Song Review:: TWICE: STRATEGY- Strategy

• Release date: 2024 December 06

• Album tracklist: Strategy (feat. Megan Thee Stallion), Kiss My Troubles Away, Like It Like It, Sweetest Obsession, Keeper, Magical, Strategy

• Album runtime: 21 minutes

 I finally know TWICE is the elder group and ITZY is the younger group! Yay! Success! What did it was learning that TWICE debuted the same year as Seventeen, which means that ITZY was the one that debuted after Stray Kids. But I think I'll be good on that front in the future. And Megan Thee Stallion is the one who did the duet with RM earlier in the year, yes? She's going through the K-Pop groups. Good for her. The album also includes the version of the song without her, but that's not the title track. 

This song is dramatic and funky, with strategically placed silences. There's actually a surprising amount of silence for this being a dance track and not something on the more ballad side of things. And you know what this song has that I really appreciate? Audience participation clapping! It's very brief, but it's there and that's all that matters. The beginning sounds like something out of a musical, and then the tonal shift to what the song actually sounds like is an intense difference.

Was I a little disappointed that this was an all English track? Yes. Also, I'm almost positive the two songs have no relation to each other, but Strategy reminds me of Maneater by Hall & Oates so much, and it's not just the fact that the word "maneater" is used during Megan Thee Stallion's rap. The POV woman in Strategy could be the same woman being sung about in Maneater. I don't mean the comparison to be unflattering. Maneater has been one of my favorite songs since I was very young because my mom had the Runaway Bride soundtrack on CD, and that was one of our road trip CDs. So I'm automatically inclined to be favorable to the song. It does fall into the chorus-as-shouting trap I don't particularly care for, but on the whole, their voices are strong and well-used, so I'm also more inclined there to forgive other foibles.

The muscle in their legs is stunning. This music video falls into the category of "no or minimal storyline in favor of their (admittedly gorgeous) visuals and choreography", which is my least favorite kind of music video since it's essentially a performance video. But I wouldn't have a problem with it if it had been called a performance video. The choreography and costuming is very well suited to the song and the lyrics. There's a lot of variation in the style of the costuming as well. And the ending shot making the heart, which is actually the thumbnail, is kinda cute.