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I Like the Way (EP)

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I Like the Way
Digital cover
EP by
Kim Woojin
ReleasedApril 22, 2024
Studio
  • Sound Pool
  • Doobdoob
  • Klang
Genre
Length14:05
Language
  • Korean
  • English
Label
Kim Woojin chronology
The Moment: Bounce
(2023) 		I Like the Way
(2024)
Singles from I Like the Way
  1. "I Like the Way"
    Released: April 22, 2024
Music videos
"I Like the Way" on YouTube
"What U Say" on YouTube

I Like the Way (stylized in all caps) is the third EP by South Korean singer Kim Woojin, released on April 22, 2024 by Kustomade and distributed by Stone Music Entertainment and Genie Music. The EP consists of five tracks, including the lead single of the same name.

Commercially, the EP peaked at number seven on the Circle Album Chart, with the highest first-week sales of Kim's career. To promote the EP, Kim embarked on the I Like the Way Tour in June 2024.

Background and release

[edit]

Eight months prior to the release of I Like the Way, Kim released his second EP The Moment: Bounce under 10x Entertainment. On March 18, 2024, SM Entertainment announced that they had acquired 10x and were folding it into their Kreation Music Rights subsidiary under the name "Kustomade". One week later, the label indicated that Kim would release the agency's first new music in April.[1] The EP's title and release date were officially announced on April 4, along with an image of Kim cutting his hair and a YouTube video on Kim's YouTube channel entitled "Rebirth: Kim Woojin", showing him smashing a statue and walking down a runway under spotlights. The video and imagery was said to symbolize a "fresh start" and be the singer's "declaration to break free from everything that has oppressed him and pave his path."[2] I Like the Way was officially released on April 22, 2024, along with the lead single of the same name and its music video.[3]

Composition

[edit]

I Like the Way is a pop EP with contemporary R&B, dance, and afrobeat influences.[4] Kim participated in writing the lyrics for all songs except the third track, "Pretty Mess". The EP's first track and lead single, "I Like the Way", is a dance-pop song with strong bass guitar, with Ryan S. Jhun and Digital Farm Animals included among its contributors. "Pretty Mess" is a rhythmic R&B pop song, and "What U Say" is a pop song with afrobeat influences. The EP's fourth track, "Hold", is a pop ballad composed by Kim, alongside Kangta, a member of SM Entertainment's first boy band, H.O.T.. The final track, "To. My Friend", is a pop-R&B song with prominent acoustic guitar.[5] The EP's five tracks have a total length of 14 minutes 5 seconds.

Promotion

[edit]

To promote the EP, Kim performed on several South Korean music programs. Kim performed "I Like the Way" on Mnet's M Countdown on April 25,[6] Arirang TV's Simply K-Pop on April 26,[7] May 3,[8] 10,[9] and 17,[10] SBS's Inkigayo on April 28,[11] and May 5,[12] MBC Plus's Show Champion on May 1,[13] SBS M's The Show on May 7,[14] and 14,[15] KBS's Music Bank on May 10,[16] and MBC's Show! Music Core on May 11.[17]

Kim also performed "I Like the Way" on Dingo Music's YouTube channel[18] and I Like the Way, Pretty Mess and What U Say for Fromm Studio's Origin series.[19]

Tour

[edit]
Further information: List of Kim Woojin concert tours § I Like the Way Tour

Commercial performance

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I Like the Way debuted on the Circle Album Chart issued April 27 at number seven, selling 35,742 copies in six days of tracking, becoming the best-selling first week of Kim's career.[20] On Circle's monthly rankings chart, the album entered at number 30 for April 2024, Kim's highest position on the chart.[21]

Track listing

[edit]

Credits adapted from the EP's liner notes and Naver Vibe.[22][23]

I Like the Way track listing
No.TitleLyricsMusicArrangementLength
1."I Like the Way"
  • Jhun
  • Zara
  • Samara
  • Gale
  • Snyder
  • Kanner
  • Omer
  • Murray
  • Jhun
  • Samara
  • Gale
  • Omer
  • Murray
2:52
2."Pretty Mess"
  • Saay
  • Kyle Lo
  • Jabel
  • Jword
  • Lo
  • Jabel
  • Jword
Lo2:45
3."What U Say"
  • Philip
  • Joo
  • Keymaker
  • Joo
  • Keymaker
2:34
4."Hold"
  • Kangta
  • Eldon
  • Kangta
  • Eldon
2:47
5."To. My Friend"
  • Kim
  • Son Hee-seung
  • Alysa Ayaka Ichinose
  • William Segerdahl
  • Ichinose
  • Segerdahl
Ichinose3:05
Total length:14:05

