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By Dong Sun-hwa
Video by Lee Min-young, Kim Kang-min
Can you become rich by writing lyrics for megastars like BTS?
The answer is no, according to danke, a team of lyricists behind BTS member Jimin's Latin-style solo track "Filter" (2020). The team consists of Kim Soo-bin, Park Woo-hyun and Lee Hee-ju, who share a great passion for pop music.
The three, all born in 1988, met at a Seoul-based educational institute for aspiring lyricists and formed danke in 2017. Since then, they have worked with some of the most popular K-pop stars, including EXO, TWICE, NCT 127, SuperM, Tomorrow X Together (TXT) and IU.
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| From left are Park Woo-hyun, Lee Hee-ju and Kim Soo-bin, members of lyricist team danke that recently had an interview with The Korea Times in Seoul. Korea Times photo by Kim Kang-min |
"After we penned the lines for BTS, numerous people have assumed ― and even asked ― whether we could buy a building with the copyright fees," Park said during a recent interview at The Korea Times studio in central Seoul.
"We shook our heads and told them why this was impossible. In recent years, many lyricists work together on one track and share profits. But most pop songs do not stay in the streaming charts for long and fall off the radar only a few days after release."
Lee chimed in, saying: "Lyricists are often thought to be well off. But just like us, it often takes years for them to debut and earn the minimum income for a living. So I always advise aspiring lyricists to keep their jobs until they receive sufficient royalties."
Lyricists in Korea face cutthroat competition ― a K-pop label receives dozens of versions of lyrics not only for a lead single, but also for a B-side, according to danke.
"Record labels usually want to look into various drafts," Lee said. "So they give an offer to both professional lyricists and the young ones with little experience at educational institutes. The competition is getting fiercer, but for the young ones, there are more opportunities."
Lee explained that a label chooses the parts it prefers in each draft and merges them into one. Then, it works back and forth with the lyricists several times for modification.
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| danke wrote the lyrics for boy band NCT 127's "Kick It" that dropped in March. Courtesy of SM Entertainment |
When asked how danke survived the competition to become one of the most sought-after lyricist teams on the K-pop scene, they said their shared visions have brought them to where they are today.
"As a team, we can bring up various ideas whenever we want," Kim said. "We can also save the time required for modification because we basically share multifarious ideas."
On average, it takes about three hours to finish the lyrics for one song, Park said.
"Sometimes, two hours is enough," she said. "But when we are slow, we need more than six hours. We usually work on six to 10 tracks a week. When we receive an offer from a label, we first study the singer's past musical activities and read their interviews to figure out the words or expressions he or she frequently uses. We also get used to a song's melody by listening to it around the clock."
Lee picked Taemin's "Criminal," released in September, as one of her most challenging works.
"Taemin gave us a very specific lead, making us feel like we were directly talking to him instead of his company officials," she said. "But the modification took a long time and we did have some twists and turns in the process. But the final version of the lyrics was splendid and we were very satisfied."
She also mentioned Jimin, revealing how he impressed her with his riveting performance of "Filter" during BTS's online concert "BTS MAP OF THE SOUL ON:E" in October.
"Jimin was so capable," she said. "I felt like I was watching a musical performance. I thought 'Filter' finally came to perfection thanks to his jaw-dropping gig."
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| Jimin of K-pop boy band BTS. Korea Times file |
But no K-pop stars have directly contacted danke for cooperation, according to Kim.
"We only meet the singers at their concerts or album showcases," she said.
Living as lyricists, however, comes at the expense of many things, such as health. The three disclosed that it is extremely energy-consuming to pen the lines and that they cannot have a regular schedule.
"We are a bit out of shape these days," Kim said.
Nevertheless, the lyricists, who were bubbly and bright during the one-hour interview, say they are very satisfied with their profession.
"Despite all the hardships, it is a dream come true moment for us now," Lee said. "We feel particularly rewarded when we hear our lyrics at the concerts."
