As of today (or abt 13-ish hours ago in KST), Jin's been a Good Chaotic KING for THIRTY-TWO YEARS (omg, he's OOOOOLD AF!*). Hence this post.
* I'm joking OFC. 32 isn't OLD at all. XD
A whole
year and a half ago I posted abt the wonderfulness that is "Super Tuna". And, a little under two months ago, I did a
post abt the 2024 extended version.
Since then, Jin's been B-U-S-Y. Not only is he still promoting
Happy, his first solo album, but he's been a guest in a handful of shows. Such as
Lee Mujin's Taxi Service. Behold 36 minutes and change of World Wide Handsome stunning Lee Mujin, heheh:
The album's pre-release was a v. pop-rock tune called "I'll Be There". This is a sub-genre where Jin's vocals ride in an amazing way. Especially when he sings live; there's some extra sparkage in how he performs even the cheesiest songs with a v. fun type of confidence. You can't help but be swayed by his EVERYTHING:
A little under a month ago (give or take a few days), Jin did a 2-day fanmeet/showcase thing with a live bande. It was also available for streaming for FREE NINETY-NINE (everyone's favorite price). In between songs, he played games with the audience. One of said things was to help him decide which is his best potential costume. The MOST RIDIC COSTUME WON...and he did an encore performance of "Running Wild" (the title track of his album) while wearing it.
Mild trigger warning for: lots of fan screaming and flashing lights.
I love him soooooooooooooooo much!
<<3____;SO, out of the six songs in the album, there's a clear breakthrough hit. A song that charms ppl into listening to it as many times as possible. I'm talking, of course, of the synthpop MASTERPIECE that is "Heart on the Window".
Not only does this song has one of the most FLAWLESS melodies and beats in any song ever, but it's also Jin's first duet with a female singer. None other but Red Velvet's Wendy.
And this is where I gotta pause for a second.
Cuz this is a TRUE SURPRISE in every sense of the word. Like I mentioned, it's a duet (he's done at least one with V once way back), but it's the UNEXPECTED TWIST of the other singer being WENDY?
THE Wendy?! This in turn added a whole 'nother layer of WHAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA? Because SM Entertainment (Wendy's agency) is INFAMOUS for pretty much blocking any and every attempt to have her work with anyone that SME doesn't think "worthy."
This collabo happened pretty much by kismet. One day between late June and early July of this year, Jin was having a meal with a friend. They were talking abt Jin's upcoming album and the convo turned into how Jin should sing a song with Wendy. The friend happened to have Wendy's
actual cellphone number, so they called her right then and there. Jin got on the phone and, after a bit of lulz, straight up asked her if she was interested in recording a song with him. She accepted and then this song happened.
Had Jin called SME's Division 3 (the team that's in charge of Red Velvet), he'd have gotten a flat out no. This isn't as much hearsay/goss-goss. SM Entertainment almost always drag their feet when it comes to promoting Red Velvet either as a group or individually. In the case of this song (which nearly any other company would've been super vocal abt), SME did the least effort possible in promoting the "Heart on the Window" performance of a song that's 100% beloved by anyone who listens to it. The ONLY thing they've done was post a pic of this performance on Insta. That's it. AFAIK, to be a fan of an SME artist means accepting that the company will do a poor job with everything (except the album packaging? #Unsure).
One super positive thing was seeing ARMYs and Reveluvs (Red Velvet fandom) teaming up to promote the song. Like, yeah, Kpop fandoms can be messy (all of them. Yes, even the ones that appear to be chill from the outside), so it's always v. heartwarming to see fandoms cheering each other on. NGL, I got v. π abt all of the YAYS going back and forth across fandoms.
Anyways, all this to say that ppl were PERCHED AND R-E-A-D-Y for Jin and Wendy singing the fabulousness that is "Heart on the Window'. When I tell you I was ON THE FLOOR, TRYING TO KEEP MYSELF FROM CRYING MY EYES OUT CUZ THIS PERFORMANCE WAS EVERYTHING AND THEN SOME? XD.
FWIW, the synthypop aspect is v. diluted in this performance, with the sound taking a lite-rock sound that fits well. I heartily suggest listening to the original version of the song.
Kudos to the musicians in Team SUGA for performing with Jin too. ;___;
Happy Birthday, Kim Seokjin! You continue to be W.W.H. even as an Official Old (TM), hehehe.![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
