“YG idol” iKON, the reason why we are already curious about their future 10 years later (Interview)
[엑스포츠뉴스=정희서 기자] Rookie idol group iKON is still like a white blank paper. Right after singing “MY TYPE”, a sweet song about pure love, they soon present an intense and powerful performance of “RHYTHM TA”. iKON, who say they do not want to be confined to only one genre or color, are doing their best at this very moment to go beyond their title as the second BIGBANG or an YG idol boy group.
iKON made a grand debut with debut warm-up single “MY TYPE” released on September 15 and with debut half-album “WELCOME BACK” released on October 1. After sweeping top places on music charts and taking No.1 in TV music shows, iKON received the rookie award at “2015 Melon Music Awards”, proving they are truly the “monstrous rookie” of the year 2015.
Xports News had a round interview with iKON on November 16 at a café located in Seogyo-dong, Mapo-gu, Seoul, in celebration of the release of iKON’s double digital single “APOLOGY” and “ANTHEM”.
B.I expressed his gratitude for many music fans’ big interest in iKON by saying, “I really thank so many people for loving us. I think we should return them with good music. We have more to be unveiled in our debut full album. So, we’re now working on it as if we’re making the very debut for the first time.”
On the day of the interview, iKON dominated music charts with double digital single “APOLOGY” and “ANTHEM”. iKON presented intense and powerful rap with B.I and BOBBY unit team’s original hip-hop song “ANTHEM” and tender and sweet R&B song “APOLOGY”, unveiling two contrasting appeals at the same time.
For an idol group whose debut project has yet to be finished, release of a song by a unite team is a rare case. B.I said, “I have long wanted to write and present a song consists only of rap. I and BOBBY worked with TEDDY and as we’re of one mind, a good song was produced fast. I think it is a kind of song which we can make and perform because we’re still young and ambitious.” BOBBY went on to explain the point about “ANTHEM”, saying, “I like manly feels, so I put more strength in the rap of the song. I wanted to create an intense and kind of dirty concept.”
iKON highlighted their capabilities to perform diverse genres, in three title tracks released so far. iKON’s members formed the team based only on their love and passion for music, but as each one of them has different characters, they have different favorite songs. B.I said, “’MY TYPE’ is a song like our first child. I think ‘RHYTHM TA’ has the most iKON-ish feel which is differentiated from other songs.”
KIM JINHWAN said, “As iKON is a group who do performances with dancing, ‘RHYTHM TA’ is the song that can best-present our talent.” BOBBY mentioned the perfect harmony among the members, saying, “’ANTHEM’ is the best fit for myself, but my favorite song is ‘APOLOGY’. That song is perfect for our whole team. The vocalists of iKON did especially good job for the song.”
Originally, iKON was supposed to release debut full album on November 2, following the release of warm-up single “MY TYPE” on September 15 and debut half-album on October 1. However, YG changed the plan to release two digital singles on November 16 and then the full album on December 14, making fans worried. Such change in the schedule also seems to have disappointed iKON members themselves, but actually, they welcomed such decision.
B.I expressed his satisfaction with the change, saying, “As the decision was made for us to create new songs with even better quality, I thought it was rather good for us. That was actually good for us, because we could create more matured style and music.”
“We faced difficulties and had hard time while preparing for our debut. The time when we competed in survival audition shows was the hardest period of time in the entire time I spent with YG. Now, I’m so happy for every moment when I sing in front of my fans and when I’m standing on the stage. I really love the present, standing on the stage with those who I really wanna be with.”, said KIM DONGHYUK.
iKON took a more careful attitude when talking about their full album to be released next month. That was because YG has a strong principle that schedule for an album release can change any time even on the very day of release, if there is a possibility of making a better song.
Regarding iKON’s plan for their full album, B.I explained, “Not only the members but also the president believe that new songs even better than what we have now could be created any time. I think the schedule may change some more times before it is finalized. We’ll try to express diverse feels and colors again for the new album, too.”
iKON’s ultimate goal is to evolve into an “artist”, following the footsteps of YG senior BIGBANG. Even though iKON is still a rookie group who debuted only about two months ago, their long-term goal is to stand on the stage of “Grammy Awards”. If you have ever seen iKON’s enormous passion for music, you cannot just regard such a goal as an unrealistic dream. iKON’s seven boys who are aged 19 on average said that they found out the answer in “touching music”.
“I hope people say ‘Their music is really good’, when they talk about iKON. I think everything depends on how sincerely we practice. If we keep studying on how we can create new and different feels in making our music and if people like that, I believe we will be able to go closer to a title as ‘artist’. We’re still so young, but we’ll definitely be different when we gain more experiences and get seasoned. All depend on how much we make efforts, anyway we wanna be cool artists.” (B.I)
2015. 11. 17.
