WE GO UP — Exclusive Performance Video

What the song means before we count a single step

WE GO UP is BABYMONSTER planting a direction sign: higher. The lyric is not detailed because the message is supposed to work like a command shouted across a crowd. They are done treating doubt as a debate. Every hit, rise and formation change in this version turns that short message into physical proof.

The main music video translated ambition into individual power. RUKA was an assassin, ASA a cyborg swordmaster, CHIQUITA a fighter, RORA a sniper, PHARITA a psychic and AHYEON a bomber. This film does the opposite. It asks whether those six separate characters can lock into one machine without losing their faces. That is the actual story of the choreography.

Why this had to be a separate video

YG was unusually direct about the choice: the official MV did not include the full choreography, so the company built a second production around the dance. That matters because “performance video” can mean a group standing in a decorated box while the camera does all the exciting work. This is a full location shoot with a mega crew, multiple days of filming, huge outdoor spaces and visual effects designed around the formations.

The separation helps both versions. The main MV gets to commit to action acting without cutting away every eight counts for a chorus formation. The performance film gets to show the complete shape of the song without pretending swords and sniper rifles are normal dance accessories. I like that the two videos do different jobs. A second upload should add information, not just change everybody’s jacket.

How the choreography makes “up” visible

The movement vocabulary is larger than the title. Arms punch upward, torsos snap open, lines expand, and dancers appear behind the members in waves. The choreography keeps building vertical accents into horizontal travel. Even when the group moves down the runway, the upper body keeps throwing the eye toward the sky.

The chorus is blunt on purpose. There is a clear, repeatable gesture under the title instead of a knot of tiny hand details nobody can read outside a fancam. Around that simple center, the dancers create scale. The members do not need to perform every layer. They hold the phrase while the crew turns it into weather.

• RUKA and ASA: sit deep in the rhythm. Their weight makes the rap sections look expensive without adding unnecessary speed.
• AHYEON: attacks the accents like she has a private scoreboard. Her power is useful here because the crowd never swallows her.
• PHARITA and RORA: give the eye somewhere cleaner to rest. Their control stops the full piece from becoming three minutes of maximum volume.
• CHIQUITA: has the sharp bounce and fearless face needed to make the youngest member look like part of the attack, not somebody protected inside it.

The mega crew is not wallpaper

More than fifty dancers sounds like a press-release number until the wide shots arrive. The crew changes the perceived size of the members. Sometimes BABYMONSTER looks like the point of a spear. Sometimes the six are a wall inside a larger wall. Sometimes the formation opens and leaves one member alone with the camera, which makes the solo moment feel even bigger because we remember what just moved out of her way.

The smartest choice is restraint in the close-ups. The edit does not pretend every count needs a new camera angle. Wide frames let us read the group geometry, and lower angles make the upward gestures land without digitally manufacturing height. Fireworks and colored smoke arrive as punctuation. They do not replace the dancing; they tell the chorus it has reached its final form.

According to YG’s behind-the-scenes report, the members rehearsed the demanding arm-and-leg choreography repeatedly, synchronized their breathing, and filmed the first outdoor day in 36°C heat. That makes the clean faces slightly offensive. I would have become a damp apology by count eight.

Easter eggs, surprises and rewind points

• The runway is a launch strip. It turns the title into an environment: forward motion on the ground, upward ambition in the body.
• The crew arrives in waves. Watch the background population, not only the center. Each added layer makes the next chorus feel larger without changing the hook.
• This is still the six-member visual era. RAMI is an official BABYMONSTER member and part of the recorded track, but she was on health hiatus during the filming and promotions.
• The main MV and performance film share a scale, not a story. One gives each member an action identity; the other proves the group can move as one unit.
• The lack of props is the point. After the swords, rifles and explosions, the bodies have to carry the concept. The video removes the character weapons and lets formation become the weapon.
• The fireworks arrive after the dancers have earned them. Production spectacle comes late enough to feel like an ending, not camouflage.

Credits and production file

The verdict

This is what an extra performance video should do. It answers a question the original deliberately leaves open. We already knew the song could carry an action film. Now we know the chorus can command a runway full of dancers without BABYMONSTER disappearing inside the crowd.

I still think the hook is almost comically simple. Here, simplicity becomes an advantage. Fifty bodies can understand it at once. The members can shout it, punch it upward, drag an entire formation behind it and still leave enough space for the vocals to climb. The action movie gives “WE GO UP” characters. The performance film gives it architecture.