Photo = THEBLACKLABEL

 

Singer TAEYANG revealed the behind-the-scenes story of the featuring on his new B-side track ‘WOULD YOU.’

 

TAEYANG held a listening session for his 4th full-length album ‘QUINTESSENCE’ at Cube Convention Center on the 18th. On this day, TAEYANG shared why he asked ALLDAY PROJECT’s TARZZAN and WOOCHAN to feature on the track.

 

TAEYANG introduced the B-side track ‘WOULD YOU’ as “a song where I ask fans from my perspective,” adding, “It asks, ‘would you hold me down?’ In other words, it asks if they can stay with me.” He shared, “When I first made and sang this song, I felt emotional,” adding, “I thought a lot about the fans who have been with me so far, and I also pictured the fans who will be with me in the future.”

 

He also revealed the behind-the-scenes story of the featuring. “Watching the ALLDAY PROJECT members debut and promote reminded me a lot of when we debuted,” he said. “I had been wanting to do something with them for a while, and I thought that if they rapped on the verses, the freshness we had in the past and the texture we felt when we debuted would be carried into the song, so I asked them.” He added, “Thankfully, they worked hard and greatly improved the quality of the song,” and continued, “You can look forward to a stage together as well.”

 

TAEYANG first made a successful start as a solo artist in May 2008 with his solo debut track ‘Only Look at Me,’ and has since built a unique musical world, proving his strength as an all-round artist in the K-pop scene. From fast beats to sweet R&B, he has completed his own musical language with soulful vocals spanning various genres.

 

This new release is his first full-length album in 9 years, completed through countless thoughts and decisions alongside collaborations with various producers and artists. It contains 10 tracks with strong individuality, including the title track ‘LIVE FAST DIE SLOW.’

 

Regarding the album title, he explained, “It carries the meaning of essence and core.” He shared, “When I started making this album a year ago, it was a word that remained in my eyes and heart at the time,” adding, “It can be described as an album that contains the process of searching for essence and studying what true essence is.”

 

The first B-side track ‘BAD’ was introduced as “a song I made while thinking about how to express in a new way the dark and powerful style that many fans liked in songs such as ‘Prayer’ and ‘Where U At.’” He added, “The title of the song is ‘BAD,’ but within the flow of the song, it is expressed as ‘still bad,’” and continued, “I wrote about what path I have walked so far and what kind of fight existed inside me, so I included it as the first track.”

 

About the title track ‘LIVE FAST DIE SLOW,’ he said, “It contains my will and thoughts that, in this rapidly changing era, I have come this far at my own direction and pace, and that I will continue to live every day at my own direction and pace.” Regarding how he chose the title track, he said, “This time, I worked with the mindset of making every song the main title track, so it was difficult to choose the title,” adding, “As I started writing the lyrics, I thought this was a song that suited ‘QUINTESSENCE’ and explained TAEYANG today well.”

 

He also shared the stage preparation process. “There are many new attempts in terms of choreography and composition,” he said, emphasizing, “What I consider most important is energy.” He continued, “I am practicing the stage while focusing on the energy of breathing together with the audience.”

 

TAEYANG’s 4th full-length album ‘QUINTESSENCE’ will be released today at 6 PM through various online music platforms. Attention is focused on what kind of color TAEYANG’s musical essence, revealed after 9 years of contemplation, will shine with.