Your Next Favorite Kpop Producer: Baskin Robbins

There’s a new producer in Kpop about to blow up. He's already worked with some of the biggest names in Kpop, but hasn't gotten the recognition he deserves. Until now.

Baskin Robbins began his career by producing some short beats and sample tracks for various artists. Although he gained invaluable experience working with some of the biggest names in Kpop, including Big Bang and 2PM, Baskin Robbins was rarely acknowledged for his work. More recently, people are starting to take notice.

In 2014, Baskin Robbins produced the breakout single for Orange Caramel, “Abing Abing.” The song saw immediate success, jumping to number 18 on the Gaon charts and racking up millions of views for the music video. The song was so popular, Orange Caramel released solo versions of the MV for all three members, with many fans claiming it to be the song of the summer.

So far, 2015 has been an even bigger year for Baskin Robbins. Working with SM rookies, Red Velvet, Baskin Robbins produced the smash hit, “Ice Cream Cake,” that peaked at number 4 on the Gaon charts and number 3 on the US World Billboard charts. Due in large part to the success of “Ice Cream Cake,” Red Velvet saw their album propel to the top spot on the Gaon only seven months after their debut. “Ice Cream Cake” would also bring six music program awards, 15 million (and counting) YouTube hits, and the first true recognition for the talented producer.

Things we're always so sweet for Baskin Robbins, however. Rumors have begun surfacing recently of a 2012 project between HyunA, Psy, and the young producer that had soured following a disagreement over the direction of the song. According to sources close to HyunA, the contract was terminated, and the song was released after heavy modifications. You can still spot Baskin Robbins’ influence in the track, but only as a dull imitation of what it could have been.

Not three years later, as we enter the summer months of 2015, Baskin Robbins is the name on every tongue. Fans of Exo have recently spotted group members spending time with the producer, visiting the local movie theater and indulging in some frozen treats. Whether this is a budding friendship or the start of a professional relationship, we'll have to wait and see. Don't bet against a summer collaboration.

Other popular Kpop artists such as f(x) and SHINee are also reported to be scrambling to book studio time with Baskin Robbins, leading many to speculate that it is only a matter of time before the next hit single with Baskin Robbins' signature flavor is released. It's safe to say that you can expect to see (and hear) much more from Baskin Robbins before the year is over.


Zander Stachniak is a southern-born, Chicago-based writer who first discovered Kpop through ShoutCast Radio. His biases are f(x) and Block B.

BIG BANG™: The Real Kpop Taste, Without The Real Kpop Guilt

Are you tired of unfulfilled promises of Everlasting Friends that feels more like Sometimes Lasting “Friends”? How about all the confusion about the dubious and fluctuating number of members in your Kpop group? Is it 14? 25? 200? Sounds like a case of We Are ONE ... too many! Let’s not forget those groups that seem to be doomed to permanently break societal norms of politeness. Sometimes, it may just make you Wanna B an anti-fan!

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Let these five Bad Boys croon you with their unique brand of pop music that you've probably never heard before, all the while taking over the world one American-owned international corporation television program at a time!

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'Into You' Proves that Hyoseong is the Nation's Crazy Ex-Girlfriend

Hyoseong has finally proved it with "Into You." She's the quintessential crazy ex-girlfriend of Kpop. Hear me out. This is not a slur. Somehow or another, Korea has a way of defining (crowning) their most popular idols in affectionately hyperbolic terms. Women like Hyori and HyunA have been referred to as "Queens," while miss A's Suzy is the "Nation's First Love" and IU the "Nation's Little Sister." If we think of Hyoseong in these terms, the choice is clear. There can be no other title. She is the Nation's Crazy Ex-Girlfriend. 

Beware.

She was out of their league and the Nation knew it from the start. Years after their short but intense relationship, one of the Nation's friends will see old pictures of them together on Facebook (the Nation doesn't have the heart to take them down), and they'll ask, "You got with her?"

"Oh, yes," the Nation will say, with a touch of the same sadness that always follows them. "Her." They'll remember the good times. When just a gift could make her swoon.

Or the times they spent near the ocean, where they would pretend to be stranded, just the Nation and her (and her strangely clingy friends). The Nation will want to forget those wonderful times.

Things ran hot for a while, the Nation will recall, but, eventually, Hyoseong's strange politics and seeming disloyalty to her friends gave the Nation pause. Hyoseong wanted total devotion and time and that's something the Nation, ultimately, couldn't give. They weren't even surprised when Hyoseong called things off, via text message, just three months in. And then she said, no, let's stay together, no, let's break up. No, I don't know. Before, finally, mercifully, she ended things. But that's not what haunts the Nation. It was what happened after the breakup that forever scars them, forever giving her the title as the Nation's Crazy Ex-Girlfriend.

Let's just say she took the breakup hard.

Hyoseong is a certain type of ex-girlfriend that encompasses all certain types of ex-girlfriends.

Hyoseong is the type of ex-girlfriend that will come to the Nation's office, out of the blue, in the sexiest little red dress the Nation has ever seen and regale them with her current crimes and misdemeanors. And then right when the Nation thinks they've got her back, even against their best interests, she f*cking poisons them.

Hyoseong is the crazy ex-girlfriend that comes to the Nation's f*cking wedding (was she even invited?) just to show the Nation what they're really missing. She'll even joke with the Nation's bride just to see the Nation sweat. Then, right when the Nation thinks the humiliation is over, Hyoseong here gives back that rare diamond the Nation gave her (at great expense) on this, the Nation's wedding day of all days because Hyoseong wants the Nation to know she just doesn't give a f*ck.

And then Hyoseong will smile just thinking about that. That's the type of ex-girlfriend Hyoseong is. You know what I'm talking about. That goodnight kiss is the kiss of death.

The Nation will remember that she's getting therapy. But they're not so sure it's helping. They know that she has two sides raging madly beneath her like a d*mn Scorpio with Scorpio ascendant. Then the Nation finds out later that Hyoseong is just seeing herself, that she thinks she's good enough at therapy already to give herself therapy, 100 bucks an hour, and the Nation will finally realize how bat-sh*t crazy this girl, this adult woman, really is.

With "Into You" Hyoseong plays the type (we've all had/will have this type of ex) once again. Underneath the cheesecake and sweet smiles, there's something foreboding and wistful with the videotapes of Hyoseong being viewed in a dark, grimy room, as if a damaged, emotionally hollow Nation is trying to relive a former, elusive magic.

Hyoseong has done a number on them, as she will with any Nation that has fallen under her voluptuous charms.

So when the Nation's friend ask, "You got with her?" The Nation will instinctively think: She's the one that got away. And then the Nation will remember everything they've been through with Hyoseong and think: Thank God. 

Timothy Moore writes from Chicago. He blogs at Read My Blog Please, and edits at Ghost Ocean Magazine. His biases are T-ara, Block B, Nine Muses, Brown Eyed Girls, and Girl's Day.