In the K-Pop industry, most of the music and dance that K-Pop Idols present to their fans are prepared by other professionals. But, this has been changing in recent years. K-Pop Idols have started self-producing their music. Not only that, but they’re also choreographing their own dance moves for their songs. It’s not like the concept of self-producing wasn’t present in the K-Pop industry. But now, the fans can know more about the activities of their favorite K-Pop idols. This helps them to know who among the K-Pop idols is active in work related to their activities.
Self-producing means coming up with ideas and working on them in order to make a piece of work. Thanks to the companies of various K-Pop groups allowing their participation in self-production, the groups have been gaining more popularity. Now idols are able to compose their songs, write lyrics to their songs, choreograph their dances, and do many other things themselves. The K-Pop idols are now earning their much-deserved credits. As early as the times when Sechskies and H.O.T. were reigning in the K-Pop scene, the members of the group had been making and composing their own music.
Most Popular Self-Producing K-Pop Idols:
Let’s go through a list of K-Pop idols who are currently active and are self-producing.
SEVENTEEN
Of course, SEVENTEEN comes first on the list. They were labeled as the ‘self-producing idols’ right after their debut. Although they weren’t the first idols to self-produce, they did help in popularising the concept. SEVENTEEN has three sub-units, namely the Vocal unit, the Dance unit, and the Hip-Hop unit. All three units qualify for producing their own works.
The leader of the Dance unit, Hoshi, is one of the main choreographers of SEVENTEEN, who comes with unique moves and ideas to catch the attention of the viewers and audience. The other members of the Dance Unit also bring out various steps and dance moves that are a part of their choreography. SEVENTEEN is very well-known in the K-Pop industry for its self-production abilities. Even the Hip-Hop unit is not behind the other two sub-units and writes the lyrics to their rap in SEVENTEEN’s songs.
The leader of the Vocal unit, Woozi, is responsible for composing, writing, and producing many of SEVENTEEN’s songs. The other members of the vocal team are not behind and help in lyric writing for their songs. Woozi, along with his co-producer, has been producing not only SEVENTEEN’s songs but also collaborated with numerous composers to create songs for other idols. Woozi has composed and also written lyrics for SEVENTEEN’s songs like ‘Don’t Wanna Cry,’ ‘Without You,’ ‘Pinwheel,’ and many others. As if this wasn’t enough, SEVENTEEN can even design their album logos, do photoshoots, and edit their videos. Overall, their self-producing abilities make them one of the most self-dependent idol groups in the K-Pop industry.
BTS (Bangtan Boys)
‘BTS’ is currently the most famous K-Pop Boy Group. We all know about them and maybe most of their songs too. Their songs have a personal touch to them as they are written and composed by the members of BTS. They have collaborated with Big Hit’s many popular composers and lyricists like Pdogg, Supreme Boi, and KASS to create their music. The members J-Hope, Suga, and RM, especially play an important role in the production of their music. They have taken part in the composition of so many popular BTS songs like DNA, Fire, Dope, Boy in Luv, etc.
Other members of the group have also worked on their solo pieces and have released them on SoundCloud. Suga has especially been praised for his composing skills and has helped in the song production for Lee Sora, Epik High, and IU. He has also participated in the song production for other solo artists.
Pentagon
‘Pentagon,’ a third-generation K-Pop group, is not behind when it comes to self-production. Hui has been participating in the song production for his group since his debut with the group. The genius songwriter has written songs for other groups, too, like WannaOne and Shinhwa. He played an active role in the production of Pentagon’s songs like ‘Shine’, ‘Naughty Boy’, ‘Daisy’, and ‘Do or Not’. He took part in the production of songs like ‘Energetic’ by WannaOne, Produce 101 Season 2 popular song ‘Never,’ ‘Boyness,’ and JO1’s ‘Oh-Eh-Oh’.
