#triptych.disc

△ TRACK BY TRACK.

1] OH!

Seasoned Artychs might have been thrown for a loop upon hearing “Oh!” for the first time. The bubblegum-meets-synth pop track is catchy, memorable, and stands out among Triptych’s discography as a whole.

None of the members can be credited for the writing of this song, but member and subgroup leader, One, had helped with the choreography.

2] COFFEE 3] FIRST DATE 4] KISSES 5] L-O-V-E 6] HOLD MY HAND

△ THIS ERA. 

This comeback was actually pushed forward because of the stalking scandal involving Jin of Triptych’s Trois. The company was hoping to distract fans (and the general public) by throwing three shiny new members in their faces.

And it actually worked. Triplex’s debut was controversial among fans and casual listeners, especially with the stark difference in concept & sound. 

Some older Artychs criticized HBH for being sell outs and trying to cater to younger audiences with Triplex.

But despite the few disapproving fans, Triplex was actually very popular domestically and became one of the most popular sub-groups of Triptych in Korea. 

Their title track, Oh!, went viral because of the chorus’s choreography, which was created by One herself. Oh! became a popular choice for dance covers online as well as by idols on variety shows.

However, Triplex had to be very careful this era. Usually, HBH is pretty lenient on what their idols do in the public eye, but after what happened with Soojin... They didn’t want to risk anyone getting hurt or involved in anymore drama. 

So the members of Triplex had to sneak around if they wanted to form any sort of relationships outside of Triptych... which lead to the trio frequently escaping their dorms to go hang out with their new friends that they’ve made during promotions.

But in general the era was very successful and boosted the morale. 

△ FANDOM BEHAVIORS.

One of the biggest reasons behind the surge of fans this era was because Sun and One were previously contestants on Produce 101, finishing at ranks 14 and 19 respectively. 

People who hadn’t heard from One or Sun since their run on the survival show took interest in where they ended up. The phrase “Kang Sunhee” started trending on twitter upon her debut announcement. 

Fans generally had a positive response to the kiddos and were really excited to welcome their new maknaes...

TRACK LIST.

1] EGOIST

The title track is an EDM influenced song that focuses on self love. TROIS wanted a confident and meaningful debut song that encourages others to love themselves.

The choreography for this song was completely designed by Hyo and Ame.

The song was written by all three girls.

2] ME, MYSELF, AND I

3] STRENGTH

4] DUST OFF

5] POWER MOVES

6] IN AWE

THIS ERA.

Yay! Gen2 is here! And they certainly were gaining attention.

Their debut album hit number 1 on Melon and Bugs as well as peaking at number 3 on Billboard’s World Wide chart. Easily the best a Triptych debut has ever done.

Hyo was praised by kpop fans for her rapping ability and became a very popular member of Triptych right off the bat.

Ame was also noticed for her singing voice and ‘pure’ visuals, which stood out against Triptych’s usual ‘cool’ visuals.

Jin also gained a lot of attention for her vocals, but people were quick to criticize her dancing ability, as it clearly lacked compared to Hyo and Ame.

When TROIS started showing up on episodes of Triptych TV, it was like watching two parallel universes meet. 

Since Gen 1 was on break, S.O.T members would occasionally stop by music shows to support their new teammates, which was always heartwarming to experience.

Hyo finally was added to the ‘97 liner group chat after pestering her old friend GOT7′s BamBam for months. 

Even though lots of good things happened this era... what comes up must come down.

There was a saesang who would follow Jin around and would send creepy letters and stuff to her. At one point, he got a hold of her landline number and cellphone number and used that to track her. 

Jin was pulled from the last week of promotions due to the company worrying about her safety while they tracked down who the saesang was and dealt with damage control.

Eventually, they were able to catch him, but by the time they did that, The Self promotions had ended. 

FANDOM BEHAVIORS.

Okay well... let’s start off on the positives!

Artychs were absolutely pumped for TROIS’ debut. The HBH Trainees project group, ECHO, was pretty popular and TROIS consisted of three of the most popular trainees from that group.

A ton, and I mean A LOT of new fans joined this era. The fanbase seemed to have nearly doubled in size. 

However... There was a bit of a scandal involving Jin towards the end of their debut promotions. 

△ TRACK BY TRACK. 

1] B.A.D

Intro song that has layered voice recordings of them when they were trainees

Their project group when they were trainees was called “B.A.D”, so they figured their first 100% self-produced comeback should start with a tribute to those three daydreamers back in the practice room. 

2] OMG

This comebacks title track is about flaunting who you are and being confident in yourself.

They were going to change up their concept to a more softer and feminine one this comeback, but they think that confidence is one of the most important things to have so they kept it up with this track.

