Title: Stage Side B
Artist: Choi Jae Sung
Track: 07
Track List
- Drop (Title)
- Undercover Boss
- Call My Name Twice
- Do Dream
- DmmHmmEmm
- I’m Still The Same
- Stage
As of January 2018, Lil Nas X has not debuted in the mainstream.
But I’ve drawn a lot of inspiration from his songs and marketing methods, especially studying Old Town Road quite a bit.
Naturally so.
Old Town Road is a monumental song that topped the Billboard charts for 19 consecutive weeks, and proved that short-form content can be linked to music.
Old Town Road clearly succeeded because of short-form platforms (TikTok).
Since that song, countless short-form stars were born, and though people thought it would be a brief fad, it became content that dominated the 2020s.
I know that even in Korea, after the 2020s, things like Shorts and Challenges became really popular.
But as of 2018, short platforms don’t really exist.
Well, to be precise, they do exist.
There was Vine with quite a bit of history in the U.S., and TikTok started its service in November 2017.
But did they really serve as proper platforms? Not really.
It felt like niche content that only a few people knew about.
We didn’t call that a platform.
Though I rambled on, what I really wanted to say was: the short-form era hasn’t arrived yet, and I had no intention of pioneering that era.
I was planning to wait until the tides of the era arrived.
Being the pioneer of a particular platform always comes with both advantages and disadvantages.
If I opened the short-form era, the image of short-form would always be attached next to Sedalbaekil’s name.
What I prefer is to be the fastest follower rather than the first mover…
[I tried dancing to Drop!]
[Drop! Drop! Drop!]
Ridiculously enough, it seemed Choi Jae Sung might become that first mover.
Of course, there had been flash mobs where celebrities followed viral songs, but this felt different.
Short clips of people dancing to the most upbeat part of Choi Jae Sung’s Drop were flooding SNS, and many were compiling and uploading them.
Drop is the first song I ever made in this life.
I had a few phone calls with techno master Mary Jones, who took great interest in me, and he once let me hear a track he was working on.
Ah, of course, it’s not like I stole it.
Actually, what Mary Jones was working on was quite stripped of techno elements.
It was more like a song that implanted other genres while keeping only the essence of techno.
According to Mary Jones, he tried that after seeing me mix a classical feel into one of his tracks.
I drew inspiration from there.
I went with a synth-pop genre with a New Jack Swing twist, but when you listen, it feels like techno or even tecktonik.
Sounds complicated, but the work itself was simple.
After all, I’m someone who’s studied countless genres.
And Choi Jae Sung pulled it off perfectly.
He really fits dance genres.
His moves are big and smooth, his breath is long, and he genuinely enjoys himself.
The result…
“Oh, the second place arrived.”
“It’s second and third, you know?”
“Isn’t the world only remembering the first place?”
“…”
Choi Jae Sung started teasing Lee Eon and Koo Tae Hwan.
The public says I don’t care much for Sedalbaekil and just use the members like a mad scientist.
That I don’t care about teamwork.
But they’re all wrong.
I do care about Sedalbaekil and sincerely hope we succeed.
If we fail this life, I don’t have the confidence to challenge the idol group business again.
Besides, we’re not a group that breaks over things like this.
We’ve maintained teamwork even through Choi Dae Ho’s filthy, dirty schemes.
TT was worried when we split fan signings per member, but we had no problems.
Same this time.
Choi Jae Sung teases Koo Tae Hwan and Lee Eon, and Koo Tae Hwan and Lee Eon are pleased with Choi Jae Sung’s success.
Watching that, On Saemiro and I also feel eager to release a unit soon.
Sometimes I find it fascinating.
Back when I was desperately scouting members and starting a company to train them, ambition was always an issue.
If you go to Billboard, there are singers way more talented than Sedalbaekil…
Well, maybe not so many now.
They’ve all improved a lot.
Still, not impossible to find.
But aside from talent, their attitude after achieving success always pained me.
Especially when I worked as a producer, I spent more time nagging artists to release albums than actually working.
I had all the good songs ready, marketing prepared, yet they wouldn’t release albums. I couldn’t understand why.
Later, hearing that working with me was exhausting, I even accidentally regressed once.
Recording sessions last maybe a month, yet they didn’t want to release albums because of that. It made me question chasing 200 million sales.
But thinking back, it probably wasn’t because my sessions were hard.
If they wanted to avoid me that badly, they wouldn’t have done their best in previous sessions either.
They simply wanted to enjoy the money, popularity, and fame they gained.
Wanting to live better rather than make better music.
That’s neither bad nor wrong.
But that wasn’t the kind of ambition I wanted, so I gave up being a producer.
That’s why I like Sedalbaekil.
These aren’t people I gathered with my discerning eye, nor ones I directed in life’s path and produced.
People who met by chance on their life journeys.
Sedalbaekil was born from that intersection.
How could such people have this kind of ambition?
“Shion, what are you doing.”
“Hmm?”
“It’s your turn.”
“Oh.”
At On Saemiro’s words, I stood up.
Since things turned out this way, I decided to push Choi Jae Sung a bit more and shoot Shorts for Drop with each member.
