For me, this is what I wanted from a Seulgi solo, like Red Velvet, but her spin on it. I think that’s why “28 Reasons” and that album (of the same name) didn’t work for me back in 2022. Not that I didn’t like the change in sound, or appreciate it, it just wasn’t for me. The visuals were great, and I loved Seulgi was getting an opportunity to have a solo. It was arguably overdue.
So when I started seeing the teasers for Accidentally On Purpose, I was excited about the solo comeback, but hesitant. I didn’t want to get too invested and be disappointed because it wasn’t my taste. So I was incredibly happy and surprised when I found myself pausing what I was doing (eating Taco Bell for lunch before my dental appointment) to save songs I enjoyed. So let’s get into this album track by track.
“Baby, Not Baby” being the title track and first song off the album is perfect. It really sets the mood for the rest of the album. The guitar and bass are so addicting. I love a good 80s/retro vibe. It’s always been difficult for me to pick my favorite vocalist in Red Velvet between Wendy and Seulgi. Seulgi sounds wonderful on all these songs. She totally holds her own and I love the chaos going on during the music video of “Baby, Not Baby”. Vocally, you can hear the playfulness, but seeing the visuals along with it really puts everything together so nicely.
The styling and concepts were my favorite part of the lead up to Accidentally On Purpose. I kept wondering how Seulgi and SM were going to put all this together. Typically, for these SM solos, you get everything in the music video you see in these concept photos. Anything extra will be in the photo book.
We pretty much get everything in the music video, except for the Batman-esque stuff. We saw bats, but that was it. I think that was for copyright reasons, so that makes sense. I loved all the outfits. I love the choreo. I’ve added “Baby, Not Baby” to my list of favorite music videos of 2025. I’ll be revisiting it a lot.
Queen KENZIE wrote the lyrics for “Baby, Not Baby”. Here’s the full breakdown of everyone musically involved on the album. I’m not too surprised to see her involvement. There aren’t too many KENZIE title tracks I don’t like.
“Better Dayz”, mannn I hope you really love bass because it’s hitting so hard in the instrumentals of this album. It’s perfect. There’s a wonderful mix of R&B, Pop, and Alternative throughout this album. “Better Dayz” feels like a Taemin song, kinda love “Move”. I keep thinking about, like villain music. I’d put “Better Dayz” on that list for sure.
This song has my favorite music production/arrangement. Slow Rabbit, mostly known for his work with HYBE (Big Hit in particular) composed and arranged this one along with Blush Davis, Christ James and PXPILLON. They did an incredible job creating this eerie, dark vibe. Seulgi’s vocals sell it. And of course, we can’t forget the legends that are JamFactory (Moon Yeoreum, love that name btw, that’s so pretty) writing the lyrics.
Where Seulgi sells me dark, mischevious on other songs on Accidentally On Purpose, I just can’t take her seriously on “Rollin’ (With My Homies)”, lmao. This is NOT a phrase this woman has ever said in her life. The cadence is so sweet and innocent, very endearing. But I could see a lot of people side-eyeing her for this one.
In my Yeji article, I talked about one of the producers of her songs “Invasion” and “Air“, G’harah “PK” Degeddingseze. I think I listened to Seulgi’s album first, then Yeji’s. But besides seeing the girls promote their solos together like they were a duo and creating joint dance videos, I couldn’t shake that there was more connecting the two girls and their projects.
And sure enough, G’harah “PK” Degeddingseze, also composed and arranged music for both girl’s releases. It wasn’t until I started working on research for these articles I made the connection, but know that I know, I can hear it. Just like how I knew Yeji must have had other SM known producers, composers, etc working on her project as well. danke, also worked on Yeji’s album for the lyrics to “Invasion”.
I think this is just great. I used to see more music heads in the Kpop subreddits recommend that if there are certain songs you really like, to look at who worked on them to get an idea of other artists to check out because you may not necessarily like anything else from that group or soloist, but you’ll likely find more from that producer or writer that you’d enjoy. And they’re right. So frequently the songs I love in Kpop are written, produced, composed by the same like 15-20 people, lmao. And that was a perfect case of having the ear and pick out the similarites in sound/voice of these folks.
But when I saw G’harah “PK” Degeddingseze worked on “Rollin’ (With My Homies)”, my initial reaction was laughter, second was realization, and third was acceptance. It all made sense. Also, I was happy to see someone black was a part of this, so I didn’t have to be a white knight for Seulgi on this, lmao.
Oh, and Tricia Battani and Kirsten Collins were also listed for working on “Air” and “Invasion” and are tagged in G’harah “PK” Degeddingseze’s IG video clips. I forgot to mention that in the Yeji article, but when you look at the Reddit link, they are listed on there.
All that being said, I do like the song. I wish it was “Rollin’ (With My Friends or Girls) instead because that sounded more natural for Seulgi to sing. But it wasn’t enough for me to turn the song off and never listen to it again. I do really like it, and it’s gonna be great during the summer.
“Whatever” feels the most Velvety to me. I think that’s why it’s one of my current favorite b-sides on this album. I haven’t officially decided on my favorite song from Accidentally On Purpose yet. I’ve only listened through the entire thing twice as of writing. I think as the year goes on, I’ll have a more definitive ranking.
We’re totally in slower, downtempo territory here. “Praying” is another fav of mine. Also Velvet-like. I guess this whole album is more Velvet than Red. “Baby, Not Baby” is upbeat but nowhere near “Red Flavor” Red. I think that’s kind of the vibe we’re going to get with Seulgi’s solos, and I’m here for that.
She has my favorite vocal performance on this entire album with “Praying”. This is the danke one btw, Kang Eunjung is also credited for the lyrics on this song.
“Weakness” is the only Seulgi credited song on the album. Another similarity to Yeji’s album I noticed. “Weakness” is another good one. I say this a lot, but I love a 6 track mini album. They just feel so much more complete. It’s an even number and the pacing feels good. I love that we ended this emotional rollercoaster with a sweet song like “Weakness”.
It doesn’t completely slow things down like a ballad, but it is the slowest paced song on Accidentally On Purpose. And when it ends, it feels like the album is complete. Would I like more? Yes, but it doesn’t feel like necessary. I don’t have that incomplete feeling like after a dinner that wasn’t filling enough so now you have to go somewhere else to get full, lol.
On my first listen of Accidentally On Purpose, I thought, “huh, that was pretty good” and I moved on to the next album on my playlist. But listening to it again in full, I can say it’s one of my favorite albums released this year as well. It’s definitely a slow grower on me. I know pretty quickly on my first listen if I’m going to be obsessed with something, then quickly burn out.
Accidentally On Purpose feels like one I will pick up and put down off an on throughout the year, and before I realize it, it’ll be a constant listen. Right now, I have it near Jisoo’s album. So 6 out of the 7 I currently have on my list. But I think it’ll move up higher as the year goes on and more music releases.
Another one I enjoyed way more than I expected. What are y’alls thoughts on “Baby, Not Baby” and Accidentally On Purpose? What is your favorite look from this era so far? I really like the, “they don’t love you like I love you’ tank and blue tights combo. All these different hair colors on Seulgi suit her so well. What an icon 
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Take care!
Ash