Chapter 385: Mini Album
With the cooperation of DM Entertainment and Park Hongjun, the head of YG's internal label, the plan was completed very smoothly.
Through Yang Hyun-suk's remote control and Park Hongjun's support, YG's actor department resources were shared with DM Entertainment.
And Park Hongjun took this opportunity to sit in the position of acting president.
And to express his loyalty to Jiang Shu, his new master, Park Hongjun, as soon as he took office, handed over three A-class entertainment resources to DM Entertainment, and at the same time told others that Park Hongjun's background was Jiang Shu.
Jiang Shu also happily accepted such an act.
Don't take it for nothing.
As for whether or not to stand up for him, just stand up for him. Anyway, it was all Park Hongjun's own doing. If anything really happened, he could just cut ties directly, and it wouldn't implicate him.
Perfect.
With YG's matters concluded, Jiang Shu also refocused his energy and attention on Red Velvet.
Red Velvet will return on October 10th with their fifth mini-album, and the title track 'Psycho' is his response to those so-called music critics.
Aren't they all saying he only caters to the market? Then I'll show you what a masterpiece that combines art and market is.
S.M. Entertainment, Red Velvet practice room.
The girl groups they collaborate with basically practice at the other company. DM Entertainment's space was too small at first and couldn't accommodate them. Later, after expansion, corresponding practice rooms were reserved, but they habitually still practiced at the other company.
The Red Velvet members were all very clear about how good the title track 'Psycho' from their fifth mini-album was, especially since Jiang Shu gave them this song shortly after aespa's comeback, when he was once again questioned for overly catering to the market. The intention was very obvious.
This was Jiang Shu's response.
Inside the practice room, the music of 'Psycho' gradually faded, and the five members of Red Velvet, panting heavily, sat on the floor, resting individually.
The dance difficulty wasn't that high, but the song's difficulty was very high, especially singing and dancing at the same time, which was an even greater challenge to their singing and dancing skills.
"No wonder this song was given to us. Besides us and NMIXX, no one else could perform it," Kim Ye-rim said, being the first to catch her breath.
"We are a concept group, and this song is clearly only suitable for a concept group," Sun Shengwan interjected, "(G)I-DLE only uses Jeon Soyeon's own songs, so that's why this was given to us, right?"
Sun Shengwan said this, but her eyes were looking at Bae Joo-hyun.
Compared to the slightly more subtle Sun Shengwan, the maknae Kim Ye-rim was much more direct.
"Ouni, do you have any inside information?"
Bae Joo-hyun stared blankly at the floor, panting heavily. Her oxygen-deprived brain took a while to process Kim Ye-rim's question.
She's getting older, her stamina isn't what it used to be.
"The Chairman mentioned this song to me a long time ago. It was custom-made for us," Bae Joo-hyun said.
"Ah?" Hearing such inside information, everyone looked over in surprise.
"Why are you so surprised?" Bae Joo-hyun had recovered a bit. "It's not the first time we've received custom-made songs."
"It's just that we suddenly got this kind of treatment again, which is a pleasant surprise," Sun Shengwan said with a smile.
Indeed, it wasn't the first time Red Velvet received a custom-made song from Jiang Shu, but it wasn't many times either.
Compared to his 'favorite daughters' IVE and IZONE, Red Velvet couldn't even compare to aespa, only being slightly better than NMIXX.
After all, for the latter, Jiang Shu only participated in the production, only wrote one debut song, and then didn't bother with them anymore.
(G)I-DLE and ITZY at least had the title of overall producer.
One can't say Jiang Shu showed favoritism, but there was definitely a difference in the level of importance he placed on them.
Now that IVE and IZONE have disbanded one after another, after aespa's comeback, he thought of Red Velvet.
Does this count as picking up something left behind?
No, 'Psycho' is undoubtedly much stronger in artistry than aespa's latest comeback song; it's just unknown how the market will receive it.
After so many comebacks, no one would question whether Jiang Shu's works could become popular, but there are also degrees of popularity.
'Gee' and 'Monster' were both written by Jiang Shu, but the difference in popularity between the two is separated by who knows how many 'I AM's.
The difference is quite significant.
"There's still less than half a month until the comeback, and I'm still a little nervous," Kang Seul-gi whispered.
It's been a year since their last comeback, so nervousness is inevitable.
"Seulgi Ouni, don't be nervous, I'm here," Kim Ye-rim said with a smile, patting her chest.
Everyone laughed at her words.
It's false to say they weren't nervous; after all, it had been over a year since their last comeback.
But to say they were extremely nervous was not the case. They weren't rookies debuting; it was just the normal nervousness of being away from the stage for over a year.
With Kim Ye-rim's antics, a lot of the nervousness dissipated.
"Speaking of which, will there be a new group debuting in October?" Park Soo-young, who had been silent, finally looked up from her phone and asked the others.
"Yes, it's called LESSERAFIM, and it's Chaewon, Kura, and Minju's group," Kim Ye-rim, the social butterfly, immediately replied.
"IZONE only disbanded half a year ago, and they're debuting again already?"
"They were forced to disband in the first place, so of course they'd arrange for the members to debut again as soon as possible."
"That's true."
"Who are the members?" Kang Seul-gi asked Kim Ye-rim.
"Chaewon is the leader, and the members are Kura, Minju, Heo Yunjin from BLACKPINK, and a Japanese person named Nakamura Kazuha?"
"Aren't there six people? That's only five," Sun Shengwan interjected.
"Let me think, why can't I suddenly remember?" Kim Ye-rim scratched her head in distress, frantically searching her brain for the name of LESSERAFIM's last member.
"Hong Eun-chae," Bae Joo-hyun's voice suddenly rang out.
"Oh right, Hong Eun-chae! A little sister born in '06 or '07," Kim Ye-rim nodded repeatedly. Now that Bae Joo-hyun mentioned it, she remembered.
"Even if we count '06, she's only sixteen or seventeen this year," Park Soo-young said, tilting her head.
"Yuan Ying debuted when she was only fourteen, so what's the big deal?" Kang Seul-gi said, shaking her head.
Everyone was used to Zhang Yuanying's early fame, and calling her 'senior' came with no psychological burden.
As for Ms. Bae Joo-hyun, who could almost be Zhang Yuanying's mother, she didn't care. At first, she might have been a bit unaccustomed, but now that time had passed, she didn't mind.
Looking at the time on her phone, Bae Joo-hyun clapped her hands.
"Break time is almost over. Let's do it again. We're only coming back after over a year, so our performance needs to be as perfect as possible." With that, Bae Joo-hyun stood up voluntarily.
Since the 'thirty-year-old' leader had taken the initiative to stand up, the others naturally didn't resist and also got up from the floor, entering a new round of practice.