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As we build toward the 2024 Billboard Music Awards on Dec. 12 and Billboard’s Year-End Charts reveal on Dec. 13, check out our editorial list of staff picks for the best K-pop songs of the year.
As more and more K-pop artists break the genre and cultural barriers that can divide listeners, the Korean music industry grew its visibility and expanded its experimental nature this past year, resulting in greater opportunities for the scene at large while gifting global audiences some undeniably special singles.
In line with trends since the start of the decade, girl groups continued to dominate the singles space as (G)I-DLE, fromis_9, aespa, NewJeans and ILLIT delivered inescapable hits, alongside beloved troupes like Red Velvet, ITZY, Dreamcatcher and Kep1er, who delivered some of the best songs of their career.
K-divas BIBI, Lee Young Ji and K-pop’s standout rookie boy band TWS delivered singles that became mainstays on the charts and across social media. Elsewhere, Lim Young Woong, PENTAGON’s Hui, ATEEZ, Loossemble and ARTMS all stepped up to new moments of musical greatness with creative curveballs that defied expectations but delighted all kinds of audiences.
From the nostalgic reunion of BIGBANG’s leader G-Dragon enlisting his bandmates Taeyang and Daesung for “Home Sweet Home” to the rookie girl group that made Billboard Hot 100 history this year, not to mention a track that samples Afrika Bambaataa and the Afrobeat-infused flair of KISS OF LIFE’s “Sticky,” this year’s best K-pop songs boast some of the most eclectic, exciting tunes in recent history.
While the Korean music industry continues to expand its global reach, with many of its artists releasing English singles or tracks explicitly aimed at the Western pop market, this list focuses on the songs released with Korean lyrics or with core K-pop audiences in mind (as much as we loved bops from the likes of Jimin, AleXa, BABYMONSTER, the BLACKPINK members and many, many more).
With some of the best boy bands, greatest girl groups, specially selected soloists, plus one dynamic duo, dive into the complete list to experience the finest K-pop songs of 2024. And check out our list of the 25 Best K-Pop Albums of 2024, too.
Kep1er, “Shooting Star”
Idols, rookies and global stars all made our list.
Through the Honda Stage platform, which is dedicated to uncovering the stories of determined and resilient artists, Mustard’s journey shines as a prime example of both grit and boundless talent. Honda Stage celebrates the individuals who shape music through a blend of vision and hard work, bringing fans closer to the heart of what drives an artist’s unique sound and journey. With a deft hand that melds infectious grooves with nuanced melodies, Mustard—formerly known as DJ Mustard—has cemented his status as a vital force in shaping the soundscape of hip-hop, R&B, and pop. Behind the shimmering façade of chart-topping hits lies a rich tapestry woven with experiences, inspirations, and an unyielding love for the art of sound.
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Born Dijon McFarlane in Los Angeles, Mustard discovered his musical calling at the tender age of 11—a time when many kids are still figuring out how to ride a bike or choose their favorite cartoon. “My uncle was a DJ,” he reminisces, his eyes lighting up with nostalgia. “I always wanted to be like him.” His epiphany struck at a party where his uncle left him to spin the tracks, igniting a lifelong romance with rhythm and sound. “Since I can remember, I’ve loved music,” he declares, underscoring the deep-rooted connection he has with it.
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Mustard’s rise to prominence is not merely a story of beats and bass; it is a journey that encompasses cultural influences, personal struggles, and a relentless pursuit of artistic integrity. His distinctive sound—a blend of West Coast hip-hop infused with elements of R&B and electronic music—has become synonymous with a new era of music. “I don’t think it was a specific genre that sparked my love for music,” he explains. “It’s about the feeling any song gives me.” This philosophical approach to music allows Mustard to traverse genres, drawing inspiration from a wide array of influences, from classic funk to contemporary trap.
His breakthrough came with the 2012 hit “Rack City,” a collaboration with Tyga that catapulted both artists into the limelight. This track was not just a chart-topping sensation; it was a cultural phenomenon, marking Mustard’s arrival as a powerhouse producer. The infectious rhythm and catchy hook defined an era, paving the way for Mustard’s subsequent collaborations with a plethora of artists, including YG, Ty Dolla $ign, and Nipsey Hussle. His production credits read like a who’s who of contemporary music, illustrating his ability to craft hits that resonate across demographics.
But Mustard’s success isn’t limited to individual tracks. His albums, such as Perfect Ten, have been lauded for their cohesive sound and innovative approach. The album not only solidified his position in the industry but also showcased his versatility, blending genres and exploring new sonic territories.
In 2013, Mustard took a significant leap by establishing his own label, 10 Summers. This move was not merely a career advancement; it was a commitment to nurturing emerging talent and creating a platform where artists could thrive. “I want to create a space where artists can flourish and be authentic,” he asserts, embodying a philosophy that prioritizes artistic integrity over commercial success.
The label has been instrumental in launching the careers of several budding artists, including Ella Mai. Her hit “Boo’d Up” became a global sensation, showcasing Mustard’s keen ear for talent and sound. He describes Ella as “an artist who brings a fresh perspective,” and their collaboration is a testament to his ability to recognize and cultivate talent that resonates with audiences.
More recently, Mustard has turned his attention to Amirah, an emerging artist whose potential captivated him from the start. “When I first came across her, I was drawn to her voice,” he recalls, excitement evident in his tone. “But then I saw her personality and thought, ‘Wow, this girl is special.’” Mustard’s instinct to reach out was immediate, fueled by a desire to collaborate and create something magical together. “I just knew if I could teach her things, we could really create something unique.” His commitment to fostering emerging talent is not just a business strategy; it is a reflection of his deep-rooted belief in the power of collaboration.
Collaboration is the lifeblood of Mustard’s creative universe. “Music is collaborative,” he asserts, living by this philosophy. “When you put two great minds together, you come out with something great every time.” This is not just a platitude for him; it is a guiding principle. Each collaboration is an experiment, a blending of ideas and perspectives that often leads to unexpected brilliance.
Yet, building that synergy requires a leap of faith. “I trust me; I don’t think I trust anybody besides myself,” he admits candidly. “But I have to stand on whatever I put out.” This self-trust fuels his willingness to explore new territories, ensuring he remains open to the unexpected. “I’m always looking to try something new,” he insists, embodying the spirit of a true innovator. His willingness to embrace risk is a hallmark of his career, allowing him to evolve continuously while maintaining his signature sound.
