Don’t get me wrong, I enjoyed GOT7’s newest track “Fly” but it looks like the group’s newer releases have flown their signature sound another direction that’s a bit astray from what I have originally enjoyed from them.

Fly features a very modern and trendy sound and that is thanks to producers earattack and BB Kicksound which have been known for their work with the popular drama Descendants of the Sun. Considering how well that drama OST did in the charts, it’s safe to say that the duo has an ear for infectious and commercially viable pop hits. This is highly evident in Fly with its subdued hip-hop beats coupled with a vibrant ambience that is easy to the ears. The chorus alone where GOT7 members repeatedly sing “Flyyyyyy…” soars in with how catchy it sounds and literally warrants listeners to wave their hands in the air and sing along.

Commercially, Fly hits the right spots – catchy, easy to sing along, and never too complicated to alienate listeners. However, this song does not contain the GOT7 sound that I have identified them with. Back then, what separated this group from their contemporaries is the 90s/2000s influenced sound that they have established with their title tracks. Songs like A and Stop Stop It contain that vintage urban-pop flavor that is still serviceable to their younger audiences. Even Just Right, one of the best songs last year, sound like a ditty in the early 2000s that you’d hear of MTV’s summer playlist. I’ve always thought that this direction played to their advantage because it has set them apart from 2PM sonically (something that can’t be said of Exo).  Things started to change with If You Do where they went the 2PM/B2ST route and now with Fly where they went for a sound that can be associated with newer groups like BTS.

GOT7’s change of sound be like

l fully understand the shift that JYP did with GOT7 though because it is more of a business move. The group has done well physically since the beginning but it didn’t give them that strong public relevance that every group needs to have to last long. Of course, one of the best ways to capture that is through a breakout hit and even though GOT7 has released  solid and public-friendly songs, nothing really has made that “mark” that they were gunning for until “If You Do” came along. It’s somehow coincidental as well that the group started winning music show awards the moment they veered away from the sound JYP crafted for them. I’m not discrediting the group’s success but it’s that shift that brought them closer to the public, and it’s a compromise they have to make.

One can also argue that this change is a way of expanding their sound (just like how Nine Muses is) but GOT7’s strongest point is their consistency even if their sales don’t reflect that.

Nevertheless, I still enjoyed Fly. The video even hypes it up with a pretty solid choreography that complements well with the song (although it would have been great if they used the plot in the teaser but then again, the dancing made up for it). At least they kept that vintage style with those baggy varsity jackets.

I’d still like for GOT7 to go back to their signature sound some other comeback though because I know they’ll fly just right if they do. A?

Any other thoughts on GOT7’s Fly? Agree? Disagree? Let me know by dropping a comment below.