“The Joy and Sorrow of His 20s”, BOBBY of iKON Returns as the ‘LUCKY MAN’ in 3 Years and 4 Months
[뉴스1=고승아 기자] BOBBY of group iKON is returning as a solo artist in 3 years and 4 months. He included the joy and sorrow of his 20s along with his broadened spectrum.
On January 25 at 1 PM, BOBBY held an online conference celebrating the release of his second solo album, ‘LUCKY MAN’.
In approximately 3 years and 4 months since the release of his first solo album ‘LOVE AND FALL’, BOBBY will be releasing his second album ‘LUCKY MAN’ which he participated in the writing, composing, and producing of all songs.
BOBBY shared his thoughts by stating, “I feel good to present new songs” and continued, “I’ve been working on songs for a long time, it makes me nervous yet excited”. He also explained, “I also thought a lot about which story to pick, including songs I wrote before and new songs”. “Stories that will raise empathy were the most important, while I also focused on making the listeners curious about what’s coming next, through the track list, lyrics, and being myself”.
The album is composed of a total of 17 tracks, including the title track ‘U MAD’, ‘RocKstaR’, ‘NO TIME’, ‘BrEAk It DoWn’, ‘In THE DaRk’, ‘liLaC’, ‘GOrGeOuS’, ‘LiAr’, ‘HeartBROKEN PlaYBoY’, ‘Let iT Go’, and ‘DeViL’.
BOBBY stated, “I expressed the way how I can feel these various emotions such as joy and sorrow in my 20s through the title ‘LUCKY MAN’, and tried to express the various emotions people can feel in their youth”. He added, “I showed my strong aspects but also softer aspects compared to my previous album, to present a broader spectrum”. When asked about the ‘luckiest moment’, BOBBY smiled and answered, “I was probably the luckiest when I was born as the son of my mother and father. I hope I make them proud”.
The title track ‘U MAD’ was a song created with the hopes that people would feel overflowing energy, with a catchy hook utilizing familiar melodies which sounds impressive. It is a smirk at the people stained with materialism and opportunism, but is based on his anger towards his weakened self.
BOBBY explained, “It is a song directed at my weakened self. It’s an energetic song asking, ‘You mad?’, with a smirk”. He revealed, “It wasn’t a song created as a title track, but eventually became one since it was full of energy”. He continued, “My image is known to be strong and charismatic, while ‘U MAD’ reflects it very well”. He also introduced, “I make shouts and rap in a rough style, while the song emphasizes those aspects of mine the most”.
The odd titles of the album track list also grabs the people’s attention. BOBBY explained, “I composed my track list with songs that will raise curiosities just by the titles. The track list has titles mixing capital letters and lowercase letters”. “For example, ‘Ur SOUL Ur BodY’ has ‘SOUL’ written in capital letters since it was the more important part, while ‘BodY’ mixed lowercase letters”. He continued, “I hope all 13 songs become title tracks”. He emphasized, “I actually wrote ‘In THE DaRk’, at dawn while feeling mellow emotions, so I feet attached to the song”.
Members of iKON also supported BOBBY. DK and JU-NE participated as featuring artists on songs ‘Ur SOUL Ur BodY’ and ‘RaiNinG’. Singer-songwriter and YouTube Omar participated on the third skit as a featuring artist.
BOBBY revealed, “The members monitored my works while working on them. I felt grateful when they empathized with them without special explanations”. He continued, “The song JU-NE featured on was created when I felt depressed, and makes me feel emotional when I listen to it thinking, ‘That’s how I felt’”. He also reminisced, “DK also has good chemistry with me, so I had fun while working on it. I felt good when we connected”.
BOBBY received the people’s attention by winning 1st place on Mnet’s ‘Show Me The Money 3’ back in 2014. Now that 7 years has passed, BOBBY laughed after stating, “I was confident after winning the ‘Show Me The Money’ title at a young age. I felt like I can do anything, but I realized that I should stay humble, and that realization is still supporting me, even now”.
What’s the difference between BOBBY as a member of iKON and as a solo artist. BOBBY revealed, “It’s totally different”. He explained, “I feel comfort and feel relaxed when I’m part of the team while the members fill up my lacking parts, but I have to fill in the 3 minutes myself as a solo artist, so I tend to put in more thoughts”.
Regarding his works, BOBBY also explained, “I write songs hoping the people would listen to them so I consider popularity but I also think about how I can pass on my thoughts, so it’s probably in the middle”. He added, “Nothing satisfies me 100%. Listening to certain parts make me think more about new things, so I’m never satisfied. I try to search what’s in the middle”.
In releasing his solo album in 3 years and 4 months, BOBBY shared his determination by stating, “I try to put in my 100% everyday, since hard work betrays no one”.
2021. 1. 25.