Reflecting on his journey, Mustard offers invaluable advice to aspiring artists: “Go for whatever you believe in and don’t be scared of the craziness of the industry.” His journey has taught him the importance of patience and the value of allowing others to shine. “Sometimes it’s okay to let other people do their thing, and you help them without trying to take all the credit,” he emphasizes, embodying a generous spirit that is often rare in the industry.
As Mustard stands at the intersection of artistry and entrepreneurship, his legacy is still being written. He has transformed the music landscape, not just through his own creations but by lifting others as he climbs. His journey is a vibrant reminder that passion, authenticity, and collaboration can create a symphony of success.
Mustard’s influence extends beyond the studio; it permeates the very fabric of modern music culture. As he continues to innovate, pushing boundaries and defying expectations, one thing is clear: Mustard’s love for music is not just a career—it’s an exhilarating journey, an ongoing dance of creativity that invites us all to join in. Whether through chart-topping hits, nurturing new talent, or redefining the art of collaboration, Mustard remains a beacon of creativity in an ever-evolving musical landscape, proving that true artistry knows no bounds.
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Honda Stage is a music platform that builds on the brand’s deep foundation of bringing unique experiences to fans while celebrating determined artists and their journeys of music discovery. Honda Stage offers exclusive, behind-the-scenes music content and inspirational stories from on-the-rise and fan-favorite artists, giving music fans access to the moments they love while celebrating the creativity and drive it takes to make it big.
In October 2021, when Primary Wave first acquired a stake in Bing Crosby’s estate, the members of the new guard sat down together and came up with two objectives.
“One is: we want to make Bing the king of Christmas and holidays, every season, every year,” senior marketing manager Jack LeVine recalls to Billboard of the late pop icon, who delivered the definitive 20th century renditions of “White Christmas” and other seasonal staples. “And two is: just exciting, educating and engaging global and young audiences around Bing and his catalog.”
Nearly 7,000 miles away, the person who would turn out to be key to both goals was in the midst of an era-defining career explosion as part of South Korean boy band BTS, which brought renewed global attention to K-pop in 2021 with a breathtaking run of sunny dance singles – most prominently the 10-week Billboard Hot 100 chart-topper “Butter” — dazzling audiences with sleek visuals and snappy group choreography and enjoying the support of an ever-expanding, relentlessly passionate fanbase dubbed ARMY. But while the performer known as V was, to the world, one of seven young men at the helm of the year’s most polished, cutting-edge wave of contemporary pop dominance, the artist who grew up Kim Tae-hyung was, in his personal life, a reverent fan of a much different genre: jazz.
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And his favorite performer? Bing Crosby.
You could call it kismet, then, that three years later, V can now consider his hero a duet partner, their voices coming together over generations and lifetimes on a revamped version of “White Christmas” — fashioned out of an extremely rare recording found in Crosby’s extensive personal archives, voice-isolating technology and redone instrumentals — that dropped Friday (Dec. 6). But the project is actually the result of years of Primary Wave brainstorming, coordinating and consulting with Crosby’s daughter Mary and son Harry on how to not just preserve the iconic star’s legacy, but push it forward in a way that changes with the times.
There are many, scattered moments in the story of how the new “White Christmas” came together that could be considered the starting point, from V’s numerous posts about loving Bing over the years to Primary Wave’s discovery of the recording, a necessarily intimate 1950s radio performance that had only been released on limited physical products in the past — and could be perfect for recreating the magic of Crosby and David Bowie’s 1977 era-bridging “Little Drummer Boy” duet, with the help of a new modern star. But it’s the moment that those two worlds came together that proved to be the most fateful: when Primary Wave’s Sarah Nekich, digital and audience engagement, was scrolling X in her free time and came across a vlog posted by V in July 2022 in which he sang Crosby’s “It’s Been a Long, Long Time” in his car. At that point, months had gone by since the estate had considered the duet idea, stalled without a clear choice as to who was fit to join the late legend on the track. But now?
“It was just too perfect,” Nekich remembers of seeing V’s video. “He just had a beautiful jazz-like voice that sounds very similar to a young Bing Crosby. It was a no-brainer: These two are meant to be on a song together.”
The rest of the team – including Harry and Mary Crosby – were similarly impressed, and Primary Wave quickly reached out to V’s camp at HYBE x Geffen, who “were really receptive,” says Levine. The estate went to work on fleshing out a proper sketch of what the duet would actually sound like with V in the mix, tapping experienced jazz and classic pop producer Gregg Field to oversee the music, while Nekich — having already reposted V’s cover of “It’s Been a Long, Long Time” on Bing’s channels, and getting rocked by a tidal wave of ARMY engagement in response – continued interacting with BTS fans on social media to maintain momentum.
“The fact that V was such a huge fan was so heartening to us,” recalls Mary Crosby. “Until he came along, there wasn’t the right person. Because of V, Dad is going to be reaching an entirely different audience.”
The pieces were coming together, but making them connect would take more time than anticipated — especially as other projects repeatedly pushed the duet lower and lower on the to-do list. “The challenge with Christmas is no one is thinking about it in January or February,” Levine explains, laughing.
In late 2022, however, something lit a fire under the enterprise. “The BTS solo members announced that they were enlisting [in the South Korean military],” the executive continues. “There was a new sense of urgency. We were racing against a deadline that we had no visibility into.”
If Field had been able to take his time constructing the song before, he definitely couldn’t anymore. The producer – who’s previously worked with John Williams and Herbie Hancock – assembled the track using all-new instrumental arrangements by Rob Mounsey, recording rhythm section backings in Los Angeles and the orchestra and choir parts in Europe. Doing everything fresh was essential to making the finished product palatable to “2024 ears,” Field says, as was the process of separating Crosby’s vocal from the radio recording through iZotope’s Music Rebalance technology, revitalizing it to sound “like it was recorded yesterday” — sort of the musical equivalent to restoring aged paintings or worn-down buildings.
“That’s a perfect analogy,” Field tells Billboard of the process. “It’s getting all of the years of crud away from it and exposing what’s there.”
The last piece of the puzzle was V’s contribution, which he recorded remotely just before shipping off in December 2023 for 18 months to complete his mandatory service. His raw talent blew Field away. Says the producer, “The musical decisions [V] made – he understood who he was singing with.”
When the mix was finally complete early this year, all Primary Wave had to do was keep the collaboration a secret until finally announcing it in November, to the absolute delight of V’s biggest champions. Nekich reports that Crosby’s accounts have been absolutely flooded with heartfelt messages from ARMY ever since, with the late crooner’s following on X doubling “almost overnight” and his engagements skyrocketing by 300,000% within two weeks of the reveal.
