superpower is my pain

No one asked but here's my review of "Superpower," the Valorant Champions 2024 theme song.

0:00 – intro & verse 1

• Love the bassy, blaring trumpets as an opening statement. Fun start.
• 0:06 – Capping it off with the gunshots is a very yummy and chef's kiss decision of them.
• As with the Champs themes of 2021-23, the main bass line sounds like it's inspired by one of the first Valorant OSTs ("Ignition"). Keeping with tradition, I see.
• I really like the reverbed Kiss of Life (Natty specifically? I'm going off Genius attributions) vocals in the background of Mark Tuan's verses. It's always fun when there's melodies woven into the rhythm of a rap. You can hear most of the bits at 0:14, 0:17, 0:24, and 0:28.
• 0:20 – There's also a fun squeaky alarm sound that cleanly punches through the rhythmic rapping without overextending or overstaying its welcome. Neat.

0:31 – pre-chorus 1

• I like the smoother, more melodic groove that the pre-chorus eases into!
• 0:31 – Standard drum beats to build up tension, me likey.
• 0:36 – We're adding a faster, snappy snare! Okay!
• 0:38 – Now a "fuller" kick takes over the snares, like a pulse of adrenaline being injected into my ears. I'm getting excited. Hype, hype, hype.

0:40 – chorus 1

• 0:41 – Hm. There was certainly A Choice of a screechy instrument note here (fuck if I know what it is). The song isolates this sound in that second, between "If I never" and "leap," so you really pay attention to it.
  • It even sounds like its volume gets turned down midway through, like the composer was embarrassed to have it in there and wanted its presence out ASAP, so it has even less impact.

• 0:44 – The above sound stands out more when you compare it to the bass note at this timestamp. It shares the same function of 0:41 to add a pause before "Bleed or sacrifice," but it does so without the dissonance of the earlier instrument.
• The overall chorus is really catchy! Putting aside the weird 0:41 note, they did a good job pairing the flow of the lyrics with the melody they carry.
  • The note progression of "If I never leap" almost sonically takes a leap itself: the quicker tempo of the first three words is the run-up, and the delay before "leap" adds to the image of someone soaring into the air.
• I might be wrong but the bass line of the chorus sounds like it's a similar frequency(?) to the 0:38-40 kick in the pre-chorus. It makes the chorus fall a little flat on the bass side.
  • Best way I can describe my problem with it: it's like you're starting at a 10, getting the crowd excited for an 11, then hitting a mediocre 4 at 0:41, then going back to 10 and saying "We're SO back," like you weren't the one responsible for the initial fall-off. Why should I be excited that you're back to your former standards? Why would you set us all up for a let-down like that?
  • (Am I losing you here. Be honest.)
• At least the chorus bass kind of switches up the notes and beats?
  • Honestly, the thing I said earlier about "same-y bass" sounds like it applies to not only the 0:38-40 kick and the chorus bass, but also the bass in the rap verse. The rhythm is different, but the frequency and pitch sound the same.
  • So far, the bass has done a good job of inserting energy into the song. The issue is when it lacks dynamic shifts and sounds same-y across stretches of the song. We're only a third of the way through "Superpower," and I'm already afraid that such a strong bass is going to achieve the impressive feat of making this song sound monotonous.
• 1:02 – We end with a repeat of the earlier trumpets. This time, the song continues a light rapid-tempo drum from the chorus, but it also adds reverbed vocals and a funky bass that has no right to be more dynamic and varied than what the chorus has given.

1:07 – verse 2

• 1:07 – Here's the thing. A lot of the problems I later had with the song wouldn't have been problems if not for this section because HOLY SHIT THE BASS LINE HERE IS GAS.
  • The whole arrangement here is just so FUN! The deeper frequencies are so good with this new note progression.
  • Plus, the tone of Julie's rapping perfectly plays off those funky fun sounds! I especially love the third line "이제는 시시해 gunfight, I brought a blade" for how her flow syncs with the bass notes.
• 1:18 – ...Aaaaand then the second half of this section goes back to the same bass as the earlier rap verse. Not a crime in and of itself, but next to the fun funk of the first half, the repetitiveness really stands out.
• (We're speed-running past Pre-chorus 2 since it has the same problems as the first. On my first listen, I think that's when I started to realize why this song wasn't clicking well for me.)

