Ahn Hyo-seop, Khalid bridge K-pop and R&B on ‘Something Special’

Korean-Canadian actor and singer Ahn Hyo-seop and American singer-songwriter Khalid are collaborating for “Something Special,” a cross-genre project between K-pop and R&B. The track will be released under FANDOM, a platform developed by Musicow.

FANDOM recently teased the release on Instagram, sharing a photo of Ahn, 31, and Khalid, 28, wearing black and standing back to back.

The collaboration marks several milestones. It will be Khalid’s first-ever single with a Korean artist, while Ahn makes his official debut as a solo music act. It is also the second release under FANDOM, which highlighted its significance in the announcement.

Ahn Hyo-seop is widely known as an actor, having starred in popular K-dramas like “Business Proposal,” “Dr. Romantic,” and “A Time Called You.” 

Before he focused on acting, he debuted in the K-pop project group One O One in 2015, whose songs include “Love You.” He has also shown his musical side with covers of “A Thousand Years,” “Until I Found You,” and “Nothing’s Gonna Change My Love For You.”

More recently, Ahn gained global attention as the speaking voice of Jinu from Saja Boys in the Netflix series “Kpop Demon Hunters.”

Khalid, meanwhile, is an R&B singer who broke through in 2016 with his single “Location.” Since then, he has delivered hits like “Young Dumb & Broke,” “Talk,” and “Better,” and has sang duets with artists such as Billie Eilish on “Lovely” and Ed Sheeran on “Beautiful People.”

He has also contributed to film soundtracks, including “Love, Simon,” “Charlie’s Angels,” and “The Old Guard.”