咲く花 (Blooming Flower)

## Singles

1. "꽃 (Flower)"
Released: January 1, 2024
2. "よくない (Not Ok)"
Released: March 30, 2024
3. "妻 (Wifee)"
Released: May 9, 2024

***咲く花 (Blooming Flower)*** (originally titled ***Behind The Scenes***, commonly abbreviated as "*BF'*") is Y/N's fifth studio album. It was released on June 5, 2024, through Republic Records and Dream Records. The album was recorded and produced between 2016 and May 2023.

The album debuted at No. 1 on the US *Billboard* 200, earning 1,287,000 album-equivalent units in its first week, with 926,000 coming from pure sales. The album was supported by three singles, including the US *Billboard* Hot 100 top ten's "꽃 (Flower)" and "よくない (Not Ok)", and international top ten hit "妻 (Wifee)". *咲く花 (Blooming Flower)* debuted at number one on the *Billboard* 200. It became Y/N's fourth chart-topper in the United States. It also hit number-one in Australia, Brazil, Italy, Ireland, New Zealand, Spain and Taiwan, while also entering the top ten in almost every territory it charted in. On January 7, 2024, *咲く花 (Blooming Flower)* was certified Platinum by the RIAA for combined album sales, on-demand audio, video streams and track-sale equivalent of 2 million units. As of December 2024, the album has sold over 2,952,000 pure copies in the US.

## Background

### Early recording as *Behind The Scenes*

Following the release of Y/N's fourth studio album, In The Moment on June 20, 2022, which was met with positive reviews, Y/N stated she has no plan on making an album at the moment as she want to spend time with her family. Y/N later confirmed she began working and writing on the album on her Snapchat and Twitter a month later.

Y/N later revealed that she would use songs that were recorded in 2016. She said that she wanted to release it in late fall or early winter 2023, following suit to her previous albums. She also said that she had played some new material for her husband earlier that day. Y/N continued to record through the rest of the year and into early 2023.

In February 2023, Y/N began multiple K-Drama series. She would find time in between recording sessions to record the album. In May, Y/N heavily worked with her friends and songwriters Pharrell Williams and Nemuri Kayama. On the 8th Y/N tweeted that she had made a "really cool song" in the early 2023. Y/N tweeted about the song a few days later and said it was very lovely and special. Nemuri posted about the song on Instagram and said she wished he could tell fans the name of the song. Y/N soon began hinting at the title by posting photos of a clapper board online.

On May 29, 2023, Y/N stated that the special album she was hinting at would be called "Behind The Scenes". Y/N spoke about the album in June 2023, stating that the lead track could be about love, heartbreak, or something random. She said, "It's about this very night we had together. I have a playlist of 12 songs already. I plan on writing a lot more as soon as I get home. It's the most personal music I’ve ever written." Victoria confirmed on Twitter that "Behind The Scenes" would not only be about Shota Aizawa but about her ex’s. Some fans don't believe that and were asking Y/N on Twitter. Y/N replied on VEVO's Twitter, "HAHAHA. Y'all already know. and I love you lmao. A night where the every thing is real! That's all."

### Renaming and website launch

On July 11, 2023, Y/N removed "behind the scenes" from her Twitter bio which made fans suspicious. She responded by saying "you'll see" and then revealed she was debating to rename the album over a new song she had recorded. On July 14, Y/N twitted and confirmed that she was still deciding to change it. On July 21, 2023, Y/N posted a picture on Instagram that said "*咲く花*", which is Japanese and translates to Blooming Flower, which they presumed could be the new title. On July 22, 203, Y/N confirmed the name of the album to be "*咲く花 (Blooming Flower)*" on Snapchat. On July 24, 2023, Y/N launched a new website (bloomingflower.com) to dedicate to album updates. On August 13, 2023, Y/N confirmed on Snapchat that she was done with her fifth album. She later clarified by saying, "I just have a bunch of songs that I really really like. I've been working a lot and have been creating and feeling inspired." On August 13, 2022, Y/N confirmed again by tweeting that she was done with the album, but later she deleted the tweet. On September 5, 2023, Y/N said during the soundcheck that the song My Way might appear on the album after 6 year of people knowing the song because of teasing the song. In a Q&A, Y/N said that she wanted to have 12 through 18 tracks on the album.

On September 18, 2023, Nemuri Kayama uploaded a photo on her Instagram Stories editing a song for Y/N. Pharrell Williams told LA Times: “The things that [Y/N] has to say on this album, is how she has grown though-out the years.” On September 20, 2023, Y/N posted a photo and video on her Instagram Story in the studio. On September 23, 2023, Y/N shared a two snippets from the album on her Instagram, which was later revealed to be a track titled "Cocoon" and "Still On Your Mind". Y/N's close friend, Ariana Grande, said she has heard some of the album. Charlie Walk, from Republic Records, also said about the album: "She's making some music that we kinda but mostly didn’t heard before from her, different types of stuff that I think is gonna be really super important for the 2024 music scene."

