South Korean boy group iKON returned earlier this month with their fourth mini album, “Flashback,” their first release in 14 months.

Filipino fans, however, were also quick to notice that their title track “But You” was co-written by Australian-based Filipina artist Maribelle Añes, who also considered the song the start of her career as a songwriter. K-pop.

Añes, who goes by the name Vetta Borne, said it took between 3 and 4 months from when she sent the first demo of “But You” to recording the final version.

“The beat was already so good that the melody and the first line “I’m still in love” poured out of me. I wrote and recorded the initial demo in one day, then we went back and forth to arrange and trying to alternate versions,” she told ABS-CBN News in an email interview.

She also said that her editors in Australia connected her with their South Korean office, who then sent them leads to try writing for YG Entertainment.

“I sent back some ideas and they liked my ideas, so they kept sending me beats, and I kept writing until something landed, and luckily for me, the first song that was placed was ‘But You’, and they said iKON would record it,” she said.

“I had gone to South Korea a few years ago to try to write for another label, but I had no experience at the time. I hadn’t realized how big the world of K -Pop would be different from the pop music I’m used to writing,” Añes added.

Although she considers “But You” her start in K-pop songwriting, Añes is also included in the songwriting credit of Red Velvet Irene and Seulgi’s “Feel Good,” a track from their long-running play “Monster.”

Besides writing music for other people, Añes also releases her own music. She has released two EPs so far, “Violeta” in 2020 and “Emelia” in 2021.

“I’ve been making music since I was about 13. I started uploading videos to YouTube as ‘Maribelle Anes’, covering, remixing and doing my own original songs. I didn’t stopped making music since. My biggest musical inspirations are Ne-Yo, The Neptunes, Janet Jackson and Britney Spears,” she said.

Añes admitted that writing songs for K-pop groups is a big challenge for her, as she is more used to writing songs for one person.

The hardest part of writing K-pop? The raps.

“K-pop is like nothing I’ve ever written. I’ve never really tried to write raps before, which was/is a big challenge for me in writing K-pop Bearing in mind that I write for bands, and thinking about how I can make each melody special for each member of the band is also a challenge, because I’m used to writing for one person,” Añes said.

Añes said there are too many artists she wants to collaborate with, but she would like to work with Lisa and the other members of Blackpink.

She even took Twitter to express her excitement at seeing Lisa dance to “But You” with iKON’s DK.

“There are way too many artists I dream of collaborating with! If we’re talking about K-pop, I’d love to write a song with LISA, or any of the BLACKPINK girls,” she said. .

But honestly, I would love to write with everyone and anyone who is serious and passionate about their music,” Añes added.

You can check out Vetta Borne’s “Kissing Strangers” below.