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On March 17, 2020, news outlets reported that Kang Daniel would collaborate with ZICO for Starship and Pepsi’s 2020 Global K-Pop Project titled For the Love of Korea. The digital music was in the final production stages. Starship and Pepsi’s joint project began in 2019 and features different artists launching digital music (click here for more information).^[s] The song “Refresh” is co-produced by Steve Aoki and ZICO and expresses the beauty of Korea. The upbeat melody is meshed with traditional instruments.^[s]

In the making film, rapper ZICO commented they tried to style the song with various traditional symbols and sounds to bring an atmosphere where Korea is represented. ZICO also shared his happiness for being able to work with Kang Daniel again since the last time they had work together was two years ago for Wanna One’s unit song “Kangaroo” from the album 1÷x=1 (Undivided). Meanwhile, Kang Daniel expressed he felt honored to have the opportunity to work with an artist he respects and be able to do an amazing project with him.

PROMOTIONAL ACTIVITIES

The single was not performed live on music shows. Daniel and ZICO teased the collaboration on their social media leading up to the release. TikTok Korea arranged a live broadcast on March 25, the day they had the concept photo shoot. In Daniel’s April 8 V LIVE, he talked about the song having a good beat and lyrics and showed the limited edition Korean culture Pepsi can and merchandise. Daniel posted a screen capture from the music video on Instagram on April 10, 10 days before the music teaser was uploaded. ZICO released two vlogs from the day they filmed the music video. The music video producer teased that there would be a TVC.

MUSIC VIDEO

The music video highlighted different aspects of traditional and modern Korean culture. It opened showing a hanok (traditional Korean house) as the setting with Daniel and ZICO dressed in hanbok and blue suits with traditional flourishes. Korean paintings used in the backdrop were reminiscent of the Ten Symbols of Longevity (십장생도) artwork from the Joseon era. The video showed the percussion quartet samulnori with four traditional Korean music instruments. Bukcheong sajanoreum, a traditional game in which the lion is used to ward off evil spirits, was featured with the lion costume. There were glimpses of modernization through the incorporation of b-boying and a boom box. Daniel and ZICO’s freestyle had movements reminiscent of traditional dances.^{[s] [s]}

 ^{Source: Genius (2)} 

As part of UNIVERSE MUSIC’s monthly music project, Kang Daniel was revealed as May’s artist on May 6. He and Loco are featured in a digital single titled “Outerspace”. It’s a retro synth-pop genre with a bouncy base synth and bell sound. Daniel’s soft vocals were paired with Loco’s unique and sophisticated rap. The music video was directed by Lee In-hoon of SEGAJI VIDEO and showcases Daniel as a special agent.^{[s] [s] [s]} The full music video is on the UNIVERSE app. KONNECT later posted a dance practice filmed on-site at the UNIVERSE fan party stage.

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On June 15, 2020, KONNECT Entertainment confirmed reports that Daniel would be participating in the OST for SBS’s Friday-Saturday drama Backstreet Rookie. KONNECT added they were still in the process of finalizing details such as a release date and asked for people’s patience and understanding.^[soompi] The drama would release 1 to 2 songs every week starting with Daniel’s song at 6PM on June 19.^[s]

“Something” is a ballad with a calm and sweet melody, aiming to catch viewers’ ears with a deeper sensitivity and mellow voice. The lyrics express the cautious and flustered feelings associated with falling in love for the first time. Daniel commented, “I’m very happy and nervous to participate in the first OST. It’s an honor to take on this new challenge as an artist.”^[s]

Backstreet Rookie‘s webtoon author Park Kyungmin (박경민) posted that he and his mother were proud Daniel was joining the OST lineup.^{[s] [s]} A writer of “Something” posted that this is her first song and praised Daniel for singing so well despite the long recording hours.^{[s] [s]}