Many of their comments, Nekich says, express genuine pride and happiness for V, who shared in a statement at the time of the announcement, “I feel incredibly fortunate and honored to have sung along … with the voice of someone I consider an idol.”
For Mary, the project represents everything that was important to her father in his lifetime. “If you look at what Dad did in terms of technology, bringing voice on tape … he was always ahead of the game and always incredibly interested in musical experiments,” she reflects. “This collaboration with V is kind of a continuation of that. Many people [from Bing’s era] would’ve not been able to wrap their head around this, but I think Dad would have.”
As for whether her father, who died in 1977, would’ve chosen to do the duet with V if he were alive today, Mary says, “Dad would’ve jumped at the chance.”
“He tried everything and sang with everybody,” the actress adds. “That sparked him. There are so many popular singers that list Bing Crosby as an influence, but Dad was always 100% ready to be musically influenced by someone else.”
With the track finally out in the world after three years of build-up, Primary Wave has officially made good on the goals they set at the beginning of their relationship with Crosby’s estate. But, galvanized by the breathtaking support of ARMY and the realization that, through technology, more doors are open to them than previously imagined, the team is ready to think even bigger. Nekich hopes the duet becomes a “new Christmas classic” — one that’ll serve as the jumping-off point, not the end of, Crosby’s relationship with V. And, she’d “love to see it go to the top of the Billboard charts this Christmas — we’re shooting for the stars.”
On that note, Levine is also adding an unofficial third objective to the bulletin board. “Respect to the queen,” he tells Billboard, “But I hope we outperform Mariah [Carey] this year.”
Listen to Bing Crosby’s brand-new version of “White Christmas” featuring V of BTS above.
From controversial awards show performances to community-affirming song releases, the last 25 years saw LGBTQ+ music move from the fringes to the forefront of pop culture.
A little over halfway through her newest project, RuPaul’s Drag Race superstar Alaska Thunderfuck nurses a glass of whiskey while bemoaning the circumstances she finds herself in. “Could you imagine?” she shouts. “A musical about drag queens. Who would be dumb enough to buy a ticket to see that?”
If the audience at Manhattan’s New World Stages on a chilly Monday night in November is any indication, quite a few people. Drag: The Musical, which debuted its off-Broadway run back in late October, takes the well-trodden subject matter at its center and aims to create something new — and, refreshingly, something radically honest.
This latest iteration of the show — which she stars in and co-wrote with Tomas Costanza and Ashley Gordon — has been an adjustment for the Drag Race winner. “Doing eight shows a week is kind of unhinged, and it’s much more work than I am used to doing,” Alaska tells Billboard. “But I’m also grateful that, if I’m going to do eight shows a week, it’s this show and it’s these people.”
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On its surface, the two-hour rock musical tells the story of two competing drag bars — The Fish Tank and The Cat House — as they struggle to stay open amid financial pressures. But underneath that familiar exterior is a love letter to the art of drag, and a timely coming-of-age story about self-expression and authenticity in the face of societal rejection.
Along with a number of positive reviews, the show has received one very important co-sign from venerated queer idol Liza Minnelli. The legendary performer serves as a producer of the show, and introduces the audience to the story through a surprise voiceover at the very start of the performance. “I mean, that is an actual ICON, in all-capital letters. We couldn’t be more lucky and grateful to have her fairy dust sprinkled upon us,” Alaska says. “It doesn’t get old — every night I’m back stage and I’m in a furious quick change, but I am loudly saying the words along with her. I still cannot believe it.”
The show exists within an established tradition of musicals examining drag as an art form. Over the last few decades, shows like La Cage Aux Folles and Kinky Boots aimed to present drag to an audience that may have otherwise never seen it. Nick Adams, who stars in Drag as the Fish Tank’s glamorous proprietor Alexis Gillmore, originated the role of Felicia Jollygoodfellow in the 2011 Broadway production of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert — and yet he says Drag: The Musical stands out amongst its prior counterparts as a particularly honest look at the lives of drag queens.
“This show is very representative of drag in 2024, which means it’s not specific to one idea,” he explains. “It’s not just female illusion, it’s a lot more than that, and we really capture the essence of that in a way that [musicals] didn’t before. I think it challenges people to look at what the art form of drag is outside of those parameters.”
Alaska agrees, adding that the original intension behind the story was to take the tropes of past drag musicals and flip them on their head. “I did not want the main story to be about the straight people learning about drag culture, I want it to be about the drag queens and their lives,” she explains. “You’re on the drag queens’ turf, and it’s their world, and the straight guy is the one who is constantly confused and saying ‘what the f–k is going on here.’ It’s an inversion of that formula.”
Drag: The Musical has been in the works for nearly a decade — after beginning to write the show in 2016, Alaska, Costanza and Gordon brought their vision for this story to life with a 2022 concept album, featuring stars from the world of musical theater, stand-up comedy and drag itself. The trio fleshed out the show’s script and put on a limited run of the live show at The Bourbon Room in Los Angeles, before transferring the show to its current off-Broadway home.
As Alaska recalls, the evolution of the musical has been nothing short of transformational. “The only constant has been change. Every time we put the show up, we learned more about the structure, how to make it funnier and better,” she explains. “We were changing this right up to the debut, because you just want to fine-tune everything and get it to its peak form.”
Adams, who has been involved with the project since the 2022 album, remembers early performances at The Bourbon Room, and how the bar atmosphere provided its own set of pros and cons for the show. “There was a scene in the Bourbon Room show where I was laying over top of a bar and my character is at his lowest point,” he says. “And I look down, and this woman in the audience is just chowing down on some chicken wings and drinking her beer. It was just so unique.”
That sort of interaction underlined part of the show’s charm. Where other portrayals of drag focus on the glitz and glamour of the art form, Drag: The Musical leans heavily into the fact that drag, at its core, is messy. The show’s queens (portrayed by bonafide drag stars Jujubee, Jan Sport, Luxx Noir London and others) often find themselves cramped into closets that act as dressing rooms, while early showstopper “Drag Is Expensive” breaks down the financial reality of performing in custom-made costumes night after night.
