IU released her long-awaited sixth EP, The Winning, on February 20, 2024, featuring five new songs with a few special guest stars.
IU in a concept photo for “The Winning” | @dlwlrma/Instagram
IU partnered with BTS‘s V for a cinematic music video for “Love Wins All,” and the global star duo stunned netizens with their effortless acting and on-screen chemistry.
Among the five new songs, “Shh..” features additional global stars. Chinese actress Tang Wei starred in the music video while NewJeans‘ Hyein and veteran singer Joe Wan Sun lent their vocals to the track, and narration was done by legendary singer Patti Kim.
IU (left) and Tang Wei (right) | @pink_jay43/Twitter
To celebrate the release of her new album and her first world tour, IU appeared on K-Pop ON! Spotify and answered fans’ questions.
One fan-submitted question asked about the celebrities IU worked with for The Winning, and they wanted to know who IU wanted to meet the most and who was the most “unexpected.”
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While trying to think of “just one person,” IU named NewJeans’ Hyein as the first artist she requested to collaborate with when working on the album.
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To work with Hyein, IU revealed she discussed the collaboration with ADOR‘s CEO and NewJeans’ creative director, Min Hee Jin, and sent Hyein a “super long message.”
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IU shared that IU adorably accepted her request quickly, which IU felt was a great start to her album-making process thanks to Hyein’s “good energy.”
Once she got Hyein’s reply, IU realized the album creation process would be “smooth sailing.”
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Check out netizens’ reactions to IU’s collaboration with Hyein in the article below!
