NOVEMBER 10, 2023
In the artistic landscapes of music, fashion and seemingly never-ending Netflix dramas, South Korea is an indomitable power, as is the extremely gifted singer and performing artist, Jungkook. He has reintroduced himself in 2023 as an independent, multi-genre artist, dropping three singles and a debut solo album, Golden, this year. Jungkook has been promoting and performing his third single of 2023, Standing Next To You, to screaming fans and entranced audiences in New York. The single made its television debut on The Tonight Show on November 6th, NBC’s Today at the Rockefeller Plaza on November 8th and TSX in Times Square on November 9th.
Jungkook’s third single, Standing Next To You from his debut solo album, Golden, released on November 3rd, 2023, with over 29 million views as of today, making it a winning track. I am sure it will hit a billion views very swiftly, given his stellar track record. Born Jeon Jungkook in Busan, South Korea, and mononymously known as Jungkook, the back-up dancer-turned-headliner is on his way to becoming a global pop superstar.
Jung Kook performing at the Rockefeller Plaza in New York on November 8, 2023 (Photo by Nathan Congleton/NBC via Getty Images)
A member and vocalist of one of South Korea’s most successful and popular boy bands, BTS, since June 2013, with the single 2 Cool 4 Skool, Jungkook has sung three solo songs, all chartbusters, as part of BTS’ discography — Begin (2016), Euphoria (2018) and My Time (2020). With Golden, Jungkook has reintroduced himself as an independent artist, given the name and fame he enjoys as a BTS band member. Jungkook became the first South Korean artist to release an official song for the FIFA World Cup soundtrack with Dreamers, which he subsequently performed at the 2022 FIFA World Cup opening ceremony in Doha, Qatar. His indie tracks seem to be outnumbering almost every K-pop artist’s in the world, with his debut solo single Seven (July 14) featuring American rapper Latto, becoming the fastest song in history to reach 1 billion streams on Spotify and went platinum. His second single this year, 3D (September 29) featuring Jack Harlow and his debut solo album, Golden, and his third single, Standing Next To You is steadily climbing the charts, competing with his own track record.
Jungkook’s Standing Next To You video
Jungkook’s dulcet sounds and vocal riffs on the track, with Michael Jackson falsettos and the smooth dance moves, make it a fantastic pop track. He even wore a very Jackson-esque, military style jacket for his appearance on The Tonight Show. Standing Next To You is clearly inspired by Michael Jackson, but it is all about Jungkook’s single sound energy, given he is the only vocalist on the track, without another artist like his earlier singles this year. The music video plays to his agile strengths as a terrific dancer, with every single vocal intonation of the determined love lyrics in sync with his dextrous moves. He traces a femme fatale love interest with untamed desire, through a tungsten hued tunnel and an abandoned theatre in a dusty industrial lot. The video was directed by Tetyana Robertivna Muinyo and filmed in Budapest, Hungary. Of Cuban and Ukranian descent, she is popularly known as Tanu Muino in the business. Muino directed the music video for Harry Styles’ As It Was in 2022 which was Billboard’s number one song of the year worldwide.
Jungkook performs Standing Next To You on The Tonight Show in New York on November 6, 2023 (Photo by Todd Owyoung/NBC via Getty Images)
Jungkook named the album Golden as his mother had a golden dream when she was pregnant with him and when he looks back at his decade old journey that changed the music landscape worldwide, he considers it all a “golden moment” in time. Jungkook is also known as “golden maknae”, a nickname coined by his bandmate, RM, which means golden youngest in Korean, for his exemplary talent and being the youngest member of BTS. And it’s only a matter of days for Golden to go platinum!
Jungkook on NBC’s The Tonight Show in New York on November 6th, 2023
He’s keeping it real by being “most proud of BTS and the army” of fans over the past decade, but not without honouring his mother and his family at every step of his journey as a multi-genre performing artist. What’s next for the golden maknae? A world tour by Jungkook in 2025 hopefully!
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