Ak Börü (EP)

Ak Börü (Iradi: "White Wolf") is the first extended play by the Iradi Mor-Pop girl group Karakush, released in February 2021. Its title track became a viral hit abroad and is the most-streamed Iradi recording outside the country.^[1]

Background and production

Kök Ay Media, the agency that formed Karakush in 2018, planned the EP as the group's first major release after three years of singles. Its in-house producer Erlan Sydykov built the title track on a slowed, detuned komuz riff recorded by a session player from Kyzyl-Adyr, set over a trap beat in the style of Korean idol music. The group's lead dancer Dana Pak, from the Koryo-saram community of Nurzhan, co-produced two tracks and choreographed the "white wolf" dance whose chorus move spread on short-video platforms. The EP also includes a re-recording of the group's 2018 debut single "Umay".^[1]

Release and reception

The EP and the title track's video, filmed on a frozen lake in the Talas valley with the members in white wolf-fur capes and horned headdresses, were released on 19 February 2021. The dance challenge carried the song to Koryo-saram listeners in Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan and to Korean-American listeners. A Seoul label released a Korean-language version of "Ak Börü" in late 2021, which briefly entered the lower reaches of South Korean digital charts during the group's promotions there in early 2022. The headdresses, modeled on Morkhan, drew objections from clergy of the Syro-Iradi Catholic Church.^[1][2]

Track listing

The Korean edition (December 2021) adds "Ak Börü" (Korean version) as track 7.

Personnel

Karakush: Aruuke Temir kyzy, Dana Pak, Saltanat Abdrakhmanova, Meerim Sultan kyzy, Kamila Nurlanova – vocals; Pak – co-production (1, 3)

References

1. ^ Central Asian Music Review (2024). 'Idols of the Night Wave: K-Pop, Mor-Pop and Youth Fandom in Talas.' Vol. 16, No. 1, pp. 9–31.
2. ^ Talas Herald (2022). 'Karakush return from Seoul: what "Ak Börü" did and didn't do.' Talas.