10 K-Pop Songs That Almost Sounded Completely Different
Many K-Pop songs are not always written for the group that ends up performing them and the original demos or drafts of songs are sometimes shockingly different. The original demos for the songs usually come from popular English songwriters who sell them to Korean labels where they are translated. Here are a few songs that, from content to instrumentation to vocalization, are incredibly different from the final product.
1. EXO – “Monster”
EXO‘s “Monster” was originally written by American songwriters Chikk and Kenzi. Their original version featured female vocals and was likely intended for a girl group before S.M. Entertainment gave it to EXO.
2. Super Junior – “Sorry Sorry”
“Sorry Sorry” was originally written by Drew Ryan Scott before the demo was given to Super Junior.
3. BLACKPINK – “Whistle”
“Whistle” was originally sung by Bekuh Boom, who produced the song alongside BLACKPINK’s main producer Teddy. It almost doesn’t sound like the same song!
4. Girls’ Generation – “I Got A Boy”
This song was originally written by Katy Tiz, a singer from the United Kingdom. The original lyrics were pretty harsh on the boy!
5. Super Junior’s Donghae and Eunhyuk – “Teenage Queen”
Surprisingly, “Teenage Queen” was originally written by pop punk group 5 Seconds of Summer. They never released the full version, and instead sold it to S.M. Entertainment.
6. f(x) – “4 Walls”
This song was originally written by Tay Jasper and, unlike f(x)‘s version, featured male vocals. The lyrics were also about being friend-zoned!
7. EXO – “Call Me Baby”
“Call Me Baby” was written by Dantae Johnson and Teddy Riley, and originally the song was titled “Call Me Daddy”. Talk about dirty lyrics!
8. Girls’ Generation – “You Think”
“You Think” was written by Finnish songwriter and YouTuber SAARA. She has produced many popular tracks for K-Pop groups including Taemin’s “Drip Drop” and NCT U’s “The 7th Sense”.
9. SHINee – “A-Yo”
SHINee’s famous song was produced by Denice Stone. Although the song you know today might sound very similar, the English lyrics were completely different!
10. PSY – “I Luv It”
PSY’s new hit song “I Luv It” was actually partially written by Block B’s ZICO and the original version was much funkier than PSY’s dance hit.
