Singaporean Songwriter Hubert Ng, 30, Wrote This K-Pop Song That Was Just Released, Feels K-Pop Is A Good Market For Local Composers

If you follow K-pop, you might have heard of ‘Calling’, a pre-debut release from upcoming Korean boy group Xodiac.

The digital single was released on March 13, and features the group's six members. Along with the catchy song is a snazzy music video filmed in Hong Kong Disneyland.

But did you know that the song was written by Singaporean singer-songwriter Hubert Ng? Local Chinese media outlet Lianhe Zaobao spoke to the 30-year-old to find out more, with Hubert revealing that he believes the K-pop market offers good opportunities for Singaporean composers.

Hubert’s no stranger to songwriting and has written a long list of songs to various stars, including Hua Chenyu, Chen Linong and Zhang Bichen.

His first hit was in 2017. ‘Ni Ni’, a song that he composed, topped the charts on music streaming platform KKBox.

And now, he’s breaking into K-pop. Hubert shared that he mainly wrote pop songs while he was in Taiwan. However, after he moved to China, he realised that the market there was different.

“There are many idol groups there, and their songs are reminiscent of K-pop and J-pop songs. My ballads aren’t suited for idol groups, and I couldn’t sell a single song even after writing for a year,” he said.

As a result, Hubert decided to branch out, and looked to see if he could sell his songs to other markets instead.

During the pandemic, he began working on K-pop and J-pop songs, churning out one song a day. He also got to know some friends from Korean and Japanese record companies, and eventually, his efforts paid off.

Hubert revealed that ‘Calling' was sold on his behalf by a Korean record company. He shared that for K=pop releases, the companies typically focus on the beat and tune of the song, and will usually hire someone else to write the Korean lyrics if they like a song.

However, for ‘Calling’, the company decided to keep it as an English song instead, though they did request for Hubert to tweak the lyrics.

“The original lyrics were about a breakup, but Xodiac was collaborating with Hong Kong Disneyland, and were shooting the music video in the park, so I changed the lyrics to revolve around a boy chasing a girl,” he said

Hubert went on to share that he believes the K-pop market offers good opportunities for Singaporean songwriters, as there are more groups looking for English songs these days. However, he also shared that there are many American and European songwriters looking to break into the same market, so competition is fierce.

Hubert also sold a song, titled ‘I Beg You’, to J-pop girl group lol in late 2022. He revealed that he worked with a Japanese composer on the tune, while the lyrics were written by a Japanese lyricist, though they did retain a couple of English words from his original demo.

“K-pop songs prioritise the beat more, while J-pop focuses on the melody. [But] I feel that it’s harder to write J-pop songs 'cos Japanese pop music has their own style and flair, and it’s hard for foreign composers to emulate that,” he said.

Moving forward, Hubert said his forte still lies in Chinese pop. However, there are a lot of talented singer-songwriters in Taiwan, thus, he isn’t as in demand these days, which is why he’s working to expand to other markets.

Watch the music video for 'CALLING' below.

Photos: Hubert Ng/Instagram