The choreography was designed by Yen herself.

3] BYE BYE

Say “bye-bye” to all your worries with this song!

S.O.T wants people to acknowledge the bad things that happen to them, but find strength within them to say goodbye with those feelings

A comfort song you can bop to.

4] ROYAL

They are the queens and they want you to remember that, but they also want you as the listener to feel empowered too.

So far this is the most rap-heavy song on the mini album. Zim really got to shine on this track. 

This song almost became the title track, but the girls decided against it. They wanted this to be that b-side that people raved about and brought attention to (and it worked)

5] FOREVER

For the first time in history, S.O.T sang a ballad. Up until POSE era, Nia was the only one who was really super confident in her vocals, but after getting more and more practice, Yen and Zim became really good vocalists as well. 

Zim still sort of sang-rapped, but she still was much more on-key than she’s ever been.

Yen was able to hit this crazy high note which finally got people to recognize her for more than her dancing ability. 

6] MY LOVE 

The mini album closes out with the sentimental yet upbeat and groovy ode to fans. 

Even though Artychs can be absolutely whack sometimes, S.O.T still appreciates everything they’ve done for them and all the support they have given.

‘My Love’ is a small gesture in response to everything Artych has helped them accomplished over the past two years. 

△ THIS ERA.

If we’re being dead honest, POSE was really just a promotional era for Triptych as a whole. TYH won a few rookie awards last year and this year they’re emerging from their rookie phase. HBH wanted to showcase their talents one more time before the... bigger... project at the end of the year.

So POSE was a little rushed and was a little short. However, the girls still had a lot of fun. 

This was their first album that they’ve self-produced and they couldn’t be happier to showcase it.

They had more idol friends in the industry now, so promotions didn’t feel like all work and no play. 

S.O.T was now invited onto more variety shows. They went on Weekly Idol one week and even though you could see how much Yen didn’t like Doni or Coni, they still had a decent time.

Nia and Johnny from NCT are on Lipstick Prince together.

Their friendship with Monsta X only deepens. Nia, Shownu and Wonho are seen getting breakfast together one day. Jooheon and Zim are seen interacting with each other at music shows, etc.

Towards the end of promotions, Jooheon and Zim are like... in a flirtation-ship. 

Yen is officially dating Changkyun by this point which causes some... problems. Yen starts neglecting her practices and stuff to hang out with Changkyun. Not only does this upset Zim and Nia, but it hurts Asa as well. 

△ FANDOM BEHAVIORS.

So like. Artychs sometimes don’t get along well, but it’s mostly Tromme and S.O.T stans who beef. This comeback there seemed to be more support coming from Tromme stans but S.O.T stans were still skeptical.

Accounts like TYH_UPDATES became a huge streaming/chart info account, which didn’t really exist prior to this era.

Artychs were obsessed with this one fancam of Zim and it went viral. Like everyone was spamming it under people’s anti-tweets it was barbaric. 

There was actually very few external fanwars this era? Leggos and Artychs worked together to stream which was really cute and heartwarming.

△ TRACK BY TRACK.

1 ] LA LA LA 

The leading title track of this album and also the first song they had ever made as OT9. The song is light-hearted and easy to dance to with no super deep meaning! 

Triptych wanted their first single as nine to represent their vibe as a generation, and this upbeat song with slightly goofy lyrics makes a perfect statement to them as artists and individuals.

Written by members Teo, Nia, Yen, and Ura. 

2 ]  TURN UP

After that fun-loving title track, Triptych brings in their more identifiable ‘edgy’ energy back with this hip-hop influenced track with the roster being made up of Triptych’s rappers (members Zim, Eli, Asa, Cal, Van and Ura.)

Turn Up is a hype song meant to excite listeners. Much like LA LA LA, the supergroup stayed away from deep topics this era.

Written by Zim, Eli, Asa, Cal, Van and Ura.

3 ] SO GOOD

The third track on this EP has claimed the throne as the ultimate self-hype song. With the intent to empower their listeners, Triptych’s vocalists take to the mic to deliver a song that will make listeners feel unstoppable. 

The members that participated in this track are Nia, Yen, Zim, Teo, Ura and Van made an appearance at the bridge.

Written by  Teo, Nia, Zim, Ura and Van

4 ] TRUE

This is the first song on the EP that has actual sentimental meaning. This song is dedicated to Triptych’s supporters, Artych, who have shown so much support over the last year and have brought the co-ed group to great heights.

All 9 members feature on this track to bring a sentimental twist to the track list.