“I always felt like in movies and in musicals that deal with drag, it’s always ‘look at how fabulous everything is,’” Alaska says. “We wanted you to be able to smell the f–king bar that these queens are working in. The floor is sticky, it’s all kind of a mess. That is the drag that I come from, where you’re in the kitchen and your mirror is propped up on the walk-in refrigerator.”
Yet despite the show’s many lighthearted moments, Drag: The Musical goes out of its way to touch on real issues facing the community it celebrates. Fish Tank queen Dixie Coxworth (played by Liisi LaFontaine) spends an entire song explaining the often-complicated politics of being an AFAB drag queen (“One of the Boys”). A particularly arch portrayal of real estate investor Rita LaRitz (J. Elaine Marcos) highlights the real-life urban gentrification of queer spaces. A secondary plot involving Alexis’ brother Tom (New Kids on the Block’s Joey McIntyre) lays out the pitfalls of straight privilege through multiple musical numbers.
“That’s a tricky thing with theater — sometimes, plotting can feel so on the nose like you’re trying to check every box, that it becomes a question of ‘what story are we actually telling now?’” Adams says. “But I think we do a delicate dance between being muppets and then all of a sudden being serious performers going, ‘This is a real problem.’”
Even with a multitude of issues touched on throughout the show, Drag never falls into the trap of feeling preachy or oversimplified, a fact Alaska credits to her work with Costanza and Gordon. “I’m a drag queen, Tomas is straight guy, and Ash is a straight woman who does drag and writes music for drag queens,” she explains. “We all brought our own perspective, we trusted each other immensely.”
Perhaps the show’s most impactful plotline comes in the form of 10-year-old Brendan (played by Yair Keydar and Remi Tuckman), who is utterly fascinated by drag, but doesn’t have the unequivocal support of his family to explore why that is. In the tear-jerking ballad “I’m Just Brendan,” the young man doesn’t come out or express dissatisfaction with his gender identity — he just likes what he likes and doesn’t understand why others have a problem with a boy playing dress up.
The song was written long before the conversation of children’s involvement at drag shows became a political cudgel for right-wing lawmakers, and Alaska says that the show hasn’t changed its Brendan plotline to reflect that reality. “When I’m loving drag the most is when I’m seeing it from a childlike place of expression. So, we wanted to touch on that and connect to that part of drag, because it’s often the best part of it,” she says. “This is just a young person who wants to express himself in a way that he’s not currently allowed to. That speaks to literally everybody who’s a human person.”
Even though the show doesn’t delve directly into the current political reality for drag performers, Adams can’t help but notice that something shifted after Donald Trump won the election in early November. “I felt the shift that Wednesday after Election Day,” he says. “The crowd was electric that night. People in the audience were placing more importance on the show than they did the Monday before. Queer art is even more important than it was a few weeks ago, and we’re now almost charged with more power.”
The production, meanwhile, shows very few signs of slowing down — tickets are currently still available through March, and a number of upcoming casting substitutions promise a longevity that often alludes other off-Broadway productions.
When it comes to the musical’s Broadway aspirations, Alaska simply shrugs. “I don’t know how all of that works, it’s not my world — I don’t understand what circumstances have to happen for a transfer to happen. But of course we’d love to make it to Broadway,” she says with a smirk. “Who has a Broadway theater we can borrow? I’m ready, I’m flexible, let’s do it.”
What is yacht rock? In the new HBO movie, Yacht Rock: A Dockumentary, no one can agree on a definition.
For the comedian Fred Armisen, yacht rock is “a very relaxing feeling.” But for the writer Rob Tannenbaum, yacht rock is a space where singers “could declare not just your sensitivity but your torment at how sensitive you are, your sense of being ravaged by having feelings.” He calls this “fairly unique to yacht rock,” which would be true if soul music did not exist.
How about another, more specific, definition: “One way to know if you’re listening to yacht rock is [if you hear] the sound of Michael McDonald’s voice,” according to Alex Pappademas, author of Quantum Criminals: Ramblers, Wild Gamblers, and Other Sole Survivors From the Songs of Steely Dan. Then again, David Pack, lead singer of the band Ambrosia, calls McDonald’s style “progressive R&B pop,” while Questlove describes yacht rock as “utility more than it is music.”
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This all begs the question: If yacht rock is such a vague label, what makes it worth using?
J.D. Ryznar and Steve Huey helped coin this imprecise term in their 2005 mockumentary series Yacht Rock, long after the music it attempted to brand was out of style. Each episode traced the activities of goofy, fictionalized versions of McDonald, his contemporaries, and his collaborators — Hall & Oates love to dunk on “smooth music,” while Kenny Loggins’ character says pompous things like, “when a friend is drowning in a sea of sadness, you don’t just toss them a life vest, you swim one over to them.”
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As the yacht rock label caught on, it gave a set of younger listeners a way to explore and maybe embrace — even if ironically — music that had become a kind of cultural shorthand for uncool, the target of mainstream jibes in Family Guy and The 40-Year-Old Virgin. “For a long time, I thought Steely Dan, man, that’s just music for dorks and weirdos,” the critic Amanda Petrusich says in A Dockumentary. “You come to it jokingly,” Pappademas adds, discussing yacht rock. “But then you suddenly find yourself appreciating it sincerely.”
As yacht rock DJ nights and streaming playlists proliferated, this elevated the artists most closely associated with the style, helping to extend their careers. “I fully expected to be totally forgotten by the end of the 1980s,” McDonald says in A Dockumentary. Instead, the film shows him and Loggins collaborating with the bass virtuoso Thundercat in 2017 and performing at Coachella — one of the world’s most prominent stages.
That said: While the yacht rock label gave some artists a boost, it actually masks the lineage of the music it purports to describe. It serves as camouflage, rather than providing clarity.
Most notably, the term obscures the sizable debt that these records owe to contemporaneous Black music. Many of the tracks associated with the style are steeped in the language of 1970s R&B, conversant with Marvin Gaye‘s intricate, tortured funk, immaculate Quincy Jones productions, and the airy, wrenching ballads Earth, Wind & Fire and the Isley Brothers scattered like birdseed across the second half of the Seventies.
The dialog was facilitated by session musicians who moved easily between worlds. Chuck Rainey played bass with Steely Dan but also appeared on Gaye’s I Want You and Cheryl Lynn’s Cheryl Lynn. Greg Phillinganes handled keyboards for McDonald and Leo Sayer as well as Michael Jackson and Stevie Wonder. Horn player and arranger Jerry Hey hopped from Boz Scaggs and Michael Franks to Teena Marie and Janet Jackson.
