Hush-Hush is a collaboration song by BE:FIRST and K-Pop group ATEEZ (stylized as BE:FIRST X ATEEZ). It was digitally released on July 1, 2024 and is the twelfth track on BE:FIRST's second album, 2:BE, releasing August 28.
The song is trilingual with lyrics in English, Japanese, and Korean.
Very much in BMSG fashion, the announcement of this collaboration was rolled out through a series of clues. The roll out kicked off on June 23 when BE:FIRST announced they would premiere a new video on their YouTube channel the next day at 22:00. No details were given aside from the mysterious title "???????".[1]
At the time of the premiere, thousands watched and, to the fandom's chagrin, the video turned out to simply be a short clip of a QR code with the caption "Who the hell are you?" and a line of dashes above and below the text.[2]
The QR code led to a website announcing BE:FIRST's next digital release dropping July 1, however it did not give a title, only "??????" once again. There was also a link to the website created for the group's upcoming second album 2:BE, possibly hinting that the song would be one of the album's new tracks.[3]
While this appeared to be all the news from the 6/24 drop, there was actually another detail to it. Although not featured in the clip itself, the thumbnail for the YouTube video was a picture of a moon slightly covering the sun, something BE:FIRST's official twitter account made sure to point out.[4][5]
The significance of this moon thumbnail became more apparent exactly 24 hours later on June 25 at 22:00 when the thumbnail changed. The moon had shifted covering the sun a little bit more. Then again, on June 26 at the same time there was another shift. There were now three different positions of the moon giving the appearance of an eclipse.[6][7]
Not only that, but the webpage from the QR code had changed. Some of the dashes above and below "Who the hell are you?" had changed to dots.[8] When fans noticed this they speculated his was Morse code and proceeded to decode the message. The result: two dates.[9]
2021.11.03
2018.10.24
November 3, 2021 was immediately recognized by fans as BE:FIRST's debut date. However October 24, 2018 did not have any significance to them or BMSG, so fans looked outside company and there just so happened a boy group who debuted on that exact day: ATEEZ.
This immediately brought out the theory of the two groups collaborating. They had met before for D.U.N.K. and the members have talked about and hung out with each other, so there was already an established friendship. Adding to the theory, ATEEZ member Seonghwa posted an Instagram story with moon emojis in different positions.[10]
In a surprising turn of events, a possible leak on LINE MUSIC surfaced showing alleged cover art for the collaboration with the title "Hush-Hush" by "BE:FIRST x ATEEZ". However still at this point nothing had been confirmed.
On the June 27 at the usual 22:00 time, the thumbnail moved again, now nearly covering the sun completely, and the release's website was updated with new information: 2024.06.28 18:00
A new announcement would be coming the next day.[11][12]
The Announcement
On June 28 at the scheduled time, Hush-Hush was officially announced for a July 1 digital release.
Following on July 5 will be a Hush-Hush remix by ☆Taku Takahashi of m-flo and an instrumental.
The ?????? video's title was changed to BE:FIRST X ATEEZ / Hush-Hush -Special Teaser- and the thumbnail now showed the completed eclipse.[13]
The special site for the release had been updated with the song's true title adding the main visual of the two groups together, plus a teaser for the music video, which will also premiere on July 1.
Citing both group's roots in hip-hop and rap, but each their own distinct style, BE:FIRST X ATEEZ's collaboration is said to have "sharpened the characteristics of both to create a fusion with the best of both worlds. Hush-Hush is a thrilling number with a synth arpeggio racing over bouncy drums where members of both groups take turns showing off their stance. A rollercoaster-like development of additions and subtractions that has made for the shortest three minutes in the world."[14]
