MINO Talks #YANG HYUN SUK #Panic Disorder #New Journey to the West #JENNIE Before His Solo Debut(COMPREHENSIVE) [Oh!A CUP OF COFFEE]
[OSEN=정지원 기자] Group WINNER’s MINO is releasing his first solo album. He revealed various episodes on YANG HYUN SUK’s consideration, first take on producing, and other album related stories while asking for the people’s support.
MINO revealed his album preparation process and thoughts on making comeback on an interview held to celebrate the release of his first solo album on the 26th.
In the beginning of the interview, MINO shared his thoughts on releasing the new album by stating, “I’m finally releasing my first solo album, and honestly I feel dazzled. I’ve been waiting for this day for a long time, worked on it for a long time, so I can’t believe it’s finally coming out. I’m excited too. It’s different from when I’m releasing an album as WINNER. I’m excited yet nervous”.
He continued, “I’m really nervous since it’s a full-length album. I’m curious how many people will take it. I’m looking forward to it as well. I couldn’t fall asleep last night”.
MINO explained, “I didn’t think about sampling the song ‘Soyanggang Maid’ at first. The president gave me the idea of sampling ‘Soyanggang Maid’, and I thought it would be great. I thought it fit in very well”. Regarding the title of the song, ‘FIANCÉ’, he explained, “I didn’t work on it thinking it would be the title song, but I wanted a fresh approach. I decided to add feelings of trot music. Then, the meaning of ‘fiancé’ got added in”.
Then why did this become the title song. MINO revealed, “I had a lot of thoughts. It’s very difficult to choose a title song. I had more songs, so me, the president, and other producers had to decide together. We thought the song ‘FIANCÉ’ would be the freshest. It doesn’t match the image that people think of when they recall MINO, so we thought it would be fresh. That’s why it became the title song”.
The song grabbed the people’s attention with its crossover between trot and Hip-Hop. MINO stated, “It could sound tacky if you do too much, and it may not blend well if you make it with too much sophistication. We went through a lot of editing. It wasn’t easy. That’s why we eventually came up with a satisfactory song”.
MINO also shared his thoughts on producing his album for the first time since debut. “I’ve been consistently making music, but I didn’t feel it was that hard. But as I participated in various aspects as a producer, I felt some difficulties”.
YOO BYUN JAE participated on MINO’s album as a featuring artist on the song ‘HOPE’. MINO revealed, “I think the main protagonist of the song is YOO BYUNG JAE. He took the most important part. The song was the last song to be added in the album as well. The main protagonist wasn’t YOO BYUN JAE initially, but I couldn’t think of anyone else. I thought that “Only YOO BYUN JAE can pull this off”, so I asked the president and he responded, ‘Sounds like it will be interesting”, thus I made the request. You will meet YOO BYUN JAE, the vocalist. I was very satisfied”.
He also shared the reactions of YANG HYUN SUK and other members of WINNER. MINO stated, “YANG HYUN SUK spent nights together with me to help me create my album. He listened to it the most, only after me. I was actually touched. It’s unprecedented in YG. He took care of the smallest details and other listed tracks. We texted and talked as if we were a couple. I’m very grateful. The members of WINNER said it sounds great, of course. JINU has the purest and most honest ear. I’m satisfied that JINU gave me an OK sign”.
As there were controversies before, MINO took particular caution on writing the lyrics. MINO emphasized, “I always try to think a lot in terms of the lyrics. I focused on the words and messages I would like to say, and the song’s clear concept. Thus, I tried hard on all twelve tracks. They all have different vibes and lyrics with different feelings”.
A part of ‘FIANCÉ’ was revealed through tvN’s ‘New Journey to the West’ aired on the 25th. MINO stated, “‘FIANCÉ’ was played during ‘New Journey to the West’ as the BGM yesterday. I was surprised while watching the show. They played it for a long time. I felt good, but I couldn’t focus on the show. It was a very funny scene, but I couldn’t see anything, and all my senses were focused on my ears. I got calls from a lot of people. They said the song is good”.
The people who know MINO only from variety shows may receive shock from MINO’s first solo album. MINO explained, “If I think about that, I’m limiting myself. I’m trying to exclude that part of me when I’m making music. The people will feel unfamiliar if they only know me as the funny and friendly character from ‘New Journey to the West’, but I still wish that they would listen to it”.
MINO has previously confessed about his panic disorder through a TV program. Regarding that, MINO frankly opened up by stating, “Things got bad in the beginning of the year. I’m trying hard though. I worked on music during those times. It was hard, but I thought I should try to resolve it rather than letting it stack. I made music and I painted. It would’ve been hard if I just stayed at home. I tried to express it, and I got better”.
BLACKPINK JENNIE is currently at the top of music charts. He may have to compete with an artist from the same agency. Regarding the issue, MINO stated, “I’m not expecting a no.1. I only congratulate JENNIE for her no.1. Of course, it does bother me. Not JENNIE, but how my songs will do on the charts. But I only hope that a lot of people will listen to all 12 tracks from the album. I’m just grateful that I can release a lot of tracks. I’m trying to suppress my mind so that I won’t cling to chart rankings. It would be a good thing if I get to compete with JENNIE”.
Lastly, MINO added, “It’s hard for any artist to make people listen to more than 10 songs. But I hope that the people know my album came out and enjoy it. Regardless of how they may think about it, I hope they enjoy it. The title of my album is ‘XX’. It means that I did not define 12 songs into a single meaning. I hope a lot of people would take a listen and freely evaluate”.
Meanwhile, MINO will make comeback to the K-Pop scene by releasing his first solo album ‘XX’, on the 26th at 6 PM.
2018. 11. 26.
