There are not many K-pop groups whose catalog spans a viral TikTok earworm and a Pink Floyd classic, but Fifty Fifty are not a typical K-pop group.
The South Korean act first announced themselves to the world in 2023 with “Cupid,” a track that entered the Billboard Hot 100 and made them the fastest K-pop act to chart in the U.S. In 2024, the group reconstituted around original member Keena, who was joined by Chanelle, Yewon, Athena and Hana to form the current quintet. Earlier this year, they quietly released something rather different: a performance video cover of “Wish You Were Here,” Pink Floyd’s 1975 elegy for absence and longing, shot along Seoul’s Han River in midwinter. It accumulated more than two million YouTube views before the group released an official audio version on streaming platforms.
More from Variety
Sitting down with Variety – Chanelle, Yewon, Athena and Keena present, with Hana absent – the four members are warm, considered and, through an interpreter where needed, precise about what drew them to such unlikely territory.
“This song carries lots of different emotions – longing, that absence that you miss and long for – and that’s something that we could really empathize with,” says Yewon. “While we try to maintain that sound of the original song, we try to bring out the details with our vocals to bring the emotions alive.”
The choice of location was as deliberate as the choice of song. “We really felt that the chilling atmosphere and the low saturation really matched the emotions of our video,” says Athena. “We really wanted to create a visual experience where you could feel the emotions and also reflect the season and let you immerse in the music more.”
When asked if they had watched Pink Floyd’s original concert footage before recording, the room lights up. The answer, delivered with considerable enthusiasm across all four members, is an unambiguous yes.
The cover was released as part of a global tribute project marking the 50th anniversary of the Pink Floyd album of the same name, with the group operating under Attrakt Entertainment and distributed by Sony Music Korea.
The Pink Floyd cover is, in some ways, the fullest expression yet of where Fifty Fifty are headed creatively: outward, genre-fluid, emotionally direct. The seeds of that direction were planted by “Cupid” itself – not so much by its success, but by what the group learned in its wake. “After ‘Cupid,’ we were able to meet a lot of fans from all over the world, which was really great, and we really learned a lot about music as artists,” says Keena. “Rather than defining ‘Cupid’ as one specific genre, it made us feel like we wanted to experiment more with other music genres and colors. Whatever genre we try, we try to include our Fifty Fifty mix sound and color into the music.”
That restlessness has already produced some distance traveled. Their 2024 EP “Too Much Part 1” explored the terrain of first love with a more expansive sound than the breezy pop of “Cupid,” and Keena says the record was built around a particular kind of honesty. “With ‘Too Much Part 1,’ we really tried to be honest with our feelings and the emotions,” she says. “‘Too much’ is not about excess in a negative way – it’s too much of showing our emotions, being really in touch with our feelings and giving a lot of love.”
That emotional directness is not incidental – it is, by the group’s own account, the thing that makes them distinctly themselves. All four members are in their early-to-mid 20s, and Keena argues that their age is inseparable from their sound. “That’s what identifies Fifty Fifty’s color and identity, and that’s what we think differentiates us from other artists,” she says. “These feelings come naturally. It’s not forced.”
Chanelle frames it in terms of group chemistry. “We’ve just become really much stronger and learned how to kind of naturally compromise in a way that’s harmonious for the entire group,” she says. “We’re able to bounce ideas off each other and we also know what our strengths are. It’s just been a really fun process altogether, just getting to where we are now.”
The broader context for their ambitions is a K-culture moment that shows no sign of slowing. The success of properties like “Squid Game” and last year’s smash hit animated musical “KPop Demon Hunters” has demonstrated how Korean content can command global audiences across formats. Yewon sees film, music, performance and other content forms as increasingly converging – and Fifty Fifty’s role as telling their story through music at the center of it. The goal, she says, is to meet their fandom – Tweny, as the group’s fans are known – wherever in the world they may be, and to unite via music.
Athena frames the crossover appeal as something rooted in performance rather than calculation. “We believe that our music transcends language, which allows us to express our emotions in a more deep way,” she says. “It’s not just about listening – it’s also about seeing and being in the moments, looking at the performance.”
The group also has a clear eye on collaboration as a vehicle for global connection. “We always wish to work with different artists from all over the world so that we can be close with fans from different areas,” says Yewon. Their most recent single, “Skittlez,” has already landed on the U.S. Mediabase Top 40 chart, extending a run that includes “Pookie” and “Rock-Paper-Scissors.”
A world tour, the members say, is the logical next step – and one city keeps coming up. “We really do want to do Europe, especially London,” Chanelle says. “Personally, since I was younger, that’s been a dream of mine.”
Best of Variety
Sign up for Variety’s Newsletter. For the latest news, follow us on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.
‘ The preceding article may include information circulated by third parties ’
‘ Some details of this article were extracted from the following source www.yahoo.com ’