Credits and personnel

[edit]

Credits adapted from the EP's liner notes and Naver Vibe.[22]

Studio

  • Doobdoob Studios – recording, digital editing (track 1, 3)
  • Sound Pool Studios – recording, mixing (track 1, 2, 5), digital editing (track 1, 5)
  • Klang Studio – recording (track 4) mixing (track 3, 4)
  • Command K Studio – digital editing (track 2)
  • SM Wavelet Studio – engineered for mix (track 1)
  • SM Concert Hall Studio – mixing (track 1)
  • 821 Sound Mastering – mastering (all tracks)

Personnel

  • Kustomade – executive producer
  • Lee Sung-soo – executive supervisor
  • Kim Woojin – vocals, background vocals (all tracks), lyrics (track 1, 3, 4, 5)
  • Ryan S. Jhun – lyrics, composition, arrangement (track 1)
  • Ben Samara – lyrics, composition, arrangement (track 1)
  • Nicholas James Gale – lyrics, composition, arrangement (track 1)
  • Mustafa Omer – lyrics, composition, arrangement (track 1)
  • James Murray – lyrics, composition, arrangement (track 1)
  • Matt Zara – lyrics, composition (track 1)
  • David Charles Snyder – lyrics, composition (track 1)
  • Rachel Kanner – lyrics, composition (track 1)
  • Ayler – Korean lyrics (track 1)
  • Kyle Lo – lyrics, composition, arrangement, vocal direction (track 2)
  • Jabel – lyrics, composition, vocal direction (track 2)
  • Sword – lyrics, background vocals (track 2)
  • Stay – Korean lyrics (track 2)
  • Joo Gang-hyun – lyrics, composition, arrangement, background vocals, vocal direction (track 3)
  • Shakka Philip – lyrics, composition, background vocals (track 3)
  • Keymaker – lyrics, composition, arrangement (track 3)
  • Eldon – lyrics, composition, arrangement, background vocals, vocal direction (track 4)
  • Kangta – Korean lyrics, composition, arrangement, vocal direction (track 4)
  • Son Hee-seung – Korean lyrics (track 5)
  • William Segerdahl – lyrics, composition (track 5)
  • Alysa Ayaka Ichinose – lyrics, composition, arrangement (track 5)
  • D'tour – background vocals (track 1), vocal direction (track 1, 3)
  • Petra – background vocals, vocal direction (track 1)
  • Paul Kyte – vocal direction (track 5)
  • Jeong Ho-jin – recording, digital editing (track 1)
  • On Seong-eun – recording (track 1)
  • Klozer – recording (track 2, 4), mixing, vocal direction (track 4)
  • Jang Woo-young – recording (track 1, 3) digital editing (track 3)
  • Nin Namkoong – mixing (track 1)
  • Koo Jong-pil – mixing (track 3)
  • Kwon Nam-woo – mastering (all tracks)

Charts

[edit]

Release history

[edit]
Release history for I Like the Way
Region Date Format Label
South Korea April 22, 2024 CD
Various
Kustomade

