K-Pop Crossover: 4Minute Teaming Up With Skrillex For Their 2016 Album

For CUBE Entertainment, 2015 was generally a failure if people were to look at the numbers. In the first half of the year, the entertainment label reported a loss of 5.8 billion won. When exchanged to the American dollar, that equals about $4.8 million. However, CUBE Entertainment did make it known their loss was expected when they recently acquired an unknown company. The loss was due to an uptick in costs compared to their revenue stream.

Despite the losses for the company as a whole, CUBE Entertainment performed well in the K-pop department, especially 4Minute. The K-pop group consisting of Sohyun, Gayoon, Jihyun, Jiyook, and Hyuna did well with their latest extended play, Crazy. The EP, along with its title track (music video attached above), made its debut at number one, a first for the K-pop girl group. Not only that, Hyuna — 4Minute’s most-popular member for being a former member of Wonder Girls — continued her solo career success with A+, and an extended play featuring “Roll Deep” (see below). The smooth rap track was highly-praised and it gave K-pop boy group BtoB a lot of attention by featuring its member Ilhoon. Finally, 4Minute completed a fan tour in Latin America known as the 2015 4Minute Fan Bash In Latin America. They visited Peru, Chili, and Argentina from November 8 through November 12.

It seems like 4Minute has found a sound that does well for them, but they might be changing up their style yet again to dubstep. It is now known that the K-pop girl group will be collaborating with Skrillex when they make their comeback in the following year.

The news was made public thanks to 4Minute themselves. Hyuna and Jihyun uploaded selfies with Skrillex, a well-known, Grammy-winning American music producer and songwriter, on their respective Instagram accounts. The K-pop community took notice of the 4Minute selfies with the artist popular for “Bangarang” as implication of a future collaboration or partnership which was eventually confirmed.

For those who are unsure if Skrillex can work with K-pop idols, back in 2014, he collaborated with Diplo to create a track titled “Dirty Vibe,” featuring YG Entertainment’s G-Dragon of BIGBANG and CL of 2NE1. Unfortunately, that song didn’t chart. Because of the disappointment, 4NIA (devoted 4Minute fans) are concerned Skrillex’s songs with 4Minute may flop. The silver lining is that he is co-collaborating on the project, which means 4Minute will also have a hand in writing, too.

As for 4Minute changing up their style, it is technically nothing new. They’ve been known to change their beat to what is currently popular in music. All anyone has to do is listen to songs 4Minute made in 2009 or 2010, and then compare those tracks to their more recent songs to hear the difference. Even Hyuna as a soloist adapts to dynamic changes, too. People can surely hear the difference between her most-popular single, Bubble Pop!, and her recent single, Roll Deep.

In the end, the K-pop community won’t have to wait too long to see if 4Minute and Skrillex truly can work well together. According to KpopStarz, music industry insiders at CUBE Entertainment made it known on Christmas that 4Minute’s 2016 comeback will release sometime in January. Presently, they are trying to decide which song will be featured.

However, one question remains unanswered. Will Skrillex be collaborating with Hyuna on her solo career, too? It is only confirmed Skrillex collaborated on songs for 4Minute’s comeback. There is no official word of him collaborating with Hyuna as a soloist. Since releases for 4Minute and Hyuna as a soloist are often tied together, it wouldn’t be a surprise if Hyuna’s next solo song were to have dubstep elements or signs of a Skrillex influence.

[Image via CUBE Entertainment/4Minute Promotions For Crazy]