Entertainment

Seventeen's Subunit BSS Releases First Single Album 'Second Wind' Featuring Lee Youngji and Peder Elias

By Afra Noor

    BooSeokSoon, or BSS, is a subunit of the musical group Seventeen composed of three members: Seungkwan, Dk, and Hoshi. The subunit debuted on March 21, 2018, with their first single, “Just Do It”. The group officially released their first single album, "Second Wind" on February 6, 2023, featuring Lee Youngji and Peder Elias. The artists have currently won four awards for their title track, “Fighting”, and are expected to bring in more music show awards.

Before Seventeen’s debut in 2015, members Hoshi and Seungkwan led Andromeda ( a web show) where the members communicated with fans during their pre-debut days. There, the three members established notoriety for the positive energy between themselves and their fans. In fact, the acronym “BSS” had been used to refer to them even prior to the trio’s debut in 2018. Each letter of the acronym represents an initial of each member’s birth name: Boo Seungkwan, Lee Seokmin, Kwon Soonyoung.

The album consists of three tracks: "Fighting", "Lunch" and "7PM". The first track, "Fighting", composed by Woozi, Bumzu, S.Coups, Hoshi, and Park Ki Tae, features South Korean rapper, Lee Youngji. The term “fighting” in Korean is often used to wish someone good luck or for encouragement. Hence, the group was inspired by this common phrase and incorporated it into their upbeat track for fans to begin their day energized.

The second track, "Lunch", is composed by Kyler Niko and Willie Weeks. In the album’s Highlight Medley, Seungkwan of BSS notes that it is a song “that will wash away the drowsiness of the afternoon and fill you with subtle but invigorating energy.” The artists deliver another stimulating track with electronic elements that fans can listen to while they cope with a long day of work.

The final track on the album is "7PM", composed by Woozi, Bumzu, and Peder Elias. Its R&B melody combined with the smooth vocals of the artists presents a perfect wrap-up for the album. While the first half of the song is sung by the members of BSS, the latter parts are sung by Peder Elias, who also contributed to the composition of the song.

The album comes with all the inclusions of a regular album such as photo cards, a CD, a photobook, and a lyric book. It also includes stickers, a habit tracker card, and a BSS mini card. However, my favorite part of the entire album was the concept itself. Considering the overall music video and lyrics, it can be concluded that the song was intended not only for fans who are overwhelmed by school but also for corporate employees. I appreciate this since it conveys how BSS acknowledges their diverse audience while maintaining their consistent theme. It’s enthralling because of how well-planned the conceptualization is, considering it was their first album in 5 years.

My favorite song on the album is "Fighting". I like this track the most because the lyrics are very uplifting with a dynamic rhythm. Listening to this song motivates me to finish work and helps me face any nuisances throughout my day. Furthermore, the choreography implemented in the song is very captivating and contributes greatly to the impact of the song.

I would definitely recommend buying this album. Despite only having three tracks, each song has a distinctive charm that alludes to BSS’s representation. Moreover, the album comes with unique inclusions which are idiosyncratic to BSS, as mentioned earlier. Fans can enjoy listening to “Fighting” to start their day roused, “Lunch” to be vitalized in the afternoon, and swiftly end the day with “7PM”. Overall, “Second Wind”, is an album that highlights the vocals and energy of the group and is definitely worth the buy.

Netflix Crackdown on Password Sharing Sparks Negative Reactions From Users and Public

By Tremaine Fuller

In early February 2023, the popular streaming service, Netflix, announced that they would be cracking down on password sharing. Netflix describes itself as a streaming service that offers a wide variety of TV shows, movies, anime, documentaries, and more on thousands of Internet-connected devices. They have recently detailed protocols to prevent people in different households from using the same Netflix account. There have been many reactions from both Netflix users and the general public to this situation.

The new policy was rolled out in early March, starting in Canada, Portugal, Spain, and New Zealand. Netflix has stated that the new policy is in direct response to the password-sharing problem, which they claim has prevented them from investing in good shows and movies. The official statement from Netflix's updated FAQ on their website reads, "We’ve always made it easy for people who live together to share their Netflix account with features like profiles and multiple streams. While these have been hugely popular, they’ve also created confusion about when and how you can share Netflix. Today, over 100 million households are sharing accounts — impacting our ability to invest in great new TV and films." 

They will be enforcing this policy by making users set a primary location on their accounts but will still allow users on vacation to use their service; though, they have not discussed how yet. "We value our members and recognize that they have many entertainment choices. A Netflix account is intended for one household and members can choose from a range of plans with different features. As always, we’ll refine these new features based on member feedback so that we continue to improve Netflix in the years ahead." 

So far, the feedback from both online and offline sources has been mostly negative from the users of the service. A Forbes Home online survey concluded that the 35% of respondents who said they would cancel Netflix over higher prices or a password-sharing crackdown could translate into a loss of approximately 80 million subscribers. Many people have also ridiculed Netflix over an ironic tweet that was made in March 2017, saying "Love is sharing a password." In terms of their profits and investors, Netflix has been lowering its prices in countries outside of the US and Canada so that they can maintain their growth, where in some cases, the cost of a subscription was halved, the Wall Street Journal reported.

More locally, at Bayside High School, staff and students had some opinions of their own regarding the matter. Junior, Louis Capanelli, says, "I think it’s a bad idea overall. All they're doing is pushing away their own supporters for a small-time profit." 

Similarly, Giselle Rodriguez, a junior, asserts, "I don’t think it’s a good idea considering it is a way for families to find entertainment. Most people share passwords to manage the cost of paying for Netflix monthly. If they were to change the policy, I think they’ll receive fewer customers, and consumers will simply move to other streaming services."