References

[edit]
  1. ^ "Former Stray Kids member Kim Woo-jin to drop new music under Kustomade label". Korea JoongAng Daily. March 25, 2024. Retrieved October 17, 2024.
  2. ^ Jung-youn, Lee (April 4, 2024). "Kim Woojin set to return with new album". The Korea Herald. Retrieved October 17, 2024.
  3. ^ Ji, Seunghun (April 22, 2024). "Singer Kim Woo-jin will make a musical transformation through Shinbo.Kim Woo-jin will release his th." Maeil Business Newspaper. Retrieved November 11, 2024.
  4. ^ Choi, Lee-jung (May 18, 2024). 김우진, 미니 3집 'I LIKE THE WAY' 활동 성료..'당당+주체' 메시지 [Kim Woo-jin, successful completion of 3rd mini album 'I LIKE THE WAY' activities..'Confident + Subjective' message]. The Chosun Ilbo (in Korean). Retrieved October 22, 2024.
  5. ^ Sun, Mi-kyung (April 15, 2024). '컴백' 김우진, 'I LIKE THE WAY' 하이라이트 메들리 공개..진정성 담았다 ['Comeback' Kim Woo-jin, 'I LIKE THE WAY' highlight medley revealed.. filled with sincerity]. The Chosun Ilbo (in Korean). Retrieved October 22, 2024.
  6. ^ Ahn, Byeong-gil (April 29, 2024). 김우진 컴백무대 마치 브로드웨이 공연 보는 듯 [Kim Woojin's comeback stage "It's like watching a Broadway show"]. Kyunghyang Shinmun (in Korean). Retrieved October 17, 2024.
  7. ^ Simply K-Pop CON-TOUR KIM WOOJIN (김우진) - 'I Like The Way' _ Ep.611 (Web broadcast) (in Korean). ARIRANG K-POP. April 26, 2024. Retrieved October 16, 2024 – via YouTube.
  8. ^ Simply K-Pop CON-TOUR KIM WOOJIN (김우진) - 'I Like The Way' _ Ep.612 (Web broadcast) (in Korean). ARIRANG K-POP. May 3, 2024. Retrieved October 16, 2024 – via YouTube.
  9. ^ Simply K-Pop CON-TOUR KIM WOOJIN (김우진) - 'I Like The Way' _ Ep.613 (Web broadcast) (in Korean). ARIRANG K-POP. May 10, 2024. Retrieved October 16, 2024 – via YouTube.
  10. ^ Simply K-Pop CON-TOUR KIM WOOJIN (김우진) - 'I Like The Way' _ Ep.614 (Web broadcast) (in Korean). ARIRANG K-POP. May 17, 2024. Retrieved October 16, 2024 – via YouTube.
  11. ^ "I Like The Way". The Dong-A Ilbo (in Korean). Retrieved October 17, 2024.
  12. ^ "I Like The Way". The Dong-A Ilbo (in Korean). Retrieved October 17, 2024.
  13. ^ "I Like The Way". The Dong-A Ilbo (in Korean). Retrieved October 17, 2024.
  14. ^ Min, Kyung-hoon (May 7, 2024). 사진김우진,'파워 넘치는 무대' [Photo Woojin Kim, 'Powerful Stage']. The Chosun Ilbo (in Korean). Retrieved October 17, 2024.
  15. ^ Ji, Hyeong-jun (May 14, 2024). 사진더쇼 1위 차지한 트리플에스 [Photo Triple S takes 1st place on The Show]. The Chosun Ilbo (in Korean). Retrieved October 17, 2024.
  16. ^ Kim, Seong-rak (May 10, 2024). 사진김우진,'청년 분위기' [Photo Woojin Kim, 'Youthful Atmosphere']. The Chosun Ilbo (in Korean). Retrieved October 17, 2024.
  17. ^ "I Like The Way), MBC 240511 방송". The Dong-A Ilbo (in Korean). Retrieved October 17, 2024.
  18. ^ 김우진 – I Like The Way l [TEXTED] KIM WOOJIN – I Like The Way l 가사 (Lyrics) (Web broadcast) (in Korean). Dingo Music. April 24, 2024. Retrieved October 16, 2024 – via YouTube.
  19. ^ 김우진 KIM WOOJIN - I Like The Way + Pretty Mess + What U Say wall.live 월라이브 - Origin (Web broadcast) (in Korean). Fromm Studio. May 18, 2024. Retrieved October 16, 2024 – via YouTube.
  20. ^ a b 써클차트 - CIRCLE CHART, 글로벌 케이팝(K-pop) 음악차트 ["Circle Album Chart – Week 17, 2024] (in Korean). Circle Chart. Retrieved October 16, 2024.
  21. ^ a b 써클차트 - CIRCLE CHART, 글로벌 케이팝(K-pop) 음악차트 ["Circle Album Chart – Month 4, 2024] (in Korean). Circle Chart. Retrieved October 16, 2024.
  22. ^ a b Kim, Woojin (2024). I Like the Way (photobook). South Korea: Kustomade.
  23. ^ "I Like the Way - VIBE(바이브)". Naver Vibe (in Korean). Retrieved October 16, 2024.
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