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Ateez announces summer release with Kim Jongkook, fans say K-pop legend has adopted boy group

Ateez reunites with first-gen legendary singer Kim Jongkook for their upcoming reality show and summer music release

Ateez may have debuted in 2018 but they’re already getting the recognition they deserve. From collaborating with iconic soloist Rain to being the only fourth-gen group to win on ‘Immortal Songs’ thrice, Ateez is making waves. While there is no official tally, many believe that they may also be the most played K-pop act at the Tokyo Olympics 2020. And now, their summer release will feature none other than the first-gen legend, Kim Jongkook.

The K-pop idol and actor actually debuted as part of Turbo in 1995. Jongkook went on to sell millions of albums and was one of the most popular singers at that time. He even won several prestigious awards at the likes of Golden Disk Award, MAMA and Seoul Music Awards. He is also the first male celebrity to win a Daesang (grand prize) in the K-pop industry, as well as in entertainment. Currently, he is known for being a regular cast member of the ongoing variety show ‘Running Man’. 

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Ateez and Kim Jongkook's collaboration

But this is not the first time that Ateez has collaborated with Jongkook. The boy group first performed his hit single ‘Black Cat Nero’ on the music competition ‘Immortal Songs’. The show features a legendary singer, and six to seven participants then perform their rendition of the featured singer’s iconic songs. The participants are all huge, popular artists from successful soloists to members of K-pop groups. Ateez appeared on this show four times and performed their versions of popular songs like Rain’s ‘It’s Raining’ and PSY’s ‘Right Now’. 

In 2020, ‘Immortal Songs’ reunited the members of Turbo -- Jongkook and Kim Jung-nam as they performed several of their hit songs. Then we had the participants take the stage with their reinterpretations of Turbo’s songs. Ateez was not afraid to take the dance-pop song ‘Black Cat Nero’ and add their intense trap sounds and fierce choreography which wowed everyone including Jongkook. They ended up getting their first win on the show with it. To celebrate the win they decided to drop a music video on Halloween that featured none other than Jongkook himself.

Release date

He is still active as a singer and released his single ‘Forget Me Not’ in 2020. But his first music project for 2021 will be the summer collaboration with Ateez. They will also have a special reality show for it where we will get to see the music-making process of the collaborative album. The project is titled ‘The Man Of The Pirate King’ and will air the first episode on August 11 at 7 pm KST (6 am ET) on Kakao TV.  The episodes will again air on 1theK’s Youtube channel starting from August 16 at 5 pm KST (4 am ET). The collaborative album titled 'Season Songs' will be released on August 16.

Watch Ateez’s ‘Black Cat Nero’ music video featuring Jongkook below.

'Always delivers'

One fan realized that Hongjoong had spoiled the collaboration days ago, “It wasn't just the word "바다", Hongjoong really gave out the whole "바다 보러 갈래?" && once this masterpiece comes out, we should also treat this as a comeback. AN OT8 COMEBACK WITH THE KIM JONG KOOK!” Another tweeted, “Ready for the ultimate summer song because ateez always delivers!” One tweeted, “Remember Mingi Looks Up to Kim Jongkook, he was the one who inspired Mingi to get into Singing. Mingi indeed is the luckiest fan!” Another tweeted, “Convinced that kim jongkook has officially adopted ateez.”