14 K-Pop Songs That Were Almost Released Under Different Artists

May 03, 2019

Have you ever wondered how your favorite K-pop song would have turned out if it had been sung by another artist? Just as we have witnessed from instances of singers covering other artists’ songs by adding their own flair to them, a song by one artist can have a completely new sound when it’s performed by another.

With that being said, here are 14 K-pop songs that could have ended up with different artists!

1. Girl’s Day – “Something”

Though it is known as one of the hottest tracks by Girl’s Day, “Something” was originally produced as part of a solo album for former SISTAR member Hyolyn. According to producing team Duble Sidekick, Hyolyn felt the track did not fit her musical style when she first heard it. After giving it some thought, the producers decided to offer the track to Girl’s Day, who later successfully pulled it off by adding the sexy choreography it needed.

2. Lovelyz – “Good Night Like Yesterday”

According to a past Twitter post from songwriter Davink, “Good Night Like Yesterday” was originally made for male idol groups seven years prior to its release by girl group Lovelyz. After getting rejected by a number of groups, the songwriter was recommended by producer Yoon Sang to work with a girl group. This also led to the creation of the legendary composition team One Piece.

3. Girls’ Generation – “Into the New World”

The track that helped Girls’ Generation make the grand debut that led to their stardom was originally meant for their senior group, Milk. Milk had plans to include the track in their album, which was to be released in 2002. But the group unfortunately disbanded before they got to release the album, thus leaving the track to Girls’ Generation to become one of the most iconic girl group songs in K-pop history.

4. EXID – “Up & Down”

EXID’s LE, who partook in producing the track “Up & Down,” revealed that she and producer Shinsadong Tiger had initially written the track for Jessi’s solo album. While recording the track, Jessi suggested that the track would better fit the tone of EXID.

5. Girl’s Day – “Female President”

According to songwriter Nam Ki Sang, “Female President” was meant for 6MIX, a girl group that almost debuted under JYP Entertainment. He had written the track as part of 6MIX’s debut album, but the debut, unfortunately, did not happen. The track later randomly crossed paths with Girl’s Day who brought it to life with their powerful choreography!

6. 9MUSES – “No Playboy”

9MUSES’s debut track “No Playboy” almost became a Wonder Girls song! Wonder Girls reportedly had to choose between “No Playboy” and “Nobody” to make their comeback, and as everyone already knows by now, the group decided to go with “Nobody” in the end. It worked out for both groups!

7. Jonghyun – “Cocktail”

Jonghyun had originally written “Cocktail” along with the track “Already” for his fellow bandmate Taemin, who was preparing for a solo album. Even though Taemin thoroughly enjoyed the track, he thought the key was too high for him to sing live while dancing. As a result, Taemin ended up only including “Already” in his album, and Jonghyun later added “Cocktail” as a b-side track to his first full-length solo studio album “She Is.”

8. Rain – “How to Avoid the Sun”

During his appearance on MBC’s “Radio Star” in 2014, g.o.d’s Park Joon Hyung revealed that Rain’s hit track “How to Avoid the Sun” could’ve been a g.o.d song. He explained that he was working on g.o.d’s album in the United States when Park Jin Young let him hear the song, saying “The song is killer.” However, Park Jin Young eventually gave it to Rain.

9. IZ*ONE – “La Vie en Rose”

It was revealed that IZ*ONE’s debut track “La Vie en Rose” was first offered to CLC when a video of a dance crew dancing to the track with the name tags of the CLC members surfaced online. During a showcase for CLC’s comeback with “No” in January 2019, Yeeun confirmed that “La Vie en Rose” was indeed a track that CLC had already finished recording before it went to IZ*ONE. However, Yeeun added that they think the track was able to meet better owner with IZ*ONE, and thanks to that, CLC was also able to meet a great track like “No.”

10. Akdong Musician – “RE-BYE”

According to Lee Chan Hyuk, “RE-BYE” was inspired by Lee Hi’s debut track “1, 2, 3, 4,” and he had intended to give it to the soloist as a gift. However, Lee Hi thought the song did not fit her tone, and the younger Akdong Musician Lee Soo Hyun had shown interest in singing it. He almost gave it to Lee Soo Hyun as a solo track, but eventually used it as the title track to the duo’s second mini album “Adolescence.”

11. Kyuhyun – “At Gwanghwamun”

Kyuhyun revealed himself that his hit track “At Gwanghwamun” was originally planned to be included as a b-side track to a studio album by Super Junior’s vocal unit Super Junior KRY. However, he liked it so much that he thought it should be a title track, and he ended up releasing it as a solo track.

12. Red Velvet – “Look”

Jinbo, a producer and singer-songwriter who is also a big-time BoA fan, had initially produced “Look” with BoA in mind. The Korean name of the track is also pronounced as Bwa, which sounds similar to BoA. However, in a twist of fate, the track ended up being one of the b-side tracks to Red Velvet’s second studio album “Perfect Velvet.”

13. Secret – “Magic”

Shinsadong Tiger, the producer behind Secret’s hit track “Magic,” later revealed that he had initially offered the track to Seo In Young. However, Seo In Young did not think the track was fitting to her concept. The producer decided to give the melody a change and offered it to Secret, who easily managed to bring success to the track.

14. Sunmi – “Siren”

According to Sunmi herself, she worked on “Siren” in partnership with producer Frants in 2015 with the intention of releasing it as a title track of Wonder Girls’ “Why So Lonely” album. However, the track did not make the cut and later went through changes to become the title track of Sunmi’s solo album.