SEVENTEEN’s Early B-Sides

SEVENTEEN has been making waves in the K-Pop scene since their debut in 2015 with “Adore U,” putting out quality albums ever since. With their confirmed appearance at this year’s KCON LA, we thought we’d take a look back at their best early releases.

Shining Diamond

“Shining Diamond” is a favorite of Carats and is also a popular performance for the group during concerts and music shows. As expected from SEVENTEEN, intricate and eye-catching choreography complements the fresh beat. “Shining Diamond” is the first track off of debut mini-album 17 Carat, and continues to be popular to this day.

Jam Jam

If you’re looking for a bouncier, EDM-influenced track, SEVENTEEN’s performance unit (Jun, Hoshi, The8, Dino, and additionally featuring Vernon) is here to deliver with “Jam Jam.” While the beat is rather eccentric, it has a different kind of catchiness to it than the other tracks on 17 Carat.

Rock

“Rock” was given to us on the second mini-album and first comeback of Boys Be. The contrast between hard-hitting verses from the hip-hop unit (S.Coups, Wonwoo, Mingyu, and Vernon) against gorgeously delivered singing verses from the vocal unit (Jeonghan, Joshua, Woozi, DK, and Seungkwan) make this song unique. The repetition in the chorus is almost guaranteed to get stuck in your head after just one listen.

OMG

My affinity for songs that can be classified as bangers should have become apparent at this point, and it seems that the performance unit loves to deliver these guilty pleasures to me. Much like “Jam Jam” from the previous album, “OMG” goes off immediately, but has a catchier beat. Fierce rap verses from maknae Dino are contrasted by whispered verses from Jun, which provide quite a pleasing mix.

만세 (Hip-Hop Team Ver.)

I will neither confirm nor deny my obvious bias toward rappers with the selection of this track. I’m very fond of the original version of “Mansae,” so my initial impression was that I wouldn’t be fond of a remix. However, the hip-hop team added in a fresh, jazzy, piano-heavy track to the song that complements their smooth rapping and gives the usually poppy and upbeat song a makeover into a more chill, jazz club feel. K-Pop songs do not often venture to this realm, so the change-up is quite refreshing.