By releasing “WOULD YOU RUN” – arguably the most quintessentially TRI.BE song to date – in two different versions almost a year apart, the resulting listening experience feels like jumping between parallel universes. S. Tiger (Shindadong Tiger), who has been responsible for producing TRI.BE’s music since their debut tracks, extracted this parallel musical structure from a play on the word cheongyang pepper* and how it’s just two syllables away from cheong yangachi; the two expressions dovetailing nicely but also distinct enough to embody polar concepts. A generous dash of cheongyang pepper and the cheong yangachi spirit added to the group’s first EP “VENI VIDI VICI” released in 2021 served as the red hot fuel propelling TRI.BE’s ascent to their debut year career peaks. In contrast, their second EP “W.A.Y ” announced itself by way of a dance performance video of “WOULD YOU RUN” with the explanatory title “Back to the Original”. The change in artistic direction this strategy points to is clear. TRI.BE is now channeling a chill, lightful cool that the descriptor cheongyang embodies. For a song that shares the same roots to be both sizzling hot and refreshingly cool is truly uncanny. But closer examination will reveal how the two opposing concepts actually represent two equally valid ways to enter the TRI.BE space.

The most prominent difference between the two approaches is felt in the different genres of dance music and their characteristic rhythms and tone colors. Though both are built upon the same four-beat pattern, the tresillo rhythm grounds 2021’s “WOULD YOU RUN” as it forays deep into the latest derivatives of the classic dancehall formula, while 2023’s “WOULD YOU RUN” is undergirded by four-on-the-floor beat as it tracks the more modern paths of house music.  Admittedly, rhythm isn’t the only factor that determines the borders of a genre. The baile funk “WOULD YOU RUN” can be described as a spicy dish tossed and sautéed upon hefty, bop-worthy bass notes that play underneath that ringing, almost brass-like sounds placed to the front. The deep house influenced “WOULD YOU RUN” has synth and keyboard progressions aerating the previously dense construction of the song to create airy grooves along which the sound can flow in steady streams. The seductive chorus of both songs repeat “(I fly higher) to outer space” three times. What surrounds this, though, is not the same. For instance, parts such as HyunBin’s and SoEun’s rap that constitute the verses, or SongSun’s bridge melody are reconfigured to fit each version’s genre style, as are the various sound effects placed at just the right moments. As such, even if these two versions of “WOULD YOU RUN” follow the same song anatomy of build-up, drop, and chorus, by placing these elements in different contexts or structures the resulting musical propositions each bring a different level of heat, a different landscape. Would it be possible to declare these two “WOULD YOU RUN”s as one and the same? Each delivers a substantially distinct enjoyment that is tethered to their respective genres. The disorienting feeling of tracking parallel universes only to have them merge together, will surely prime the listener though for tasting the full flavor spectrum of the TRI.BE experience. 

This transition had already been teased in the two tracks released as last year’s single album, “LEVIOSA”. The lead track “KISS” is appropriately chock full of kissy sound effects, and at first listen plays like a continuation of TRI.BE’s 2021 sound with the tresillo beat pattern and incorporation of Latin music inspired guitar accompaniment and percussion lines. Underneath the tone sequence that undulates tightly with the hushed portion of the refrain, “Blow a little, blow a little KISS …”, remaining right there with the slow-fading sibilant hiss and the belted high notes, we hear the moombahton and trap influences in the syncopated beat pattern. The ensuing rap from SoEun and HyunBin hit their marks and land cleanly, after which Kelly’s and SongSun’s bridge briefly shifts the song’s energy in a way that is abrupt but tantalizing. Then we are back again with the recurring musical motif of the playground chant of “K-I-S-S-I-N-G” as the fitting coda to this bubbly, punchy track. For a moment there “KISS” took an unexpected left turn before returning to form and as the listener starts to register the significance of this left turn signal, a textbook four-beat EDM track, “In The Air (777)” starts playing. The song’s mood is that unclouded, fresh exuberance of a music festival or an end-of-year special with fireworks going off, and at the very moment the melodic progression of the disco strings barrels to its peak, the listener can literally hear the  precise moment a musical phase change occurs for TRI.BE as they leap from their first EP to their second. 

“W.A.Y” is an intriguing offering in a similar vein. The imagery of sweeping change away from the powerful rhythm and bold tonal flavors that defined TRI.BE for a year, giving way to fresh, green sprouts of a new musical style is not immediately apparent. As can be heard in “STAY TOGETHER” and how brilliantly it lends itself to sing-alongs while delivering masterful modulations for a cathartic experience, this latest EP consists of, firstly, more tidy musical constructions that follow consistent beat patterns, and components such as song choruses that are formed of dazzling, high-saturation tonal colors and electronic loops and sound effects layered one upon the other. For instance, scattered throughout the title track “WE ARE YOUNG” like easter eggs are the musical elements that came together as one of S. Tiger’s most definitive projects of the early-to-mid 2010s, “Bubble Pop”. The bursts of bright energy has been moved to the chorus melody, though, but we still see the airtight configuration of the vocalist and rapper parts like in the pop song tracks of K-Pop girl groups of the mid 2010s, along with slightly muted silvery embellishments and recurring lyrical motifs such as “TRI.BE  be Da Loca!” that are cleverly positioned to clash satisfyingly with the overall sound. Like how the snap and crackle of internal fracturing are masterfully stitched into the overall sound with the stitch marks intentionally left visible. Then, for a change in pace, we have “WITCH”. An unearthly electronic sound creeps along in the song’s undercurrent, male vocals in the chorus coat a thick layer on the melody, and ravishing strings hint at something treacherous. For a moment TRI.BE is shrouded in darkness. But when “WONDERLAND” arrives, we realize that this is the track where TRI.BE’s newest formation is clearest. After sparkling electronic loops and a funky bass groove weave together the foundation using a tried-and-true pop formula tweaked to fit with the theme and colors of the EP, the higher register vocalist parts and the lower register rapper parts split the song nicely into breezy, soaring melodies and tightly wound rap lines to bring to life a sleek, cool, retro theme.
 

