From one legend to another, ENHYPEN’s new Spotify K-Pop ON! Single is an ode to BTS and when their dreams first began.
It’s no secret that the members of ENHYPEN are global superstars. From Seoul to Manila and beyond, they have touched the hearts of fans all over the world. But even with their star status, the members also have their list of faves who they stan, with a top artist being BTS. If you’ve followed ENHYPEN’s journey since the beginning, then you’d know that they are big fans of the K-pop supergroup. From their trainee days to now, you can always catch ENHYPEN giving their flowers to their seniors.
Recently, the group manifested their admiration for BTS in a big way with a cover of one of BTS’ most memorable hits, I Need U, for Spotify’s K-pop ON! anniversary for a moment to remember.
FIRST CRUSH
This 2024, Spotify’s global flagship K-pop playlist, K-Pop ON!, is celebrating its 10th anniversary. Since its launch in 2014, the playlist has established itself as the ultimate destination for listeners looking to discover and enjoy the best music from the genre. As such, the streaming platform is celebrating the milestone by putting the focus on the artists that made us fall in love with K-pop in the first place.
Featuring the theme of “My First K-Pop Crush”, the Spotify K-Pop ON! First Crush campaign celebrates those artists that became our first stan, bias, bias-wrecker, and so much more.
In fact, we aren’t much different from our faves, because even K-pop idols had their first crushes in K-pop. This is why headlining the campaign will be ENHYPEN, SHOWNU X HYUNGWON (of MONSTA X), and STAYC, who have been tapped to share their stories of how they first fell in love with K-Pop and how it inspired them to be the artists that they are today, through a series of cover singles of songs by the sunbaes who first fueled their love for the genre. It also serves as an invitation to K-Pop fans around the world to join in the movement in celebrating a shared passion for the genre, and the artists who started it all.
Up first is ENHYPEN, who just dropped their cover of BTS’ I Need U, a pivotal track in the group’s discography and one ENHYPEN is very familiar with. ENHYPEN’s song choice was a conscious move that delivers the same message of where they want their careers to move forward in the future.
THE ENHYPEN TOUCH
Behind every tribute is a story, and this one starts on a chilly January day in South Korea as we had the opportunity to watch first-hand the making of Spotify K-Pop ON! Single with ENHYPEN. In the middle of Gimpo, the warehouse where the filming was located was decked with set design, almost museum-like with different props set up. At the farthest end of the warehouse, ENHYPEN could be heard rehearsing and working hard to give justice to BTS’ song.
They come out after hours of filming, still wearing a smile on their faces as they see us waiting at the back. One by one, the members bow their heads as a greeting before taking their well-earned break.
One would think that they were normal boys just taking a lunch break, which in retrospect, we had to be reminded that they truly were just young and normal boys with a dream. With their humble demeanor, it’s easy to forget that these are the same boys who would make unforgettable memories at the New Clark City Stadium only a few weeks later.
Get the lowdown on how this cover came to be, their love for BTS, and more in our interview with the group below.
Oh, and a special giveaway is coming your way, PH ENGENEs! We are giving away five ENHYPEN polaroids. Yes, you read that right. Want to know how you can take home this piece of polaroid love? Read on below for the mechanics.
- To stand the chance to win a polaroid, participants should share ENHYPEN’s Spotify K-Pop ON! Single on Instagram Stories, via the Spotify App, and make sure to follow and tag NYLON Manila (@nylonmanila) and Spotify PH (@spotifyph). The IG story should also include:
- Visible mention of both NYLON Manila and Spotify PH
- The campaign hashtags: #SpotifyxENHYPEN, #KPopONFirstCrush
- Include a short statement about what you think of the Spotify K-Pop ON! Single
Note: Participant’s profile should be public and only participants based in the Philippines are eligible.
- You have until February 25 to participate. NYLON Manila will take note of all the entries and choose the top 5 winners.
- NYLON Manila will then announce the winners on social media on February 27 and reach out to them for claiming their prize.
- NYLON Manila reserves the right to evaluate entries and deem if eligible.
So, this Spotify Single is a dedication to your first K-pop crush. Can you share with us why BTS is your first K-pop crush?
JAKE: I feel like it’s similar for most of the members, but for me, BTS…they were the first ones to really show me K-pop, you know? By listening to their songs, looking at their videos, I was able to see and learn about K-pop. So I feel like that’s really…they’re a very special group to me, so I feel like my goal is to also be in that position one day and be able to spread K-pop. Although it’s already very spread out all over the world, to really spread out the true colors of K-pop all over the world. I wish I could be that person one day.
Can some of the members share the first time they listened or watched a BTS song or performance?
JUNGWON: My first memory of BTS goes back to the ‘DOPE’ music video. In Korea, there’s a TV channel that plays music videos in the morning, and one day, before heading to school, I came across this music video. The members were dressed in various outfits, from doctors to policemen, and that one-take shot in the video really stuck with me.
