NewYearsDayProject | a song a day blog

I’ll-It, later known as ILLIT , was formed with the winning members of the 2023 South Korean survival competition show R U Next ? The show was broadcast JTBC and streamed on Netflix and Wavve beginning June 30, 2023. Along with JTBC, the show was created by Belift Lab , a sublabel of Hybe , the label responsible for introducing the world to BTS and NewJeans . Six winners were selected by the end of the show and those members became ILLIT, a K-pop girl group who just scored a Billboard Hot 100 entry on their first single--an accomplish-ment, a first of its kind. “ Magnetic ” is one of the biggest K-pop songs now, and other songs from Hybe Corporation are charting high in Korea and other countries. But as the label has brought K-pop to its imperial phase, ILLIT has come under fire as an imitation of the label’s other successful girl group, NewJeans. I DON’T NEED ANY GOLDEN TICKET. Hybe Corporation began as Big Hit Entertainment in 2005. The label signed their first act, 8Eight in

It starts with a single and maybe a B-side, then an EP of 4-6 songs. This is often followed by more singles and more EPs. Finally, we get the full-length studio record which may be reworked versions of the early singles and songs from the EP. These artists often struggle to fill a full concert set because they don’t have enough material. They often resort to playing covers of songs that influenced their early career. However, somewhere along the way, an artist, should they last, becomes prolific. The frequency of singles, EPs, and full albums increases. In the past when this happened, the artist had passed their radio prime. But today, we have artists like Drake and Taylor Swift in their prolific period and in their commercial prime. Sometimes artists get big enough to release whatever they want, and that's what has seemed to happen with the latest from Taylor Swift, The Tortured Poets Department , released last month to record-breaking streaming numbers.   FUCK IT IF I CAN’T HAV

Winner is a South Korean boy band signed to YG Entertainment . Debuting in 2014 as a five-piece group, they had several successful singles before group member Taehyun left the group in 2016, citing mental health and personal issues. The next year, in 2017, Winner released two single-records Fate Number For  and Our Twenty For , with two new songs on each single record. Besides emphasizing that the band was now only four members, the records played with a spring/summer Tropical Dance vibe. Unlike many K-pop artists, Winner is largely self-produced, with the band members taking active roles in producing their songs, choreographing their dances, and marketing their music.  TRUST MY HEART. A lengthy K-pop hiatus over a year between the EP Exit: E and Fate Number For, the band emerged with singer Nam Taehyun. The year 2019 was a bad year for K-Pop. Former f(x) member Sulli committed suicide following only bullying. A few weeks later singer Goo Hara took her life as did former Surprise

As a promotion for the first  Star Wars  film in ten years,  Star Wars Episode VII: The Force Awakens ,  Disney collaborated with South Korean boy band  EXO  to record a track called " Lightsaber " in three languages, Korean,  Chinese , and  Japanese . The multi-national boy band, signed to South Korea's biggest record label, had become a worldwide phenomenon in the 2010s, thanks to strategic marketing in South Korea and China. In 2015, at the time of the song’s release, EXO was the biggest K-pop group. “Lightsaber” was released as a bonus track on the group’s fourth EP,  Sing for Me , recorded in both Korean and Mandarin. The EP was their fastest selling record at the time. I WANDERED HERE TO YOUR OUTREACHED HAND.  I have an unpopular opinion. I don’t care for  Star Wars . Perhaps it’s due to my religious upbringing. There was a book in my house when I was growing up about all the ways that the New Age and occult were imposing their way into the American family. Some exa

여러분 안녕하세요? 오늘 새 플레이리스트를 소개할 게요. I'm going to introduce my second playlist-in-a-playlist, some of my K-pop recommendations that I've written about last year. Unlike 2021+, 추천한 K-pop will be a fluid playlist, updated as I write about other tracks. Again, I'll be restricting myself to one track per artist, but the artist may be featured on another track. For example, I had to choose between "Fake Love" or "Lights" by BTS, but I can add "My Universe" by Coldplay featuring BTS, without breaking the rules. The same goes for solo artists who are also part of a boy/girl band, so both EXO and Girls' Generation will appear along with their members D.O. and Taeyeon. Also, some of the tracks aren't in Korean, but they are made by bands that also have tracks in Korean.  I will list my original track list below and make a few comments, but I'll also leave a link to the original blog post. First, here is the playlist: 1. " Honestly " b

I decided to do something a little different today. I'm going to present my first playlist within a playlist: 2021+. When my friend Stephen Barry  chooses his top songs of a given year, he gives two years of wiggle room for the records he missed. My format is not like Mr Barry and his Orchestra , but I thought that it would be interesting to make a playlist of the best songs I blogged about about last year that fit within a two year time frame. I'm going to stick to one entry per artist as usual and leave links for the posts. Today's song, "Counterfeit" by Wolves at the Gate, comes from a 2019 album, so it barely makes the list. First, I will post the Spotify playlist: The songs listed on this playlist: 1. " Cold Air " by Acceptance. The lead single from 2020's Wild, Free  is a song about a community torn apart by prejudice. Also check out " Wasted Nights " and " Dark Age. " 2. " Counterfeit " by Wolves at the Gate fro