A Dockumentary nods to yacht rock’s lineage. “Yacht rock is associated with white groups and white songwriters and producers, but I know more Black yacht rock than I do traditional yacht rock,” Questlove says, pointing to Al Jarreau, the Pointer Sisters’ “Slow Hand,” and George Benson’s “Turn Your Love Around.” That music doesn’t get much play in the typical yacht rock conversation, though — or in A Dockumentary.
What does it mean that one of the strands of white music that was most in touch with the Black music of the 1970s was reclaimed largely as a joke, even if it’s an affectionate one? Armisen believes that “there’s nothing greater, in a way, for any genre to be joked about, because it means that it’s relevant.”
This may be a sensible perspective for a comedian. It’s not surprising, though, that the subjects of the wisecracks don’t always feel the same way. “At first, I felt a little insulted, like we were being made fun of,” says Loggins. “But I began to see that it was also a kind of ass-backwards way to honor us.”
Unlike Loggins, Steely Dan’s Donald Fagen hasn’t reached this stage of acceptance. When the documentary’s director asked him about yacht rock, Fagen cursed at him and hung up the phone, an exchange that was recorded and included in the film. Steely Dan’s longtime producer Gary Katz expressed a similar disinterest in the yacht rock label — albeit using less-colorful language — this summer during an interview with the music manager Scott Barkham in Brooklyn Bridge Park.
It’s not unusual for artists to express hostility towards genre terms. In fact, they are constantly saying they don’t want to be “pigeonholed” or “put in a box.” When the critic Kelefa Sanneh published Major Labels, a book-length defense of musical genre, in 2021, he wrote that artists “hate being labeled. And they think more about the rules they break than about the ones they follow.”
There is certainly a case to be made against the whole idea of summing up a large body of art in a word or two. The result is, all too often, genre descriptors that are either all-encompassingly vague or simply inaccurate. Some labels, however, are at least fairly neutral — “post-punk,” “house music.” Some, on the other hand, have negative connotations, if they’re not downright sneering at the songs they claim to describe: Take “bro country” or “PBR&B.”
As A Dockumentary makes clear, “yacht rock” still reliably elicits chuckles. But even if that humor helped these musicians gain younger followers, it often runs contrary to the tone and themes of their songs. “The term emerged from what was essentially a comedy show,” which had “a really big impact on the way that the music is now ironically appreciated,” Petrusich points out. However, “the records that [these artists] were making were entirely sincere.”
Can those records — and the artists behind them — ever be taken seriously if they’re still being laughed at? Loggins is a surprisingly versatile songwriter with a sinuous delivery and a knack for unpredictable funk. McDonald’s voice stood out even during a time when commanding voices were ubiquitous; songs like “You Belong to Me” and “I Keep Forgettin’ (Every Time You’re Near)” are essential contributions to the soul canon. But when these acts are lumped into yacht rock, they are relegated to the minor leagues, stuck as purveyors of slick chill-out music for the aging and affluent.
“I’ve made peace with ‘yacht rock,’ but for the first few years, I just hated it,” Pack says in A Dockumentary. “I’m like, ‘Why did they pick our generation to make all of our music into a big joke?’”
The Detroit Lions got a win on Thanksgiving Day – and so did Shaboozey, who was the halftime act for the first of the National Football League’s three games on Thursday.
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The seven-minute performance featured a medley of three tracks from the six-time Grammy Award nominated country singer-rapper’s latest album, Where I’ve Been, Isn’t Where I’m Going – “Last of My Kind,” “Highway” and, of course, “A Bar Song (Tipsy),” currently tied for the longest-running No. 1 song on the Billboard 100 at 19 weeks.
Shaboozey, sporting a Lions varsity jacket for the occasion, was accompanied by his touring band as well as a 10 local onstage dancers choreographed by Fatima Robinson, with the Lions cheerleaders on the field in front of the stage and a crowd of 500 fan volunteers behind it.
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“Our goal is to be able to bring artists and music that we feel are going to resonate with a broad audience, with families, and also try to be as culturally relevant as possible – I don’t know if that applies to any artist more right now than Shaboozey,” Seth Dudowsky, the NFL’s head of music, told Billboard after the performance on Thursday.
He said the league began considering at its Thanksgiving halftime artists near the start of the current season and chose Shaboozey around mid-September. “With the NFL of course we want to work with the biggest artists and…artists who are on the rise. So, really, this was just the perfect timing and the perfect artist.”
Shaboozey was followed on Thursday by Lainey Wilson during halftime of the Dallas Cowboys-New York Giants game in Arlington, Texas – with a surprise duet with Jelly Roll – while Lindsey Stirling did the honors for the Green Bay Packers’ home game against the Miami Dolphins at night. Millions, of course, saw Shaboozey’s segment – well-received by the crowd despite echoey sound in portions of the stadium – on CBS as they were watching the NFC conference-leading Lions hang on for a 23-20 victory over the Chicago Bears. But there was plenty viewers didn’t get to see – but Billboard did thanks to being on the spot on Detroit’s Ford Field…
Not Finally Over
The show didn’t stop when the music did on Thursday. Instead Shaboozey came off the stage and beelined for the Lions’ sideline, where he slapped hands and posed for selfies with fans along the front row – at one point hoisting himself up to get even more up close and personal. He spent a fair few minutes with the crowd and continued as he went through the team tunnel, greeting a group of U.S. Marines who served as the pre-game color guard, as well as stagehands, and posing for more selfies with fans seated in the stadium’s premium Tunnel Club.
Bruce Rodgers, the halftime show’s production designer, was not surprised by the unscripted “encore.” “Having met him, I’m not surprised at all,” Rodgers, whose Salem, Conn.-based Tribe, Inc. is preparing for its 19th Super Bowl in February, told Billboard. “He’s just a really cool dude. When you get an artist like this who’s so quickly elevated in their musical career, they still remember how to be regular folks and they want to connect.”
Rodgers added that Shaboozey was “so excited” about the halftime engagement, and also “so nervous. You could tell he was just overly excited but also super nervous, but he just kept working and working, and of course when you get in a room with 60,000 people (64,275, according to the Lions) and you’re an artist like that, it just turns on what you need.”
Raising The Bar
Rodgers and Tribe were brought in by the Lions to elevate the halftime show – a gig that was even more challenging, in some ways, than the Super Bowl.
