page_title: IU (singer)
section_title: 2015–2016: The Producers, Infinite Challenge, Chat-Shire, and Moon Lovers: Scarlet Heart Ryeo
hierarchical_section_title: IU (singer) / Career / 2015–2016: The Producers, Infinite Challenge, Chat-Shire, and Moon Lovers: Scarlet Heart Ryeo
caption_attribution_description: English: IU at "24 Steps - One, Two, Three, Four" concert, 3 December 2016
context_page_description: Lee Ji-eun, known professionally as IU, is a South Korean singer-songwriter and actress. She signed with Kakao M in 2007 as a trainee and debuted as a singer at the age of fifteen with her album Lost and Found. Although her follow-up albums, Growing Up and IU...IM, brought mainstream success, it was after the release of "Good Day", the lead single from her 2010 album Real, that she achieved national stardom. "Good Day" went on to spend five consecutive weeks at the top position of South Korea's Gaon Digital Chart, and in 2019 it was ranked number one on Billboard magazine's 100 Greatest K-Pop Songs of the 2010s.
  With the success of her 2011 albums, Real+ and Last Fantasy, IU established herself as a formidable force on the music charts of her native country and further cemented her girl next door image as Korea's "little sister". 2011 also saw her first foray into songwriting with "Hold My Hand", which was written for the television series The Greatest Love. IU's third full-length album release, Modern Times, showcased a more mature style that marked a departure from her earlier girlish image, with several tracks reaching the top 10 positions on Gaon Digital Chart.
context_section_description: In 2015, two years after her last acting role, IU starred alongside Kim Soo-hyun, Cha Tae-hyun, and Gong Hyo-jin in The Producers (Korean: 프로듀사), which was named as one of the most anticipated TV series of the year in South Korea. She played Cindy, a diva-like singer who decides to participate in a variety show to improve her public image. Analysing her character's perceived icy demeanor, IU commented that she could relate to her character's "biting attitude" and how similar her character was to herself. The series and IU's portrayal of Cindy were met with lukewarm reviews at the premier but both the viewership and critical response improved over the course of the series, peaking at 17.7% viewership for the last episode. She performed two songs in character, "Twenty Three" and "Heart" (Korean: 마음), both of which were later included as bonus tracks on her 2015 album, Chat-Shire. While she wrote the lyrics for both songs, she also composed the music for "Heart", which was released as a digital single on 18 May. "Heart" topped the charts upon its release and went on to become the tenth best-selling digital single of 2015 in South Korea. "Heart" was among a slew of K-pop songs used by South Korea's Defense Ministry in its propaganda broadcasts to North Korea during the two countries' tense standoff in August 2015, with the aim of advertising the "South Korean youth culture". Through The Producers, IU's popularity in China soared—reportedly receiving offers for several projects from Chinese companies.
  After the completion of The Producers, IU participated in the biennial music festival event hosted by the variety show, Infinite Challenge, in which each participating singer-songwriter is partnered with one of the six hosts to create a song for the festival. The preparation process and festival event were aired over the course of seven episodes. She was partnered with Park Myeong-su, with whom she recorded and performed the song, "Leon" (as inspired by the film Léon: The Professional). The live performance event on August 13, 2015 attracted an estimated crowd of 40,000 at Alpensia Ski Jumping Stadium as shown in the final episode, which achieved a 21.1% viewer's rating on its August 22, 2015 airdate. Subsequent to the final episode's broadcast, "Leon" was released along with the other songs from the festival as a digital track and on the official festival album. "Leon" reached number one on all of South Korea's music charts upon release.
  IU's seventh Korean extended play album, Chat-Shire, was released digitally on October 23, 2015 prior to its physical release on October 27, 2015. IU asserted greater creative control on the album, writing the lyrics for all seven tracks (as well as the physical album's two bonus tracks) and composing the music for five tracks either individually or collaboratively. She was also credited as the album's executive producer. The lead single, "Twenty-Three" (Korean: 스물셋), topped the national music charts upon release with several of the album's tracks also ranking in the top ten. The album reached a peak position of number four on Billboard's World Albums chart. Billboard described the album as a "must-hear" release, containing "some of [IU's] most personal music yet", and named "The Shower" (Korean: 푸르던) as its stand-out track. Seoul Beats also highlighted the "personal quality" showcased in many of the album's tracks and praised IU's "growing maturity as an artist" and her willingness to experiment musically.
  Despite positive critical reviews and success in the music charts, the album became controversial due to the lyrics of "Zezé" and the audio samples used in the bonus track "Twenty Three" (not to be confused with the similarly-titled lead single). On November 4, the Korean publisher of the novel My Sweet Orange Tree, from which IU drew inspiration for the song "Zezé", stirred debate in the entertainment industry on freedom of interpretation when it leveled criticisms at IU for her interpretation of the five-year-old protagonist as a "sexual object". Two days later, IU issued a public statemen
caption: IU at the 24 Steps - One, Two, Three, Four concert on December 3, 2016.
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