Softest Hard divulges the making of LE SSERAFIM’s ‘Celebration’

Florida-based Softest Hard is a Vietnamese American DJ and producer, with roots tracing back to North Carolina and a formative move to Los Angeles at 17 to fully pursue music. Immersing herself in the LA club and festival circuit, she built her foundation as an open-format DJ before carving out her own lane in electronic music, with a self-defined sub-genre she calls “softest hardstyle”—a blend of soft melodies and aggressive, hardstyle beats.

Over the years, she has steadily built momentum through high-profile collaborations and co-signs from some of dance music’s most influential names, with early support and attention helping propel her into wider industry recognition. That trajectory has placed her in creative spaces alongside artists such as Skrillex, DJ Snake, and Diplo, as well as collaborations with artists including Kali Uchis and T-Pain.

Most recently, Softest Hard reached a new milestone with her production work on “Celebration,” the latest release from K-pop girl group LE SSERAFIM. The track marks her first entry into the K-pop space, and also reflects a broader trend of EDM-influenced production gaining momentum across HYBE releases, including recent sounds and teasers from acts like KATSEYE and ILLIT.

Softest Hard spoke with JoySauce about how the opportunity came together, what the original demo sounded like and what she’s learned about herself and from the K-pop fandom.

This interview has been edited for clarity and length.

Daniel Anderson: How did this opportunity come about? Did HYBE reach out to you or was this a song already in your catalog?
Softest Hard: This was already in my catalog. It was actually supposed to be a song for my personal project. It came about because my manager is super locked in with people at HYBE. They were looking for new music, so they reached out to him. At first, he was sending them other records, and they were like, “This is cool, but nah.” Then my manager thought, “Wait, Softest Hard has this one song. Let’s just see what they think.” When they heard it, they were like, “Oh no, this is it. This is the one we need. This one is for the girls.” Even though it wasn’t technically K-pop, they loved it. They didn’t change one thing on the production side.

When my manager told me LE SSERAFIM wanted the song, I was excited, but I’ve been let down a lot in my career, so I didn’t want to get too excited too fast. I just watched it keep progressing, stage by stage, until it finally really came out.

DA: How did the final version differ from your demo?
SH: At first, the demo had Icona Pop singing on it. The lyrics were different, and it was all in English. There were no Korean lyrics at all. And the drop was way longer than what you hear on the final version.

DA: I was going to ask about the drop. Some people wanted a longer or harder drop in the song.
SH: Not just some—I’ve seen thousands of comments from people saying, “Release the extended version.” A lot of fans were asking, “Why was the drop so short?” I’ve even seen reaction videos where people get excited when the drop hits, they start dancing, and then it suddenly stops and goes back into the vocals. The drop on my original demo was probably double that length.

But my management explained to me that this wasn’t being structured as an EDM song—it was being structured more as a K-pop song. I was still getting reacquainted with the K-pop world, so I didn’t really question it. If they felt that structure was necessary, whether it meant more lyrics or a different pacing, then that’s what they wanted. I wasn’t really in a position to say, “Actually, make the drop longer.”

That said, I’m hoping I’ll be able to do an official Softest Hard remix or extended version. We’re waiting on the green light from HYBE, but even if they have other plans, I’d still love to put my own version on SoundCloud or somewhere. I need a version I can play when I’m DJing. When you’re out in the club, people want less talking and more beat. That’s what they want to hear.