Main vocalist Donghun didn’t miss a beat, calmly pointing out YG’s own boy group, WINNER, had worn similar shorts for their own promotions, leaving the CEO speechless. During Donghun, Byeongkwan and Wow’s audition for Mix Nine, YG Entertainment’s CEO Yang Hyun-Suk made a snide remark about A.C.E’s eye-catching short shorts during performances of their debut single, 'Cactus'.
And because of those factors I think a lot of people forget who they are or what they like.”Ĭompetition, and maintaining one’s identity in the thick of it, is nothing new to A.C.E who took part in the parallel-running survival shows Mix Nine and The Unit, designed to raise the profiles of lesser known groups at the time (Chan won a place in The Unit’s temporary group UNB and was absent from A.C.E’s 2018 promotions). “A lot of people press forward because of their dream or because they’re being pulled along by someone or even because of competition. He’s known for a physical, sometimes surreal, wit and elastic, spontaneous expressions but, equally, he takes his leader role seriously, dwelling on his replies. “There’s one message that we wanted to convey the most – don’t lose yourself no matter what happens,” says group leader, 26 year old Jun. “Whatever you do, do it your way, don’t blame anyone / Be your style, your color, be one of a kind” raps Wow on “Goblin (Favorite Boys)”, a towering, muscular slab of pop-rock. Byeongkwan considers their affinity for tales to be a natural, effective fit for their song’s messages and “the good thing is that everyone knows the stories so it was easy to tell the story in a modern way.” The video teaser – simply entitled 'Opening Video' – features dark fairy tale staples like spells, thorns, fruit and blood. The EP’s title riffs off the Chinese fable, ‘The Butterfly Dream’, its opener is entitled 'Golden Goose' after the Aesop tale, and the lead single – “Goblin (Favorite Boys)” – bases itself around the playful, golden bat-waving goblins in Korean mythology. The bittersweet irony isn’t just that there are more eyes on A.C.E than ever before, but that this is some of their finest work, from the exquisite teaser images shot in water tanks to live performances so uncompromising they deserved an audience present to leave breathless.
#ACE KPOP CACTUS ALBUM TV#
There’s also an understandable frustration: due to Covid-19 restrictions, for the past five weeks A.C.E have been performing to TV crews in empty studios as they promote ‘HZJM: The Butterfly Phantasy’, their first record in eleven months, which is a substantial period in K-Pop. “Under Cover” showed the group going back to the darker type of concept, but this time with a rock influenced track to match rather than the EDM influences in debut “Cactus.” By this point it was safe to say that A.C.E had built a very strong and loyal fan base, and “Under Cover” helped them expand their reach within the K-Pop community.So finding ways to be with their fans, whether through writing album tracks dedicated to them, video call events or digital concerts, aren’t just sweet gestures or business acumen, they’re lifelines. The new concept achieved with “Under Cover” proved to be a smart move, as it brought 10,000 more sales to the album than their previous release. It wasn’t until a year later that A.C.E had another comeback, this time with Chan returning to the lineup after UNB activities concluded. The cute concept and traditional pop sound are a tried-and-true formula, and a concept A.C.E did quite well, but it didn’t garner the group much more attention. The song also went in a different direction from the first two singles, showcasing more of a traditional pop sound. “Take Me Higher” showed a new side to the boys, placing a more playful and youth-filled image in the music video. The next release came in June of 2018 with title track “Take Me Higher” supporting the first repackage album A.C.E Adventures in Wonderland. Chan made it into the top nine to debut with UNB, and if MIXNINE had not chosen to cancel, Donghun and Byeongkwan would have debuted with that final group.
While Chan and Jun went to participate in The Unit, Donghun, Byungkwan, and Wow headed to MIXNINE. Part of that may have been due to a shorter promotional period, with the members dispersing to participate in MIXNINE and The Unit. The first comeback single “Callin’” dropped in October, but was not particularly successful and is overlooked even to this day, with the music video sitting at 3.8 million views while “Cactus” has 7.8 and more recent comebacks tend to get well over 10 million views.
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