"What Are You Up To" (; stylized "What are you up to") is a song by South Korean singer

Kang Daniel Kang Daniel (; commonly stylized as KANGDANIEL; born Kang Eui-geon []; December 10, 1996) is a South Korean singer-songwriter, actor, and businessman who rose to fame in early 2017 as the first-place winner of the Produce 101 Season 2, second ...

. It was released on July 25, 2019 by

Konnect Entertainment Konnect Entertainment (; stylized as KONNECT Entertainment) is an independent South Korean entertainment company founded on June 5, 2019 by Kang Daniel. The company is based in the Gangnam District of Seoul in South Korea. As of September 2021, ...

and distributed by

Sony Music Korea This is a list of record labels owned by, or associated with Sony Music. According to Sony Music official site, the main labels are Columbia Records, RCA Records, Epic Records, Arista Records, Legacy Recordings, Sony Music Latin, Sony Masterworks, ...

. The song serves as the lead single from his debut EP '' Color on Me'' with lyrics co-written by Kang and resulted in his first music show win as a soloist on

KBS2 The Korean Broadcasting System (KBS) () is the national broadcaster of South Korea. Founded in February 1927, it is one of the leading South Korean television and radio broadcasters. KBS operates seven radio networks, ten television channels, a ...

's ''

Music Bank Music Bank may refer to: * ''Music Bank'' (TV program), a South Korean music program by KBS **''Music Bank World Tour The ''Music Bank'' World Tour is a worldwide live concert tour of South Korean music show '' Music Bank'' by the Korean Broa ...

'' on August 9, 2019.

Background

Shortly after Kang established his one-man agency Konnect Entertainment, Konnect confirmed on June 27 Kang finished recording songs for his debut EP and would finalize the title song and complete promotional content and choreography in preparation for a solo debut in late July. "What Are You Up To" was confirmed as the title track on July 19 and is said to be a trendy song as a gift to reward fans who have been waiting. When asked during a ''

Billboard A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertise ...

'' interview why he did not pick a high-energy K-pop debut, Kang answered that "What Are You Up To" was selected because he wanted to do something he had not done before and wanted it to be different as his first title track as a solo artist. He expressed that it is a song that represents him well and shows what he can be capable of.

Composition

"What Are You Up To" has a minimalist bell theme with

808 808 may refer to: Music * Roland TR-808, a drum machine * ''808'' (film), a documentary about the Roland TR-808 * 808 State, British electronic group * ''808s & Heartbreak'', the fourth studio album by American Hip hop artist Kanye West * ''808'' ...

and

synth A synthesizer (also spelled synthesiser) is an electronic musical instrument that generates audio signals. Synthesizers typically create sounds by generating waveforms through methods including subtractive synthesis, additive synthesis and f ...

sounds. At Kang's debut showcase, he stated that the title's phrase could come across as "strong, but also heartwarming" and described the song as having a bright synth sound with a hip-hop feel. The lyrics contain what he wanted to convey to fans and lingering experiences from everyday life, including instances of waiting for a delivery and small talk from family and friends he had not talked with in a while. Kang added, "Everyone has experiences with waiting for something."

Music video

The

music video A music video is a video of variable duration, that integrates a music song or a music album with imagery that is produced for promotion (marketing), promotional or musical artistic purposes. Modern music videos are primarily made and used as a m ...

for "What Are You Up To" was directed by VM Project Architecture and premiered on Konnect Entertainment's

YouTube YouTube is a global online video platform, online video sharing and social media, social media platform headquartered in San Bruno, California. It was launched on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim. It is owned by ...

channel at 18:00 ( KST) on July 25, 2019. It was preceded by a teaser featuring colorful sets and outfits released on the same platform on July 24. Throughout the music video, Kang is cut off from others but attempts to reach them through different means, such as a disconnected phone, loudspeaker, and typewriter. The video concludes with imagery of a small lit doorway amidst closed doors. International choreographer Antoine worked on the title song's choreography with Kang's team in three days, highlighting groove and rhythm. The music video exceeded 10 million views on August 2 within a week of the release and later won Best Music Video at the Melon Music Awards on November 30.

Charts

Accolades

Music program awards

Release history

References

{{Kang Daniel 2019 songs 2019 debut singles Kang Daniel songs Korean-language songs Billboard Korea K-Pop number-one singles Sony Music singles