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For SM Entertainment's artists, Lee Soo Man is often seen as a great music producer instead of just a boss holding the right to run the company. He is one of the pioneers in shaping the K-Pop industry, creating trends and concepts, starting with the first generation of K-Pop artists, including H.O.T, Shinhwa and BoA. Lee Soo Man has always been the one who knows what the K-Pop industry needs, and for that reason, if a song is made by him, that song is definitely a hit.
Recently, netizens listed 4 SM's title tracks that Lee Soo Man directly handled, all of which later became massive hits. Netizens believe that Lee Soo Man's enthusiasm and vision for these 4 songs have made them unique, different and outstanding in the K-Pop scene.
'DANGER' - f(x)
During their heyday, f(x) was always known as the most distinguished group that brought different songs and created trends. In 2011, the song 'Pinocchio (Danger)' was released and conquered the public by its ahead-of-its-time catchy electronic/pop sounds. The truth is, when Lee Soo Man first heard the demo of the song, he thought it needed some changes to better fit the girls' musical styles. During the editing process, Lee Soo Man changed the title, rewrote the lyrics, changed the tone and finally invested in the choreography. In the end, what we got is a 'Danger' that was 9 years old but is still not outdated to this day.
'SHERLOCK' - SHINee
When SHINee was preparing for a comeback in 2012, producers and musicians had hundreds of different options for the title track. In the end, 'Sherlock' was selected and the most special thing is that it was a remix of the two b-side songs of the album, 'Clue' and 'Note'. A title song being a combination of 2 b-side songs is a rare case, whether at that time or now. Lee Soo Man himself made the decision to mix these 2 songs, which later became one of SHINee's most addictive and successful songs. Even Billboard praised 'Sherlock' for overcoming the usual limits of K-Pop.
'RED FLAVOR' - RED VELVET
'Red Flavor' is the title track of the album 'The Red Summer' released by Red Velvet in 2017. This is one of the most successful songs of Red Velvet's career and this achievement is thanks to Lee Soo Man's hard work. Member Joy recounted, 'The group happened to meet Lee at a dinner in SM. Here, Lee said he put in a lot of effort to perfect this music product. The manager then told us that Lee changed the lyrics, melody, sound, and even the choreography to make everything as perfect as possible." As a result, 'Red Flavor' has reaped a number of achievements in South Korea, becoming the longest-standing single by a girl group on the Gaon digital chart.
'CALL ME BABY' - EXO
When the boys made their comeback with the album 'EXODUS' in 2015, it was expected that EXO's title track would be the song of the same name 'EXODUS'. The music video for 'EXODUS' was even filmed overseas, but everything was changed by a decision of Lee Soo Man. He said that choosing 'Call Me Baby' as the title track would suit the concept and style of this comeback more. After its release, this song immediately swept the domestic and foreign charts. It has won 18 No.1 on Korean music shows and is the song with the third most No.1 on music shows ever.
It can be seen that thanks to Lee Soo Man's 'magic hand', these 4 songs not only became hits but also created the trends for the K-Pop industry. Below this topic, Knet has constantly praised Lee for his dedication and vision. They said that without Lee Soo Man's influences, these songs would most likely have lost their originality.
Some top comments read:
- "I really had goosebumps. I can't help but acknowledge the success of these 4 songs. Hopefully, Lee Soo Man will continue to contribute to K-Pop with such quality products. He has worked hard."
- "To be honest, combining 2 b-side songs to create 'Sherlock' is a thing that no one can ever imagine! I find this song extremely cool even now."
- "He is a genius, THE genius."
- "Lee Soo Man's vision is really great."
- "A lot of people listening to 'Sherlock' didn't even realize that it was a remix of 'Clue' and 'Note' from the same album. I was shocked to find out about it!"
- "Wow, of all the title tracks by EXO, I like 'Call Me Baby' the most."
- "Legend. I have always thought that Lee Soo Man is a pioneer in creating trends in the K-Pop industry."
- "Lee Soo Man is a true genius!! How could he think of combining 2 songs and creating 'Sherlock'?!!!"
