An electropop snapshot of the SEVENTEEN sub-unit’s perspectives at age 28. Like other sub-unit albums released during SEVENTEEN’s military enlistment era, V8 allows fans a chance to learn about members’ individual artistic identities through a more intimate configuration. V8 is the SEVENTEEN sub-unit composed of Korean American rapper VERNON and Chinese dancer and singer THE 8. Their debut mini album is an electropop snapshot at of the members’ perspectives and creative preferences at the age of 28, more than a decade into their connected careers. As members of SEVENTEEN’s hip-hop team and performance team, respectively, VERNON and THE 8 are not often paired, but V8 reminds listeners of their deep history together. Sentimental, EDM-driven album opener “Friend” begins with an audio clip of child THE 8 telling a talk show host that he wants to be a star, before segueing into references to SEVENTEEN’s days as teenage trainees in the early and mid-2010s. V8’s electronic, alt-pop interests continue across the album, including on the hyperpop lead single “singasong”. “I feel like Mechatok,” VERNON and THE 8 repeat, a shout-out to the Munich-born producer and DJ known for his electronic earworms, who helped them write the dance-pop track. On V8, VERNON and THE 8 flit between English, Korean, and Mandarin as the K-pop artists wonder if a faltering relationship can be saved on “coloring”, how different people actually are on “girlsnboys” and at the constant pressures of fame on “rat race”.