Photo = JYP ENTERTAINMENT

 

[Hanteo News = Reporter KANG SUYOUNG] DAY6 YOUNG K revealed that the lyrics in the title track 'Shut The Door' came from his actual experience.

 

YOUNG K met with Hanteo News at JW Marriott Dongdaemun Square Seoul on the 22nd and talked about his 2nd full-length album 'YOUNGEST.' On this day, regarding the title track lyric, “My friends are probably talking behind my back again,” YOUNG K said, “My friends got caught talking behind my back,” adding, “I was really hurt, but after I wrote the lyrics, comforted myself, and played the song for them, they cried and said they were sorry.” He continued, “We are on good terms again now.”

 

He also honestly shared his thoughts on being a celebrity. YOUNG K said, “It feels like a job that makes it easier for people to talk about you, so the album also expresses the exhaustion that comes from that,” but calmly added, “As much as there are things I gain, there are things I lose, and as much as there are things I lose, there are also many things I gain, so I live receiving a lot of love too.”

 

The title track 'Shut The Door' is a paradoxical song. YOUNG K explained, “It is a song about feeling liberation and freedom inside an enclosed space when I close the door to my heart and go into my room,” adding, “I planned the music video with the idea that when I close the bedroom door and step inside, nature would unfold and a white bed would be placed there.” He continued, “It was one of the songs that was completed the fastest on this album. It is a song I wrote like a diary after bumping into things here and there, getting hurt, and coming back inside,” adding, “I did not know it would be chosen as the title track.”

 

The contrast between the upbeat melody and lyrics filled with complaints was intentional. YOUNG K said, “Rather than telling a strong story in an entirely strong way, I think balancing it with the opposite emotion makes it less burdensome for the listener,” adding, “A sad story with bright chords is a method we have also used a lot in DAY6’s music.” He also explained, “I once talked with Kim Shin-young noona, and she said comedy is the same, that laughter is complete when there is sadness,” adding, “We also try to balance brightness and sadness together.”

 

He also opened up about his struggle with wanting to separate YOUNG K and Kang Younghyun. YOUNG K said, “I thought about it a lot over the past 10 years, and after spending the day as YOUNG K, when I was off, I wanted to live as Kang Younghyun, but it was very difficult,” adding, “Unlike the past, when there was a sense of mystique, these days it is an era where you have to reveal even your natural side, so I tried hard to turn Kang Younghyun himself into YOUNG K.” He continued, “As a person, I have also continued to refine, polish, and shave myself down as I lived. Because of that, the honest emotions that had been boiling inside me can no longer quite hold out and are trying to slip out, so now I am at a stage where I am trying to embrace even that side.”

 

He also revealed the new side of himself he came to discover through this album. YOUNG K said, “I think Kang Younghyun is someone who really wants to be free, has surprisingly strong opinions, and gets lonely a lot,” adding, “On the outside, he seems like someone who smiles as if nothing is wrong and laughs everything off, but even he himself did not know that he was actually crying a lot and getting hurt a lot.” He added, “During the time I was working on the album, I tried to ask myself a lot, ‘What state are you in right now?’” When asked whether he has perfectionist tendencies, he admitted, “I did not think I was that much of a perfectionist, but looking back, I think I do have some perfectionist tendencies.”

 

The two selves that he had wanted to separate for 10 years came together as one on this album. YOUNG K said, “I think I am now at a point where I am trying to acknowledge that Kang Younghyun is also the person who created YOUNG K, and YOUNG K is no different from Kang Younghyun. They are all one person.”

 

YOUNG K’s 2nd full-length album 'YOUNGEST' will be released today at 6 PM.

 

 

grace@hanteo.com