Sedalbaekil members sprawled around the dorm, and when Drop’s chorus came on, they would dance with Choi Jae Sung.
In my case, I’d be sitting in the studio working on music, then dance with Choi Jae Sung.
Besides, knowing TT was curious about our dorm, we decided to sneak in various shots for the Shorts.
In my case, since I don’t have any favorite characters or accessories, my room felt a bit bare.
But I didn’t bother adding anything.
Sometimes a natural look is better than a staged one.
“Wow, this is really bad.”
But I guess that was just my opinion.
The members came into my studio connected to my room and said it looked like a lonely old man’s room, bringing over random things from their own rooms.
Especially On Saemiro, who had bought tons of cheap and silly things from his bucket list after receiving the first settlement.
“This is a bit…”
“They’re gifts.”
“Still, it’s…”
“Shion tends to disrespect gifts a little.”
“Me?”
I tilted my head at Koo Tae Hwan’s words.
The only gift I’d gotten from Koo Tae Hwan was a humidifier on my birthday, and I used that well.
It was a sensible gift.
“Well, we don’t have time right now.”
So we started shooting in the room now covered in random decorations the members brought.
Though the video was only 13 seconds long, we retook it several times, doing our best, and were satisfied with the result.
Once Sedalbaekil’s official YouTube channel uploaded Drop’s Shorts, TT flocked in.
At first, they were puzzled by videos shorter than 20 seconds, but found them fun after watching.
And there was a lot to analyze and nitpick.
-Look at how each of them dances differently lol
-Shion always subdivides the beat one more time.
-Seems like Jae Sung and Tae Hwan would’ve made a good combo too.
-Hope they upload the other members covering Drop later.
-This song is everywhere on the streets lately; totally trendy.
-Forget the dance lines, I keep looking at the accessories.
-22222 I’ve thought this for a while, Saemiro’s taste seems so extra.
-But wait, Shion has that same character in his room too?
-Did Saemiro give it to him?
-What the heck. Our kids are getting along so well? Who said Jae Sung and the Masked Gangster are playing mind games? lol
-Clearly staged lol who believes that?
-Who staged it? They don’t even have a company, they make all the decisions themselves.
-LOL so you’re saying they act like they’re close because they’re actually not? hahaha
-LOL
While Sedalbaekil’s fandom focused on the members’ chemistry and personalities, the general public focused on the bigger picture.
-So does this mean On Saemiro and Han Shion will have a unit too?
-Wow. My heart swells. The honor graduate of Mashing with Hip Shion?
-Gonna be insane lol
-Masked Gangster > Choi Jae Sung > ShionSaemiro, huh.
-But that’s kinda unfair lol If Jae Sung had come first, the rankings would’ve flipped.
-They could both come out solo instead of as a unit.
-Two solos?
-Yup yup yup
-But I feel like it’ll be a unit. That “2 + 2 + 1” they keep mentioning seems to mean two, two, and one units.
-!!!!!!!
-That’s it.
-Post it, post it.
-But then what about the second album? Weren’t they preparing Sedalbaekil’s second full album at Self Made?
-True.
Even as the public showed deep curiosity about Sedalbaekil’s moves, both Masked Gangster and Choi Jae Sung’s mini albums kept soaring.
Judging by average track rankings, Masked Gangster was much higher.
Entering week 2, Masked Gangster dropped slightly after Choi Jae Sung appeared, but still had four songs in the Top 10.
Especially If We’re Looking At The Same Place, which stubbornly stayed at second place.
If Drop hadn’t been ridiculously strong due to its trending popularity, it would’ve definitely been first.
-Same with Summer Cream. Sedalbaekil albums always have amazing non-title tracks.
-Yeah, none of the B-sides feel like filler. You could slap a “title” label on any track, and it wouldn’t feel weird.
-Makes you want to buy albums.
-Would love a 2nd album. Will they stop after the units?
–Same Place is my favorite song this year.
-It’s only been a month this year.
-Oh right.
But Choi Jae Sung’s album Stage Side B wasn’t weak either.
Drop was starting to smell like it might bring back retro fashion trends, and three B-sides were in the Top 10 too.
Plus, it was starting to show signs of steady-selling in the EDM scene.
Since electronic music doesn’t get many new releases, one good song can be used for decades.
And Stage Side B’s tracks had very broad versatility.
-Is Han Shion crazy? The expression techniques used in his tracks feel totally timeless.
-Sometimes I wonder if he really learned all this on his own.
-So jealous of his talent.
Current producers and DJs expressed lots of envy in their private chat rooms regarding Han Shion’s talent.
In any case, people applauded both Masked Gangster and Choi Jae Sung’s songs, and also Sedalbaekil as a group.
Even though these were unit releases, everyone saw Side A and Side B as Sedalbaekil songs.
-So what does Side A and Side B actually mean?
-No clue lol
-Not many people talking about it.
-Maybe it’ll be revealed today? Today’s the final episode of Self Made.
That’s right.
Today was the broadcast of Self Made’s final episode: the epilogue.
Little Pink Starfish 
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