Chapter 121: The Highly Anticipated Red Velvet
At midnight on November 5th, Seoul time, the mysterious Red Velvet officially released the sound source for their debut song.
To maintain an air of mystery, not only was the appearance of Red Velvet's controversial leader and visual, Bae Joo-hyun, not revealed, but even the name of their debut song was kept secret. Only a few MV clips and teaser audio snippets were released.
The mystery was fully maintained.
On their debut day, November 5th, the sound source was not released at the usual debut or comeback time of 9 AM, but instead at midnight.
As 'Red Velvet <Bad Boy>' appeared on various music platforms, fans, anti-fans, and music critics, who had been waiting for a long time, swarmed into the MV video.
DM Entertainment was no longer the impoverished company from half a year ago that couldn't even afford to produce a debut song MV. Although not every song had an MV, the basic operation of pairing a debut song with an MV was now achievable.
Upon clicking the MV, the song title and producer information appeared.
Producer: Shu
Composer: Shu
Lyricist: Shu
Arranger: Shu
It was no longer Jiang Shu, but those who understood the stage name Shu knew it was still Jiang Shu.
Most people felt settled after seeing this familiar name.
Regardless of the controversy surrounding Red Velvet, the three works Jiang Shu had released so far were all above standard. The fact that this song was from Jiang Shu's hand meant it was highly unlikely to be bad, naturally reassuring the listeners who were still waiting at midnight.
After all, no one wanted to stay up late just to hear a piece of shit.
Li Xiuman's house, study.
The 66-year-old man was not resting today; instead, he sat in front of his computer, watching the Red Velvet debut song pop up on the music platform.
He certainly knew about this group, a girl group that Min Xizhen insisted on launching in collaboration with DM Entertainment, despite facing dual pressure from him and Kim Young-min.
He had looked at the members' profiles. Besides Park Soo-young and Kim Ye-rim from their company, who were the other three? A new vocal teacher, a dancer from a choreography studio, and a 27-year-old restaurant owner?
It all seemed like a joke.
But with Min Xizhen's support, the group named Red Velvet still debuted.
The debut plan was shrouded in mystery, and Min Xizhen had refused Li Xiuman's requests to see it. Now, he wanted to see what was so outstanding about this girl group.
He refused to believe that after Jiang Shu miraculously produced the unparalleled IVE, he could create another Red Velvet!
The thought of IVE made Li Xiuman's teeth ache. Lily was such a good main vocalist prospect, yet that bastard Jiang Shu made her a mere accessory?
Damn Jiang Shu!
Li Xiuman cursed Jiang Shu twice in his mind, then clicked on the MV for the debut song titled <Bad Boy>.
As the MV started, the dreamy, bubbly background music, combined with a faint hum from an unknown member, immediately caught Li Xiuman's attention. The stunning intro was so captivating that Li Xiuman even overlooked Bae Joo-hyun, who was the only one shown in a close-up at the beginning.
As the song progressed, Li Xiuman's eyes grew brighter.
It wasn't because the MV was shot well, nor because the members were particularly beautiful, but because of the song itself.
This R&B style based on hip-hop, what a brilliant idea!
Why hadn't he thought of it?
Before this song, there was no such girl group dance in the K-pop system! No! Not even anything similar!
And what was the situation with these five people? How could their voices be so harmonious?
As the godfather of K-pop, Li Xiuman clearly understood that while idol groups might seem to be about looks, there was also an art to vocal arrangement. While retaining individual characteristics, there also needed to be commonality to allow the members' voices to blend together.
But what was going on with Red Velvet?
How could their voices blend so harmoniously?
Unconsciously, Li Xiuman had already listened through it once, but he chose to turn off the MV and listen to the song again with renewed focus.
He repeated this five times in total. Looking at the member names annotated in the lyric distribution, he confirmed one thing.
Damn Min Xizhen!
The voices of the four Red Velvet members each had their own characteristics, but if you listened closely, you could detect a faint backing vocal behind each person's voice. It was very subtle but truly present, and it was this voice that blended the four distinct voices together.
And this voice belonged to the fifth person, Red Velvet's maknae, Kim Ye-rim!
Damn Min Xizhen!
This was their S.M. trainee!
And an even more serious problem: this person named Wendy… her vocal ability seemed even stronger than Lily's.
This song, <Bad Boy>, doesn't have many high notes, nor is it a show-off song, but that doesn't mean it's easy to sing. On the contrary, Wendy's vocal ability, as she mostly provides background vocals, is even more evident at this point.
Being able to hit high notes doesn't necessarily mean strong singing. A true main vocalist can sing high, sing low, and deliver excellent mid-range vocals!
IVE's Lily was undoubtedly an excellent main vocalist, but Red Velvet's Wendy was the…
Main vocalist he had been searching for for a long time!
Damn it!
Li Xiuman was always critical of songs, but at this moment, regarding <Bad Boy>, he could do nothing but curse.
If Red Velvet were his girl group, his mouth would be twisted into a smile by now. But unfortunately, they weren't. Although S.M. had half the operating rights, it was in Min Xizhen's hands!
Damn it! Damn it! Damn it!
If the critical Li Xiuman was like this, there was no need to say much about others.
The general public may not have a deep understanding of music, but they can tell if something sounds good or not.
Music liked by the public is not necessarily excellent, but excellent songs are often liked by the public.
<Bad Boy> was undoubtedly such a song.
After the song's sound source was released, its play count surged towards the top 100 at an astonishing speed.
Currently, among DM Entertainment's artists' songs, IVE's debut songs <I AM> and <Love Dive> dominated the top two. IU's <good day> had, after more than half a month, squeezed into the top thirty, and its potential seemed to have mostly run out.
And this song <Bad Boy>…
By 0:20, it was already at 97th place. Although it didn't have the terrifying record of <I AM> topping the daily chart in half a day, it was still remarkably fast.
Besides the song <Bad Boy> itself, Bae Joo-hyun, who had been kept hidden, also made her first appearance.
In the MV, four members were recognizable, and only one was not. Who else could that be besides Bae Joo-hyun?
Bae Joo-hyun's makeup and styling in the <Bad Boy> MV were the most striking. When the first close-up shot appeared, the audience noticed something was off.
Is this woman really twenty-seven?
Many viewers who came to watch the excitement were stunned. Under the overall makeup and styling, Bae Joo-hyun not only showed no signs of discomfort from being an 'older' trainee but instead became the most stunning member in the entire MV.
Her central position and various close-up shots directly sent the hashtag 'Bae Joo-hyun's Visuals' to the trending topics.