AtHeart Remakes 1996 K-Pop Hit '3!4!' With the Original Composer and a Time-Travel Drama to Match

K-pop group AtHeart dropped their remake of '3!4!' on the 19th at 6 p.m. KST across major streaming platforms, and the name attached to the arrangement is the detail fans of the original are going to notice right away: Lee Hyun-do, the legendary hip-hop producer and member of iconic duo Deux, worked on the new version alongside Park Jang-geun, FACTIST, and JOSSH.

The original '3!4!' was released in 1996 by mixed-gender group Rula and became one of the defining pop hits of that era in Korea. AtHeart's remake is the second single in their ongoing Time Travel Project, a series dedicated to reinterpreting standout songs from 1996 for a contemporary audience. The first installment, Say It, put their spin on The Cardigans' 'Lovefool'.

The arrangement keeps the signature new jack swing rhythm and breezy energy of the original intact while swapping out the intro's ukulele for electric piano and guitar arpeggios, giving the track a warmer, slightly more intimate feel. Each of the group's seven members gets space to bring their own vocal personality to the material, which is clearly the point: the version is meant to hit differently depending on whether you grew up humming along to Rula or are encountering the melody for the first time.

What makes this release more than a well-produced cover is the drama attached to it. 3+4! is a time-slip K-pop adventure series expanding the single's concept across short-form, mid-form, and feature-length formats. The story follows AtHeart member Na-hyun, who gets paged through a ppippi (pager) during a 2026 music video shoot and ends up in 1996, where she teams up with three girls from that era to prepare for an audition. It is the kind of premise that could easily feel gimmicky but lands with more grounding when the 1996 connection is this literal: Rula's Chaerin-a, one of the original artists, appears in the drama alongside actor Hyun Bong-sik and choreographer Lia Kim.

Director Nam Tae-jin, known for dramas including Hong Chun-gi, Haechi, and Switch: Change the World, handles both direction and screenplay. His track record with period-adjacent and fantasy-leaning material makes him a considered choice for a project that needs to make 1996 feel lived-in rather than costumed.

AtHeart's label, Titan Contents, is positioning the Time Travel Project as an ongoing multi-release series. With Lee Hyun-do's fingerprints on the arrangement and a drama built to run parallel to the music, '3!4!' is shaping up as the most ambitious entry in the project so far.