“I have to admit. While some of the lyrics don’t make sense, they are fun to sing out,” said Key, one of the four members of the K-pop band SHINee. It is true, that is what a typical K-pop song used to be. And in this case, Key was talking about one of Shinee’s bop tracks released in 2010, Lucifer, which even made its way to the popular American show Lucifer when the protagonist was fighting off some Asian villains. Of course, now we have the awakening of Hollywood with movies like Crazy Rich Asians, Minari, Shang Chi and the legend of Ten Rings.
Before BTS attained world domination with its relatable lyrics and subtle references to teenagers/young adults’ struggles, we had Shinee, 2 PM, Girls Generation, 2NE1, Super Junior, and BigBang. Some of their hit songs will lyrically not make much sense to you, but they promise to get you grooving. It is an amalgamation of rap, impressive vocals, dance moves, visual aesthetics, emotions, and just pure bop beats that come together and form this sublime music.
If I have to introduce Shinee or any K-pop idol to anyone I would show them the video when Choi Minho, upstaged former first lady of the United States, Melania Trump during her visit to South Korea.
I came to know about Shinee in December 2017 when one of their vocalists, Jonghyun died by suicide. At the time I did not realize how big the news was, considering the global fandom of Shinee, to which I was oblivious. Jonghyun was battling depression and although the glamour, the glitz, and his own training as a K-pop idol may have hidden it well, the singer succumbed to the pressure at the age of 27. In his last note, which was shared by Jonghyun’s friend Jang Hee-Yeon, aka Nine9, of the K-pop band Dear Cloud, the singer wrote, “I’m broken from the inside. The depression that has slowly eaten away at me has finally consumed me, and I couldn’t beat it.”
Footage of Jonghyun’s funeral showed the other four members of Shinee: Onew, Key, Minho, and Taemin, shattered as the Korean paparazzi zoomed in on their faces, seen without all the make-up that turned them into an infallible idols.
In February 2018, a month after Jonghyun’s demise, Shinee members kicked off their world tour. An emotional performance in Japan saw the four members singing a ballad with one mic placed for Jonghyun in the center. The band released their Japanese single "From Now On," which posthumously featured Jonghyun on March 26, 2018. Shinee celebrated its tenth anniversary since its debut in 2018 with a meeting with Shawols, the slang used to describe Shinee’s fans, in Seoul.
Shinee was formed in 2008 by one of South Korea’s renowned entertainment companies SM Entertainment. Some of their hit songs include Replay in which they talk about falling in love with a woman who is older than them. Another song that sums up their initial teen K-pop days is Ring Ding Dong; the song encapsulates how a rhyming phrase when repeated in a perfectly synchronized manner can just become an earworm. The song became so addictive that South Korean students preparing for SATs added it to the forbidden playlist, as Key mentioned in a video.
Moving on to another K-pop hit Shinee’s Sherlock (Clue+Note) is the song that would make it to the playlist of best K-pop songs of all time. Shinee may sing in Korean, a language that most of their international listeners may not understand, but music, beats, visuals do not have to have a language and this is where the band shines, particularly in this song. The phrase “Shinee’s back” was introduced through this song, and whenever the band members have returned from their compulsory military duties, Shawols make sure they say out loud that Shinee is indeed back. Also, waiting for Taemin to finish his active soldier duty ASAP!! As the song’s title suggests, Sherlock is the combination of two other songs titled Clue and Note. The idea was suggested by the record producer and founder of SM Entertainment, Lee Sooman.
Conforming to the K-pop trope for quite some time, Shinee decided to experiment with its music genre in 2015 with the song View. The house genre song was completely different from what Shinee was earlier known for. Written by Jonghyun who, by that time also debuted as a solo artist, the song reflected the singer’s individual creativity.
Earlier this year Shinee released its seventh studio album, Don’t Call Me. The eponymous song shows how the idol group has still got it. Don’t Call me, is a song that I would like to keep as my caller tune as the four members aggressively ask their ex to not call them whatever the case. The bellicose reiterations were highly relatable as the four members accompanied the song with equally expressive dance moves.
All in all, Shinee is the K-pop band you want to listen to if you wish to understand how a typical South Korean idol group functions. Also, if you ask me my bias (the favorite member from a k-pop group) is Taemin. I will have to write another post dedicated to the artist and his solo career.