Written by Teo, Eli, Van and Nia

5 ] FULL MOON

The last new song on the EP is also sentimental, as it talks about how the nine members of Triptych will always stick together, no matter what happens. Even though Triptych’s lineup is always expanding, this song promises not to loose sight of what matters to them the most: their friendship.

Written by Teo, Van, and Eli

△ THIS ERA.

This era was really fun to experience if you were an Artych. It was so weird for them to see all 9 members promoting and performing together, but it also felt like Gen 1 was finally complete. 

LA LA LA, their title track, won them 5 consecutive wins on MCountdown, Inkigayo and The Show, breaking their record of having 3 consecutive wins (S.O.T debut)

EXHIBIT A charted on Billboard World Albums chart at number 40.

EXHIBIT A charted number 13 on Gaon Album Chart.

LA LA LA was number one on Melon for two weeks.

LA LA LA was also nominated for song of the year due to the popularity of the song but unfortunately did not win.

Triptych won the new artist of the year award at the 2016 Gaon Music Awards next to Blackpink and NCT127.

They also got to perform at MAMA 2016 as OT9.

Exhibit A was released around the time of NCT’s debut and almost instantly fans started drawing comparisons between Triptych and NCT. 

Triptych tried their best to show support to NCT when they could, because they understood how damaging comparison could be. This sort of sparked the “Triptych and NCT are cousins” inside joke that NCTzens and Artychs seemed to share. 

And this joke kinda wasn’t just for giggles? NCT and Triptych had a LOT of interactions this era. Eli and Taeyong became close this era and Yen started being more expressive with her friendship with NCT’s Yuta, Doyoung, and WinWin. 

The Tribong was released this comeback as well! The lightstick is a really basic design (a three-sided pyramid in a clear dome with a black or white base). Fans were kinda like “wtf is this” because there were so many unique fan-made designs and the official design was just... ugly. 

△ FANDOM BEHAVIORS.

Artychs were kinda going crazy this era and their size nearly doubled.

Triptych hit instant success with this EP and it was starting to become really popular, which kind of went to Artychs head a little bit. 

At the very start of the era, Artychs and NCTzens had a bit of beef due to the groups similarities.

However, these interactions became much friendlier after Triptych and NCT were seen being all friendly with one another.

A new wave of asayen moments were delivered so for the first time the phrase ‘asayen’ started TRENDING ON TWITTER. THE EMBARRASSMENT, LUV.

△ TRACK BY TRACK.

1] HOT SUMMER

Even though Trivium had a slight change in concept this summer, it doesn’t mean they’ve lost their sound. 

The title track is an upbeat hip hop beat with lyrics that can make anyone long for long summer days with friends.

Written by all three members.

2] GUCCI

Ever feel like a million bucks? This song embodies that feeling.

A very rap-heavy track that highlights all three of the member’s rap techniques.

Written by all three members.

3] BABY BOY

About having a crush on a boy who shines brighter than the sun! :) 

There was some backlash for having Van and Cal rap on this track but they just wanted a versitle love song for their fans to relate to. Nothing too deep here, just Trivium making everyone feel included.

Written by Ura and Van

4] LOVERS

Got that one special person that you can’t stop imagining having a summer romance with? This is the song for you. 

They wanted a song that embodied young summer love. And they did a damn good job at it. This is a very popular b-side track and was promoted alongside the title.

Written by all three. 

5] BABY GIRL

Much like “BABY BOY”, this song is about falling in love with a girl who is more precious than a field of daisies. 

Again, Ura being on the track raised some eyebrows, but the reasoning was the same as before: Trivium just wants everyone to have a love song they can relate to. 

Written by Cal and Ura

6] RUMORS

I mean, they needed at least one edgy track. RUMORS is a fast-paced track that takes a jab at critics and haters alike. 

Member Ura has received quite the bit of criticism since her debut, and this is her formal statement addressing all the rumors and talk about her. 

Written by Ura.

△ THIS ERA.

Well, this promotional period was actually pretty relaxed for once. 

DEEP END did well in sales and charting, so Trivium didn’t really need to stress out too badly about the success of their comeback.

Plus, they had a lot of fun exploring their more relaxed and fun side through summery-themed stages and songs.

For once, Ura grew her hair out and dyed it blonde which stunned a lot of people, especially because she’s always had it cropped short and jet black.

Van dyed his hair a caramel color and got a perm that was actually really cute. He wore a lot of hats this era though. 

Cal got an undercut and fans went absolutely animalistic it was actually frightening. 

Their promotional schedule overlapped with VAV’s schedule and the two Vans finally got to meet! Because of their time together, VAV and Trivium became acquainted.

