Before DESERVE: A BABYMONSTER Vocal Listening Guide

BABYMONSTER will release the digital single “DESERVE” on October 23 at 1 p.m. KST. YG Entertainment unveiled the title on October 14, following an October 6 teaser that had already established the date and time.

In his October 14 “FROM YG” message, executive producer Yang Hyun Suk described a slower-paced song combining gentler singing with powerful delivery and building toward an emotional peak. He also said the next album is being targeted for early 2027, without specifying a date or format. The single follows June’s “SUGAR HONEY ICE TEA,” the previous new song identified in his message.

A ballad already in the catalog

The vocal emphasis has an earlier reference point. “Stuck In The Middle,” released on February 1, 2024, was presented by YG as a pop ballad with sparse instrumentation and a prominent piano melody. It offers a starting place for approaching the new announcement through the group’s singing, without assuming that “DESERVE” will repeat it.

One song, more than one setting

The song continued beyond its initial single release. The April 1, 2024 mini-album BABYMONS7ER includes both “Stuck In The Middle (7 ver.)” and “Stuck In The Middle (Remix).” They are distinct entries, not interchangeable labels for the same recording.

The official track-list credit poster offers a concrete comparison. Both versions name Jared Lee and Dan Whittemore as lyricists, with DEE.P joining them on composition. The seven-member version credits DEE.P for arrangement; the remix credits LP and CHOICE37. The songwriting names remain while the arrangement team changes.

Choose the same passage in the two album versions, then follow the vocal line and backing separately. Listen for changes in rhythmic emphasis, space around the voice and the placement of the emotional high point. This makes arrangement a question to explore, rather than treating a slow tempo as a complete description of a song.

Listen beyond the high notes

Try listening once for the continuity of the melody as singers take over, then again for the endings of phrases. Where does a voice hold a note, soften it or leave room before the next entrance? Those questions offer a more specific route into a performance than simply counting high notes.

“DESERVE” will have to establish its own relationship between vocal detail and dramatic scale when it arrives. For now, the existing recordings provide the context; October 23 will supply the new music.