From 2007's 'Tell Me' to 2020's 'Any Song' to 'First Snow'

Dance challenge was successful thanks to the combination of short videos and speed up music

Source: Dance Challenge screenshot

‘Dance challenge’ has become a staple of K-pop. It has not only become an indispensable means to promote new songs, but also breathe new life into songs that have been buried for a long time. There are also many cases where a speed up version will be released separately, more suitable for this challenge. What is 'Dance challenge' that is so popular? I have directly experienced and heard stories about this challenge. <Editor's thoughts>

[The Fact | Reporter Jeong Byeong Geun] In the 2000s, UCC was very popular and very groundbreaking at the time, UCC stands for user-generated content. One of the things that represents that era is the hit song “Tell me” released by Wonder Girls in 2007. In the early days of the YouTube video platform, many people, from teenagers to people of 50, 60, regardless of career, gender or age, they all record videos of themselves dancing to 'Tell me', sometimes alone, sometimes together, and release them online. At that time, this was really a 'fever'.

In the 2010s, when high-performance smartphones became popular and video editing became relatively common, the concept of UCC almost disappeared. With the rise of YouTube, an era began where everyone could film, edit, and upload videos. On the other hand, in the music industry, as idol groups' choreography becomes more difficult, imitating them also becomes more difficult, and phenomena like 'Tell me' are also difficult to find.

And at the beginning of 2020, an incredible 'event' happened. In January of that year, Zico gave a 'dance challlene' when releasing the song 'Any Song', which garnered explosive reactions. 'Any Song' became a super hit thanks to the dance challenge craze. And from there, "Dance Challenge" began to spread throughout K-pop. As video production became simpler and short videos became trendy, the 'Dance Challenge' became more popular, and now, four years after the release of 'Any Song', the ddance challenge has become an important part of K-pop. That's how the 'Tell me' craze, the origin of 'Dance Challenge' developed.

Source: JYP, KOZ Entertainment

Dance Challenge is divided into two main categories. The first is the case where a singer brings out a new song and creates a challenge, filming and posting a video with other artists, and from there the public will also post a video of themselves dancing using a song. sing similarly. Although the choreography of idol groups is still very difficult, the inclusion of "Choreography specifically for challenges" has also become popular.

The most recent successful case of 'Dance Challenge' is the song 'First Snow' in the winter special album released in December 2013. The song 'First Snow' used to be the 5th track and was not the title song at that time but took the number 1 position for 9 days from December 19 on Melon, which has the largest number of users in the world. Korea. Thanks to 'Dance Challenge', this also became the beginning of the 'Comeback' for the song. EXO did not start the challenge of promoting the song 10 years ago. Only at the end of November last year, Hwang Se Hoon - the leader of the 7-member dance group - quickly performed the song 'First Snow' with the choreography he created.

At that time, Hwang Se Hoon uploaded a video to the Short Form platform TikTok and added the text: "Does anyone want to challenge the first snow of the season 'First Snow'?". After that, not only the public but also many other international music groups such as Stray Kids, Aespa, Ive and Zero Base One. There are 300 million posts with the hashtag 'First Snow Challenge'. This is not a promotional purpose like the UCC syndrome 17 years ago, but an exception that started for the public to enjoy and then became a fever. This is also an example of the influence and spread of 'Dance Challenge'.

Source: SM Ent

Hwang Se Hoon, who started the First Snow challenge, posted on The Fact: "I like songs from the 2010s so I listen to them a lot every day. 'First Snow' is also a song that I listen to a lot." I was wondering if there was anything I could do to create a dance challenge that would bring a winter feeling, so I immediately thought of the song 'First Snow'. I tried to create an interesting atmosphere with a sense of winter. warm emotions. My friend and I started running, arm in arm, leaving the field and trying to film happily. The song was also speeded up to create a cuter and more interesting feeling."

This video was filmed with the intention of enjoying it together in a fun and simple way, but coincidentally it was the most famous dance challenge recently. Hwang Se Hoon shared: "There are so many challenges like that these days, so I think this challenge of mine will easily be overlooked. I didn't think there would be so many famous singers participating." . He shared, "My SNS followers have increased a lot, especially EXO fans are also very interested."

The indispensable thing here is Speed up. Hwang Se Hoon speeded up the song and performed the first snow challenge. As short videos become popular, not only domestically but also abroad, speed up versions of the original are often very popular. The internationally popular "Cupid" has begun to be known as a speed up version on TikTok. Speed up versions are often used as background music for dance challenges.

Speed up has also created a new phenomenon. The name "Na Moon Hee's First Love" was popular last year after a TikTokker quickly used the 2004 song 'Banana Shake' by the band Humming Urban Stereo as background music. After that, New Jeans performed the song 'Tell Me' on the music scene at the end of 2023 and this video was added to the speed up version of Banana Shake, "Na Moon Hee's First Love Challenge" has begun and attract attention.

  Source: Screenshot of SBS broadcast

After that, the corresponding digital music distributor Warner Music Korea officially released the Speed up version of Banana Shake in March 2018. The Speed Up version was a huge success. In particular, the world's top star Kylie Jenner posted a video on TikTok and reached its peak using the speed up version of Banana Shake as background music. The popularity of speed up versions also affected the original.

At that time, the person in charge of Warner Music Korea, who quickly discussed with Humming Van Steere and distributed the Speed up version of "Banana Shake", said: "At that time, there were also occasional cases release the speed up version to promote abroad, but this case is very rare. Because the Speed Up version is used as a source of content rather than for enjoyment, but unintentionally thanks to that, the song has also climbed. entered the Spotify chart and received quite a good response. The original song was also released along with it, and this has brought positive effects in that regard."

Songs with speed up format are no longer strange anymore. Just 3 days after releasing the 3D single in September 2023, Jungkook (BTS) announced a remix series, including the Sped Up version. Le Sserafim added the Speed Up version after the release of Perfect Night in October 2023. Aespa released "Drama" and "Jingle Bell Rock" in November 2023, and also released the song Speed Up version in December. Dynamic Duo announced the song AEAO released in 2014 with the speed version uploaded last August.

Dance Challenge and Speed Up provide new waves that are being performed abroad, but are especially popular in Korea and have become a new trend of Kpop. <To be continued>