BOYNEXTDOOR “Serenade” Listeners with Debut Single Album

The long-awaited debut of KOZ Entertainment’s first boy group is finally here! BOYNEXTDOOR, a six-member group, released their first single album on May 30, 2023, along with the music video for the track “Serenade.” Leading up to its release, music videos for “돌아버리겠다 (But I Like You)” and “One and Only” were released. The music videos were released in order of how they appear on WHO!’s tracklist, and each gets cuter along the way. The track “One and Only” was written and produced by Pop Time and KOZ Entertainment founder (and K-Rap God) ZICO, while tracks “돌아버리겠다 (But I Like You)” and “Serenade” feature writing credits from BOYNEXTDOOR members Jaehyun, Taesan, and Woonhak.

The music video for “돌아버리겠다 (But I Like You)” was released eight days before WHO! and is a perfect pairing for the song. The track is your standard syrupy-sweet pop song about falling for a girl and all the emotions that come with that: the craziness of young love, the envy of possible love rivals, and the calm moments of pining in between. The music video follows the members of BOYNEXTDOOR dancing around town, studying love, and confiding in each other about their crushes and feelings before spotting the girl of their affection at a party and realizing it is the same person. After this realization, the boys decide to party with just the six of them and soon leave.

Three days later, the music video for “One and Only” was released. “One and Only” is a little less pop and a little more hip-hop inclined, with the ZICO-classic, “KOZ,” mention even coming into play at the very beginning. The bridge chills the song out a bit, reminiscent of a pop-R&B hybrid, but “One and Only” never really picks up the tempo. The music video features BOYNEXTDOOR walking around town, visiting shops and the mall, and dancing in open areas and down the sidewalks. The song and music video aren’t as infectious as their predecessors, but they’re still enjoyable.

The final track on WHO!, “Serenade,” its music video was released the same day as the single album. “Serenade” opens with a soft acoustic guitar before dropping it for a fun upbeat pop sound, a nice change from the slight monotony of “One and Only” but still not quite as fun as the opening track. The topic of the track is also very similar to “돌아버리겠다 (But I Like You),” though their feelings have escalated from just simple like to love.

While not my favorite debut thus far in 2023, BOYNEXTDOOR is a very talented group, and it will be interesting to see where they go next. With ZICO at the helm, I’m curious to see if their sound ever takes on a bit more hip-hop or if they’ll stick to pop in the future. Anything is possible in K-Pop, and no sounds are off limits, so with the stage set thanks to their debut single album WHO!, BOYNEXTDOOR can truly go anywhere.

Edited by Asia Moore