Ahead of her new EP, unsponsored content, singer-songwriter Salem Ilese has joined forces with Norwegian producer Alan Walker and Yeonjun and Taehyun of TOMORROW X TOGETHER for her latest single, out today (February 23rd).
To celebrate the release, Yeonjun, Taehyun, and Ilese are sharing some insight into “PS5” and how it all came together, exclusively to Consequence.
Huge on TikTok, Ilese is known for her quirky and pop culture-adjacent lyrics — “Mad At Disney,” her viral 2020 creation, burst beyond the app and into the charts.
“PS5” is in the same vein as that track and late 2021’s “Hey Siri.” A snippet of the song has been floating around TikTok for a few weeks — Ilese dropped an open verse challenge at the end of January, prompting users to share what they would add to the song. (The original video now has over 4 million views and thousands of duets from artists putting individual spins on the track.)
For the final version, though, Ilese reached out to TOMORROW X TOGETHER. This isn’t the first time she’s worked with the band, our December 2021 Artist of the Month — Ilese wrote “Anti-Romantic,” a song on TXT’s 2021 album The Chaos Chapter: FREEZE that yielded a TikTok trend of its own.
“It was so great getting to collaborate again with Yeonjun and Taehyun,” Ilese shares. “When it came time to get a feature on ‘PS5,’ I reached out to see if they would do it. I was so honored they said yes and their verse turned out to be the perfect addition to the song.”
“We’re very lucky to have the opportunity to sing in multiple languages, and we’re always excited to take on new challenges,” Yeonjun and Taehyun say of their all-English verses. “Salem created an irresistibly ear-catching, addictive song and it’s certain a lot of us will be playing the song on repeat.”