1:38 – chorus 2

• The second chorus adds variation with ad-libs from Natty. You can hear it at 1:42-44 ("Never fly"), then at 1:46 ("Final hour") and 1:48 ("Superpower"). Nice.
  • It's always a treat when the song makes the effort to switch up things for every chorus. It's usually a given for the final chorus, but oftentimes the second is copied from the first.
• 1:51 – The ad-libbing continues in the second half of the chorus, but then a weird thing happens where you hear the beginnings of it at 1:54 ("shine"), but it's interrupted at 1:55 by the main vocals of "Can't have sweet without the sour."
  • Which makes sense, the focus is supposed to be on the standard lyrics and not the background vocals. Maybe I'm only bothered by it because of how much I was appreciating the ad-libs?
• 2:00 – We now get the third and best variation of the trumpets snippet. It's similar to the first post-chorus trumpet, but this mix leans a little more into the reverb.
  • Riot Studios FULLY knows what they can do to make an instrumental punchy, so why would they leave the pre-choruses hanging like that!
• 2:05 – Now we have a super sick variation of the trumpet section's dubstep-y part. We cut out the heavy bass to focus on an electric synth that'd previously been drowned out by the rest of the background music. It's a great way to slow down the pace as we approach the climax of the song.

2:11 – bridge

• 2:11 – ...Of course, Riot wastes the earlier slowed pace by having the song make a sudden burst of melody into the bridge.
  • It's a great section on its own because it ties all the artists together and provides a fun melody that ends on a defiant "Only gods can judge me."
  • The problem is that it's too short, lasting maybe 10 seconds. It doesn't last long enough to really sit with you. Maybe that's why I felt like it popped up too abruptly after the second post-chorus trumpets – it felt like a hit and run.
• 2:18 – I don't know enough about music theory or composition to explain why, but the note progression of "Only gods can judge me" makes it feel like there's more to be said, so I was expecting an additional verse.
• 2:21 – I feel like the version they went with is in a limbo of pacing. It can't decide if it's supposed to be breathing room between the bridge and the final chorus when it cuts out most of the instrumentals, or if it's supposed to build up hype with its quickening snares. Because of that confusion, I don't get enough catharsis in the chorus. Or maybe I'm exhausted at this point from the constant pedal-to-the-floor intensity of the bass.

2:26 – chorus 3

• The final chorus is mostly the same as the second. Same problem with the ad-libbed vocals getting cut off at weird times by the main vocals.
• Mark adds in some rapping – 2:29 ("Never fly"), 2:32 ("Yeah"), 2:34 ("Uh, uh"), 2:36 ("Superpower"), 2:38 ("My head up high"), 2:45 ("No") – but his ad-libs are never cut off by the main vocals.
• Honestly a wasted opportunity to not have all three artists singing the last chorus! The bridge proves Mark can carry a tune. Having an additional singer, ideally with harmonization, would've given the final part an element of dynamism that the chorus has already lacked throughout the entire run of the song.

2:48 – ending

• 2:48 – We start closing out the song with a fourth and final variation of the trumpets. There's a layer of background rapping/chanting; I think they're just saying "hey."
  • I do like the gradual development of the trumpet section over the entire song. This final variation is the perfect curtain closer. It gives off the atmosphere of a crowd pumping you up and encouraging you to get in on the fun.
• 2:53 – Kiss of Life sings "Welcome to the final hour," and Mark joins in at 2:56 to rap "Pain is my superpower."

And it's over.

many a visual aid

I've always liked Riot's themes for their international championship games. 2014's "Warriors" for League of Legends was what got me into video game music. "Ticking Away," Valorant's 2023 Champs song, was the first Riot song I heard in a while, and it was the first I heard from their newer game. After finding banger after banger in Valorant's music catalog, I was eagerly awaiting this year's theme song.

I heard a teaser of the 2024 song on social media and was so pumped. I really liked the instrumental and beat I heard. The song was a departure from the previous Valorant Champs themes, but in a good way. I love a good bass line in a song, so it seemed like it'd be up my alley.

Everything I heard in that snippet, I got, yet "Superpower" just didn't work for me.

