TOMORROW X TOGETHER Reflect on the ‘Sense of Pride’ Collaborating With Jonas Brothers for ‘Do It Like That’
TOMORROW X TOGETHER‘s highly anticipated entrance into the music industry in 2019 generated immense interest as the latest addition to the esteemed roster of Big Hit Entertainment (now BIGHIT MUSIC), whose strong music history was laid by pop icons BTS, influential singer-songwriter Lee Hyun and ballad-focused boy band 2AM.
Meanwhile, a cornerstone of TXT’s musical story has been the array of worldwide collaborators including global hip-hop stars (Coi Leray, iann dior, pH-1, Woodie Gochild), rising singer-songwriters (Salem Ilese, Seori, Lilas Ikuta), punk-rock icons (ModSun), EDM heavy-hitters (Alan Walker) and more. With TXT’s prime-for-pop-crossover smash “Do It Like That” alongside the Jonas Brothers, fans saw how the process goes beyond music.
Ahead of the July 7 release of “Do It Like That,” the K-pop stars shared a series of teaser videos to piece together their biggest Top 40 moment yet. Amid the U.S. leg of TXT’s Act: Sweet Mirage world tour, the quintet jetted off to meet OneRepublic frontman Ryan Tedder in the studio. While the super-producer behind multiple Hot 100 No. 1s already pumped some mainstream magic into the track, adding TXT’s Republic Records label mates in the JoBros expanded the song’s appeal to a broader generation of boy-band fans for maximum pop appeal.
With nearly 20 million views on YouTube since its release, the song is beginning to connect worldwide in its quest to become—as TXT’s eldest member Yeonjun describes it—”the perfect summer track” for 2023.
TOMORROW X TOGETHER’s Yeonjun, Soobin, Beomgyu, Taehyun and HueningKai‘s took a moment to delve into the collaboration with Billboard to share behind-the-scenes anecdotes, aspirations for the song, who would make the best TXT/JoBros sub-unit and the latest message to their fans, affectionately known as MOAs.
Billboard: Tell us more about how TOMORROW X TOGETHER and the Jonas Brothers came together for “Do It Like That.” Have you ever previously connected with Jonas Brothers, or was anyone a longtime fan?
YEONJUN: It was our first time meeting Jonas Brothers for this collaboration and I had personally been a fan of their music growing up and even practiced with their music as a trainee, so it felt surreal to be working with them. “Do It Like That” seemed like the perfect summer track and when Jonas Brothers also expressed their interest in the single, we met up in the States during the U.S. leg of our world tour in May to make this collaboration happen.
TOMORROW X TOGETHER has collaborated with several artists, but we got to see you meet, interact and record fun content before the song release. What was the vibe like? Any fun stories from the day?
TAEHYUN: From recording the track to shooting content, this collaboration was such a fun project. Jonas Brothers were even cooler in person and their friendliness helped us work together in a chill environment.
BEOMGYU: Jonas Brothers were incredibly welcoming from the moment we met. They were just as enthusiastic as we were about shooting content, which we really appreciated.
YEONJUN: We gifted Jonas Brothers our most recent album The Name Chapter: TEMPTATION! We shot a lot of content together, and I remember being pleasantly surprised by how good they were at filming TikTok videos.
Do you want fans to look out for anything specific in the music video?
HUENINGKAI: Viewers will be able to see how much fun we had on the set if they pay attention to TOMORROW X TOGETHER and Jonas Brothers’ facial expressions and gestures within the music video!
Fans loved Jonas Brothers’ sharing “concept photos” in the style of TOMORROW X TOGETHER on social media. Did you enjoy?
HUENINGKAI: We thought their concept photos turned out really well and felt a sense of pride seeing the positive reactions from fans.
In what ways do TXT and Jonas Brothers have similarities, and in what ways are they different?
TAEHYUN: I’d say TOMORROW X TOGETHER and Jonas Brothers are both artists who have a jam-packed discography with quality music. We, TOMORROW X TOGETHER, are not related by blood like Jonas Brothers, but the five of us are a band of brothers too and a family nonetheless.
What are your personal and professional goals with this single?
SOOBIN: It would be amazing to achieve good results on the Billboard charts with “Do It Like That,” but more importantly we hope that this single acts as a window for more people to discover TOMORROW X TOGETHER and get to know us.
Sometimes K-pop groups split into “sub-units” for certain performances or albums. What would be the best combination if one member of TXT and Jonas Brothers formed a duo?
BEOMGYU: I think HUENINGKAI and Nick Jonas would make the perfect duo because their vocals complement each other very well.
TOMORROW X TOGETHER has a lot of big things coming up: Headlining Lollapalooza 2023, a Disney+ documentary, of course this new single. What’s your message to fans as you roll it all out?
SOOBIN: We can’t spoil too much, but including our new single, we have a lot of exciting plans coming up for the rest of the year beyond what you mentioned. It’s a busy time for us, but we’re thankful and working hard to put our best foot forward for the many opportunities to meet our MOA. As always, we would appreciate our MOAs’ excitement and support every step of the way!
Jeff Benjamin
Billboard
