To Die For (B.I album)

To Die For
Studio album by
B.I
ReleasedJune 1, 2023 (2023-06-01)
Length45:59
LanguageKorean
Label131
Producer
B.I chronology
Love or Loved Part.1
(2022) 		To Die For
(2023) 		Love or Loved Part.2
(2023)
Singles from To Die For
  1. "Cosmos"
    Released: November 11, 2021
  2. "Die for Love"
    Released: June 1, 2023
  3. "Dare to Love"
    Released: June 1, 2023
Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
NME[1]

To Die For is the second studio album by South Korean rapper, singer, songwriter, record producer and dancer B.I. It was released on June 1, 2023 by 131, and distributed by Dreamus.[2][3]

To Die For is the continuation of B.I's half album Cosmos, and explores various stories and emotions of youth. The album comprises a total of 15 songs, including six tracks previously released in Cosmos and nine new songs featuring collaborations with Korean-American singer-rapper Jessi, South Korean rappers Big Naughty, Kid Milli and Lil Cherry, and punk band Crying Nut.[4][5]

Background

[edit]

On November 11, 2021, B.I released Cosmos, introducing it as the first half of his second studio album. The self-written seven-track half album is centered around the themes of youth, resistance, and love.[6][7] In an interview published in April 2022, he described the division of the album into two parts as a "plot development", stating, "As I grow as a person and my music evolves, I hope my fans can travel with me on my journey as well."[8]

B.I then turned his attention to the global album Love or Loved, which began with the release of the single "BTBT" in May 2022 and continued with the EP Love or Loved Part.1 in November 2022. Love or Loved is an exploration into love – "the start of love, the breaking up of love, all the stages of love". B.I chose to split the album into two parts once again, so that each EP would convey a clear message. Love or Loved Part.1 represents the "love" side of the project, meanwhile, the second part would represent the "loved" side, and will talk about "heartbreak, loneliness and emptiness".[9][10]

Then on February 3, 2023, for a more effective message delivery, B.I's record label, 131, announced that his upcoming release would be the second half of his second studio album, with the intention of exploring his views on "love" to a full completion, before delving into stories about "loved" in the past tense with Love or Loved Part.2.[11]

Following that, 131 released a teaser film at 00:00 KST on May 1, 2023, revealing that B.I's second studio album, titled To Die For, will be released on June 1 at 18:00 KST. The teaser features the album title written in motion on a typewriter and includes the quote "Dream as if you'll live forever. Live as if you'll die today", which is attributed to American actor James Dean that has come to symbolize eternal youth.[2]

Release and promotion

[edit]

On May 3, 2023, 131 announced a special album promotion for To Die For, stating that B.I would hold offline guerrilla stage performances in different locations to personally introduce his new songs to fans ahead of the official release. In addition, from May 7 until his comeback, the album will be pre-released at various offline locations.[12][13]

B.I's first guerrilla spoiler stage performance was held at the 2023 Daegu Hip Hop Festival on May 7, 2023, where he performed the upcoming singles "Die for Love" and "Dare to Love" for the first time.[14][15] His second performance was on May 12, at TubeSeoul.[16] On May 16, B.I released a karaoke version of "Dare to Love" and performed it at his third guerrilla live spoiler stage in a karaoke room in Seoul.[17][18]

On May 20, 2023, B.I performed "Dare to Love", "Die for Love", and "Beautiful Life" at the encore concert of his B.I 2023 Asia Tour [L.O.L: The Hidden Stage] in Bangkok, Thailand. This concert also marked the conclusion of his East and Southeast Asia tour, which began in March 2023.[19]

The promotional content posted by 131 on social media to promote the comeback (tracklist poster, title tracks posters, etc.) built on the cinematic theme of the first teaser. Then, instead of a traditional music video, a series of nine short films starring B.I was released at 00:00 KST on June 1, 2023 to tell the stories of the nine new songs.[20][21]

