[Music Talk Talk] WINNER’s secret of dominating music charts? Their music of quality and originality
[OSEN=최나영 기자] WINNER has really become a winner. The public is showing passionate responses to WINNER who has come back. The secret seems to be rather simple: “songs of WINNER’s originality”.
As of February 1 in the morning, WINNER’s new song “BABY BABY” took No.1 on the real-time charts of major music streaming websites including Korea’s biggest Melon and Genie Music, Olleh Music, NAVER Music, Soribada, and Bugs. Plus, “SENTIMENTAL”, the other title track of the album, is in the first place on Mnet.com and in the second place on the charts of other major music-streaming websites. “IMMATURE” and “I’M YOUNG”, other songs included in WINNER’s new album, are also ranked in top places on charts.
WINNER released new mini-album “EXIT:E” on February 1 at 0 o’clock, to come back to the music scene. “BABY BABY” and “SENTIMENTAL” for which NAM TAEHYUN wrote the lyrics and melody are the double title tracks of the new album. The album has different types of songs sung by the complete team of WINNER or some unit teams or one member of the team, which further enhances the joy of listening to it.
Notably, WINNER members who were called the treasure in YANG HYUN SUK’s jewelry box have worked hard on their songwriting skills so far. After committing themselves to working on new songs during their absence from the music scene, WINNER succeeded in creating quality music. YANG HYUN SUK was very much satisfied with the quality of the songs written by WINNER, so he decided to unveil them in a new album, according to insiders of YG.
As such, WINNER’s new album is filled with songs written by WINNER members themselves, and the quality of the songs is outstanding. For “BABY BABY”, one of the title tracks of the new album, NAM TAEHYUN, SONG MINHO, and LEE SEUNGHOON wrote the lyrics and NAM TAEHYUN wrote the melody. For “SENTIMENTAL”, the other title track, as well, NAM TAEHYUN, SONG MINHO, and LEE SEUNGHOON wrote the lyrics, while NAM TAEHYUN wrote the melody along with songwriter Kang Wook-jin.
“BABY BABY” drew big attention even before its release, as cover project for the song participated by famous musicians was carried out. Not only YG artists including LEE HI and TAEYANG but also other labels’ artists such as Zion.T and DEAN covered “BABY BABY”. Then, AKMU, Katie Kim, G-DRAGON, and EPIK HIGH covered “SENTIMENTAL”. The unexpected lineup of famous musicians who covered WINNER’s new songs created sensation.
“SENTIMENTAL” is a song that wittily expresses a sentimental feeling that anyone could feel from time to time. Its comfortable melody and realistic lyrics well-resonate with fans. Notably, the song’s chorus part that goes “I feel sentimental now” is especially catchy. When you listen to the song with the music video, you can better feel the mood of the song.
Of course, the unprecedentedly large-scale promotion such as the cover project directly planned and led by YANG HYUN SUK did contribute to the great record that is being written by WINNER on charts. However, the biggest reason for the big success is because “the songs are good”. Just good songs are never enough. These songs are WINNER’s good songs, which is the reason why WINNER’s new album is creating sensation upon its release.
WINNER is a very unique type of idol group, different from other Korean boy groups. They look good just as any other idol groups do, but they have their flagship artistic sensitivity. That gives a subtle appeal to WINNER, who does not look like just some handsome boys. Notably, this team’s music sounds rather analogue, which reminds listeners of good old days. Such uniqueness of WINNER’s music which was born with debut song “empty” is now being established more firmly.
2016. 2. 1.