“I’ve learned how to get a show on the field in under seven minutes and off the field in under six – that’s what we have to do for Super Bowl,” Rodgers said. “Here I have to get it on in five and a half and off in four, so it’s even more intense. And we have one tunnel here, and that’s the same tunnel the athletes have to use. So there’s a lot of coordination.”
Rodgers and company made a trek to Detroit in early November to scope out the venue and presented a selection of designs for Shaboozey and his team to choose from. The Tribe gang – Rodgers and eight production supervisors who regularly work with him on the Super Bowl – then trained a crew of 400 local stagehands and 15 local supervisors on the operation. “You start and you’re doing it in 20 minutes, and by the second day of rehearsal you’re down to five minutes,” Rodgers says of the stage, which was broken up into 10 sections and stored on the stadium’s sidelines, discreetly hidden by large square pads. “There’s a certain way to build these things in front of crowds like this. We’ve just learned techniques, and how to train folks.”
Thursday’s performance was preceded by two days of rehearsals, including having the 500 fans come in the previous afternoon. On game day things went without a hitch, with the separate sections rolled into the tunnel and packed up by the time the game finished.
Getting a Kick Out of It
While Shaboozey was on stage the Lions and Bears’ placekickers and punters came onto the field for their usual second half preparations. The Lions’ Jack Fox even did his warm-up shimmy in time to “A Bar Song (Tipsy).”
…And All The Trimmings
Shaboozey wasn’t the only big star inside Ford Field on Thursday.
Detroit resident and Lions regular Eminem was in the house, shown on the video screens during the second quarter while his “Lose Yourself” was playing over the PA. James Hetfield of Metallica – one of Lions head coach Dan Campbell’s favorite bands – was not there in person but delivered a taped prompt to fire up the crowd during the second half.
Longtime Detroiter and “old school Lions fan” Tim Allen was also at the game, visiting the sideline pre-game with his wife Jane Hajduk – a big Shaboozey fan. “We were up in Leland (Michigan) all summer, and every time ‘A Bar Song (Tipsy)’ came on they’re all dancing. She loves it.” Hajduk quickly noted, however, that “we’re huge football fans, and Shaboozey is a bonus.”
Allen is preparing for the Jan. 8 premiere of his new ABC sitcom, “Shifting Gears,” about a widower suddenly living with his estranged daughter and her teenaged children. “At my age, I know exactly what I like to do,” Allen says. “I can’t believe they found a subject I liked. I always wonder what Tom Brady said in Tampa Bay when they go, ‘Here’s the offense we’re looking at’…and he says, ‘What I need is two slot receivers that are intermittent’…At some point the jockey’s gonna have to ride the horse. But I’m excited about it.”
Fellow actor and singer-songwriter Jeff Daniels was around pre-game as well, performing a song about the Lions – “The Curse of Bobby Layne” – during the pre-game show. Daniels, who previously wrote a song called “Silver and Honolulu Blue” about the Lions’ “decades of darkness,” is hoping to record the new track for release in the near future.
“If I do the song right, maybe they’ll ask me some day” to perform for Thanksgiving halftime, quipped Daniels, whose new independent film “Reykjavik,” about U.S. President Ronald Reagan and Soviet Union leader Mikhail Gorbachev’s 1986 nuclear summit in Iceland, is due out next year. Daniels headed to his home in Chelsea, Mich., to watch Thursday’s game but explained that the Thanksgiving game “is as traditional as turkey for Lions fans. It’s just been in our lives since the beginning of time – or the NFL. It’s a great day – especially if we win, which we haven’t done for a long time now, even with this team. So we’re hoping today’s different.
The Lions’ victory was, in fact, the first time since 2016 that the team won the annual holiday matchup.
Chicago threw a 55th anniversary party a year ago in Atlantic City, with a little help from some friends. And the new Live at 55 gives fans a chance to be part of the celebration.
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Billed to Chicago & Friends, Live at 55 (out Friday, Nov. 22 via Mercury Studios) captures the epic 31-song performance — filmed over two nights before 10,000 fans at Ocean Casino Resort — on a variety of video and audio formats. At both shows the current incarnation of the band was joined by guest vocalists (Chris Daughtry, Robin Thicke, Judith Hill, VoicePlay) and guitarists (Steve Vai, Christone “Kingfish” Ingram) as well as pedal steel virtuoso Robert Randolph. The brassy group’s five and a half decades of hits are well-represented, and there’s no question the additional personnel injected a little more octane into the shows.
“It was interesting because we usually don’t have guest artists, much less seven of them,” trumpeter Lee Loughnane, one of three founding members (along with keyboardist Robert Lamm and trombonist James Pankow) still active in Chicago, tells Billboard. “The variety and the different flavors of their styles was quite different than what we’ve done before; it was very interesting to see and hear how they blended their expertise with what we’ve done for decades, so it was pretty cool that it all came together.
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“It took a lot of work to put it all together, but we were gonna do whatever it took to make the show as good as it can be.”
Loughnane is hard-pressed to identify specific favorite moments, but he notes that Vai, who’s currently touring with the King Crimson tribute band Beat, “was really well-prepared,” while Daughtry “was so good it was like a shoe-in, ‘This is gonna work great!’ kind of thing.”
Vai, who played on the rarely performed “South California Purples” and “Poem 58” as well as the all-cast finale “25 or 6 to 4,” adds that, “The songs gave me a nostalgic hernia. I was a teenager in the 70s and their music was all over the radio. I loved it, and it introduced me to the insanely great guitar playing of Terry Kath…I approached the songs with the idea of honoring his powerful energy, explorative nature and visceral approach.
“What was most surprising for me about the gig was how well it sounded in my inner ear monitors. Those horns were bright, stunningly in tune and tight. It was an honor and a real pleasure.”
Kingfish, who joined Chicago for parts of the “Ballet For a Girl in Buchannon” suite (including “Make Me Smile” and “Colour My World”), was not particularly familiar with Chicago before the concerts but says he was still “well aware of their catalog and the way they melded rock and jazz” and welcomed the opportunity to immerse himself a bit.
“It was a really cool time,” he recalls. “The band was so easy to work with. I not only met, but got to spend time with a lot of great musicians whose music I enjoy.”
Live at 55 was directed by Brian Lockwood and produced by Academy Award winner Barry Summers. It was screened in North American movie theaters during April.
The shows celebrated the anniversary of Chicago’s debut Chicago Transit Authority album (the group changed its name shortly thereafter), which turned 55 on April 28 of this year. The two-LP set was on the Billboard 200 for 171 weeks, setting a new record at the time, was certified double-platinum and entered the Grammy Hall of Fame in 2014, for its 45th anniversary. Chicago also won the Grammy Award for Best New Artist in its wake.
