NEXZ’s SAUCIN’: A taste of an identity in the making
SAUCIN’, the fourth mini album in Korean by NEXZ, was made available on August 24, 2026, at 6 p.m. KST. With it, the band makes a proposal which seems to be rather straightforward - regardless of the song and its genre, the group aims to put its unique imprint on every one of them. This six-track album by JYP Entertainment appears to be the point of departure in the young career of NEXZ. Less than two years and a half from its first Korean appearance, the group of seven members no longer needs to introduce itself. It is starting to define itself.
This album includes songs LOCO, SAUCIN’, APPETITE, UPGRADE, 20 NOW and ALIENS with the song SAUCIN’ being the title track. The album was preceded by Mmchk, published in April, and Beat-Boxer, published in October 2025. Thus, this album is part of rapidly growing Korean discography of the band. According to NEXZ's official catalog, it is the fourth mini album of the group.
While the metaphor is food, the issue is identity. References to phrases such as “Saucin’ like this”, “We Saucin’”, “Spread it all” and “Squeeze it up” permeate the campaign, making sauce an emblem of the attribute that NEXZ wishes to distinguish its brand by. From the very words of the group’s description of the work, SAUCIN’ becomes a project wherein the artists add their “sauce” to various genres of music, creating an appealing image of themselves that continues to draw the listener back in. The language is light-hearted, whereas the aim behind it is not.
This point is of utmost importance since SAUCIN’ does not come with the conceptual burden of an elaborate story-line. The album does not have to be squeezed into the frame of either romance, alienation or any kind of social commentaries, since there is a much more concrete explanation of the album provided by the artist himself. The key here is the concept of personality: the desire to express the individual attitude towards music. In that respect, SAUCIN’ continues the philosophy established by Mmchk.
Philosophically speaking, the concept manifests itself through the diversity of sound that is being presented. According to NEXZ, the mini album is a collection of diverse styles and sensations, not a set of six tracks that demonstrate some kind of musical sameness. The members claim that SAUCIN’ and APPETITE songs are fresh and dynamic, LOCO and UPGRADE are catchy, 20 NOW and ALIENS are lively and refreshing. Thus, the album poses a more challenging question about whether seven people with different preferences in music can turn their diversity into an integral characteristic of the same identity.
APPETITE shows how it can be done. TOMOYA, HARU and HYUI worked on composing and writing this song, and HARU included his preference for fast hip hop house in it. They developed ideas together, contributing their thoughts and adding to top lines. As HARU admits, it is a positive aspect just because their musical preferences differ.
TOMOYA’s definition of APPETITE lends the song meaning beyond the obvious. The album’s name elevates appetite to a metaphor for artistic drive to continue to create music that people will keep listening to, and never accept any past success as their final point. The music show win for Mmchk has been already achieved by NEXZ, and yet the emotional palette of APPETITE is not the one of satisfaction. It is the palette of appetite. NEXZ is always reaching forward.
This is much more interesting message to convey than the one about a drastic change embodied in the new SAUCIN’. NEXZ does not present itself as something totally new, as opposed to its previous self. Performing has always been crucial for the band, and it might be even more obvious now, with the title track of the album written as a result of festival atmosphere consideration and choreography transforming the sauce metaphor into actual moves. This has been supported by JYP’s marketing strategy through teasers of music videos, highlight medley, LOCO’s performance video, and a special “Bon appétit” video by TOMOYA.
SAUCIN’, on the other hand, is designed for immediate consumption. The music is fast-paced, the main hook is made to be catchy, and the culinary imagery comes across through the body language that can be equally well interpreted live on stage as from the lyrics. NEXZ debuted the single prior to the release of the album at KCON LA, showcasing it as a show-orientated piece that featured brisk energy and deliberately addicting melody. However, it gets much more interesting once the performance aspect gets replaced by time.
This is why 20 NOW comes in play. The member TOMOYA contributed to the song’s writing and composing, and it shows how the band members feel entering into their twenties. He did not see the process of growing up as a completed project. The song captures the feeling of having to become older while still developing, evolving, and still having a part of oneself that does not quite match the age number. Also, he wanted to capture the exact feelings the band members had in their twenties to be able to look back at the song years later and recapture themselves at that point.
It turns 20 NOW into much more than just a less energetic sibling of the title track. It is an archive. While SAUCIN’ describes what taste NEXZ has now, 20 NOW tries to capture what it feels like being NEXZ right now.
