For YG Entertainment, 2017 will be a year that will test the entertainment label and company after the situation they are currently in. With Big Bang on hiatus, due to its members now fulfilling mandatory military service duties, and 2NE1 officially disbanded, “Papa YG” Yang Hyun Suk and company will have to work hard to push their remaining K-pop acts, especially Black Pink , iKon , Akdong Musician, and the solo endeavors of G-Dragon and Taeyang, prior to conscription.
However, the one K-pop act that YG Entertainment is concentrating on right now is Winner. The boy band will make their K-pop comeback this coming April with their new album, Fate Number For .
Winner and YG Entertainment started to release teasers for the K-pop boy band’s comeback for 2017 in mid-March. Their first teaser revealed that the theme would be based around the number four . The members are clad in black suits and scattered about in a black-and-white image. The theme is in reference to the fact they are now a four-member boy band after Nam Tae Hyun not only left Winner, but YG Entertainment, back in November of 2016.
Eventually, K-pop fans learned that Winner’s upcoming comeback would be titled Fate Number For, and the featured track will be “ Really Really .” It is written, composed, and arragned by Song Min Ho, Yoon, Hoony, and UK Jin Kang.
Probably the best part of Winner’s comeback this year is the fact Yang Hyun Suk is being more active in their promotions. For the longest time, K-pop fans were upset with Hyun Suk, as he was the only one who knew when Winner would return. Keeping K-pop fans in the dark was never his attention, but due of his duties working on music competition variety shows, that is what it felt like.
Similar to how Yang Hyun Suk promoted Big Bang last year, for their full-length studio album, MADE , he is also building hype for Winner by posting teasers (and possibly behind-the-scenes images and videos later) of the music video of their featured track, “Really Really.”
Along with Yang Hyun Suk’s reveal, it was also announced that Fate Number For will feature not one, but two songs. “Really Really” is the first song, and the other is titled “ Fool .” Winner fans, or the Inner Circle, as they are called, will get a taste of the upcoming comeback first hand with an exclusive event. The pre-open party took place on April 1. The concept showroom will release on April 2, and last until the album releases. Finally, there will be a live countdown on April 4 starting at 3 p.m. KST. It wasn’t revealed where the countdown will take place, but most likely it will happen on either the VLive app or the Naver app.
K-pop fans, especially the Inner Circle, will don’t have to wait long until Winner’s comeback releases. With only one day technically remaining for those living in the Americas, stateside fans won’t have to wait long, either. Until then, it is suggested to check out their featured songs off their last album EXIT:E , “Baby Baby,” “Sentimental,” and “Pricked.”
[Featured Image by YG Entertainment/Winner’s Official Daum Cafe]
