Exo-SC, BTS’ RM, Kang Daniel and NCT Dream dominated the UAE iTunes charts last week.
Following Baekhyun’s successful solo debut, Chanyeol and Sehun teamed up on an EP titled ‘What a Life’ last Monday, marking Exo’s newest and second sub-unit Exo-SC.
The hip hop-themed EP includes three title tracks — ‘Closer Yo You’, ‘What a Life’, and ‘Just Us 2’ featuring rapper Dynamic Duo’s Gaeko. This is a rarity since many K-Pop albums have only one lead single.
Apart from displaying their vocal talents, Chanyeol and Sehun are credited as songwriters and lyricists. Gaeko and hit composer team Devine Channel took charge of the EP’s overall production while other collaborators have had a hand in working on it too.
‘What a Life’, a laid-back anthemic tune about celebrating life and enjoying every moment, not only was a popular track on the local iTunes songs charts but their six-track release also topped the all-genre album charts in 45 other countries such as Indonesia, Bahrain, Egypt, Greece, India, Jordan, Oman, Philippines, Saudi Arabia, Singapore, Sri Lanka, Taiwan, Thailand and Turkey.
Taking the No 1 spot on China’s top music site QQ Music, Exo-SC’s music was also popular in Korea and still charted high on the local iTunes Top Albums chart. However, it was later overtaken by Kang Daniel’s much-anticipated debut EP, ‘Color On Me’.
Last Thursday, Kang received unwavering support on the day of his solo debut. It even made him trend worldwide on Twitter. Even prior to its release, the five-track EP ‘Color on Me’ amassed more than 450,000 pre-sale copies within a week, an impressive feat rarely achieved by a solo K-Pop artist.
Debuting under his newly-founded agency Konnect Entertainment, the talented rapper, the winner of reality show ‘Produce 101’ in 2017, showcased his vocals skills and participated in writing the lyrics for four tracks. It includes the lead single ‘What Are You Up To’, which was seen topping Korea’s real-time charts such as Bugs, Naver and Soribada.
That same day, BTS’s leader and rapper RM surprised fans by dropping a Seoul version of American rapper Lil Nas X’s Billboard chart-topping single, ‘Old Town Road’.
RM penned new verses, adding his own English lyrics and creatively used wordplay on the word ‘homi’, which sounds like ‘homies’ in the song but is in fact a traditional Korean hand plough.
The popular single pays homage to the South Korean capital of Seoul and features new cover artwork, with one of the two horses in purple, representing BTS’s loyal ARMY fandom.
The remix version titled ‘Seoul Town Road’ didn’t take long to soar to the top of the UAE iTunes Top Songs chart and to take over social media with hashtags and hilarious memes of the multi-faceted Korean artist.
Teaming up with one of the biggest artists in the world may likely get Lil Nas X’s hip hop/country song to hit an all-time record on the Billboard Hot 100 chart.
A day later, NCT Dream shed their teenage pop sound with a confident and mature sound in new EP, ‘We Boom’.
Accompanied by a captivating music video for their lead track, the six young members declare they got that ‘Boom’ and offered up powerful verses as they sleekly dance and sing about chasing dreams together.
Their bold comeback was a favourite among local listeners. NCT Dream’s six-track EP was soon found taking Kang Daniel’s place on both the iTunes albums chart and K-Pop albums chart. It was also a hit in 20 other countries.
It comes just 10 months after dropping their second EP, ‘We Go Up’, last September.
NCT’s teenage unit recently released English-language synth, electro-pop dance single, ‘Fireflies’ after the group was named World Scout Foundation’s first global ambassador and collaborated with British singer HRVY on track ‘Don’t Need Your Love’ as part of the label’s digital music channel, SM Station.
