Proper earlier than releasing their debut album, XG rebranded. “Xtraordinary Women” turned “Xtraordinary Genes,” and THE CORE arrived because the undertaking meant to clarify that shift.
What lands is ten tracks of impressively polished manufacturing showcasing seven succesful performers transferring confidently throughout genres.
The query isn’t whether or not XG can execute. They clearly can. It’s whether or not the fixed pivoting serves a bigger creative imaginative and prescient or just proves they’re able to something you ask them to do.
That query issues as a result of JAKOPS, the group’s CEO and producer, explicitly got down to construct one thing completely different from the Ok-pop coaching system he spent a decade inside as a member of DMTN.
THE CORE positions itself as proof that an alternate strategy works. When it comes to craft, it does. The manufacturing is constantly skilled. The performances land.
However craft and imaginative and prescient aren’t the identical factor, and THE CORE typically confuses vary with identification.
We monitor early momentum in music each week. Neon Alerts is the place it reveals up first.
When the Singles Carry the Weight
“XIGNAL” opens with cinematic rigidity earlier than “GALA” kicks the album into gear.
The home-meets-hip-hop manufacturing from JAKOPS and Chancellor fuses voguing rhythms with sharp rap verses, creating one thing that stands other than the TikTok-optimised pop flooding 2026.
Choreographer Sienna Lalau, whose résumé contains Jennifer Lopez and Ciara, grounds the motion in ballroom custom whereas showcasing XG’s precision.
The monitor commits absolutely to its fashion-forward idea, turning the Met Gala into an X-GALA with out second-guessing itself.
It’s assured pop that understands its references with out drowning in them. The manufacturing works each as assertion and as track, which isn’t as widespread accurately.
“TAKE MY BREATH” shifts into disco-influenced territory, all glittering basslines and clear builds aimed squarely on the Future Nostalgia lane.
The bassline rolls with correct weight, not simply programmed suggestion, and when the falsetto runs hit over these four-on-the-floor kicks, there’s real groove taking place beneath the industrial sheen.
The composition is strong: efficient pre-chorus rigidity, layered vocals, a bridge that lets method present with out overreaching.
It has apparent industrial enchantment whereas sustaining manufacturing integrity, with neo-city-pop touches that sit comfortably on XG’s voices.
“HYPNOTIZE,” positioned because the title monitor, brings atmospheric home manufacturing that lastly permits area.
The hypnotic high quality promised by the title truly materialises, with every member contributing with out overcrowding the combo. The restraint right here issues. The groove does the work as an alternative of being buried beneath proof-of-skill.
That is the closest THE CORE involves revealing what XG appears like after they’re not making an attempt to show something.
The place Vary Turns into the Query
“NO GOOD” strips all the pieces again to easy R&B. The vocals hit instantly, the bridge shifts power cleanly, the refrain lands. It’s fireplace, no caveats.
Then “ROCK THE BOAT” arrives with early-2000s R&B aesthetics, bubblegum bounce, and rap sections echoing a selected second in Black American pop historical past.
Chancellor has spoken in regards to the members learning Usher’s 8701 and Omarion throughout coaching. That devotion reveals. They aren’t vacationers in these genres.
They perceive the vocabulary. However understanding a type and having one thing new to say inside it aren’t the identical factor.
Each tracks work individually, but they show command with out enlargement.
The competence is actual. Whether or not competence with out distinct perspective turns into greater than excellent karaoke stays the query THE CORE retains elevating with out answering.
“UP NOW” leans into mild, playful summer season power. “O.R.B” follows by swinging exhausting into emo-punk, Harvey delivering the group’s first swearing on report over early-2000s aesthetics.
The shift feels deliberate, but additionally illustrative of the album’s rigidity. As standalone moments, each tracks work.
Positioned back-to-back, they underline the identical problem: is that this versatility serving a imaginative and prescient, or assembling a portfolio?