SUNGHOON: For me, I heard ‘FIRE’ for the first time at the ice rink. SUGA starts off the song by saying “It’s burning up here,” and that part left a lasting impact on me.
Some of the members have covered “I NEED U” before, and now you’ve covered it with Spotify. How is the experience different from then to now?
JUNGWON: So when I heard that we were gonna do this rendition, it brought back a lot of memories, as you can imagine, so I watched my audition tape for I-LAND and I realized that my voice has changed a lot as well, and I have grown as an artist as well, so it was a lot of fun, and this was the first time for all of us to perform ‘I NEED U’ together, so it was really special.
Tell us about your Spotify Single, which covers I Need U by BTS.
JUNGWON: This was the first time producer Bang Sihyuk approved this creative rendition and also participated in the process as well. So it was a great honor for us to have him on board. This is definitely different from our regular songs, so please look forward to it.
So tell us [about] your rendition of ‘I Need U’, like what elements of the original song did you keep and how have you injected your own flavor into the song?
HEESEUNG: We all have different voices and we have different ways of expressing ourselves, but what we tried to maintain was the feeling of the original song and also the lyrics as well, so obviously this is our new interpretation—we’ve got our own groove and in terms of the sound, we brought in our own color, but again, the feeling remains the same.
How do you think ENGENEs will feel while listening to your rendition?
SUNOO: We’ve tried out some fresh approaches in our rendition of ‘I Need U’ so that ENGENEs can witness a new side of us. Although it’s a cover, we attempted to incorporate our unique touch, and I hope ENGENEs enjoy it.
Do you have any fun TMIs to share about the making of this Spotify Single? How did you decide on the line distribution, did any members want to sing specific lines?
JAKE: Well, what we usually do when we record a song is, we would go in one by one and sing the whole song, and the producer would sort of choose what lines would fit each member. And I was like second last, but when I got in to record to sing the whole thing, the producer told me that the second verse, the sing and rap verse, is gonna be Ni-Ki, so I didn’t even get to sing that part. But I think we just sing the whole song and see who sings it the best and we just distribute the lines.
You had an opportunity to perform your rendition of a song by BTS. How do you feel about this opportunity?
JAY: Actually, this song ‘I Need U’ was the start for me to dream of the things I’m doing right now, becoming a K-pop artist and meeting our fans, performing on the stage, everything—just started [with] this one song, for me. So I’m really excited and grateful, honored to have this kind of amazing opportunity and I really want to thank our fans who made this for us.
Tell us about the partnership with Spotify.
JAKE: So we have a very good relationship with Spotify for a long time. We all use Spotify a lot, so I think it’s a very special collaboration and we’re very happy to be able to have this opportunity to collab with Spotify and also do this very special version of I Need U cover. Hope you guys will listen to it on Spotify.
Can each member recommend ENGENEs a K-pop song that you may have been gatekeeping? It can be like B-side tracks or older K-pop songs.
NI-KI: J-hope’s ‘MORE’.
HEESEUNG: ‘Reflection’ by RM
JAKE: So many good options, but I would have to choose ‘Magic Shop’ by BTS.
SUNGHOON: BTS’ ‘Go Go’.
JUNGWON: ‘Dimple’ by BTS.
SUNOO: BTS’ ‘DNA’.
JAY: For me, I recommend ‘We Are Bulletproof Pt. 2’.
You guys say that you want to be like BTS, but now, I’m sure many trainees and fans see you as their K-Pop Crush too. With that said, what song of yours would you like trainees and future fans to cover?
JUNGWON: ‘Future Perfect (Pass the MIC)’. Because it’s really physically demanding to perform this song, so I want our juniors to sort of experience that hardship.
It’s a challenge!
HEESEUNG: [Nods] It’s a challenge.
JAY: Exactly.
What is the next goal that ENHYPEN wants to achieve?
JAKE: For me, maybe do like a stadium tour in the US. Yeah, that’s one of my goals.
SUNGHOON: I don’t wanna get caught up on this tree in front of me, I wanna see the entire picture–the entire mountain, which is why we have a lot of ambitions. We have a long way to go, so we wanna grow as a team.
How would you like ENHYPEN to be perceived and remembered by your fans?
HEESEUNG: I feel like the memories of my idols are intertwined with my childhood recollections. Certain songs have the power to transport me back to particular moments from the past. Similarly, my goal is to become an artist whose music can take ENGENEs back to their own pasts and make them happy whenever they listen to our songs in the future. This entire journey means that we’re growing old together, and that’s how I hope ENHYPEN will be remembered.
Special thanks to Spotify, ARDENT, BELIFT LAB, and HYBE
Continue Reading: ENHYPEN Is Here To Stay, And You Better Believe It
