welcome to our cinema

#kaca

Hello guys, welcome to the long

awaited review blog of SKZ’s

new mixtape DominATE.

Special shoutout to my wife keni,

carla and lima for motivating me

to actually write because this

wouldn't have seen the light of

day otherwise. This mixtape

announcement came out of

nowhere, I couldn't actually

believe my eyes when I saw it.

I initially thought it was a single

and was pleasantly surprised

when the tracklist was released.

The unit lives they did a while ago

was a spoiler, we didn't know that

then. Now onto the actual review:

Giant is the shortest SKZ era

to exist (2 days due to hop

announcement). Giant is one

of my favorite Jpop songs and

I keep rewatching the mv every

other day. So I absolutely loved

this korean version as well. I

have always been a fan of

Changbin’s rap verses but this

Changbin hits different.

Seungmin’s intro was absolutely

beautiful, his vocals were so good.

Chan’s clever ‘do re mi fa king giant’

left me in awe. Han’s rap verses,

especially in the bridge was fabulous.

I absolutely love the chorus part and

the outro gives it an amazing exit.

I listened to the mixtape first

on spotify in order so this

was the first unit song I

listened to. I love the raw

electrifying energy throughout

the song. I never knew we

needed Jeongbin duo but we

absolutely did. Changbin’s

intense rap verses with

Jeongin’s vocals and a little

bit of rap made this track

very fun to listen to. My

favorite verses off this song

are I.N’s everday is a big day

and Changbin’s breaking rules

since 2018 in the first verse.

The barababam part during the

chorus was my favorite. The

second verse was my favorite

part with i.n rapping about the

laps, and changbin rapping

about trucks. The bridge part

is my favorite with alternates

of Changbin rap and Jeongin

vocals. The end with the dance

break is so fun. I absolutely

love the song.

For the MV, I read some theories

and heres what I gathered. At

the start, Changbin and I.N are

eating a chocolate bar and

inside it you can see some

writings, it is said this is a

depiction of when SKZ were

given a opportunity in the industry.

Stray Kids start out improving

themselves individually and as

a group. The people start pushing

each other down is a depiction of

the toxic traits in the industry but

SKZ continue grow stronger

depicted as changbin holding

the truck. They continue to grow

tremendously with each other's

and finally share the

success (the chocolate bar).

The mv totally fit the Burnin

Tires aesthetic. I love how each

round was shown. My favorite

moments in the MV were I.N

holding the globe, Changbin

holding up the truck and the

worm absolutely cracked me

up. I loved watching the MV.

Truman is a song that explores

self awareness and the need to

break free of limitations we

might have. I knew the song

would be rap focused since the

sunshine twins are both rappers

but I didn't expect them to go

this hard. Truman starts off with

a slow rap by both Felix and

Jisung and it gets faster with the

prechorus. I loved the Rengar

reference and the chorus is my

fav too especially the ‘ride the benz’

part and ‘we so advanced we the

first and last’. The first  verse is

Felix rapping in two tones, the

improvement is crazy. Han hits

us like a truck in the second verse.

Just when I thought the track was

gonna be in full english, Han comes

out with korean rap verses, its bars

upon bars I love it. Jisung is an

insane rapper, we all know that.

I love that the MV kinda mirrors

each shot like it's a film strip,

it's such an interesting detail.

I loved the makeup and styling

on both the . I cracked

up when I saw Felix being cross

eyed during the pre chorus. I

love the choreography especially

during the chorus. This is such a

banger and should be appreciated

by playing at full volume.

Escape is officially the red lights

2.0 we needed. Red lights is

about both Hyunjin and Chan

were binded by these chains.

Escape is about them breaking

free from these chains, emotionally

freeing themselves from reality

and escaping together. Hyunjin’s

verse is so good especially the

‘like magic’ part, chefs kiss.

Chan’s pre chorus was a blessing

to my ears, just how does he sing

like that. I absolutely love the

chorus with the drums in the middle,

absolutely phenomenal. Chan’s

falsetto made me ascend to heaven,

I love it when Chan gets to show off

his vocals in songs like this. Hyunjin

really surprised me with his vocals in

the prechorus. The bridge was so

unexpected and made my jaw drop

because Chan casually sings ‘hold

onto my hand, headed for the climax’.

I loved all the harmonies throughout

the song and the strained voices was

such a needed touch to the song.

The music video is absolutely insane

and I love it. First we see Hyunjin and

Chan being separate and alone. When

they do meet, you can see some

conflict but they patch it up and

become close. They try to run away

and escape together but they are

‘caught’. Hyunjin is imprisoned but

he manages to escape and Chan

and Hyunjin get together again.

The hug and the hand holding made

me lose my mind. So that's my take

on the mv. I loved watching the live

performances and especially loved

the white cloth part they did. I want

to watch SKZ live at least

once in my life

Stray Kids can never release

a album without a song that's

gonna make us bawl our eyes

out and Cinema is that song

on this album. As soon as I

saw Lee know & Seungmin

in a unit,I knew it was gonna

be a ballad but nothing would

have prepared me for cinema.

Throughtout the song the way

both Seungmin and Lee know

are able to express emotions

through their vocals is incredible.

What surprised me the most was

the bridge, Seugmin and Leeknow

singing over the harmonies.

The outro was so beautiful,

such a anazing ending to the song.

I loved the MV’s aesthetic so much,

it was so unique. Lee know and

Seungmin preparing for a concert,

them giving out flyers for the same

and them leaving to the concert

venue and the car broke down in

the middle and they had to walk

all the way there. Is this the reason

no one was present at their concert,

it made me so sad. The song

depicts that they found solace in each

other so its fine. During the live

performance, the fact that the names

of stays who attended their concert

was displayed for the ending credits

on Cinema made me cry, Stray Kids

really do love stays.

Thank you so much for reading!!

Remainder to stream the album

and see you in the next one!!