It’s cold on set, and some of ENHYPEN’s members are warming up in between takes standing next to giant space heaters, hot packs in their pockets. Others are roaming around the set. Some are eating hamburgers.
The seven K-pop idols – Heeseung, Jay, Jake, Sunghoon, Sunoo, Jungwon, Ni-ki – have been on-set for much of the day, filming a performance video for their take on an iconic song that’s helped shape their career for the Spotify K-Pop ON! Singles cover series. ENHYPEN have the first of three upcoming releases: a rearranged cover of BTS’ 2015 masterpiece, ‘I Need U,’ the single largely considered the now-iconic boyband’s first major hit.
“We decided to remake ‘I Need U’ for three reasons,” ENHYPEN’s leader Jungwon tells NME. “It was meaningful because it was the beginning of BTS’ ‘Most Beautiful Moment in Life’ album series, and because some of us performed this particular piece during [ENHYPEN’s formative competition show] I-LAND. We also all listened to this song all the time.”
ENHYPEN made their debut in 2020, but since then have rapidly grown to become one of the biggest players in the K-pop scene, releasing innovative music and selling out tours across the world. Their music, often inspired by their connective, symbolic name, has explored different themes that shape life, especially the idea of fate shaping paths. They’ve also frequently incorporated nods to vampirism, most notably with last year’s seductive ‘Bite Me’.
Sonically, there’s often a sense of impassioned restraint to many of their singles, with a sense of burning desire driving the push-and-pull of their sleek dance tracks. But they’re just as comfortable getting rowdily aggressive, such as of 2022’s ‘Future Perfect (Pass the Mic)’, or sweet and lovelorn, like 2021’s viral hit ‘Polaroid Love’. It’s this dynamic that has made them a fan favourite, and built up their fandom, ENGENE, and why 2023 was their biggest year so far.
This all made ENHYPEN a perfect fit last year for NME’s artist discovery and highlight series, The Cover. “It was such an amazing year for us,” reflects Jake, the group’s resident Aussie, after their day of recording. Yet, 2024 is shaping up to be an even bigger year for them, with their first release being their soulful take on ‘I Need U’.
“I feel like this is something we really haven’t performed a lot, so I feel like it’s going to be something new for our fans to enjoy” – Jake
“I think we’re starting off this year really well,” he adds. “We went to Indonesia for the first time [for the 2024 Golden Disc Awards], and we got a lot of plans. So it’s going to be a year where we can meet a lot of ENGENEs and be able to perform for them a lot throughout the whole world. Overall, we’re very excited and I feel like 2024 is going to be an active year.”
Destiny has been a recurring theme throughout ENHYPEN’s discography and career, and last year they brought that on tour, literally, with their ‘Fate’ world tour. “From the very beginning, right after our debut [in 2020], we didn’t really have a lot of chances to perform overseas, so it was really meaningful to spend last year touring,” says youngest member Ni-Ki.
They’ll continue the tour this year, with their 2024 ‘Fate Plus’ encore world tour. As fans wait with bated breath on what exciting surprises their encore concerts could bring, one wish we have is that they’ll share their spin on ‘I Need U’, a song that reflects their earliest musical love, one that inspired the members of ENHYPEN to pursue the K-pop path.
“I was much younger when I listened to this song for the first time, as you can imagine,” says the group’s eldest, Heeseung, currently 22. “My older brother, when he was preparing to go to school, he put this song on. I sort of woke up to this song every morning, so I grew up to be fond of this song.”
ENHYPEN’s Spotify Single version of ‘I Need U’ isn’t just a straightforward remake: “It’s the first time ever for our producer, Chairman Bang” – BTS’ executive producer and HYBE chairman Bang Si-hyuk – “to sort of remake a BTS song,” shares Jake. “We’re very honoured that we’re able to take part in that. It’s BTS’ song so I feel like that has extra meaning to it because we all grew up looking [up to] them.”
While keeping the original as a framework, the ENHYPEN rendition has a different, acoustic ambiance with nods to afrobeats, taking the drama of ‘I Need U’ to a more mellow, rhythmic place than BTS’ original dance-focused version and bringing some softer elements to the forefront. “We usually work on really powerful pieces, which is why [this is] sort of a different style,” reflects Sunghoon. “I think this is going to be an opportunity for our fans to see our new side, and since this is a song that everybody knows and a lot of people love, I really want people to focus on what kind of spin we put on it.”
“I feel like this is something we really haven’t performed a lot, so I feel like it’s going to be something new for our fans to enjoy,” continues Jake. “The song itself is very good, and it’s very melodic. It’s very easy listening.”
“With this particular cover we will be able to showcase how much growth we have made” – Sunghoon
Easy listening isn’t typically ENHYPEN’s brand when it comes to the majority of their singles, which made ‘I Need U’ an engaging new challenge for them, especially Sunoo who for the first time was in charge of a high-pitched bridge part. “I was concerned about it, but practiced a lot,” he admits. “During the process of creating our own rendition, it is obviously meant to be different from the original piece, so we worked hard to make sure that we put our own spin on it. I tried really hard to put my own personal style into it as well.”
“This is really special because, like we’ve been saying, it’s a different style for us, a different genre, and also lyrics are very different from our regular songs,” adds Heeseung. “I think that our fans will be refreshed by this piece. And I personally think we did a really good job while making this rendition. I think our ENGENEs will love it.
As ENHYPEN develop and grow, they are so focused on making their music something they truly own to the degree that Heeseung says he has a hard time imagining any other artists remaking their songs in the future. “But if it were to happen… I’d want them to cover our debut song ‘Given-Taken’ because we put in a lot of effort and it was challenging as well,” he says
”We embarked on our journey with that particular song, so that’s going to be meaningful. And if that happens, we’ll sort of sit back and think, ‘Oh, we have reached a certain position in this industry’,” Heesung muses. Ni-Ki, however, thinks something more recent: “‘Bite Me’, because I think that’s our quintessential song that shows our style so well, and it’d be interesting to see younger artists put their own spin on that.”
ENHYPEN says they’ve grown and learned a lot since their earlier days, but they themselves feel they haven’t changed too much as individuals ever since becoming celebrities, putting their earnestness forward ever since they first became known to the public through I-LAND back in 2020. “Time matters, it means something,” declares Sunghoon.
“We have grown a lot as artists and we have accumulated experience in this industry, and also we have done a lot of performances,” he adds. “We have accumulated memories and made memories with ENGENEs as well. And we’ve learned a lot and I think we have grown to become more professional as well. I suppose with this particular cover we will be able to showcase how much growth we have made.”
ENHYPEN’s remake of BTS’ ‘I Need U’ is available to stream now on Spotify’s K-Pop ON! (온) playlist.