Be Like...

Kim Gun-mo debuted in 1992 with the album Sleepless Rainy Night, and became known as a "hit maker" through his albums' consecutive successes.^[3] In late 2003, Kim had announced that he would stop appearing on TV and only promote his ninth album through live concerts.^[4] However, the album performed worse than his other albums commercially, with under 100,000 copies sold.^[5][6] During his rest period, he watched the film Ray, a biography of American musician Ray Charles, and was touched by subtitles that read, "Over the next 40 years, he went on to have many hit songs."^[7][8] Kim Gun-mo stated to The Chosun Ilbo in 2005, "Not just Ray Charles, but dozens of foreign R&B and soul musicians write and sing songs for 40 years, 50 years, even until they die, and I thought, 'Have I become this lazy just over 10 years...'".^[8] In March 2005, Kim announced he would return to TV with his tenth album, which was to release around April or May.^[9]

Be Like was originally set to release in April or May, according to an article from March 2005.^[9] On May 23, 2005, two songs from the album were pre-released to several music sites, where users were given a chance to vote for which song they thought would succeed.^[10] Through the process, "We Are Strangers Now" and "The Moon of Seoul" were chosen as the album's lead singles.^[11] From June 17 to 18, Kim held a concert commemorating the release of Be Like,^[12] the funds from which were to be donated to help visually impaired children.^[13] His first TV appearance after the album's release was on M Countdown, on June 23, 2005.^[14] In September, it was announced that "Toe" would serve as the follow-up song to "We Are Strangers Now" and "The Moon of Seoul".^[15]

Be Like received mixed reception from various critics. Writing for the webzine IZM in 2004, Shin Hye-rim acknowledged the attempted change in style, but opined that those attempts did not fit with its other, more standard numbers, which made it feel unfinished.^[20] Baek Seung-chan of the Kyunghyang Shinmun additionally opined that the two lead singles were not fit for the position, and that Kim's songs "had not broken away from 90s nightclub music".^[5] Conversely, music critic Seong Jin-woo wrote that there was an effort to distinctify the release from his other output, but that his "wit remains" in regards to songs like "We Are Strangers Now".^[2] In 2016, HiphopLE selected it as one of the 50 best Korean R&B albums from the 1990s and 2000s; Shim Eun-bo stated that Be Like was "convincing in saying that it was influenced by Ray Charles", and highlighted "We Are Strangers Now" with its "brass band composition, swing rhythm, and scat".^[1]