MXM’s “I’m The One” is polished and inoffensive, but fails to inspire excitement

The ‘Produce 101‘ train continues to roll on, guaranteeing that nearly every participant gets an opportunity for extra promotion — no matter how small that sliver may be. In the case of Youngmin and Donghyun from MXM, “I’m The One” is only a starting point. The two are essentially a sub-unit of a yet-to-be-named boy group from Brand New Music that will include Daehwi and Woojin once their stint as members of Wanna One has ended. For now, the duo ably carries the light hip-hop style of “I’m The One”, even if the song doesn’t amount to anything particularly groundbreaking.

In some ways, the classic, unambitious pop production of “I’m The One” works in its favor. It’s refreshing to hear a track of this style that doesn’t try to aggressively force tropical trends all over the place. Instead, the instrumental is mostly faceless, lacking a knockout punch but ingratiating itself as an easygoing mid-tempo dance track. The same could be said about the song’s repetitive melody, which opts for simple sing-along catchiness over anything too dynamic.

If this description sounds kind of noncommittal, it’s because “I’m The One” doesn’t really inspire excitement. In fact, it’s the kind of song that fails to elicit strong feelings in any direction. There’s nothing particularly noteworthy about its approach, but its pieces are polished and inoffensive enough to pass by with a general sense of satisfaction. I don’t know if this is praise or criticism, especially since the over-saturated K-pop landscape hardly has room for title tracks that sound like filler.

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