ARTMS Drops Two Different Music Videos for the Same Song. Neither Says Which Is Real.
ARTMS released "Born Stunner" on Friday as the pre-release single from their second mini album "Hyper-Ego," pairing the song with two separate music videos - one framed as the "real" version, the other as a "fake" - and declining to clarify which is which.
The track arrived at 1 p.m. KST through Modhaus, 13 days ahead of "Hyper-Ego," which drops Aug. 7. "Born Stunner" continues the group's collaboration with visual studio DigiPedi, extending the hyperrealism concept that has defined ARTMS's output since their 2024 debut album "Dall." In the video, members wear outfits referencing their previous projects - both as ARTMS and as members of LOONA - each paired with a symbolic object, building a visual argument about identity that mirrors the song's dual-video structure.
Musically, "Born Stunner" marks a departure from the group's earlier pre-release singles. Where "Virtual Angel" built around a tightly designed rhythm and "Icarus" worked as a slow accumulation toward a single payoff, "Born Stunner" moves through abrupt tempo shifts, heavy bass drops and a hook that doesn't let up. Kim Lip and JinSoul both shared individual pre-save messages ahead of the release, though HaSeul did not participate in "Hyper-Ego" promotions, continuing her ongoing hiatus for health reasons.
The single's title track status on "Hyper-Ego" signals a bolder direction for the album as a whole, according to ARTMS's own description of the release: a deliberate break from the "carefully structured" patterns of the group's prior work in favor of something less predictable. "Hyper-Ego" will be released in three physical formats - Aura, Trauma and Objekt Music Album (QR) - when the full mini album arrives Aug. 7.
The dual-video approach is not new territory for the group's visual identity, which has built its brand on questioning where authenticity ends and performance begins. What's different this time is that ARTMS isn't offering an answer.
ARTMS debuted in 2024 with the studio album "Dall," built around four pre-release singles - "Birth," "Flower Rhythm," "Candy Crush" and "Air" - before closing with lead single "Virtual Angel." The group, formed by Modhaus under producer Jaden Jeong, is composed of former LOONA members, and much of its early critical reception centered on how directly the group's visual concepts engaged with questions of identity split across multiple past group affiliations. "Born Stunner" extends that thread rather than resolving it.
Fan reaction to the pre-release single has leaned toward describing it as a departure within continuity - a louder, bolder single that still reads as unmistakably ARTMS, even as it abandons the more structured builds of earlier singles. Whether "Hyper-Ego" carries that harder edge across a full six-or-more-track project, rather than confining it to a single pre-release moment, remains the open question heading into the Aug. 7 release.
