ATEEZ Celebrate 7 Years with “From (2018)”

In K-pop, seven years is a loaded number. It’s the point where most groups face renewal or rupture, when contracts expire and dreams begin to test their limits. For ATEEZ, though, year seven hasn’t brought an ending — it’s become a full-circle moment. The group celebrated their anniversary today with the release of “From (2018)”, a reworked version of a song that predates their debut and now lands as both reflection and reassurance.

The track first appeared in 2018, back when the members were still KQ Fellaz — a pre-debut collective training under KQ Entertainment, before the ATEEZ name had even been announced. The original video featured nine trainees, including Lee Junyoung, who would later take a different path. In this new version, leader Hongjoong steps into Junyoung’s lines, subtly reframing the message. What was once a promise between friends chasing a dream has evolved into a message from artists who’ve lived that dream — and want to give something back to the people who carried them there.

The song’s sentiment is clear but layered. “No matter how hard life gets, I will be your reason to keep going,” they sing — a line that reads like a quiet vow, not just to fans (known as ATINY) but to one another. From (2018) doesn’t reach for grand solutions. Instead, it offers presence — the kind that says, you’re not alone. Across its verses, the tone shifts from promise to comfort, from reassurance to gratitude, unfolding like a letter to someone weathering their own storms.

Accompanying the track is a special video that bridges past and present, splicing together footage that charts their journey from practice rooms to sold-out arenas. Cutting from early rehearsals in a cramped studio to panoramic shots of the group facing tens of thousands fans live in concert, the clip is a visual shorthand for everything they’ve built. The growth isn’t just in scale but in spirit; where the old clip captured aspiration, the new one captures endurance. For longtime fans, the video also closes a loop: not only is From (2018) finally available on streaming, it’s joined by the reworked version that previously existed only as a CD track on TREASURE EP.2: Zero to One and was performed live on their THE FELLOWSHIP : BREAK THE WALL WORLD TOUR in 2022. 

For fans, From (2018) lands as a mirror. Seven years on, ATINY can trace their own growth alongside the group’s, from those first grainy trainee videos to global tours and award stages. The song’s release feels like an invitation to look back at everything they’ve built together: livestreams, projects, shared highs and heartbreaks that turned a fandom into something like family. In revisiting the song that started it all, ATEEZ acknowledge the people who never stopped walking beside them.

What makes this anniversary hit harder is how ATEEZ have defied the usual cycle. They’ve spent seven years expanding their sound, surviving an industry notorious for burnout, and maintaining a collective identity that feels unusually intact. Their story has always been one of persistence — of building a world from sheer willpower and friendship. In that sense, From (2018) is a time capsule cracked open and rewritten from the other side.

Seven years on, ATEEZ’s message feels less like celebration and more like reaffirmation: the journey still matters, and so does everyone who walked it with them.