Track listing

[edit]
To Die For track listing
No.TitleLyricsMusicArrangementLength
1."To Die"B.I
  • B.I
  • Padi
Padi2:21
2."Wave" (featuring Kid Milli, Lil Cherry) (해일; Haeil [lit. "Tsunami"])
  • B.I
  • Kid Milli
  • Lil Cherry
  • B.I
  • Millennium
  • Sihwang
  • Kim Chang-hoon
  • Millennium
  • Sihwang
  • Kim Chang-hoon
2:50
3."The Island of Misfit Toys" (망가진 장난감의 섬; Manggajin Jangnangam-ui Seom [lit. "The Island of Broken Toys"])B.I
  • B.I
  • Sihwang
  • Millennium
  • Sihwang
  • Millennium
3:23
4."Die for Love" (featuring Jessi)
  • B.I
  • Jessi
  • White Noise Club[a]
  • Jessi
  • Padi
  • Sihwang
  • Millennium
3:18
5."Cosmos"B.I
  • B.I
  • Sihwang
  • Millennium
  • Sihwang
  • Millennium
  • Park Jae-jun
3:37
6."Nerd" (featuring Colde)
  • B.I
  • Sihwang
  • B.I
  • Millennium
  • Sihwang
  • Millennium
  • Sihwang
3:07
7."Dare to Love" (featuring Big Naughty) (겁도없이; Geobdoeobs-i [lit. "Fearlessly"])
  • B.I
  • Big Naughty
  • B.I
  • Big Naughty
  • Kang Uk-jin
  • Diggy
  • Kang Uk-jin
  • Diggy
2:55
8."Nineteen" (열아홉; Yeorahop [lit. "Nineteen"])B.I
  • B.I
  • Saint Leonard
Saint Leonard3:20
9."Beautiful Life" (featuring Crying Nut) (개가트닌생; Gaegateuninsaeng [lit. "Shitty Life"])B.I
  • B.I
  • Sihwang
  • Kim Chang-hoon
  • Park Jae-jun
  • Sihwang
  • Kim Chang-hoon
  • Park Jae-jun
  • Millennium
3:07
10."Cloud Thought" (구르믄; Gureumeun [lit. "Clouds are"])B.I
  • B.I
  • basecamp
  • basecamp
3:16
11."Lover"B.I
  • B.I
  • Padi
  • NE:ON
Padi3:03
12."Truth"B.I
  • B.I
  • Sihwang
  • Millennium
  • Sihwang
  • Millennium
2:37
13."Flame"B.I
  • B.I
  • Millennium
  • Sihwang
Millennium2:58
14."Michelangelo"B.I
  • B.I
  • Millennium
  • Sihwang
  • Millennium
  • Sihwang
3:08
15."Alive"B.I
  • B.I
  • Padi
Padi2:54
Total length:45:59

Charts

[edit]

Personnel

[edit]

Credits are adapted from the album's liner notes.[25]

Production

[edit]
  • B.I – executive producer
  • Stay Tuned – mixing
  • Vincent Park – mixing ("To Die", "Truth")
  • Sunwoo – mixing ("Cloud Thought")
  • Chris Gehringer – mastering
  • Will Quinnell – mastering ("Dare to Love")

Additional personnel

[edit]
  • Hyejin Sim – production director
  • Sumin Oh – creative lab
  • Haneul Kim – creative lab
  • Inseo Yeo – creative lab
  • Hosua Yoh – global A&R
  • Wonsun Lee – global A&R
  • Dongho Yang – global A&R
  • Nalim Cho – contents studio
  • Nick.K – management
  • Nany Kim – episode film director
  • Nikolai Ahn – photograph
  • Woojae Lee – behind scene photograph
  • Minjeong Kim – album design
  • Hoyeon Moon – promotion design
  • Jungtae Kim – promotion design
  • Fwanwook Jung – styling
  • Mincheol Jang – styling assistant
  • Sohee Kim – hair
  • Soyeon Park – hair assistant
  • Jingyeon Yeo – hair assistant
  • Hangyeol Noh – make-up
  • Gayeon Yo – make-up assistant
  • Youngbeen – choreographer ("Die for Love")
  • ChillLit – choreographer ("Dare to Love")

Release history

[edit]
Release dates and formats for To Die For
Region Date Format(s) Edition(s) Label
Various June 1, 2023
Standard 131
South Korea CD

Notes

[edit]
  1. ^ The five members of the team – B.I, Kim Chang-hoon, Millennium, Padi and Sihwang – were registered as composers with the Korea Music Copyright Association[22].

