Leaving Legacies: ENHYPEN Talk About Their Spotify Single Cover of BTS’ ‘I NEED U’

In 2015, a two-year old group named BTS released a sentimental track as the lead single of their third EP The Most Beautiful Moment in Life, Part 1. The electronic pop ballad marked the start of a new sonic direction for the group, combining trap beats with emotive vocal hooks to communicate the desperation of a young relationship on its last legs.

The song won first place on South Korea’s The Show, earning the group their first ever trophy at a music show — a highly coveted achievement for any rookie group — and is credited for altering the trajectory of BTS’ career for the better.  

The clip of BTS accepting the award on stage is memorable for fans as it shows a vulnerable moment: J-Hope, Suga, Jungkook, and V silently tearing up in the background as a surprised RM accepts the trophy alongside Jin and Jimin. For the members, it was one of their most emotional victories as a team — they’ve even spoken fondly of that day and the song’s impact. For critics, the release of I NEED U marked a turning point in BTS’ career, in this way becoming one of the many sparks that ignited the flame of K-pop and its spread throughout the world. 

Fast forward to nine years later at a soundstage in Gimpo, South Korea where Jungwon, Heeseung, Jay, Jake, Sunghoon, Sunoo, and Ni-ki of the boy group ENHYPEN are running through the song’s intro. The fourth generation group has taken up the challenge to cover I NEED U as part of Spotify’s K-Pop ON! (온) First Crush campaign, and I visited the set to see them perform a vocal snippet firsthand.

Spotify’s K-Pop ON! (온, formerly K-pop Daebak) playlist turns 10 this year, and ENHYPEN’s cover is the first in a series commemorating this milestone. According to Jungjoo Park, Spotify’s Head of Music Korea, the playlist was “created to give listeners a platform to discover and tune in to the best from the genre.” “Every placement on the playlist is driven by a combination of machine learning and human expertise: in addition to tapping into the cultural knowledge, passion and expertise of our editorial team, a variety of data insights we gather from Spotify’s audience also guide the curation process,” she says. 

K-pop has come such a long way since the playlist first launched in 2014, breaking boundaries in music, inspiring social movements, and generally just bringing joy to people from all over the world. On Spotify, K-Pop streams have increased by 423% in Southeast Asia, and 343% in the Philippines since 2018. Park adds that countries from outside the region like the US, India, and Germany are now making it to the K-Pop ON! playlist’s top 10 markets, reflecting “a global appetite for K-Pop and is a testament to how the genre, which was once mostly enjoyed regionally, has scaled beyond regional boundaries, languages, and cultures.”  

Through the First Crush campaign, ENHYPEN, SHOWNU X HYUNGWON (of MONSTA X), and STAYC will be reliving the moments that ignited their own love affairs with the genre, covering songs by the industry sunbaes (elders) that they call their K-pop 첫 사랑 (cheot sarang, or first crush). “There’s no denying how talented ENHYPEN, SHOWNU X HYUNGWON (of MONSTA X), and STAYC are — they’ve been making waves and winning fans over from across the globe, so we’re thrilled to be working with them,” says Park.

Just as the original song tapped into the BTS members' strengths as vocalists and rappers, so too does ENHYPEN’s rendition. The cover comes at a time when ENHYPEN themselves have earned their flowers in the industry. On the day of the shoot last January, the members came fresh from an awards show where they took home a bonsang (major award) for Best Album (their third in a row for that category, and seventh bonsang overall since debut), and in a few days time were to set off on the Asia leg of their second world tour. 

Already the K-pop first crush of many an ENGENE around the world, the members hope one day to become artists whose music brings happy memories of the past — to essentially do what BTS did for them and many others. 

During a roundtable interview with members of the media after the shoot, I got to ask the seven ENHYPEN members about the making of their I NEED U cover, their K-pop first crushes, and the legacy they want to leave behind. 

Tell us about your cover of I NEED U by BTS.

Jungwon: We covered BTS sunbaenim's song. This was the first time for producer [and HYBE chairperson] Bang Si-Hyuk to approve this creation of the rendition, and he participated in the process as well so it was a great honor for us to have him on board. This is definitely different from our regular songs so please look forward to it.

What elements of the song did you keep, and how have you injected your own flavor to the song? 

Heeseung: As Jungwon said, we all have different voices and different ways of expressing ourselves but what we try to maintain is the feeling of the original and the flow of the lyrics as well. This is our new interpretation, so we've got our own groove. In terms of the sound, we've got our own color, but once again the feeling remains the same. 

Do you have any fun TMIs to share about your cover? How did you decide on the line distribution? Did any members want to sing specific lines? 

Jake: Well, what we usually do when we record a song is we would go in one by one, sing the whole song, and the producer would sort of choose what lines would fit each member. I think I was second to the last but when I got in to record to sing the whole thing, the producer already told me that the second verse, sort of the singing-rap verse is gonna be Ni-Ki's so I didn't even get to sing that part. We sing the whole song and see who sings it the best and then we just sort of distribute the lines.

Can some of the members share the first time they listened to or watched a BTS song or performance? 

Jungwon: My first memory of BTS goes back to the DOPE music video. In Korea, there's a TV channel that plays music videos in the morning, and one day, before heading to school, I came across this music video. The members were dressed in various outfits, from doctors to policemen, and that one-take shot in the video really stuck with me.

Sunghoon: For me, I heard FIRE for the first time at the ice rink. SUGA starts off the song by saying "bultaoreune" ("It's burning up here") and that part left a lasting impact on me.

How would you like ENHYPEN to be perceived and remembered by your fans?  

Heeseung: I feel like the memories of my idols are intertwined with my childhood recollections. Certain songs have the power to transport me back to particular moments from the past. Similarly, my goal is to become an artist whose music can take ENGENEs back to their own pasts and make them happy whenever they listen to our songs in the future. This entire journey means that we're growing old together, and that's how I hope ENHYPEN will be remembered.

Can each member recommend a K-pop song that you want people to listen to? 

Ni-ki: J-Hope sunbaenim's More.

Heeseung: Reflection by BTS.

Jake: There are so many good options but I'll have to choose Magic Shop by BTS. 

Sunghoon: Go Go by BTS. I like the song.

Jungwon: Dimple by BTS. 

Sunoo: DNA by BTS.

Jay: For me, I recommend We are Bulletproof Pt. 2 by BTS.