“묻고 싶다” (One Love)” by Wanna One, Friday, May 28, 2021

In 2017 Season 2 of the highly successful Produce 101, a reality show to make a Kpop group, premiered on South Korean broadcasting channel Mnet. Music competition shows have been popular for ages, but only on rare occasions does the group or artist translate to real-world success. Season One of Produce 101 took 101 female contestants and whiddled the candidates down to eleven group members of the highly successful girl group I.O.I. For the second season, the concept changed. This time 101 male Kpop trainees would compete to be part of Wanna One. The result was not only a more successful season two but the creation of the third most successful Kpop act of the 2010s and the band only lasted for 2 years. 

THE MOMENT OUR EYES MATCH, UNBELIEVABLE THINGS HAPPEN. One of the stipulations of Wanna One’s contract was that the band would record for a year and a half and play shows for two years. In January of 2019, Wanna One played their final show, freeing all 11 members from their exclusive obligations with Wanna One. The group was formed as a temporary band, fanfare to the reality show they were a part of, and though Season 3 didn’t produce a group as successful as I.O.I or Wanna One, keeping all iterations of the show going might have crowded the Kpop scene. Still, the money that could have been made! With 11 cute young men to choose from, Wanna One earned middle school girl's allowance money, and could have continued collecting it, just as older acts like EXO and BTS are still selling albums, posters, and special editions.

I'M WAITING FOR THE DAY WE'LL MEET AGAIN. Located in the center of the group’s final album, today’s song, has infectious early ‘90s soft rock harmonies. Cheesy? Yes, but the soft rock sound makes me nostalgic for my childhood, like playing legos on a rainy day and listening to the radio. I’ve been looking for that nostalgic sound a lot lately. It reminds me of when I could just coast through life. It makes me think about going back and doing it again with what I know now, growing up without wasting time trying to live for people who don’t even matter now. I makes me wonder what other possibilities I could have chosen. This, of course, is pretty pointless because we can’t hit the rewind button. The best I can do is focus on making the right decisions moving forward and teaching the next generation to live without regrets, if such a thing is possible. The kid sitting on the floor playing legos while listening to the radio will grow up alright. Life won't be exactly as he pictured it, but he find love.

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