References

[edit]
  1. ^ Raj, Tanu I. (June 7, 2023). "B.I – 'To Die For' review: coming full circle on a fearless and purposeful release". NME. Retrieved June 7, 2023.
  2. ^ a b Kim, Chae-yeon (May 1, 2023). "비아이, 6월 1일 두 번째 정규앨범 'TO DIE FOR' 발매 [공식]" [B.I to release his second full album 'To Die For' on June 1 [Official]]. Osen (in Korean). Retrieved May 1, 2023.
  3. ^ Yoon, So-yeon (June 1, 2023). "B.I's latest album 'To Die For' is ode to his passion and repentance". Korea JoongAng Daily. Retrieved June 1, 2023.
  4. ^ Jung, Han-byul (May 5, 2023). "빅나티·제시…비아이, '투 다이 포' 피처링 라인업 공개" [Big Naughty, Jessi... B.I reveals the featuring lineup for 'To Die For']. Hankook Ilbo (in Korean). Retrieved May 5, 2023.
  5. ^ Yeo, Gladys (May 5, 2023). "B.I's new album 'To Die For' to feature Jessi and BIG Naughty". NME. Retrieved May 5, 2023.
  6. ^ Song, Bong-suk (November 11, 2021). "[공식] 비아이(B.I), 하프 앨범 'COSMOS' 발매". Sports Kyunghyang (in Korean). Retrieved May 5, 2023.
  7. ^ Yoga, Alvin; GD (November 19, 2021). "B.I... is ready to reclaim his throne". Cosmopolitan Indonesia. Retrieved May 5, 2023.
  8. ^ Clark, Imogen (April 29, 2022). "Glass talks to South Korean musician B.I". Glass. Retrieved May 5, 2023.
  9. ^ Glasby, Taylor (May 19, 2022). "B.I Opens Up: K-pop Star Talks Love, Ambition and the Year That Nearly Broke Him". Billboard. Archived from the original on November 11, 2022. Retrieved May 5, 2023.
  10. ^ B.I (December 16, 2022). "(CC) Part.2 spoilers and WHO on B.I's phone?! — Datadrop — B.I". hello82 (Interview) (in Korean and English). Event occurs at 00:07. Archived from the original on December 19, 2022. Retrieved May 5, 2023 – via YouTube.
  11. ^ Ahn, Tae-hyun (February 3, 2023). "비아이, 131레이블 수장 자리 내려온다…음악 작업 집중" [B.I, stepping down as the head of 131 label...to focus on music work]. News1 (in Korean). Retrieved May 1, 2023.
  12. ^ 131 Official (May 2, 2023). "What's Hot in ( )? Notice". 131. Retrieved May 4, 2023.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  13. ^ Jang, Woo-young (May 3, 2023). "비아이, 컴백 전 게릴라 무대 뜬다…직접 전할 스포일러" [B.I to hold guerrilla stage before comeback... to personally reveal spoiler]. Osen (in Korean). Retrieved May 3, 2023.
  14. ^ To Die For Documentary Film #1 (in English and Korean). 131. June 14, 2023. Event occurs at 00:00. Retrieved July 4, 2023 – via YouTube. My new studio album is set to be released on June 1st. So I'd like to play its two title tracks for you for the very first time.
  15. ^ Hwang, Mi-hyun (May 8, 2023). "비아이, 더블 타이틀 곡으로 컴백…포스터 2종 공개 '아련+와일드'" ["B.I to make a comeback with a double title track... Two types of posters revealed 'Nostalgic+Wild'."]. News1 (in Korean). Retrieved May 10, 2023.
  16. ^ @tubeseoul (May 12, 2023). "@tubeseoul 23.05.12(Fri) Live B.I @shxxbi131". Retrieved May 16, 2023 – via Instagram.
  17. ^ Choi, Hye-jin (May 17, 2023). "비아이, '겁도 없이' 노래방 선공개..기습 라이브까지" [B.I, 'Dare to Love' karaoke pre-release... Even a surprise live performance]. Star News (in Korean). Retrieved May 17, 2023.
  18. ^ @131online (May 2, 2023). "Guerrilla Spoiler Stage 1st Lineup" (Tweet). Retrieved May 16, 2023 – via Twitter.
  19. ^ Jung, Han-byul (May 22, 2023). "비아이, 태국 콘서트 성료 "힘껏 날아오르겠다"" [B.I, completion of Thailand concert: "I will fly high with all my strength."]. Hankook Ilbo (in Korean). Retrieved May 22, 2023.
  20. ^ Choi, Jung-ah (May 29, 2023). "비아이, 정규 2집 신곡 9곡 숏폼 영상 제작 "청춘은 '하나의 장면'이란 생각"". Sports World (in Korean). Retrieved June 1, 2023.
  21. ^ Maeng, Sun-mi (June 1, 2023). "비아이, 1일 두 번째 정규앨범 'TO DIE FOR' 발매". BizEnter (in Korean). Retrieved June 1, 2023.
  22. ^ "Die for Love (feat. Jessi) – 100005014165". Korea Music Copyright Association. Retrieved June 2, 2023.
  23. ^ "Circle Album Chart – Week 24, 2023". Circle Chart (in Korean). Korea Music Content Association. June 11–17, 2023. Retrieved June 22, 2023.
  24. ^ "Circle Album Chart – June 2023". Circle Chart (in Korean). Retrieved July 6, 2023.
  25. ^ Kim, Minjeong (2022). To Die For (album booklet). B.I. 131.
[edit]
Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=To_Die_For_(B.I_album)&oldid=1236204629"