NewYearsDayProject | a song a day blog

Today it’s back to the world of the Hybe Corporation . In 2019, Hybe hired Min Hee-jin (민희진) as the company’s chief brand designer. She worked as the company began a transitional phase when BigHit Entertainment took on several subsidiary record labels. Min had worked for SM Entertainment , one of the big three K-pop labels in the ‘90s to early ‘10s, and had been the creative director behind some of the label’s biggest acts such as Exo , SHINee , (f)x , and Girls' Generation. She then worked developing other K-pop acts on every label for Hybe except for BigHit because that label had its own specialized brand designer. But upon being hired at BigHit (later Hybe), Min demanded her own subsidiary, Ador , of which the brand designer became CEO. Ador was formed in 2021 and signed their first act in 2022.   WANNA BE A WINNER. Min Hee-jin planned to release a girl group in 2022. Hybe Corporation was known for its boy bands and rappers. Still, with SM, YG , and JYP releasing successful f

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

Around 2015, I started hearing an answer to “What do you want to be when you grow up?” that would have made the same teachers that I told “I want to be a rock guitarist” come out of retirement and give my current students detention. These students didn’t want to grow up and be musicians or professional athletes. They told me that they wanted to be a “pro-gamer.” It took me a while to realize that a pro-gamer wasn’t a mispronunciation of a programmer . A pro-gamer is a professional game player. And while there are pro-gamers who play card and in-person role-playing games, and sometimes professional gamblers are also categorized as progamers, my students were only concerned with video games. Beginning around 2000, electronic sport, or esport, competitions became a global phenomenon. No longer were video games something to play with friends after school; they had become a billion dollar industry, and winning an esports competition could be a profitable career.  ONE MORE STEP; YOU’RE IMM

In 2020, amid America’s racial reckoning following the brutal murder of George Floyd, many artists of color came to prominence. Jon Batiste had been playing drums and percussion from the age of 8 and classical piano from the age of 11. Influenced by classical, jazz, R&B, and pop, Batiste released his first album, Times in New Orleans , at 17 and was accepted to study music at Juilliard. After earning his bachelor’s degree, Baptiste went on to earn a master’s degree also from Julliard. In 2004, while studying at Julliard, Batiste formed the jazz band Stay Human . In 2015, Steven Colbert hired Batiste and Stay Human as his house band for The Late Show with Colbert . Batiste’s career has been characterized with prestige, collaboration, activism, and gradual name recognition. THAT’S JUST WHO I AM, THAT’S JUST MY RADIO. I first heard of Jon Batiste from his contribution to the Soul original soundtrack. Batiste composed original jazz pieces for the 2020 Pixar film . Along with co-comp

I'm taking a break from writing this week and just delivering playlists. I don't have any parasocial commentary on NewJeans and their massive 2023 hit " Super Shy ." Instead, today, we're looking at the big songs from the last two years and songs that might be big this year. Below is the Spotify edition of 2024+. The Apple Music edition will come later.  I will also reveal my favorite song from last year a the end of the post!

  I'm taking a break from writing this week and just delivering playlists. I don't have any parasocial commentary on  NewJeans . I don't know much about this group of teenagers and feel too old to relate to it. Th eir massive 2023 hit " Super Shy " gained critical acclaim around the world and was shortlisted by many critics as a favorite song of the year. I nstead, today, we're looking at the big songs from the last two years and songs that might be big this year.  NewJeans has not yet released a song in 2024. Their output in 2023 was impressive. But I thought I would go back to where it all started in posting my  Spotify edition of  2024+, with their song " Attention . "   The 2022 song fits my requirements for songs released within the past two years.  The Apple Music edition will come later.  I will also reveal my favorite song from last year at the post's end! 1. “ Nothing More ” by Anberlin . I was iffy on the latest Anberlin EP, Convinc