, “pirates”, “warriors”). It has roots in the 1st generation (H.O.T., Sechs Kies, g.o.d), grows with TVXQ, BIGBANG, Super Junior, SHINee, 2PM and B.A.P, and defines the 3rd and 4th generations with EXO, BTS (Fire, Not Today, MIC Drop, ON), SEVENTEEN (performance team and extreme synchronization; in-house production by Woozi), Monsta X, NCT 127 (Kick It), Stray Kids (God's Menu, MANIAC, S-Class, produced by the in-house trio 3RACHA), ATEEZ (Wonderland, Guerrilla, Bouncy), ENHYPEN, TREASURE, THE BOYZ, ZEROBASEONE and RIIZE.

Part of this strand is ironically or disparagingly called “noise music” by fans: dense songs with many sounds at once, rap and chants in place of singing, continuous beat changes, dissonant sonorities. Stray Kids have claimed the label as their “own weapon” (the album NOEASY plays with the term); examples cited include Stray Kids' God's Menu and Side Effects, NCT's Chain, Simon Says, Cherry Bomb and Sticker, and ATEEZ's HALA HALA and Guerrilla.

Production: HYBE (Pdogg for BTS, with a hip hop imprint and intense verses that flow into emotional choruses), JYP (3RACHA as a self-production team), SM (Yoo Young-jin, Dem Jointz and the American teams of SMP), KQ (Eden_ary for ATEEZ), Pledis (Woozi and Bumzu for SEVENTEEN). Writing often starts from a beat and a choreographic concept; line distribution among rappers, vocalists and performers is fundamental.

Scales and keys

Natural minor (Aeolian)

• Formula: 1 2 b3 4 5 b6 b7 (T S T T S T T). In C# minor: C# D# E F# G# A B.
• Characteristic note: b6 (A): dramatic.
• Chords: i C#m – ii° D#dim – III E – iv F#m – v G#m – VI A – VII B.
• Use: i–VI–III–VII loop in the choruses, verse riffs.

Phrygian

• Formula: 1 b2 b3 4 5 b6 b7 (S T T T S T T). In E Phrygian: E F G A B C D.
• Characteristic note: b2 (F): menace.
• Chords (modal scale): i Em – II F – III G – iv Am – v° Bdim – VI C – vii Dm.
• Use: verse bass and synth riffs, chants and “noise” drops.

Harmonic minor

• Formula: 1 2 b3 4 5 b6 7. In D minor: D E F G A Bb C#.
• Characteristic note: leading tone C#, augmented second Bb–C#: epic, “warrior” feel.
• Use: major V (A) in the pre-choruses; Eastern-style flute, string or synth riffs (fantasy and historical concepts).

Minor pentatonic and blues

• 1 b3 4 5 b7 (+ b5), in E: E G A B D (+ Bb). Melodic rap, chants, rock guitar riffs.

Relative major / with sevenths (bridges and emotional choruses)

• The bridge often opens onto the relative major with maj7 (royal road) for the vocalists.

How to choose

Harmony

Function

As in K-pop in general, but with more room for the riff and less for the harmony: verses over an atonal riff, cadential pre-choruses with the vocalists' harmonies, choruses over minor loops with brass or guitars, drops with chants over a pedal. The bridge is the richest harmonic moment.

Techniques

• 808 pedal with clusters or chords changing on top.
• Fifths riff (synth power chords or distorted guitars).
• Brass chords in tight triads for the accents.
• Key change in the final drop or a beat change.

Voicing

Open fifths, octaves, dissonant clusters in the “noise” songs; open sevenths in the bridges.

Typical progressions

Rhythm and groove

Half-time trap groove (140 BPM felt at 70) with triplet hats and syncopated 808s in the verses; straight pre-choruses; choruses with four-on-the-floor kick or half-time drops; dance breaks with martial percussion, stomps and claps, sometimes drill (shifted snare), Jersey club or rage (distorted 808s and saturated synths). Ensemble accents are extremely frequent for the synchronized choreography (SEVENTEEN, ATEEZ). Swing 0%.

Drums

Kick

Trap: kick + 808 (steps 1, 8, 11 in half-time sixteenth notes); drop: distorted kick in four or on 1 and 3; double accents on the choreography hits.

Snare and clap

On 3 (half-time) or on 2 and 4; layers of clap, stomp and snare; military snares in the dance breaks; crescendo snare rolls in the builds.

Hi-hat and percussion

Eighth-note hats with sixteenth-note and triplet rolls; martial percussion, taiko, cowbells, metallic hits, sirens; in the “noise” songs glitches and noises.

Interaction with bass and vocals

Rap verses with a dry beat and the 808 in the center; chants that lean on the kick and clap accents; in the sung choruses the drums open up.

By section

Intro: chant or ensemble hits; verse: minimal trap; pre: four-on-the-floor kick, stop; chorus: full kit; verse 2: different beat (boom bap, drill); dance break: percussion and accents; bridge: half-time, vocalists; final drop: everything, hard stop.

Fills and transitions

Stop with a spoken phrase, tape stop, riser, snare roll, impact, glitch and stutter, sirens.