It also overlapped with Red Velvet’s comeback and not only was Van caught dancing to “Red Flavor” more times than he’d like, but Cal and Yeri started talking and became friends. 

Basically, this is the most social Trivium has ever been! 

Behind the scenes, the members were also getting kinda busy with dating.

Cal and Rose had a very secret, very non-committal friends-with-benefits thing going on. 

Ura was also not-dating, but kind-of-dating Kun from NCT since they managed to get in contact with each other again after being broken apart at Yen’s party over a year ago.

Van wasn’t really dating or crushing on anyone. He’s been chilling. I guess that’s refreshing.

△ FANDOM BEHAVIORS

Artychs were so happy that Trivium was ACTUALLY making friends that any time Trivium would breathe near another idol, they would gush about it.

The vibes were just... immaculate this era. 

Artychs started decorating their lightsticks this era like Carats and Monbebes started to do! Most of them were creative and cute but others were just uncomfortable like someone put tiny plastic babies in their tribong like-

The only issues this time around were shipping wars involving poor Calvin. It was Yeri x Cal stans versus Cal x Yen stans.

△ TRACK BY TRACK.

1] ME

Being in the spotlight means that the boys have frequently adjusted their true personalities to appease others. 

This song states the importance of being true to oneself and letting your true colors show.

Written by Eli and Teo.

2] WALK

Sometimes when things get too much, a nice long walk to clear your mind is just the right thing. Tromme stresses the importance of taking time for yourself in this song.

The goal for this song was to make listeners feel rejuvenated and stable, like how one would feel after taking a break for themselves. 

Written by all three members. 

3] NIGHTMARES

The title track is a very honest and raw look into Tromme’s personal mental health. The song talks about the things that scare them and evoke anxiety to them. 

This song was chosen because even though it’s a very personal statement, they wanted others to listen to the lyrics and feel less alone in their struggles. 

Written by all three members. 

4] BY YOUR SIDE

The boys go for a slower rnb sound for this track, getting a little sentimental with their fan base.

Even though Tromme’s fans are not in their life personally, this song expresses how Tromme can heal Artychs through music. 

Written by Teo.

5] BEST FRIEND

It wouldn’t be a Tromme album without a cute love song. This song is pretty straight forward. It’s all about falling in love with your best friend.

This is easily the most pop-influenced song that Tromme has released, but it’s an easy track to listen to and it became the most popular b-track.

Written by Teo and Asa.

6] HEART TO HEART

Tromme are as close as brothers and they certainly wouldn’t have made it this far without each other there for support.

The song is meant to normalize men being vulnerable with each other. Nothing wrong with telling the homies you love them.

Written by all three.

△ THIS ERA.

It may come as a shock to some, but Tromme was actually the least popular subunit prior to this mini album. 

Putting this slightly controversial album out was kind of a leap of faith for Tromme, but they couldn’t be happier with the result. 

This era really bonded the boys together. Eli and Teo started being more honest about their anxiety and not shrugging it off like they used to. 

Asa, who has never experienced anxiety or any other mental health set backs, learned a lot this era from his group mates. Fans could tell he was starting to mature more this era and he started being a little more patient and understanding. 

So all around healthy growth! 

Since “Pressure” did really well in sales, Tromme and HBH Entertainment donated a good chunk of their funds to different mental health organizations in Korea. 

The boys actually went on Hello Counselor as guests for their promotions and made their episode the only watchable episode in the whole damn series. 

Tromme was really serious about raising mental health awareness not just in young men but in young people in general.

△ FANDOM BEHAVIORS.

Artychs actually started being so much nicer to each other? Like since Tromme was preaching about mental health awareness, Artychs realized that they can be really mean online lmao

A lot of fans took part in #ArtychsAreBrave, a hashtag that Artychs trended to share personal health stories and show support to one another. 

Tromme started getting more fanboys this era? Probably because their lyrics were more relatable to young men this time around. 

Accounts with big followings even pitched in and raised money to send to different mental health organizations across the globe. 

So basically, Artychs weren’t being useless for once! 

△ TRACK BY TRACK.

1] SIMON SAYS

Since their trainee days, the boys had a specific message that they wanted to get across from the moment they debuted. They really wanted to challenge society and the concept of masculinity, so they figured their debut song would be about how everyone is controlled, hoping that it would wake people up.

Written by all three boys.

Line distribution can be found here.

2] REAL MEN

The boys really went through a phase of questioning what masculinity really meant. They realized that as they were growing up, they were surrounded by hyper-masculine ideals and standards

SO they decided to use their voice to express what being a real man meant to them in this song. Mocks a lot of gender stereotypes through lyrics. They were criticized pretty heavily for this one.

Written by all three members.

