DIA Continues Their Cutesy Concept with "Can't Stop"

DIA turned back to their cute ways with “Can’t Stop,” the lead single off their fourth album Love Generation. The album was released as four mini albums with commingling songs. The lead single video was accompanied by two subunit music videos for “LO OK” and “Darling My Sugar,” which were both released before the full group’s video. While the other subunit singles bring some fun to the DIA generation, “Can’t Stop” is classic DIA. It’s cute, it’s light, and there’s a lot of Chaeyeon.

The song itself is consumed with the cuteness that the girls have polished through the last two years. They take to the school yard with their school girl uniforms to play with ribbons, in the library, and the basketball court. Unless emotionally invested in some of the girls, the video might seem somewhat boring due to the lack of any action. Besides the rap and photo booth, the group hardly does anything exciting outside of their new dance moves. There are quite a few scenes that solely consist of the group sitting at school desks or on a school bus. But for those DIA fans, these extended shots might seem like a blessing.

These extended group shots are also a way for DIA and MBK Entertainment to give screen time to other members. In the past, DIA has faced criticism for being Chaeyeon and friends. While she has appeared in I.O.I., in acting roles, and in plenty of ads, there is still a whole group behind her pulling the actual music weight. “Can’t Stop” is probably the best MBK Entertainment and DIA has balanced showing their lead idol and showing other members in the group. Eunjin and Huihyeon have a fantastic rap at the end of the song while Chaeyeon is hardly given any of the lines. Also, during the group dances, Chaeyeon barely sees the front of the formation. Just a year ago, during the Mr. Potter era, this would have been unheard of.

The obvious standout section of the song is the two consecutive raps by Eunjin and Huihyeon. Starting outside a retro photo booth in the dark give the opening for the most visually stimulating part of the video.  For the raps, the song breaks its cute nature and drops a steamy guitar solo to accompany the two rappers. After the raps, the girls take to the photo booth with the help of 1990s computer graphics, which include the 8-bit dolphin repeated across the screen.

The next best stand out is the chorus, which the group leads off the song with. But it just reapplies the generic love lyrics the group has used in the past.

Baby can’t stop, I wanna hear it
I keep wanting to hear it, my head is filled with you
oh baby can’t stop
We’re getting closer
oh, I can’t stop

Despite all of the knocks against the video and the song, this is definitely DIA’s peak. The entire year of 2017 has been a fresh start for them between “Would You Go Out With Me?” and “Can’t Stop.” The Yolo album, which is low-key one of the most comprehensive albums of the year, will work as a nice contrast to the likes of their new album and subunit groups.

The Love Generation album brings plenty of musical surprises, but for now, we have “Can’t Stop,” a more generic song in the DIA discography. It’s a polished take on some of DIA’s older songs and should be public friendly. The video itself is somewhat bland as there is very little meaning behind it other than to provide fans with a visual experience alongside the song. If you’re looking for a more interesting video, the subunit that produced “LO OK” has much more sass and stimulating musical choices.