On July 1, 2020, ZICO released RANDOM BOX, his third extended play, and the music video for the title track “Summer Hate” featuring K-Pop megastar and heartthrob Rain. The album consists of six tracks and includes the previously-released single “Any song” on the physical version. All tracks featured on RANDOM BOX were written, co-composed, and co-produced by ZICO, and feature elements of genres K-Hip-Hop, K-R&B, and dancehall.

The Music Videos

The music video for “Any song” was released on January 13, 2020, and opens with a group of ZICO’s friends arriving unannounced at his home, with ZICO blearily opening his curtains to see who it is. The scene then cuts to the group sitting at a table, munching on snacks and drinking from red cups, while ZICO sits there rather unamused. The rapper watches as his friends dance and goof around, with more people eventually joining the party, and ZICO continues to just look less and less comfortable with the things going on around him. The lyrics talk about how he no longer has fun, no longer enjoys his everyday life, and how he wants to play any song, dance how he wants, and pretend like nothing else is going on around him, living in the moment for once. Eventually, the rapper dons a pair of headphones as he dances around his home. The more he dances, the less stressed his appearance looks, and as he’s getting into it, a friend taps on his shoulder and they begin to sing to him. However, in the middle of their singing, he leaves his home, running down the streets in his slippers, embracing life. A couple months later, ZICO released a dance practice video for the track. 

The music video for “Summer Hate” is a little bit more colorful, a little more playful, and a lot more bizarre. Opening with a scene of a heatwave in South Korea, complete with a wavy effect over the video to show just how “freaking hot” it is, we’re treated to ZICO sitting on a sofa outside of a bus. It appears that a majority of the video takes place in a junkyard setting, as ZICO and Rain dance around. Even though they complain about the heat, both are seen wearing sweatshirts and suits; granted, Rain’s suit is sans shirt underneath. When they’re not in the junkyard, they’re driving an ice cream truck around or dancing atop the ice cream truck. One fun shot shows the two recreating a TikTok video, starting the #SummerHateChallenge. 

The Performances

ZICO did not appear on any music shows to promote “Any song” or “Summer Hate,” though he did appear on a couple episodes of Yu Huiyeol’s Sketchbook. His performance of “Any song” featured the rapper in a muted outfit topped off with a deep red beret, rapping on stage and enjoying himself. Eventually, a group of dancers joined him, but it’s the genuine joy on ZICO’s face while performing that makes this performance so great. While Rain didn’t join him for his performance of “Summer Hate,” ZICO still showed off his dancing abilities and even sang bits and pieces of the chorus. 

M2 LIVE also shared performances of “Any song” and “Summer Hate,” with this one including Rain. The “Any song” performance continues with the muted color palette seen in the music video and Yu Huiyeol’s Sketchbook performance, with ZICO strutting down hallways and into different rooms. For every room he enters, the brighter the performance starts to get, whether it be by introducing more white-colored items or brighter light fixtures. Once he’s joined by dancers, colorful lights begin to shine on them, and ZICO is finally able to let loose like he’s wanted this entire time.

“Summer Hate” is even more colorful in the M2 LIVE performance than it was in the music video, with multiple RANDOM BOX boxes stacked around the room. The backup dancers sported colorful shirts and pants, with some even in fun tie-dye, while ZICO sported a white outfit and Rain was in all black. A highlight of this performance was when Rain entered the dance area for the first time and ZICO and the dancers all stared at him in awe, reminiscent of the scene in the music video where Rain is standing on a chair and singing while ZICO stared up at him from the ground, wide-eyed and jaw dropped. 

The Legacy

Upon its release, “Any song” achieved all-kill status and was the first track of 2020 to do so. “Any song” debuted at No. 1 on the Gaon Weekly Digital Chart and remained on the chart for over a year, dropping after the thirteenth week of 2021. The track also broke iKON’s record for longest-running number one song on the chart. The song also peaked at No. 1 on the Gaon Weekly Download Chart and the Gaon Weekly Streaming Chart; similarly to the Gaon Weekly Digital Chart, “Any song” lingered on the Gaon Weekly Download Chart until the first week of 2021 and dropped from the Gaon Weekly Streaming Chart after the fifteenth week of 2021. “Any song” wasn’t just a success in Korea though, as the song peaked at No. 1 on the Billboard K-Pop 100 Chart and at No. 4 on the Billboard World Digital Song Sales Chart. The song remained on both Billboard charts for six consecutive weeks.