3] LIPS

This song is really just about staring at your crushes lips and wanting to kiss them. There’s really no deep meaning here. Gender neutral so anyone can relate tho!! And alludes to the power of ~consent~

The first two songs were very heavy and opinionated and the boys are still young. They wanted to just have ONE thirst song okay??? LET THEM LIVE.

Written by Teo and Asa

4] RUN IT

Another song that’s just for fun. About working hard to get where you wanna be in the world. If you wanna be something, work for it. Know that TROMME is in your corner and they believe in you AND your dreams!

Honestly they just wanna be supportive. Like they know what it’s like to have your dreams be criticized by others. They want Artychs to feel like they have the power to take charge of their life.

Written by Teo and Eli.

5] POLAROID

Reflecting on their trainee days and predebut moments, TROMME gets a little sentimental on this chill RnB track. They just wanna remember their roots and where they came from with this song.

The music video featured S.O.T and other old videos from their trainee days. Good times and good memories, you know?

Written by all three members

6] SAY IT

All about learning how to speak your mind. They really want people to start standing up against injustices that they see in everyday life. 

Discuss a lot of things like bullying and harassment, sexism and racism, and about how being silent on something means that you are taking the side of the oppressor. All bottled up in a dance-able track! 

Written by all three members.

△ THIS ERA.

We got center Eli this era, which will lowkey be the last time he’s truly center because he realized that it’s too much being both a leader and a center position.

Despite Eli being center... Teo had a viral fancam which was like... the first time a Triptych member got a ton of attention from a fandom that wasn’t artych.

The fanbase was super prepared for TROMME’s debut, so they were able to pull 8.5 million views in the first 24 hours! Which is! Crazy! Do these fans even sleep??

Because of the dedicated streaming and voting, TROMME won 3 music show awards over the course of their promotional period. 

PART TWO peaked at #5 on Melon, which was huge.

The Triptych TV episode where S.O.T and TROMME were reunited after being debuted idols? Everyone teared up a little.

They got a music video for their B-Side song “POLAROID” which they got to film and direct all on their own in 100 hours (it was on an episode of Triptych TV). 

“POLAROID” became a fan favorite, especially because the boys added footage in from their trainee days and S.O.T was in the video as well. 

This was the era where Eli was outed as a BTS fanboy and the fandom lowkey thought it was so funny because it explained why Eli was bowing at like a 95 degree angle when he interacted with BTS at music shows and stuff.

A ton of memes were birthed from this era because TROMME are reaction KINGS. They all don’t have a poker face, so their facial reactions are relatable and raw. 

Which means it was really obvious to fans that Asa and Teo weren’t getting along. Better known as The InHiko Fight of 2k15.

Basically, they were caught giving each other the stink eye as they walked towards their managers car after a schedule. Asa rushed ahead so he could get into the car before Teo. No one knows why they were fighting... but TROMME does.

Basically, Asa was a little shit this era. He really had no faith in Eli or his leadership skills. Teo defended Eli and Asa was like “damn this bitches are conspiring against me!!” so there was a lot of unnecessary tension. It all got cleared up, just like how S.O.T’s tension cleared up, but towards the end of their promotions, things were a little awkward.

△ ERA FASHION.

Back at it with the color-coded fits!!

Yes, primary colors were still mandatory for stage outfits.

And does HBH have a sponsorship deal with Doc Martens? Because that’s all Triptych seems to wear. 

Their debut outfits were... ugly. They wore them a couple of times and people were like “jesus christ, can they PLEASE stop wearing that!” 

But also they’re iconic in the way that NCT’s Cherry Bomb outfits are iconic. You’ll never get the image of TROMME dancing around like Crayola factory workers out of your brain. 

The boys wore women’s blouses to award shows all the time. They legit don’t care. “Clothing is clothing.” - Eli, 2015.

Hair:

Eli had curly light brown hair.

Teo had a black undercut sjkdsg this is why bitches be feral.

Asa had black hair that was pretty long, like not to his shoulders but like,,, below his jaw im bad at describing hair  

△ FANDOM BEHAVIORS.

Maybe it’s because a good chunk of the fanbase is made up of straight women, but Artychs started going absolutely feral or maybe it’s because Asa and Zim’s combined feral energy started rubbing off on them

Artychs literally forgot how to act this era. They started being so thirsty it was like “woah, what happened to the sweet artychs that treated S.O.T like queens?” 

They lowkey sexualized TROMME so much it was gross. Like the boys are out here trying to stop toxic masculinity and you’re making thirst trap vine edits of them? 

TROMME stans started beefing with S.O.T stans. The fandom was too busy fighting each other to really have any other outside beef.