The Most Genuine Second Occurred Off the Album
Essentially the most susceptible transformation related to THE CORE didn’t occur on the report.
In December, on their twentieth birthday, Cocona introduced they’re transmasculine nonbinary and had undergone prime surgical procedure.
Chief Jurin photographed the announcement. Hinata did their make-up. Cocona appeared in a black blazer, surgical procedure scar seen, holding a purple dahlia. “I didn’t need to fully lose my previous self, however I needed to let it wilt in a manner,” they defined.
This was radical transparency in an business constructed on picture management. Cocona shared their journey with the group first, requested if it was okay, and obtained unconditional assist. That’s real revelation. That’s what “core” truly seems like.
The album presents one thing else: well-executed style research that showcase ability with out revealing a lot about who these seven individuals are when stripped of manufacturing polish and choreography.
Harvey says there’s “numerous internal power that we try to carry to the floor.”
But the fixed genre-shifting suggests acute consciousness of how every monitor may land with completely different audiences.
What the Members Say Versus What the Music Does
“We need to hold going as we’re proper now,” Maya stated in December. Jurin frames the album’s style range as “completely different parts of our core.” Truthful sufficient.
However being true to yourselves requires understanding who that self is first. THE CORE reveals what XG can do throughout hip-hop, R&B, home, disco, and punk with out clearly stating what they should say inside any of them.
The home-rap of “GALA” courts style areas. “TAKE MY BREATH” goals at radio. “O.R.B” offers different credibility. That isn’t essentially cynical.
It could merely be good positioning for a world debut. Nevertheless it makes THE CORE perform extra as showcase than assertion. The tracks that work greatest commit absolutely to at least one concept somewhat than hedging.
The unit songs show this. “4 SEASONS” strips issues again to acoustic emotion. “PS118” lets Jurin, Cocona, and Maya declare area with out compromise.
These moments really feel extra targeted, extra trustworthy. Additionally they really feel surprisingly disposable throughout the album’s arc, suggesting XG hasn’t but determined which model of themselves issues most.
What JAKOPS Constructed and What It Reveals
JAKOPS needed to create “an atmosphere the place progress is inspired in a manner I don’t essentially assume it was within the previous methods,” referencing his decade in Ok-pop. Noble purpose, and THE CORE delivers on it when it comes to manufacturing high quality and member assist.
However escaping one system doesn’t imply you’ve dismantled it.
THE CORE nonetheless operates inside industrial pop’s established logic.
They’ve swapped Seoul’s coaching infrastructure for L.A.’s manufacturing community while calling it liberation. The atmosphere modified. The strategy to profession constructing remained largely the identical.
Chancellor emphasises the members’ deep love of R&B and hip-hop, their scholarship of the varieties they’re recreating. That devotion deserves credit score.
However scholarship with out perspective permits you to approximate something with out essentially contributing one thing new.
THE CORE proves XG can execute a number of genres convincingly. It by no means fairly proves why they wanted to.
The place This Leaves THE CORE
As a debut, THE CORE succeeds at its primary activity. It introduces XG as technically succesful, professionally supported, and versatile.
The highs maintain their very own in opposition to up to date pop’s higher choices on playlist phrases. The manufacturing by no means drops. The performances keep dedicated.
As an album, it capabilities higher as assortment than journey. Jurin calls the genres “completely different parts of our core,” however that framing assumes the core has already been established.
The rebrand from Xtraordinary Women to Xtraordinary Genes feels extra like advertising and marketing repositioning than creative clarification.
XG have already got Coachella slots, Billboard entries, and a world fanbase.
The music works on playlist phrases even when it doesn’t fairly cohere on album phrases.
Future releases will reveal whether or not they develop the vary THE CORE demonstrates into precise voice, or whether or not versatility turns into the model itself.
THE CORE proves XG can do something. Whether or not they know what they need to do stays the extra fascinating query.
XG’s THE CORE is out there now through XGALX. The group begins their second world tour in February 2026.
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