Sounds and mistakes

Distorted kicks, saturated 808s, layered claps, orchestral percussion. Mistakes: a dance break with no accents; a beat that is too full and covers the rap; lack of contrast between verse and drop.

Bass

• Sound: long, saturated 808s, reese, distorted “rage” bass, rock bass guitar in some songs.
• Notes: root, b2, fifth; octave 808 slides; riffs in unison with synth and chants.
• Relationship with the kick: short kick on top of the 808's attack; sidechain in the EDM sections.
• Examples: Stray Kids — God's Menu, ATEEZ — Guerrilla, BTS — MIC Drop.

Harmonic instruments

Distorted synths and aggressive leads, synth brass, distorted electric guitars (rock/metal), Eastern-style flutes and strings for historical and fantasy concepts, piano and pads in the bridges, epic choirs. Voicings in fifths and clusters in the hooks, sevenths in the bridges.

Melody and vocals

• Rappers: aggressive and fast flows, flow changes, rap with Auto-Tune and “shouted” rap; each rapper with a different timbre (deep, nasal, technical).
• Vocalists: melodic pre-choruses with harmonies in thirds, high notes and belting in the bridge, ad-libs in the final drop.
• Group: chants in unison or in octaves, gang vocals, “hey” and ensemble shouts, call-and-response designed for fan chants at concerts.
• Effects: downward pitch shift in chants, distortion on rap vocals, telephone filters, tempo-synced delay on final words.

Instruments

Vocals (rap, singing, chants), 808s, drum machine and samples, synth basses, distorted synth leads, brass, distorted guitars, strings, flutes, martial and orchestral percussion, FX.

Drum patterns

Synths and sounds

• Korg MS-20 V — Distorted leads and sirens: Cutting leads and sirens with high resonance.
• ARP 2600 V — Gritty basses and FX: Distorted basses, sweeps and noises for the “noise” songs.
• OP-Xa V — Brass: Brass stabs for ensemble accents.
• Mini V — Bass: Distorted reese and saws.
• Matrix-12 V — Evolving leads: Complex leads and pads for sci-fi concepts.
• Augmented Voices — Epic choirs: Choirs for intros and drops.
• Augmented Strings — Strings: Orchestral ostinatos and flutes/strings for fantasy concepts.

Song structure

Length 3:00–3:30.

Mixing and mastering

Sonic goal

Maximum impact: huge kick and 808, aggressive rap up front, wide and compact chants, sharp synths and brass, recognizable member voices. References: BTS — MIC Drop, Stray Kids — God's Menu, ATEEZ — Guerrilla, SEVENTEEN — HOT, NCT 127 — Kick It.

Kick

HP 25 Hz, +3 dB at 50–60 Hz, −4 dB at 350 Hz, +3/+4 dB at 3–5 kHz; distortion; clipper; center.

Snare and clap

HP 150 Hz, body 200–250 Hz, crack 3–5 kHz; parallel; short room; wide military snares.

Hi-hat and percussion

HP 500 Hz; martial percussion with a big room; wide glitches.

808 and basses

HP 25 Hz; sub 40–55 Hz; heavy saturation on the mid layer; clipper; mono below 150 Hz.

Synths, brass, guitars

HP 200 Hz; presence 1–4 kHz; parallel distortion; dynamic dip from the vocals; guitars doubled hard L/R.

Vocals

• Rap: HP 100 Hz, heavy compression (8–12 dB total), saturation, presence 3–5 kHz, L/R dubs; distinct EQ and timbre for each rapper.
• Vocalists: serial pop chain, plate and delay; wider bridge.
• Chants: bus with 10–12 dB of compression, saturation, wide doubles, room.

FX

Risers, impacts, sirens, glitches: dedicated bus with limiter.

Buses and groups

Drum bus with clipper; vocal bus 2–3 dB; music bus with dynamic ducking from the vocals.

Sidechain

Kick → 808 (3–6 dB) in the EDM sections; vocals → music bus.

Master

Chain: EQ → compressor 1–2 dB → clipper → limiter. Target −6/−4 LUFS (“noise” songs are among the loudest), true peak ≤ −1 dBTP, PLR 5–7 dB.

Common mistakes

Rap buried by synths; under-compressed chants that sound messy; 808 and kick masking each other; a mix so dense it is fatiguing (you need a hierarchy for every section).

Reference tracks for the mix

BTS — MIC Drop (2017); Stray Kids — God's Menu (2020); NCT 127 — Kick It (2020); ATEEZ — Guerrilla (2022); SEVENTEEN — HOT (2022).

Reference listening

• H.O.T. — Warrior's Descendant (1996)
• BIGBANG — Fantastic Baby (2012)
• EXO — Growl (2013)
• BTS — Fire (2016)
• BTS — MIC Drop (2017)
• Stray Kids — God's Menu (2020)
• NCT 127 — Kick It (2020)
• ATEEZ — Guerrilla (2022)
• SEVENTEEN — HOT (2022)
• Stray Kids — MANIAC (2022)