Rookie singer-songwriter Lee Mu-jin's 'Traffic Light,' hits No.1 rank in 3 months since release

연합뉴스 / 2021-08-09 11:54:28

▲ This photo, provided by the singer's agency ShowPlay Entertainment, shows singer Lee Mu-jin. (PHOTO NOT FOR SALE) (Yonhap)

▲ This image, provided by the singer's agency ShowPlay Entertainment, shows the cover of Lee Mu-jin's album "Traffic Light." (PHOTO NOT FOR SALE) (Yonhap)

SEOUL, Aug. 9 (Yonhap) -- Lee Mu-jin, a rookie singer-songwriter who strongly impressed the viewers through JTBC’s “Sing Again,” has hit 1st place on music streaming charts with his own song, “Traffic Light.”

The song recorded daily chart No.1 on Melon, South Korea’s biggest music streaming platform, on August 7th, beating MSG Wannabe’s “Foolish Love,” which has been on top rank since the end of June.

“Traffic Light” is still on 1st place, Monday, on Melon 24 Hits chart, which is updated every hour.

The song, released on May 14, has been steadily climbing up the chart.

On the release date, it entered Melon Chart ranking 110th place, but thanks to the young users of TikTok, a short clip sharing platform, it started gaining popularity. After elevating over 70 ranks for 2 months, “Traffic Light” has secured high ranks in July.

Lee, who has joined the ‘famous singers’ league winning 3rd place on “Sing Again,” has grown into an influential music producer with his hit song.

“Traffic Light,” Lee’s first production released after his participation in “Sing Again,” depicts youngsters who have just turned 20 as inexperienced drivers on the roads.

The lyrics, dubbed "Between the red and the blue/ 3 seconds, for that short time/ emitting yellow light/ the traffic light there/ empties my head,” is comparing their confusion to the yellow traffic light.

He has also been loved with his soulful vocal in “Rain and You”, the OST for tvN series “Hospital Playlist 2.” His recent song “The Assignment Song” has gained interest with its realistic portrayal of college students’ hardships.

Meanwhile, Melon announced reformation on its chart system ㅡ ’24 Hits’ chart will be changed into ‘top 100’ starting from the 9th.

’24 Hits’ ranked the songs by their accumulative streaming times during the last 24 hours. But the new chart will rank 50% based on the usage from the past 24 hours and 50% based on usage from the last one hour. Due to the reformation, the ranking is expected to be more fluctuative.

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