Song Review:: Mark (NCT): The Firstfruit- +82 Pressin' {Pre-Release}

• Release date: 2025 April 07

• Album tracklist: +82 Pressin'

• Album runtime:  minutes

 I've actually been looking forward to getting this one written, and I wanted to make sure it got done before the whole album is released. Which is soon. Also, I know that rap is not my preferred genre of vocals, which is ironic given who most of my biases are, but he's also a member of NCT and despite their many, many, many flaws, SM is very good at training their idols. But also, this is Mark. There's a reason why there's the joke about him being in all the subunits: he's just that good.

Now, obviously, I'm hearing some other NCT songs in the instrumentals. I don't actually know what any of those songs are called, or I'd tell you which ones specifically I'm reminded of. But I think there are at least three. Or possibly all the same song. The instrumentals here are essentially exactly as I'd expect to hear for rap, and it doesn't try to reinvent the wheel, something I appreciate from my less knowledgeable perspective there. 

PJ the Cat joined me when I started playing this song, and tried to lay on the source of the music and started purring, so this is PJ Approved™️. 

The balance between the two members' voices gives the song a really good blend of the fierce and the sweet, which really encapsulates how the older NCT units function in general, so that's a cool little thing. I don't think this is Mark's official debut yet. I think that comes with the title track of the upcoming album, but looking at this song, where he's borrowing a groupmate to ease him into the world of solo work for a song that sounds so much like an NCT song, this gives a very good indication of a possible direction for his solo career. Mark really does have a good voice though. I'm used to rappers having deeper voices than their vocalist counterparts, but Mark's is surprisingly high. And without having looked at the lyrics and line distribution, there are a couple of sections where I'm positive I hear the rapping voice singing a little. Which pleases me. Give me the all-rounders.

Ah, a storyline. Thanks, Mark! Also, this is giving me the mob version of Super Junior's Mamacita vibes. I'm very much pleased by this. I'm also reminded quite a lot of the opening title sequence to the James Bond movie Spectre, which I wrote an entire paper on in college, so yeah. I really like this music video, and rather than go into how much I like it and why, because then we'd be here for paragraphs, I'm just going to quietly move the music video over to the list of my possible extra addition to the blog I'm thinking about.