NCT DREAM has always had a particular interest in the passage of time. As a subgroup of SM Entertainment’s NCT project, NCT DREAM debuted in 2016 as a squad of fresh-faced teens with a “graduation” deadline. Once they aged out of the group, they would leave and be replaced. But nearly a decade later, members MARK, RENJUN, JENO, HAECHAN, JAEMIN, CHENLE, and JISUNG are fixed members of the popular K-pop act and have settled into a confident, hip-hop-oriented sound. They’re still thinking about time. Beat It Up, the follow-up EP to summer 2025’s Go Back to the Future, takes “the speed of time” as its self-described focus. On the hip-hop title track, NCT DREAM wants listeners to know they’re not worried about the pace at which they’re moving. JENO notes, “That’s okay, we’re still so young,” before the group dives into the song’s hooky chorus. Other album tracks—from lush pop track “Rush” to rap-driven subunit song “Tempo” (performed by rappers MARK, JENO, JAEMIN, and JISUNG)—make explicit reference to the speed of time, but it’s there too in the anthemic pop track “Cold Coffee.” NCT DREAM keeps the sounds soft for the subunit love ballad “Butterflies” (performed by vocalists RENJUN, HAECHAN, and CHENLE) before coming back together for the bass-driven performance track “TRICKY.”