“It feels like one long tour — that’s pretty much it,” Loughnane says of the passage of time. “You and I talking now, you mention when it started, the first album, and it’s like ‘Sssssssssshop!, here we are!’ Almost instantaneous. A lot of the stuff could not possibly have happened the way it did — but it did. We’re living it, y’know?”
Since then Chicago has released 25 more studio albums and scored 29 Top 20 hits. It was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2015 and received a Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award in 2020. It’s survived through commercial ebbs and flows, while guitarist Terry Kath accidentally shot himself in 1978 and bassist Peter Cetera left, acrimoniously, in 1985. Saxophonist Walt Parazaider, meanwhile, retired in 2017 due to health reasons.
“The faces have changed; that’s to be expected after this much time,” Lamm notes. “This is our life’s work, and we still love doing it. Every time somebody leaves we find somebody new and it keeps going…because we still want to play this (music).”
Loughnane adds that, “It’s a testimony to the music, and the players that come in are not only great players unto themselves but it’s obvious that they have listened to our music and enjoyed it as they were growing up. And as we have brought people in they’ve brought their own conception of how they want it to sound. I’ve just enjoyed each guy who has come in and helped us further career.
“The big bands, the Count Basies and Duke Ellingtons, they went until they dropped,” Loughnane explains. “They kept working until they couldn’t and passed on to the next life, if there is such a thing, and there are still versions of those bands out there playing their music. They never stopped. That definitely made an impression on us.”
Chicago toured during the summer with Earth, Wind & Fire and also played at the Venetian Resort Las Vegas, where it’s been the longest-running residency in the venue’s history, selling more than 80,000 tickets during the past seven years. Chicago will be back there for another nine dates starting Feb. 28. During September it dipped into its archives for the live set Chicago at John F. Kennedy Center For the Performing Arts, Washington D.C. (9/16/1971).
And new music may be coming soon according to Loughnane, following up 2022’s Chicago XXXVIII: Born For This Moment.
“Right now music’s just being written,” the trumpeter says. “There aren’t any plans for anything brand new at this point, but I’ve got stuff I’ve been working on, and I’m gonna go home and go into the studio and see what I’ve come up with. There’s always music going on. We all write. We’re all still creative. We can always do an album; it’s just a matter of the circumstance and the timing and all the other aspects of putting an album together. But the ability is always there.”
In just two months, MEOVV has leaped onto the K-pop scene by showcasing a promising range and bold artistry set to claw out a legacy all their own.
The five-member girl group is the first-ever launched by THEBLACKLABEL, the agency founded by legendary producer Teddy with over 25 years in crafting K-pop classics by the likes of BIGBANG, 2NE1, PSY and BLACKPINK, that now houses top talent like Rosé, Taeyang, Jeon Somi and more. The excitement around MEOVV’s debut translated into a record deal with Columbia Records, millions of views on the group’s intriguing, fashion-forward teaser visuals, and bold debut single “MEOW” roaring onto Billboard’s World Digital Song Sales chart at No. 10 in September.
Despite the ultra-polished visuals and Teddy’s guiding hand, MEOVV balances raw confidence and relatability as seen in their two new singles: the energetic anthem “BODY” and emotionally charged “TOXIC.” The songs establish the five-piece’s immense range of potential, effortlessly transitioning from a fierce, pump-up track to a throbbing, electro-pop midtempo with universal emotional resonance.
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MEOVV members Sooin, Gawon, Anna, Narin and Ella’s impressive multilingual abilities — able to communicate in English, Korean, Japanese, Chinese, and Spanish — are matched by an undeniable warmth and relatability. Speaking with Billboard from Seoul during an evening Zoom call, the members spoke mostly in English but flowed seamlessly between languages, exuding a genuine camaraderie that belied their relatively short time as a group. Even with just months under their belts as a team, the group spoke about the pride they had in their music (especially as “TOXIC” was co-written by Gawon and Narin) and hoping to be a place of comfort for fans (emphasizing how they want to be relatable and authentic).
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As MEOVV continue to prowl forward on their journey together, get to know the K-Pop Rookie of the Month for November 2024 as they share details about how they formed, advice from BLACKPINK, their inner cats and more.
MEOVV just debuted in September with two new singles in November. How have these past couple of weeks and months been for you?
GAWON: Wow. Super hectic, but very exciting.
ELLA: Where we came out with our debut only about a month ago, we got to see a lot about how we kind of are on stage in front of people so it was really a good learning period of time to see what we could do better, what we could maybe work on or keep doing. It was like a good time to learn and grow. And now we’re ready for our next release.
Can you tell us how MEOVV formed and what it was like when the five of you came together?
NARIN: We all come from different backgrounds and have lived very different lives. So when we first met at THEBLACKLABEL, we were like complete strangers. But I think we also had that strong connection to each other since we all love music — we have a strong, shared passion for music, shared vision, common interests and everything. I think it was very natural for us to connect to each other and really become a team.
GAWON: Yeah, I think that just brought us together. And then one day we just found ourselves recording “MEOW,” filming videos, preparing, and rehearsing. SOOIN unnie and I knew each other from a few years back and then we reunited at THEBLACKLABEL and it was like, “Oh my God, what the heck, you’re here!”
NARIN: And I think when we first started recording our first debut song, “MEOW,” we all have so different voices and it’s very unique, but when recording, it was all just like becoming one song.
GAWON: And I think we started to feel like, “Oh, this makes so much sense.” Like, when we were also in the studio, we just sonically made sense. At that time, we didn’t really like, know each other on a deeper, deeper level so I think through those kind of processes and preparing for our debut, we got to know each other and we bonded over that. I think it just felt right. Yeah, it felt right.
You are the first group from THEBLACKLABEL, millions of people have viewed just your trailer teasers, the “MEOW” music video earned over 30 million views. Did you feel pressure to live up to any expectations?
ELLA: I think there definitely was times of pressure, but I think it was mostly, like, excitement — we were excited to finally put out music now. But when there were moments of pressure, I think we channeled it well into working hard.
GAWON: Yeah and when there were moments of pressure, it was mostly just excitement. Like, “Yeah! We’re gonna debut! Yeah!” I think we were able to turn that into motivation and just fuel for the fire that we had while preparing to be out in the world.