That difference is vital since it helps avoid making the concept of the album one-dimensional. While SAUCIN' is outwardly oriented and revolves around the power of group unity and the joy of performing, APPETITE is about hunger and the movement forwards. Meanwhile, 20 NOW brings into focus the more personal perception of time. Still, none of those moods makes the album introspective. Instead, it just changes the emotional temperature while maintaining the key theme of movement.
Interestingly enough, there is also another way to perceive that movement. According to the recommendations of HARU, the songs on the tracklist should be listened to in the following order: APPETITE, SAUCIN', UPGRADE, LOCO, ALIENS and 20 NOW. The official tracklist opens with LOCO, however, the suggested track order opens with a song produced in part by the members themselves and closes with the most personal material. It can hardly be considered an official structure of the album, nevertheless, it allows giving an intriguing interpretation of the album: start with the feeling of hunger, go on with identity and performance, and finish with memory.
LOCO, UPGRADE and ALIENS create that sequence of moods without having to bear a complicated symbolic weight. LOCO has already been provided with the performance treatment, thus emphasizing its belonging to NEXZ's performing identity. At the same time, UPGRADE is among the songs associated by the members with catching nature, while ALIENS is the cheerful prelude to the reflective finale of 20 NOW. There is no official material to prove the necessity of introducing the hidden narrative into those songs, but their role can be better seen through the lens of momentum.
The visual identity of the album adheres to the same concept of an abundance of elements that does not create a feeling of clutter. SAUCIN' has versions in MALLANG, BLACK, YELLOW and NEXZOO formats, each translating the album’s playful world into tangible objects. The MALLANG version comes with a plush toy, while the BLACK and YELLOW contain photobooks. The NEXZOO version provides a plush keychain. It is important to note that those items do not provide a proof of a covert message or symbolism embedded in them. Their only purpose is to materialize the sensory language of the album.
More crucial is the consistent use of the language in all parts of the campaign. JYP’s press releases transition from “Spread it all” and “Squeeze it up” to “We Saucin’”, to the highlight medley, to the music video teasers and to TOMOYA’s “Bon appétit”. The use of the concept is not seen as packaging wrapped around the music; rather, the concept is used as a language that allows the music, choreography, visuals and even member involvement communicate to each other.
That consistency is crucial within the larger framework of the architecture of Asian pop. Born of JYP Entertainment and Sony Music Entertainment Japan’s Nizi Project Season 2, the group has always existed on the crossroads of Korean and Japanese entertainment industries. Six of the seven members are Japanese, and its success was built in both countries. Even though SAUCIN’ is a Korean project, the identity of NEXZ was never limited to one national market.
It may be the combination of those roles that makes the group’s approach to identity more concerned with managing different influences than with selecting one. While the members recognize their differences in taste, they present a common vision of the desired future of NEXZ. SAUCIN’ takes advantage of that dynamic. In spite of the variety of its six songs, they need not sound the same as their commonality does not lie in the similarity of sounds but in the combination of various influences.
The most important factor in this case may be the fact that the group is starting to take active part in the production of its material. Both APPETITE and 20 NOW are not unique cases of a wholly produced album, and it is misleading to call the album as such. However, both projects show the process of transition from interpretation to authoring, which suggests that the members do not perform the identity invented elsewhere but actively participate in its construction.
This trend makes SAUCIN’ a particularly important album in the discography of NEXZ. The group is rather young, and its sound is still developing. It is too early to state that SAUCIN’ is a decisive point in the development of NEXZ and of K-pop as a genre. There are no signs that the group is going to change the genre or abandon its commercial potential.
It seems rather humble when compared with the big claims typically made by the artists for each K-pop comeback, but it is precisely this reason which makes SAUCIN' much more important than it seems from its playful name. The album doesn't make any promises about finding an ultimate recipe for the music of NEXZ. Instead, it reveals a more realistic one: that NEXZ learns how to detect its unique taste.
In other words, the sauce is not the completed product. The sauce is the process of cooking. The sauce is in the unique musical tastes of the members, in the body language of their performances, in the hunger that keeps them moving even after reaching some of their first important accomplishments and in the desire to keep the real selves in such songs as 20 NOW because they are always changing.
And this, perhaps, is the most important thing for a group still creating its history. SAUCIN' doesn't show NEXZ as an artist who is already at the top. It shows a group learning that the most valuable thing it can bring into the music is itself.
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