Rookie hip-hop boy group Monsta X of Starship Entertainment was blessed with a crew of the most in-demand names in hip-hop for their second EP “Rush.”

The six-track EP includes songs worked on by Mad Clown, Crybaby and Rhymer, as well as the lead track “Rush” produced by Giriboy. Monsta X’s rapper Jooheon took part in writing the lyrics for five of the six tracks, with fellow rapper I.M joining him on four, including “Rush.”

The lead track “Rush” is a pounding hip-hop track with cute, witty lyrics asking a girl to “rush” to the singer‘s side. The music and performance is significantly lighter than those for Monsta X’s debut track “Trespass.” 

According to the members, “Rush” is a better representation of their actual personalities.

“All of our members are masculine, but they‘re also very playful,” said Hyungwon at a media showcase at the Ilchi Art Hall in Seoul, Monday. 

“When we were performing ’Trespass,‘ we tried to make our expressions and the choreography really rough and tough. With ’Rush,‘ you’ll get to see a more cute, mischievous side. That‘s the point,” said Minhyuk.

“Rush” comes just one month after wrapping up promotions for the “Trespass” album, and the members say that it was a truly hectic time, because the members were singing, dancing and writing lyrics for the album all at once.

Rapper I.M said that he and Jooheon, who contributed lyrics for most of the songs, would write lyrics in the car between their various commitments or after the other members had already gone home for the day.

Still, Monsta X said that they were happy the album had come out so quickly. When asked about the competition they would face on the charts against YG Entertainment’s new boy group iKON, the members said that they believed the two teams could learn from each other and give great performances, each in their own style.

Monsta X‘s second EP “Rush” was released Monday.

By Won Ho-jung (hjwon@heraldcorp.com)