Despite ZICO not performing “Any song” on any music shows, he still managed to take home 10 music show wins due to the digital success of the track: three from Inkigayo on January 26, February 2, and February 9; three from Music Bank on January 31, February 7, and February 21; and four on Show! Music Core on February 1, February 8, February 15, and February 22. On July 9, 2020, Gaon certified “Any song” as platinum in streaming and listed the track as the most-streamed song in Korea for the first half of 2020.

While “Summer Hate” didn’t experience the same longevity on the charts that “Any song” did, the song still performed very well in Korea and stuck around for over twenty weeks on some charts. “Summer Hate” peaked at No. 2 on the Gaon Weekly Digital Chart, No. 4 on the Gaon Weekly Download Chart, and No. 2 on the Gaon Weekly Streaming Chart.

RANDOM BOX peaked at No. 8 on the Gaon Weekly Album Chart. Not to be left out, two of the remaining four tracks off the album also appeared on the Gaon Weekly Download Chart, with “Love & hate (featuring BIBI)” peaking at No. 53 and “Cartoon” peaking at No. 69. The two tracks that didn’t appear on any charts are “No you can’t” and “Roommate,” which features the opening sound of streaming app Netflix. In 2020, ZICO collaborated with solo artist Kang Daniel on the song “Refresh” for the Pepsi x Starship “2020 Global K-Pop Project,” peaking at No. 7 on the Gaon Weekly Download Chart. He also released “My Day Is Full Of You” with WENDY of Red Velvet, an OST for the K-Drama The King: Eternal Monarch, which peaked at No. 91 on the Gaon Weekly Download Chart.

As mentioned above, Zico took to TikTok to create the #SummerHateChallenge, uploading a video of him and Rain dancing to the track on his account. Idols that also took part in this challenge include Hoshi and Woozi of SEVENTEEN, woo!ah!, and the recently disbanded boy group Seven O’clock. However, it’s the virality of “Any song” that is the most impressive. ZICO created the #AnySongChallenge first, where he uploaded videos of himself dancing alongside Hwasa of MAMAMOO, Chungha, Jang Sungkyu of Knowing Bros fame, MINO of WINNER, and Sandara Park. The popularity of “Any song” on TikTok is undeniable and can still be heard on the app to this day, whether it’s being used in K-Pop fan edits or by users who don’t even know who ZICO is.

At the Gaon Chart Music Awards, ZICO won “Artist of the Year - Digital Music (January)” for “Any song” and “Artist of the Year - Digital Music (July)” for “Summer Hate.” He was nominated for “Best Male Artist,” “Artist of the Year,” and “Worldwide Icon of the Year” at the Mnet Asian Music Awards, but unfortunately did not win. At that same show, “Summer Hate” was nominated for “Best Collaboration” and “Song of the Year,” a nomination the track shared with “Any song.” While neither song ended up taking that award, “Any song” did win “Best Hip-Hop & Urban Music”

“Any song” won “Song of the Year - Daesang” and “Best Rap/Hip-Hop” at the Genie Music Awards. As for the Golden Disc Awards, ZICO was nominated for “Curaprox Popularity Award” and “QQ Music Popularity Award,” while “Any song” was nominated for “Digital Daesang,” “Digital Bonsang,” and “Trend of the Year.” The track won the last two awards. It was also nominated for “Song of the Year” and “Best Pop Song” but did not win.

ZICO’s first win for his artistry came at the MelOn Music Awards, where he was nominated for “Artist of the Year,” “Hot Trend Award,” and “Top 10 Artist,” with the rapper taking home the last award. During that same show, “Any song” was nominated for “Song of the Year” and “Rap/Hip-Hop” but did not win. At the Seoul Music Awards, ZICO was nominated for “Popularity Award” and “Hallyu Special Award,” and “Any song” was nominated for “Bonsang Award” and “R&B/Hip-Hop Award.”

Unfortunately, it will be a while until we get new music from the Block B leader as he is currently serving his mandatory military enlistment. We here at The Kraze wish ZICO the best and patiently await his return to the K-Hip-Hop scene.