On October 2, 2023, it was also revealed that Pharrell Williams and Nemuri Kayama each produced half of the album. On October 3, 2023, it was reported that Y/N was set to release the lead single from the album on October 10, 2023 and it was revealed that Hizashi Yamada worked on the album. On October 5, 2023, it was reported that Y/N may move up the lead single release to December 9, 2023. On October 20, 2023, Y/N announced that the album's lead single, "꽃 (Flower)", would be released on January 1, 2024. Y/N also revealed three songs featured in the album: "My Way", "Knew Better" and "100". On November 12, 2023, Y/N posted a snippet on her Instagram story, and revealed that she had added more songs to the album. On February 2, 2024, Y/N announced that the album’s second single "Not Ok" will be released on March 30. On August 10, 2023, Y/N posted a snippet of "Communicate". On August 19, 2018, Y/N confirmed that the album would have 12 through 18, which three would have collaboration. On August 20, 2023, during her a Instagram live, Y/N announced that the album’s third single "妻 (Wifee)" would release on May 18, 2024.

After its release, the album received universal acclaim from music critics and broke the US Spotify record for biggest opening day by a female artist.

## Recording Sessions

### In 2016

1. My Way (Demo 1)
2. My Way (Demo 2)
3. Knew Better

### In 2017

1. My Way (Final Version)
2. Nobody Does It Better
3. Hi

### In 2018

1. Real
2. Confused
3. よくない (Not Ok)

### In 2019

1. Don’t Talk To My Man
2. How You Like That (Y/N’s Parts)
3. 消えた (Gone)
4. Flower (Y/N’s Pre-Chorus)

### In 2020

1. Communicate
2. 꽃 (Flower) (Y/N’s Verse)
3. How You Like That (Blackpink’s Parts)
4. Motive
5. Hate That You Made Me Love You

### In 2021

1. Impurities
2. Still On Your Mind (Demo Version)

### In 2022

1. Ever Been
2. Ice Cream
3. 妻 (Wifee)
4. Still On Your Mind (Final Version)
5. What Would You

### In 2023

1. 꽃 Flower (Jisoo’s and Y/N’s Parts)
2. No Free Promo/He Had It Comin'
3. Come Alive

### In 2024

1. Present
2. 100
3. Cocoon

### Cover Art

On May 29, 2024, Y/N confirmed that the album cover would with flowers.

## Singles

The lead single, "꽃 Flower", was released on January 1, 2024.

The second single, "よくない (Not Ok)", was released on March 30, 2024.

The third and final single, "妻 (Wifee)", was released on May 18, 2024.

## Commercial performance

*咲く花 (Blooming Flower)* debuted at No. 1 on the US *Billboard* 200 with 1,231,000 album-equivalent units, of which 11,27,000 were pure album sales. This is Y/N's fourth studio album to debut at the top of the chart since her previous *Planet Her* debuted and peaked at No. 2, while *In The Moment, Positions,* and *Thank U, Next* all debuted at No. 1 in 2022, 2021, 2020, and 2019, respectively. All the tracks of the album debuted on the *Billboard* Hot 100 in the same week: To Be Continued.

It also debuted at No. 1 on the UK Albums chart, moving 1,045,000 album-equivalent units. It became her second number-one album in the UK and her fastest-selling album to date. In Australia, the album became Y/N's third number second on the ARIA Albums Chart and all of its tracks placing on the ARIA Singles Chart in the same week. In Finland, the album debuted at No. 1 being her fourth album to reach the top there. The album also reached the top of the charts in several other markets, including Japan, Austria, Canada, Czech Republic, the Netherlands, Denmark, Belgium, Finland, Poland, Ireland, New Zealand, Norway, Scotland, Portugal, Spain, Sweden, Germany and Switzerland.

## Trivia

* The first song recorded for the album was "Ever Been".
* The last song recorded for the album was "Cocoon".
* The longest song is "Cocoon", at 5 minutes and 9 seconds, while the shortest song is "Don't Talk To My Man" at 40 seconds.

This is Y/N's longest standard version of a album at ??:??.

## Gallery

Album cover without Parental Advisory and TextFull Album CoverCasettesLP Vinyl

## Track listing

### Cut Songs

* Come Alive
* Don't Waste My Time
* Hi
* Present
* Real

 Released