The music video for “Love 119” begins with a radio broadcast reporting a satellite launch, followed by an unidentified text message popping up on the cell phone of RIIZE member SOHEE, who was sleeping in. Alongside the prophecy of love from the unknown, a ping-pong ball accidentally flicks off the radio, and amidst some static noise, a familiar Korean pop song from the past starts playing. The piano instrumental from the band izi’s “Emergency Room” featured in the KBS drama “Sassy Girl Chun-hyang” aired in 2005 serves as the basis for “Love 119,” suggesting that this song is a musical time machine, with its destination set in the 2000s.

RIIZE’s first digital single in 2024 is a combination of nostalgia and reminiscence. Let’s first take a look at nostalgia, a sense of yearning for irreversible moments in time. The generation that would best relate to and understand “Love 119” is those who spent their teens or twenties in the 2000s. Those who used to sing “Emergency Room” with their friends in the karaoke under the orange lights and disco ball, similar to the setting where the members in the video are hanging out, can still sing this song with confidence wherever they are, even now that they’ve all grown up. It’s the generation that would watch the RIIZE music video featuring all the members as actors and easily recall Cho Sung Mo’s “To Heaven” music video from the late 1990s, along with the “dramatized” genre that once dominated the Korean pop music market in the early 21st century. They grew up as fans of Asia’s school life dramas, as referenced in the video. The setting of the music video, a subway station in Japan, and the braun tube TV featured as a prop, serve as evidence of a nostalgic past. The song’s direction becomes even clearer on their comeback stage at Mnet’s “M Countdown” on January 11. The smartphone screen that RIIZE members look into displays the UI of mobile phones from the 2000s, and the background music, sourced from the micro-blog service Cyworld Minihompy, popular in Korea at the time, opens the song. The intention is clear.

Why did SM Entertainment’s newest boy band choose a retro style for their third single? One could cite the resurgence of Y2K and ‘00s trends that started during the pandemic, both of which have now settled well into our conscience, as the reason. Some might think back to NewJeans’ “Ditto” and its time-travel-themed music video featuring a VHS camcorder, featuring a fictional third-person perspective. But the concept of “Love 119” wasn’t created by coincidence or for a one-time occurrence. Considering RIIZE’s musical journey and their strong inherent retro-sentiment, it seems inevitable that this song would have emerged to transport listeners back to the 2000s. It reminds us of NCT DREAM bringing back H.O.T.’s “Candy” and aespa, from the heart of the wilderness, singing S.E.S.’s “Dreams Come True”. However, there’s a reason they chose to sample rather than remake—why they opted for a song that competed with the aforementioned hits released, instead of selecting a song by their predecessors.

RIIZE reaches beyond the sentimental nostalgia in the temporal sense, placing the nostalgia for their hometown, which they’ve left behind, at the heart of their concept. Their footsteps, directed away from the new world of SM Culture Universe, move towards the revival and renaissance of SM Entertainment in the mid-to-late 2000s. Let’s take a look backward. The warm producing style of “Love 119” follows the mood of EXO’s winter special album Miracles in December and SMTOWN’s winter album in the 2000s, both of which exude a temperate aura. The close-up shots of their faces against a colorful background filled with neon-signs in their “Talk Saxy” music video seems like an homage to f(x)’s “LA chA TA”. While SHINee have been describing their own music as contemporary pop, RIIZE coined a new term “emotional pop,” which infuses contemporary music with emotion and simply tells the cheerful stories of youth rather than engaging in some grand discourse or philosophy. Similar to how TVXQ and The Grace liked to introduce themselves as an a cappella dance group rather than K-pop idol during their debut, RIIZE reveals the process of building harmony with voices in the second verse of the chorus for their song “Get A Guitar”. The way the group has put musical elements at the forefront and created a buzz primarily with their music is another thing that sets RIIZE apart from other newly emerging acts. The hottest topic preceding their debut was the news of Yoon Sang’s son, ANTON, joining the group. But once they debuted, the groups made headlines for their music and creative abilities, such as how they made the bold choice of including the names of instruments in their song titles like “Get A Guitar” and “Talk Saxy,” and opting for the 1980s style dance-pop and the hip-hop genre based on the 808 bass.

Nostalgia of the past, the attempt at retro, and a new composition method all combine to form a dynamic and layered group that we now know as RIIZE. A touch of the NCT style is evident in the rap chorus of “Love 119” as was the case in “Talk Saxy,” which was foreshadowed when SUNGCHAN and SHOTARO joined the team. While NCT DREAM’s profound message of eternal friendship under “infinite expansion” continues on in “Memories,” the dynamic choreographies of the performance song “Siren” and the title song make active use of NCT and their subgroup’s enhanced technology. On the “Love 119” stage, the members make eye contact with one another like a musical scene, and during the bridge, two members pair up to create harmony, one doing the bass and the other treble. The music video takes full advantage of the legacy of the 2000s but isn’t confined to a particular time. It seems to inherit a tragic love story from the past. However, the way it expresses the story brings to mind Director Makoto Shinkai’s Your Name. and GFRIEND’s “Rough.” It stimulates the PINK BLOOD of those who’ve fervently supported SM Entertainment’s older generation groups who were popular in the 2000s, while actively utilizing the devices that can reach a new generation of K-pop fans. That’s the key to how RIIZE could gain its fandom so quickly and maintain a high profile as a new boy band.

RIIZE is a new group that SM Entertainment introduced for the first time since reorganizing under SM 3.0 strategy. The new system chooses to draw from legacy and strengths built over time rather than tapping into uncharted territories, as it is no longer governed by a complex worldview or the individual will of the producers. That is why, despite being a new group, RIIZE makes the balanced choice of adopting a sentiment that evokes “home” and a longing for the past, in both reality and form. Their training system and stable production process, developed over more than 30 years of K-pop history, along with a keen sense and planning know-how capable of eliciting immediate responses constitute their legacy. That is why their eyes keep turning toward the past. The naïve, good-natured boys attempt singing to a guitar, dance on the set where their predecessors used to stand, utilize classic camera angles, and try out acting and feature in a teen romance story as the protagonists, taking each step as an opportunity for growth. However, the 1990s’ music, which relied on hit composers and strongly reflected the personal tastes of the producers, may feel too distant for Gen Z and can no longer be the standard. The new reference point is the era when K-pop was in its early stages, poised to enter its heyday.

In the music video of “Love 119,” someone from the future sends a mysterious blue message to the members. The music that RIIZE sends to us, users of the latest instant messaging services today, feels like a green window text message from the past. It feels familiar, yet triggers curiosity. It’s not an urgent love as the song’s title suggests. The way the members wonder if “all of this is happening because I like you?” is intriguing. After repeatedly watching the music video, there comes a moment when you can confidently feel, “If so, I don’t want to keep waiting.” The time has come for RIIZE to steal your heart away.