As for TRI.BE’s stylistic re-imagining being quite a smooth transition, we can especially thank ELLY. Since TRI.BE’s debut tracks, along with S. Tiger, ELLY has been a regular co-producer. ELLY is a member of the well-loved K-Pop girl group, EXID, which celebrated its 10-year anniversary after TRI.BE’s official debut. EXID released “X” in 2022, thus breaking a long hiatus. The album contains Latin pop infused “Fire” with its compelling syncopated rhythm structure and “IDK” and “LEGGO” that expertly cruise on the classic grooves of disco and house music, respectively. From this one may argue that EXID’s music – a masterclass in playing with a wide variety of unique rhythm patterns – has left its fingerprints not only on TRI.BE’s rap verses where ELLY’s rapping tone can be recognized, but also on song construction and the direction of production. Still, in contrast to EXID finding its groove by focusing through a lens of retro-cool applied to the funky tunes of the 80s and 90s US pop music scene, TRI.BE leans more towards the powerful, impassioned numbers that play in the dance halls of Central and South America and their more free-wheeling, deconstructionist approach to dance music’s funky beat and groove. Throughout the 2010s, the inspiration from EDM innovation by Brazilian artists simmered under the K-Pop scene, becoming an inevitable artistic impetus that from the 2020s at least found partial expression in NMIXX’s “O.O”, or KWON EUN BI’s “Underwater”, LIGHTSUM’s “Alive”, CLASS:y’s “SHUT DOWN”, and especially Bling Bling’s “G.G.B” and “LA LA LA”. The influence was becoming visible in the shape of various K-Pop numbers testing out new ideas in rhythm patterns. These incremental steps forward slowly lined up as the new musical frontier into which TRI.BE’s 2021 career path merged as a member of the frontline artists.

“TRI.BE Da Loca” was both a rallying cry and the title of their debut single album. From the first track, “Loca”, the “1-2-3-pause, 2-2-3-pull” tresillo beat is clear, as the song picks up the torch of K-Pop’s latest musical inspiration and runs with it. This rhythmic pattern spoken out loud is “DOOM DOOM TA”, a song that opens with an intentionally distorted vocal sample and continues to impishly skip to an addicting, bouncing beat, exuding confidence as evidenced in the lyrics, “If you don’t understand me then, oh well, too bad”. “TRI.BE Da Loca” really showed off the kicky flow of reggaeton and moombahton – already widely used in K-Pop – with the design of the percussion lines. Such defining traits of the album were reflected in “CONMIGO”, its symmetrical pair. As if continuing the formula used in the debut single album, not only does “RUB-A-DUM” have hummable vocal lines and frontloads a variety of brass and woodwind instrument sounds, but this first track also has a singing chant made from a phonetic imitation of its foundational catchy beat which it keeps pumping for even more fun rhythmic variations (like EXID’s “I LOVE YOU” that flitted smugly from one distinct beat pattern and its matching sound to yet another beat, flaunting the freedom that virtuosity allows) that are then strung together to enhance the listener’s experience of the song’s progression. From the tremors transmitted by the almost excessive pounding of drums during the earlier verses, to the mid-to-late verses elevated by SongSun’s dreamy vocal timbre or the quite refreshing build-up, when these elements crash, the dizzying drop becomes a thrilling reminder of the extreme range the TRI.BE listening experience represents. This ability is also on display in “LORO”, a track that feels like a sequel to “Loca”, and revisited in “VENI VIDI VICI” as delicate musical explorations. For example in “-18” the track by the group’s rapper sub-unit consisting of the youngest members, the calls of a scops owl opens the song. Samples of gayageum (traditional Korean plucked string instrument) and kkwaenggwari (small traditional Korean gong) are then mixed in as the song continuously challenges the concepts of dissonance and harmony. In “LOBO”, the beat takes a step back during the chorus which is then positioned around a muffled vocal sample that eventually segues with SoEun’s own crooning vocalizing as an attempt at creating a slightly toned-down rendition of the genre’s characteristic clamorous sound. Again, in “GOT YOUR BACK”, a track by the vocalists-only sub-group, and the fan appreciation song “TRUE”, the ritualistic rhythm or the powerful brass sound samples are reined in a bit to make room for some electronic loops that impart a limpid, bright sound to the tracks, thus really tuning up the space necessary for the group to more properly explore the lightful cool of the TRI.BE universe today.