Drip (album)

On January 24, 2024, YG Entertainment founder Yang Hyun-suk announced plans for the group to release a mini-album on April 1, followed by a full-length album during the fall of the same year.^[2] A follow-up announcement by Yang on May 19 revealed plans to release a pre-release single for the upcoming studio album in early July.^[3][4] The single, "Forever", was released on July 1.^[5] Filming of music videos in support of the album began on September 23, which was announced on the same day, along with further confirmation of the album's fall release.^[6]

On October 8, YG Entertainment officially announced Babymonster's first studio album, titled Drip. The track listing was released on the same day, with the single of the same name announced as the album's lead single.^[7] Since the announcement, previews of the first verses of two tracks were released each week preceding the album release: "Clik Clak" and "Love, Maybe" on October 11 and 12,^[8][9] "Woke Up in Tokyo" and "Billionaire" on October 18 and 19,^[10][11] and "Really Like You" and "Love in My Heart" on October 25 and 26,^[12][13] respectively. On October 21, the track "Clik Clak" was announced as the album's second title track.^[14] Its music video was released on October 30.^[15] Drip was released on November 1, along with the music video for its lead single.^[16]

Drip contains nine tracks. The opening track "Clik Clak" is a minimalistic hip hop song over which all seven members rap with unique styles.^[8] The title track, "Drip", is a danceable hip hop track that was co-composed by BigBang member G-Dragon, and the third track, "Love, Maybe", is an intimate ballad with all the members singing over a stripped-back guitar instrumental.^[17] This is followed by "Really Like You", which has a '90s hip hop style and was co-written by Mino of Winner, and "Billionaire", which is an R&B song with heavy 808 bass and a Y2K vibe.^[18] The sixth track "Love in My Heart" is a lively dance pop track about not hiding feelings that have grown uncontrollably.^[13] The seventh track, "Woke Up in Tokyo", is a hip hop song with heavy bass, Japanese lyrics, and wordplay utilizing onomatopoeia, performed by the group's rappers, Ruka and Asa.^[10] The pre-release single "Forever" is an upbeat synth-pop song with a bright summer vibe,^[19][20] and the album ends with a remix of "Batter Up" that was performed as an encore during their fanmeeting tour See You There (2024) as a bonus track.^[18]

Drip debuted on the top of the Circle Album Chart in South Korea,^[21] and at number 7 on the Billboard Japan Hot Albums chart.^[22] A week after its release, YG Entertainment reported a sales count of approximately 820,000 copies, nearly double that of their previous release Babymons7er.^[23]