It does a lot of things well: the featured artists sound great, the trumpets are a fun bookend each third of the song, and there are some addicting bass lines that become more satisfying the more you listen to it. There are great pieces, but the issue was that there wasn't any synergy. I don't dislike the song, but I am disappointed we were a couple of fine-tunings away from an absolute banger.

The song is full of lost potential. I think if this had been released without the label of a Valorant Champs theme, I would've called it an "absolute banger" and added it to my yearlong playlist without any reservations. It has fun beats. It has catchy melodies. It's got a trumpet section I really want to blast on my kazoo.

It's also supposed to be a theme. It's supposed to provide an iconic sound that embodies the prestige of an end-of-year international championship. It's supposed to be a unifying anthem that represents the professional players and their ambitions to win it all.

"Superpower" is not an anthem.

Let's take a look at the music videos of all the other Champs themes. You'll find a central narrative that perfectly conveys each song's atmosphere.

2021's "Die For You" is a melancholic ode from the playable agents to their all-powerful players, asking them to give their lives and deaths purpose. Each agent on the protagonist team dives into an inner world which is shaped by their own personalities, especially their attitudes in battle. It's here that they meet the figures who control their subconscious. These interactions carry a sense of gravity and awe that emphasize the god-like status of the players.

There's no straightforward plot here, but 2022's "Fire Again" features new agents and pro player cameos to personify the song's colors of defiance and resilience. Vibrant palettes and glitch-like effects complement the electronic BGM. Even though intense effort was clearly put into designing the backgrounds, the camera rightfully focuses on a smooth transition between fictional agents and their respective real-life players. The video ends on the players who, despite the adversity thrown at them in the life, pick themselves up and run into the light.

The one I began with, 2023's "Ticking Away," is a heartfelt tribute to the casual player. The game is the foundation of the protagonist's best friendships, then becomes the passion he pursues as a career while his friends grow apart to follow different paths in life. In the end, the game brings them together again when they watch him in the big leagues, and he has the honor of bringing pieces of his childhood friends into the game. The recurring motto of "ONE MORE" encourages us to never give up on our chase for our dreams.

Then we come to 2024's "Superpower." A Riot Studios executive has said that their focus was on "not just making a music video, but making a video that also felt like a music video." That might've been to the detriment of the overall direction. A lot of the frames have extra polish and are layered with special effects: lens flares, holographic glows, retro TV–like filters, etc. There are many moments of god-like animated movement that really make you feel like you're moving along three dimensions to get the full shot, but these moments go by a little too quickly for a viewer to fully appreciate it.

Those moments are then buffered by generic-looking people designs, which is disappointing when you think of the effort the animators of "Fire Again" put into their cameo drawings. Here, on top of bad camera angles and lighting (which is crazy to have in an animated video), there aren't enough context clues to make the identities of the pro players apparent.

A lot of their scenes are static and flat compared to the bass-pumping song, and it's not a juxtaposition that usually works well. When the song is as high energy as it is, the overall pace of the video should be fast. Instead we have slow lingering shots of these moving wallpapers that suck out the hype the song is trying to deliver. It's great that the players get an easy wallpaper out of their cameos, but the actual moment they're capturing doesn't feel very epic.

To the commenters who dedicated hours to identify pro players out of the generic silhouettes and iconic tournament moments out of the nanoseconds of gameplay clips included, I appreciate your effort. Unfortunately, I can't judge the video's artistic quality based on the unpaid labor of a fan. All I see is a collection of well-animated clips that don't build up to a greater meaning: "Die For You" has a reconciliation between agents and players, "Fire Again" has pro players throwing themselves at the next challenge, and "Ticking Away" has a story about greatness coming from humble beginnings. "Superpower," as it is, comes off as extremely cluttered and directionless.

In a funny sense, the music video does mesh well with the song's identity: afraid of commitment. The song leans away from previous EDM-heavy sounds to go in a more pop direction with wider appeal, but its intensity goes a little too heavy on the throttle and never eases up, so it's not for all audiences either. Glimmers of unique greatness in the song (I'm looking So Hard at 1:07-17) are either quickly cut off by generic pop decisions, or they're rehashed and recycled so many times that they lose their magic. "Superpower" also adds in sound effects from the actual Valorant video game (gunshots, reload clicks) to make you remember, oh hey, there are guns in this game, which the previous three themes haven't done. And then I think, oh wow, that's all this song's got going for it.