Another member of ‘Pentagon’ participates in the content production of the group. Kino, who is the main dancer of the group, has been taking part in making the choreography for his group’s songs since his debut with the group. He was a part of the choreography team for Pentagon’s debut song ‘Gorilla’. Kino was also behind the production of the song ‘Violet,’ which was released in 2017. Moreover, the whole group participated in their song called ‘Round 2,’ which is absolutely an attractive track.
WINNER
The group under YG Entertainment is well known for writing most of the lyrics to their songs ever since their debut. Members of the group, especially Song Mino, Kang Seung Yoon, and Lee Seung Hoon, have worked on some of WINNER’s most famous songs. They are behind songs like ‘Really Really’ and ‘Everyday’. WINNER debuted in August of the year 2014 and has since been working hard in creating music for its fans.
Also Read: 4th Gen Kpop Visual Idols Who Have Gotten Different Nicknames From The Korean Public
EXID
The member LE of EXID is a renowned song producer. She is the member of the group behind the production of some of EXID’s most hit songs like ‘Up and Down,’ ‘Lie,’ ‘Ah Yeah,’ and ‘Me & You’. She has collaborated with the famous music producer Shinsadong and created several memorable songs. There might not be any idle who hasn’t done the popular hip movement of ‘Up and Down’ because of how catchy the song and its dance are.
BtoB (Born to Beat)
Many individuals from the K-Pop industry have praised BtoB’s songwriting abilities. BtoB’s member, Ilhoon, has been writing and composing songs for the group for a long time now. He used to be an underground rapper when he started writing his songs and writing lyrics. He makes sure that he takes part in the music production for his group while simultaneously working with other artists.
Another very well-known composer and lyricist in the K-Pop industry, a member of BtoB, is Im Hyun Sik. He is the one behind the group’s one of the most well-known songs like ‘I Miss You,’ ‘Shake It,’ ‘Why,’ ‘Beautiful Pain,’ and many more. He has been taking part in the music production of the group since their debut. Though the group is popular domestically, it is yet to make its way into the international market. But, with talented composers and lyricists like Ilhoon and Im Hyun Sik, the climb doesn’t seem that hard, especially since K-Pop has been gaining a lot of international fame lately.
(G)I-DLE
The leader of the K-Pop girl group ‘(G)I-DLE,’ Soyeon, showed her lyric writing and rapping skills when she participated in the show ‘Unpretty Rapstar Season 3’ and won third place. She wrote and co-produced the group’s debut song ‘LATATA’ and currently actively participates in the production of music for (G)I-DLE. Moreover, she is the first K-Pop idol to produce a whole album on her own. The name of that album is ‘I Trust’.
Although Soyeon became a recognized music producer at the young age of 21, she doesn’t forget to mention the inspiration that her group members gave her. The other members of the group have also started to show off their musical skills as all the members participated in the production of their second EP, ‘I Made’. The EP got its name from the fact that it was produced by all the members of (G)I-DLE. We are waiting for all the members of the group to present more of their music production skills.
Stray Kids
The JYP Entertainment formed K-Pop Boy Group, Stray Kids, is well known for producing its own music. It is believed that there is no song of the group that the members of the group haven’t participated in the making of. Mainly the production subunit of group 3RACHA is credited for the production of the group’s music.
The 3RACHA includes Bang Chan, Changbin, and Han. The 3RACHA members were behind the debut track of Stray Kids, ‘Hellevator’ and their latest song, ‘Side Effects’. For songs that 3RACHA didn’t participate in the production of, the other members did.
IU
The idol-actor, IU, is one of the most reputable and popular K-Pop female soloists, mostly due to her melodious and sweet voice. Moreover, she also has a charismatic personality. She is known to have been producing her own songs. In her career up until now, she has worked on at least 50 songs.
She has even written and composed music for movies and K-Dramas. She has written songs for K-Dramas like ‘My Mister,’ ‘The Producers,’ and ‘Hotel Del Luna’. All these dramas are ones in which she had also starred. She also wrote her song ‘Blueming,’ all by herself, which comes under the label of her most famous songs.
Also Read: Most Popular Ongoing Third-Generation Kpop Girl Groups
