"Intro" Tracks: What are they and what makes a good one?

Intro tracks seem to be unique to the kpop genre. Not all albums or artists use them, but they are seen often enough. They're these tracks at the beginning of an album or EP that are pretty cool-sounding and vary in content, but how do you know they're good?

Typically, intro tracks are short, no more than 1:00 to 1:30 long. Some are longer (closer to full songs), and some have nothing to do with the album. Longer tracks are often denoted as such, being labeled as intro. If the track is shorter, it's usually given a full title. While you would think they're meant to set the tone for the album, sometimes they just introduce the artist musically. Such is the case for MAMAMOO's "Hello" and Lee Hi's "Turn It Up".

Both tracks are featured on each respective artists' debut EP/mini album. "Hello" happens to fit the smooth sound of the rest of MAMAMOO's mini album and introduce them as artists. The four women showcase their vocals and are introduced by name. Lee Hi's "Turn It Up", on the other hand, contrasts the rest of the album. It introduces her as an artist, emphasizing her unique, powerful, husky voice with strong hip-hop-like beats. Almost all the other tracks though are slow ballads or R&B songs. Her intro track is meant to showcase her as an artist, but it doesn't set the tone for the album. Does that make "Turn It Up" a bad track? In my own opinion, it's a bad intro, but still a great song overall. Sure, it introduces the artist, but with a song like that, the whole album should be more upbeat. I do think Lee Hi's debut album should have showcased her powerful vocals more, especially with such a strong opening. However, that's an overall album and production issue. The song itself is still really great. Fans (myself included) still hope for a full version of the song, but the song's purpose as an intro is not entirely fulfilled when it is looked at in the larger picture. Personally, I think intros should be more like B.A.P.'s "Fight For Freedom", pretty much any of BTS' intros (see: "What Am I To You?", "Intro: The Most Beautiful Moment In Life", "2 Cool 4 Skool"), or any of B1A4's intros, (see: "Intro - Time", "Intro - IN THE WIND"). These intros set the tone, message, or sound for the rest of the album.

"Fight For Freedom" is the opener for B.A.P's second mini album, Power. The intro is a strong, hip-hop and hard rock-themed song. With lyrics like "Until when will you be trapped? Until when will you live like others?", the track is a call to go against the status quo and fight/think for yourself as it transitions to the lead single, "Power". Within the first 30 seconds of the lead song, the lyrics talk about a war between the strong and the weak with Yongguk's lines: "Move, it's time for the anthem of the battle between the strong and the weak/Revolution, this is the Guernica flow". Three of the four tracks on the album are hip-hop and hard rock-influenced and convey messages about fighting the status quo and fighting those who seek power over others using wealth and force. "Fight for Freedom" is a perfect intro: the lyrics convey the main message of the album, without making the following tracks sound repetitive, and the sound itself prepares the listener for hard-hitting tracks to come.

Skipping over BTS' intros (as there are plenty of analyses of their music/albums), B1A4's intros are typically only instrumentals, but introduce the rest of the album and its story. Good Timing's intro track, "Intro - Time" features clocks and audio played in reverse and it speeds up, as if time is being turned back, until it abruptly ends and fades into the lead track, "A Lie." While not all the tracks are the same genre, they all center around moments in a relationship where people are falling in or out of love with their significant other. Most tracks have to do with things along the lines of "if only I did something different" or "if only I could do turn back time," making the intro track very fitting.

It is intros like B.A.P's and B1A4's that make good, perfect intros. Do all albums need one? Definitely not. But for the ones that do, there is a "good" and "bad" way to make and place the track.

#kpop #music #B1A4 #BAP #LeeHi #MAMAMOO