ENHYPEN Releases New Album ‘BORDER: CARNIVAL’
ENHYPEN, the rising rookie boy group, had their first comeback with the album “BORDER: CARNIVAL” on April 26. This album follows a similar format to their debut, “BORDER: DAY ONE”, with an intro song, outro song, and four individual tracks: “Intro: The Invitation”, “Drunk-Dazed”, “FEVER”, “Not For Sale”, “Mixed Up”, and “Outro: The Wormhole”. Each song brings different flavors to ENHYPEN’s growing palette. The title track, ”Drunk-Dazed” was announced as the third comeback song to reach the highest number of streams on Spotify from a rookie group in twenty-four hours.
The group’s quick success came after HYBE Corporation’s idol-creation program in the summer of 2020 called I-Land. With twenty-two trainees at the start, elimination rounds quickly narrowed the debut group down to seven people: Yang Jungwon, Lee Heesung, Park Jay, Sim Jake, Park Sunghoon, Kim Sunoo, and Niki.
ENHYPEN debuted quickly after the end of the show under BE: LIFT Lab, a combination of BigHit Labels and CJ ENM Entertainment in November 2020. Since then, they’ve received worldwide support and are quickly becoming one of the top groups from fourth-generation K-pop, accompanying their company’s other young artists Tomorrow X Together. ENHYPEN currently has some of the youngest artists in the industry, Niki born in 2005, and their leader Yang Jungwon, born in 2004.
These ambitious artists are getting their names out in any way possible, mainly through their massive fanbases on Twitter, VLIVE, and Weverse. Their new album has created nothing less than a rupture in the K-pop world. Fans have been supporting their comeback stages on M Countdown as well as other promotional activities including their collaboration with YouTube channels Studio Choom and hello 82.
엔진은 이픈이들을 깨워💤
— ENHYPEN OFFICIAL (@ENHYPEN) May 1, 2021
심장을 태워💓🔥
우리의 꿈을 채워✨#ENHYPEN #엔하이픈 #레쭈고_드데#Drunk_Dazed #BORDER_CARNIVAL pic.twitter.com/SWQwSlJVhd
Jungwon spoke in a vlog towards the end of 2020 briefly about their next comeback. He felt that the group was not able to express the best sides of themselves. Heeseung also expressed concerns with their connections as a group, during and outside of performances. Typically, groups formed from produce programs are much different than a pre-formed group. The trainees were constantly in a competitive situation on the show, unable to truly connect and relax with one another. He also added how he was trying to spend more time with his members in order to grow with them and give their fans even better performances. This new era definitely fulfilled their promise with the combination of different themes in each track that show they’ve gone beyond the spectrum of any other rookie group.
ENHYPEN has also been anxious to meet their fans in real life. In a “[-note]” Jungwon described his experience on a radio show: “The person who hosted the show said, ‘It’s sad how meeting one’s fans became a big goal.’ And what he said really got to me.” Since the group debuted at the peak of COVID-19 worldwide, they faced many challenges. ENHYPEN’s members took to social media often to interact with their fans, however, typical fan meeting events such as fan signs could only be held through video chat programs. The members were heartbroken since they couldn’t physically face the fans, hold their hands, and talk to each ENGINE heart to heart.
Enhypen first Enhypen first
— ja 🎭 (@04shiningJW) April 30, 2021
offline fan meet offline fansign
020621 043021 pic.twitter.com/VAapxOg6GM
After their first face-to-face fan sign on April 30, the group has never been seen any happier. Fans were also excited to spread photos and video clips of the interactions between ENGINE and ENHYPEN all across Twitter. New content from ENHYPEN is constantly being updated on their Instagram, Twitter, and VLIVE accounts. The group is also attending shows such as Idol League that will be available to stream in the near future.
Columnist | K-pop Stan | Tweet me @senaho5
