The Renaissance is the 10th album by massive K-Pop boy band Super Junior. This is my first K-Pop listening experience, will I be so wowed that I become a K-Pop stan? Let’s see.  Super Junior is a huge 10-man K-Pop, most known for their song “Sorry, Sorry” and the subsequent album of the same name. It was released last year in 2021 and features upbeat, beachy, pop vibes reminiscent of 2016 and 2017 pop, juxtaposed against other more hype hip-hop inspired cuts with clear trap influence. It’s a fairly short listen with 10 songs— 9 not including the one minute intro. Naturally, it mixes Korean and English lyrics as is typical of K-Pop.

Opinion time, I don’t listen to much K-Pop so register all my opinions with that in mind. This album is super fun. It’s big, very pop, very boy-band, and gives this vague nostalgia to 2010s pop and Disney Channel Original Movie songs. However, it still manages to be really pretty and cool at times like in “Closer”, “Paradox”, and the ending to “Raining Spell For Love”. It can sound corny at times by today’s standards, but to me that just adds to its charm and fun. The last song was too sickly sweet and basic for me though. The production by Lee Soo-man is really fun and poppy. I wish there was a bit more of the interplay between the big pop sound and the hip-hop flavored sound like there was in “House Party” and “Burn the Floor”; I think that was really interesting and memorable. Maybe it was Recency Bias but the first half of the album, from Super to Closer, was my favorite part and I enjoyed it a bit more than the second half. There’s not much else to say, it’s a fun poppy album with some really cool moments and vibes. I’m a fan and this may be the journey to me becoming a K-Pop person, we’ll see. I’d recommend listening to “House Party”, and if you’re into that, then listen to the rest of the album.

Best Song: Closer

Worst Song: Tell Me Baby