 ^{Source: Genius (2)} 

Prior to the song release date, the three artists had an interview with Bandwagon Asia, where they talked about the song making process. inverness worked on the project for two years. Daniel said, “This record came together with just trying to do something fun and trying to bring people together, whether that be different regions or genres.” He added, “It’s been great because we already had a great relationship, and our teams had been discussing the right opportunity to collaborate. It was a very smooth process because of it and didn’t really feel foreign or new at all.”^[s]

In media articles posted on the 15th, Daniel added, “I love EDM and we’ve always talked about doing a collaboration, so working on this song was very natural. I feel proud to contribute to the strength of this song.”^{[s] [s]}

Inverness said there was no single genre, and the song had a dance element in addition to orchestra/pop/K-pop/hip-hop influences. It was only a couple months ago since the release date when Daniel heard the song and wanted to hop on it. The final vocals were completed almost a year ago. inverness complimented Daniel’s part as “a nice switch-up with his warmer and sweeter take.”

Pink Slip had a music video made by Jordan Wozy before and recommended him to inverness. The music video has inverness as a mad scientist-type who helps his love-struck friend enter a dream state to relive his past memories. Russo commented, “As you all know, there is a danger when traveling in time: changing the past will affect the future as well.” Daniel filmed his part in front of a green screen.^[s]

Inverness and Russo praised Daniel and his staff’s professionalism. inverness said, “Kang Daniel wrote and sang perfectly in Korean and English according to the song’s theme.” Russo quipped, “Kang Daniel and his staff worked seriously and made everything fast with high quality. It was a pleasure to work with him, and I love his voice!” Daniel added, “I’ve been working with inverness and Anthony Russo for the past year, so it was very comfortable working with them. We have been working on collaborations as well as my album, so I feel like we’re a family now. I am so happy to be able to work together and hope we will continue to work on a lot together, Bro!”^{[s] [s] [s]}

 ^{Source: inevan (2)} 

On August 18, fans discovered through an Apple Music album preview that Daniel would be featuring in “Hush Hush”, the 6th track from MIYAVI’s 13th studio album Imaginary released on September 15. The album was originally planned shortly after his April 2020 album Holy Nights, but he postponed to 2021 due to recent pandemic developments and because the content he wished to express changed. Special Kollection virtual items inspired by the collaboration’s music video would be launched.^[s] An audio teaser was shared on September 13.^[s]

Daniel revealed in his August 29 V LIVE that MIYAVI reached out to Daniel when he was shooting the “Antidote” music video with two proposed collaboration songs. Daniel liked both but picked the track he thought he could do better in and recorded the song in June.^[s] MIYAVI said in a Spice and MeMeOn interviews he felt Daniel was now establishing his style as an artist and trying to be mature. Daniel’s staff also knew of MIYAVI and listened to him for a long time, so the collaboration proceeded quickly. MIYAVI said he met Daniel through the staff and thinks Daniel is a very popular artist who is serious and straightforward too. He felt that there are many discoveries for him and Daniel through this song.^{[s] [s]}

In a September 1 OKMUsic interview, MIYAVI said many genres make up his style and that Kang Daniel contributed with wonderful singing.^[s] In a September 14 ananWEB interview, MIYAVI shared that the collaboration was produced remotely due to COVID-19. Even if they hadn’t met, it was fate that they were able to connect and complete it. Daniel helped express things that MIYAVI couldn’t express by himself alone and expanded the world view of the song, so MIYAVI was very happy.^[s] A Natalie interviewer remarked “Hush Hush” has a slightly boy band-like taste that is rare for MIYAVI. MIYAVI said he sang about the contradiction between freedom and restraint and the anger in there. Daniel’s neutral voice and MIYAVI’s voice are mixed to create a mysterious sense of detune.^[s]

Daniel told Barks, “It was an honor to work with MIYAVI on “Hush Hush”. The song was very meaningful to work on because it represents those without a voice. MIYAVI is a legend in his craft and such a visionary artist. The entire creative process was inspiring and, truly, a dream come true.”^[s]