Enhypen was formed through the 2020 survival competition series I-Land and is the first group ever to be produced by Belift Lab, a joint venture between the South Korean entertainment agencies CJ ENM and Big Hit Entertainment.[3] After the debut line-up was revealed through the show's live finale on September 18, 2020,[4] Belift Lab launched the group's official website and social media platforms.[5] A pre-debut promotion schedule was released on September 30. On October 22, 2020, a debut trailer titled "Choose-Chosen" was posted to Enhypen's YouTube channel, announcing their debut in November 2020.[6] The video portrayed the seven band members in a dark forest with words of opposite meanings such as "Failure-Success," "Given-Taken," "Blood-Light," "Us-the Others," and "Mortal-Immortal," on the screen.[6] A second trailer titled "Dusk-Dawn" was released on October 25, followed by a pair of concept mood boards released on October 27.[7][8] On October 28, Belift Lab announced through the global fan community platform Weverse that Enhypen will release their first extended play, Border: Day One on November 30.[9][10]
Pre-orders began the same day and the album was made available in two versions: Dusk and Dawn.[11] Solo concept photos for the "Dusk" version were revealed on October 31.[12] A group concept photo was teased the next day.[13] Solo and group concept photos for the "Dawn" version were posted on November 9 and 10, respectively.[14][15] Moving portraits of the seven members were revealed sequentially from the afternoon of November 12 till November 13.[16] The band shared a lyric video of the intro titled "Intro: Walk the Line" from the album, three days later.[17] The album's track list was posted on November 20.[18] A preview of the tracks featured on the album was released on November 23.[1] Two music video teasers for the lead single "Given-Taken" were uploaded to YouTube on November 25 and 27, respectively.[19][20] The album was released on November 30, 2020, in CD and digital formats.[21][22][23] The music video for the lead single "Given-Taken", directed by Yong Seok Choi of Lumpens, was released to Big Hit's YouTube channel in conjunction with the release of the album.[24][25]
Promotion
A few hours prior to the album release, Enhypen held their first-ever media showcase in Seoul, which was broadcast online through YouTube.[2] The band performed the songs "Given-Taken" and "Let Me In (20 CUBE)" for the first time at the showcase.[26] Hours after the album release, a debut show titled "Enhypen Debut Show: Day One" hosted by Mnet, was premiered worldwide, where Enhypen performed "Flicker", "Let Me In (20 CUBE)", "10 Months" and "Given-Taken".[27][28] The band performed "Given-Taken" again on the 2020 FNS Music Festival on December 2.[29] Enhypen began promoting the album with televised live performances on several South Korean weekly music programs, starting with KBS' Music Bank on December 4, where they performed "Given-Taken".[30] The band also appeared on SBS' Inkigayo and SBS MTV's The Show, to perform the song.[31][32] Enhypen also performed the song at the 2020 Mnet Asian Music Awards on December 6 and the 2020 The Fact Music Awards on December 12.[33][34] On December 18, they performed the song at the 2020 KBS Song Festival and MTVFresh Live Out.[35][36] Enhypen performed the song at the SBS Gayo Daejeon on December 25.[37]
Commercial performance
On November 4, it was announced that album pre-orders had surpassed 150,000 copies in just two days.[38] By November 21, pre-orders had surpassed 300,000 copies.[39]Border: Day One debuted at number one on the Gaon Album Chart on the chart issue dated December 5, 2020.[40] On the Hanteo Chart, the album sold 280,873 copies during its first week of release, breaking the record for the highest-sales among the K-pop groups that debuted in 2020.[41]Border: Day One was the second best-selling album of November 2020 in South Korea, selling 318,528 physical copies.[42]Border: Day One debuted at number one on the Japanese Oricon Daily Album Chart on issue date of December 4, 2020.[43] The album entered the Oricon Weekly Albums Chart at number two, selling 71,404 copies in its first week.[44] The EP opened at number two on Billboard Japan's Hot Albums chart on the chart issue dated December 14, 2020, while "Given-Taken" arrived at number 45 on the Japan Hot 100.[45][46]
Accolades
Dazed included "Given-Taken" in their list of The 40 Best K-pop Songs of 2020 at number 34, noting its "flowing chorus, well-balanced harmonies, and an intriguing vampire concept". BuzzFeed included it in their list of the 35 Songs That Helped Define K-Pop In 2020,[47] while MTV ranked "Intro: Walk the Line" number 11 in their list of The Best K-Pop B-Sides of 2020.[48]
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