A soulful pop-tinged track about the setbacks of young love, “I NEED U” is the title track of BTS’s mini album, 화양연화 The Most Beautiful Moment In Life Pt.1. Evidently different from BTS’s previous title tracks, “I NEED U” marks the beginning of the HYYH era and universe.

Contrary to the “Classic Love Song "persona the song takes on through its lyrics, the MV showcases a more mature and content-heavy side of the song, depicting violence, blood, mental illness and much more. This caused the original version of the "I NEED U” MV to be deemed 19+ and unfit for broadcast by KBS. Big Hit then sent off the shortened, 15+ version of the MV to be distributed by 1theK via YouTube on Apr 29, 2015.

The original version of the track’s music video for “I NEED U” is considered by most fans to have marked the beginning of the still ongoing HYYH storyline. The mv generated a lot of discussion and generated many complicated theories.

This song, as well as “Dope,” the B-side of the album, can be said to have brought BTS to the general public limelight more aggressively than ever before. It garnered praise and multiple awards at the domestic level, as well as charted at #4 on the US Billboard chart.

“I NEED U” also earned BTS their first music show win from KBS Music Bank on May 05, 2015, officially establishing BTS as rising artists in the industry.