Crossover Ready: 'Call It Off' by Emotional Oranges and Jaehyun

After Emotional Oranges successfully collaborated on a standout album cut for the first full-length record from NCT superstar Jaehyun (SM Entertainment), the L.A. duo couldn’t let it be a one-and-done deal and ensured their DM-turned-musical-friendship continued for us to hear new song “Call It Off” nine months later.

Along with his trusted producer Yonatan “xSDTRK” Ayal, Emotional Oranges member Azad Naficy helped craft “Flamin Hot Lemon” for Jaehyun’s debut full-length album, titled J, released in August last year. An ode to the lime-flavored spicy Cheetos, the vibes were right to make this a mutually beneficial musical collaboration for the next Emotional Oranges project.

“You know, we negotiated a little swap of sorts,” Naficy told me for an exclusive chat on Forbes ahead of the song’s release. “Because we know how amazing his voice is and how great of an artist he is. When we made this song, Val and I were thinking, ‘Who would sound really good on the verse?’ And Jaehyun came to mind, and he knocked it out the fucking park.”

While the “Flamin Hot Lemon” groove suits Jaehyun as a soloist, pairing him with Emotional Oranges vocalist Vali Porter indeed brings things to a new level. Her subtle coos across the chorus positively drip with melancholic disappointment as she sings, “Again, had to call it off again / Guess we’re better off as friends.”

Jaehyun’s suave, gruff-y timbre gets further smoothed out with Porter as the two are perfectly in sync in tone and vibe on the collab. Even the single cover (above, with The Crossover’s stamp of Crossover Ready approval added) feels like it encapsulates the song’s dreary yet romantic ambiance of seeing strangers walking around the city’s neon lights as a potential beau let you down (again). Also, peep the single cover for several references to Seoul, Emotional Oranges, NCT, and more.

“Call It Off” would be an easy fit on contemporary R&B radio, and the critically approved EO should also love this one. But the song also has an evocative energy, making it the perfect, unexpected TikTok track to soundtrack a video. After one listen, I could tell “Call It Off” would soon have its own nightcore/sped-up version made, and, lo and behold below, someone has already made it on YouTube. (It sounds great)

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While Jaehyun’s current mandatory military service in Korea won’t see him discharged until May 2026, Emotional Oranges have proven how excited they are about the track, announcing their upcoming album Orenjii alongside its release, and could very well have Jaehyun coming home to a hit single next year — or, at least a hit with critics and/or TikTok addicts.

“We had this song for a while, but it’s such a special record to us that having it come out with our album announcement, to me, gives it even more attention than some of the other songs on our album, which it deserves,” Porter added.

Emotional Oranges also shared their appreciation for other K-pop acts like ITZY, DEAN and NewJeans (the latter whom seem like they might have a collaboration already in the can with EO based on the tease-y language the two were using in our chat). Read that in full here and look out for Orenjii to drop on May 16.