MEOVV is the newest girl group produced by Teddy, a legendary producer. Were you Teddy fans or fans of any of the artists he worked with in the past?
SOOIN: We were all definitely fans.
GAWON: I came from the States, but I was still surrounded by his music growing up. It’s just everywhere.
NARIN: And his music is just so iconic.
GAWON: With the legacy that he created in music, we’re just so excited to be able to continue that as MEOVV. I love everyone and everyone he worked with — even 1TYM!
K-pop fans may have knew ELLA’s background and being close with the BLACKPINK members. How did you get to know them?
ELLA: It just came naturally because when I first came to THEBLACKLABEL, I met them when I was really young, just one time in the studio when they were working. Then while we were preparing for our debut, we got a lot of tips and advice from them so they’re really supportive. It’s kind of crazy thinking like, “Oh, I met them kind of doing what we’re doing now.”
GAWON: It really puts things into perspective. They’re so sweet and give such such great advice.
ELLA: They’ve been doing this for so long — it’s like, what better person to get advice from than them? They know it best.
In September, “MEOW” debuted at No. 10 on the World Digital Song Sales chart. Did you see the news?
NARIN: I definitely remember the moment when GAWON unnie found it out and then she told us — I think we were in the elevator, yeah —
GAWON: I was just scrolling and I was like, “Huh? What?”
ELLA: We didn’t believe her at first!
NARIN: We said, “What do you mean Billboard? What do you mean?” And then we all started cheering.
ALL: Yay, Billboard! [Cheering and laughing]
Let’s discuss the new singles “TOXIC” and “BODY.” What do these songs mean to MEOVV?
GAWON: Well these two new releases are very different from “MEOW.” The two songs are very contrasting to each other. But at the same time, they’re able to simultaneously compliment each other in a way where it just balances everything out.
NARIN: “TOXIC” is very emotional and very honest; it’s more vulnerable. We’re also more emotionally attached to this one because we wrote the lyrics. It’s been a minute since we wrote, but GAWON and I were in the studio and they just put on a random song, which was just the beat and maybe melodies for the chorus on “TOXIC.”
GAWON: Yeah, melodies for the chorus and a theme of “toxic.” This song is about being toxic and then, um, he [Teddy] left us in the studio. He was like, “Oh, I have to go do something. You guys do whatever you want with it. Have fun.” [Laughs]
NARIN: I love how the emotions that we had while writing lyrics are now for everyone to share with us.
GAWON: It shines in the music video too, it’s just a lot of shared emotions. It’s kind of like a full circle moment. We love “TOXIC.”
Would it be safe to say “TOXIC” is everyone’s favorite single over “BODY”?
NARIN: Oh, that’s very tricky because “BODY” feels like one of our members now — it’s like our friend. It’s always there in the practice room…
ELLA: It’s always there…
GAWON: …in the car. It’s this kind of energy that we just hold with us everywhere we go. Especially moments before stage, we’re like, “Let’s go, let’s go!”
How was shooting the music videos?
GAWON: Oh my god, it’s so special…both videos for each of the songs hold a very special place in our heart because It was very natural; it was very pure. Like us in our purest forms [for “TOXIC”].
ELLA: It wasn’t even like a music video shoot. It was just like, “Oh, it was like a hangout moment” and they were just capturing the moment. And then with “BODY” it’s just like, we just had so much fun; we just had so much fun having a party. We were bonding after that.
ANNA: There was a scene [in “TOXIC”] where we were just like running around the street, just playing like little girls, Everyone was watching us. Actually. It wasn’t like a set, It was just [outside] on the street and when the light green, It was like, “Let’s just go!” and then we started running, jumping, lying down. It was really nice.
ELLA: It wasn’t a [traditional music video] set, we were outside and when recording started, it was like, “Let’s just go!” and we started running, jumping, lying down.
What messages do you want to share with “TOXIC” and “BODY”?
NARIN: They’re both about our raw emotions and our authenticity.
GAWON: They’re very honest so I feel like people could look forward to that and we hope that a lot of people can resonate with both songs in these different aspects of being confident but also at the same time being able to be more vulnerable about your true emotions and your experiences.
ELLA: I hope that when people watch the music video, they’re entertained by watching us and our sort of vulnerability and emotion, but they are also like they also can kind of find that with themselves.
GAWON: Yeah, I hope they see themselves in us.
As a fun question about your concept, I’d love to know what kind of cat your members identify with one another.
ELLA: Starting with GAWON unnie, she’s such a big cat — like a leopard.
SOOIN: Or a cheetah! She has long legs too, she’s big and tall.
ELLA: And she likes cheetah print so it’s your vibe.
NARIN: And Anna Jang?
ELLA: She’s like a kitten!
NARIN: You’re like a little, white English Shorthair; that’s what you are!
ELLA: But it has to be a baby,
SOOIN: A small, shy baby, kitten.
ANNA: I agree with that. [Laughs]
NARIN: I feel like SOOIN needs blue eyes, because she loves blue, she’s obsessed with blue…
SOOIN: I love blue. [Shows blue accessories, notebook and blue phone case]
ELLA: So, a Siamese cat with blue eyes.
SOOIN: I like it.
ELLA: And for NARIN, I think you’re not a regular cat but from The Aristocats animation, what’s the one with the pink bow’s name? Marie from The Aristocats, yeah.
GAWON: She is so Marie.
NARIN: Thanks, I like that.
GAWON: You know what you are, ELLA? You are Puss in Boots — like a tabby cat.
NARIN: With the smirk.
ELLA: Yeah, I like the orange ones — that’s my personality too. I like it.
Thank you for the very satisfying answers across the board. To wrap up, looking at MEOVV overall, what are your goals and dreams as a group?
ELLA: I just hope that people will get inspired listening to our music and maybe discover more about themselves and their emotions.
GAWON: Being able to connect with more people through our music, I just want people to feel something when they see us. Whatever emotion that may be, just to share experiences and feelings together. In terms of goals, I think we just want to establish MEOVV further and just create our identity and while also keeping our own individuality.
What else should we look forward to, or do you want to share with fans now?
SOOIN: We have so many songs that we’re working on and we picked the best out of the best for this release. So, it’s just only a bit of what they’re about to show to the world. We hope that people are looking forward to us in the future!
ANNA: This time, our songs are really good so I want to show a better performance while preparing for it. In the future, I hope I can show it to the fans around the world soon.
GAWON: One last thing I would like to say is that we’ll just thank you for your continued support — all the fans and everyone who is tuning into our music.