[★FULL INTERVIEW]’MILLIONS’ of Reasons That Made Us Love WINNER
[스타뉴스=김정호 기자] “It would be great if we ‘team kill’. I’m already receiving a lot of love and better results than I expected as a solo artist. Nothing would look better than my song on the top ranks, and WINNER’s song at no. 1”. (MINO)
MINO’s big picture became a reality. As ‘MILLIONS’ topped music charts in 7 different online music platforms as soon as the song was released, the song ‘team killed’ MINO’s title song from his solo album, ‘FIANCÉ’. The members of WINNER (YOON, MINO, JINU, and HOONY) are planning to carry on the heat of 2018 until 2019.
WINNER has been active all year in all fields. From their 2nd official album ‘EVERYD4Y’ released back in April to MINO’s solo activities, the members’ appearances in variety program, and the release of ‘MILLIONS’ on December 19th at 6 PM, the group filled up the entire year with various activities. They also kept their promise with the fans to make comeback twice this year.
“We kept our promise to make comeback two times a year. We wanted to do so earlier, but we feel sorry for the fans that it was delayed until the year-end. We’re trying to communicate with the fans as we made comeback. We’ll continue our activities until the beginning of 2019. You’ll see us release a new official album next year as well. We’re currently at the final stage. I hope everyone can wrap up 2018 well with WINNER”. (YOON)
‘MILLIONS’ is a fresh song in a Pop/Dance genre that talks about whispering love to a lover. The emotional melody, warm lyrics, the rhythmical whistle sounds on the chorus, and the sounds of bouncy kick drums create a harmony and present the unique winter emotions of ‘WINNER’.
“I determined the overall direction of the song. MINO and HOONY wrote lyrics for their own parts. Most of the time, the director of the song passes on their opinion by telling the writers to ‘write something like this’, but I trusted them entirely this time. HOONY wrote lyrics that fit well with the topic, while MINO unexpectedly wrote lyrics that ask, ‘Why should I tell you? How about you?’. It added more charm and wit to the song”. (YOON)
However, the song fits summer better than it does winter. It’s because the group followed the color of ‘EVERYD4Y’, the title song from WINNER’s 2nd official album.
“To be honest, we made ‘MILLIONS’ last summer. We should’ve released it then, but it got delayed since we wanted to raise completion of the song. The song had different vibes from now when it first came out. It was more like ‘REALLY REALLY’. We edited a lot to raise completion of the song, and this is the outcome. It fits summer well like you said, but the message of the song is warm. I think it fits well with winter too”. (YOON)
The members explained that the song contains the message, “Everyone has reasons to be loved”. WINNER has made their first comeback on a winter season but released a song in their own style instead of a seasonal song, adding more meaning.
“It’s a song that made us keep our promise to make two comebacks in a year. The message of the song is warm, so it will be a good year-end present for the fans. We’re looking forward to the promotion activities”. (HOONY)
WINNER regarded themselves as the ‘super insiders’ within YG Entertainment. As for now at least. They mentioned the agency’s nature of making an all-in on artists who make comeback and their age, but their upgraded status is part of the reason. The members also added, “We thank the president for looking after us”.
“It’s not just me. He looks after all artists that almost makes me think, ‘Is this alright’. He communicated with all members prior to this comeback. From small jokes to great advices. He stayed with us for 3 days while we were shooting the MV and helped us a lot”. (MINO)
“He usually criticizes us more than he praises us, but nowadays he compliments us more”. (JINU)
Meanwhile, YOON explained that he feels his growth every time he makes comeback. YOON stated, “I feel like my musical age gets younger every time I make comeback. My dance is also getting young. I’m aging but my music’s getting young, so I feel like I’m improving”. YOON gave him a needle by responding, “The evaluations should be done by the public” and added, “We should refrain from saying we’re ‘good’ ourselves”, making everyone burst into laughter.
The MV for WINNER’s ‘REALLY REALLY’ has recently surpassed 100 million views. The fact that their MV surpassed 100 million views on YouTube, the indicator of overseas presence, prove WINNER’s global influence. WINNER stated, “We feel honored, but we have pressure that we have to surpass our own mega-hit”.
“We do have pressure that we should surpass our previous work and present our new selves. And that’s what we’re supposed to do. We think the success of ‘REALLY REALLY’ was assisted a lot with good timing and luck, so it won’t be easy to surpass that. However, we’ll be satisfied if we hear something like, ‘They’re not hidden from the shadow, they’re always trying to make good songs that sound fresh’”.
The members of WINNER mentioned that they’ve accomplished most of the goals set from the beginning of 2018. The members explained, “From our official album to our solo concert, world tour, and our promise to make two comebacks within a year, we’ve kept all of them. We’ve had a busy year”. They also asked for the fans to look forward to WINNER’s 2019.
“Our group official album will be released first in 2019. Our goal is to make two comebacks like we did this year. The members’ solo albums will be released in between. Then the entire year of 2019 will be filled with WINNER, right? We’ll work hard so that our fans won’t feel our vacancy throughout the entire year”. (YOON)
2018. 12. 21.
