Following the news of Woollim Entertainment's split from SM C&C, legendary Indie rock band Nell has decided to leave their label of 10 years. On March 21, Woollim Entertainment revealed, "Even though Nell has been with Woollim Entertainment for the last 10 years, we've decided to undergo an elegant separation for the betterment of both sides. We may be stepping down as Nell's management label, but we promise to always cheer on Nell and maintain good relations with them. Please continue to show Nell much love and affection for their upcoming future."
Sungkyu is having busy year-end with INFINITE’s world tour concerts, and also with his third musical. He made a bow to citizens of Jeonju, as one of the people who spent his school days with his dream of being a singer in Jeonju. We are wondering about how he thinks about Jeonju as a star loved by Jeonju, and also want to know his reminiscence left in Jeonju.
Q. You are having your busy days recently. How are you getting along?
Recently, I’m appearing in the musical ‘In the Heights’ with Dongwoo. INFINITE World tour has started last August, so I’m also meeting our fans from all over the world with our concert. The world tour will last till next year, I will be spending my time with International fans. We are working on an album which will be released in Japan. Ah, We are also preparing our new album in Korea. Please look forward to it and give us lots of cheers.
Q. We heard that you usually talk about Jeonju a lot. Is there any episode that comes into your mind when someone says ‘Jeonju’?
First, I spent half of my life in Jeonju as a student. Many memories with my friends flash across my mind. However, I had the role of catching students in front of the school gate. (laugh) And, as you know, there is a famous choco-pie bakery in Jeonju. It was famous since a long time ago before I was born, so I can remember that I bought and ate that choco-pie. After debut, I went to ‘Jeonju Gaeksa’ to shoot a variety program and that was interesting. It looked like it changed a bit but not a lot. I felt glad and familiar, so I was happy for all day long.
Q. Which place do you have the most memories in Jeonju?
I can think of many places because Jeonju has many reminiscences and memories with me, but if I want to say the most important place, I would say that it is my house. Still, there are my pictures taken from when I was a baby days to my high school days in my room, and there are also my belongings left.
My parents are still living in Jeonju. I made lots of funny memories in Gaeksa with my friends and in front of Chonbuk University. I graduated in Chonbuk National University High School. So I went to Chonbuk University a lot during my high school days, that place is also full of memories for me.
Q. You are now living out of your hometown. If you have any Jeonju food you miss, introduce it please.
There are so many delicious food coming into my mind when I think of Jeonju. As common people would think, Bibimbap, Choco-pie and Supermarket beer are famous. There are many people who goes to Jeonju just to eat. Koreans call Jeonju as ‘the place of taste’, aren’t we? I think all Jeonju food is really delicious. There are so many food coming into my mind, so what should I introduce to you… Ah, Kongnamul Gukbap (Bean Sprout Soup with Rice). Kongnamul Gukbap in hot earthen bowl is the right answer for these cold days.
Q. Lastly, is there any message you want to leave for Jeonju citizens and your fans?
I heard that our INFINITE fans made a donation to Jeonju Briquette Bank in the beginning of this year. My heart is warm because you always take the lead in good deeds. There is a saying I always say. ‘Everyone, hope you always be happy’. And thank you for the love that you always send to me. Jeonju citizens, I always get my power because of the cheering from my hometown. Thank you. The weather is cold, so please be careful of catching cold. Hope all of you realize your wishes in the new year. Be rich!
Best New Female Artist: GFRIEND Best New Male Artist: iKON Top 10 Award: APINK, San E, SISTAR, Girls’ Generation, hyukoh, SHINee, BIGBANG, Zion.T, EXO, TOY Best Rap & HipHop: Mad Clown “Fire” Best Trot: Hong Jin Young Best Rock:Kim Sung Kyu “The Answer” Best Ballad: Baek Ah Yeon “Shouldn’t Have” Best Pop (International): Mark Ronson Feat. Bruno Mars “Uptown Funk” MBC Music Star Award: EXID 1TheK Performance Award: Monsta X Netizen Popularity Award: BIGBANG Best Dance (Female): Red Velvet Best Dance (Male): BTS Hot Trend: 2015 Infinity Challenge Music Festival Song of the Year: BIGBANG “BANG BANG BANG” Album of the Year: EXO “EXODUS” Artist of the Year: BIGBANG
Musical 'In The Heights' has revealed their official image poster. This musical will portray the stories of the immigrants, who live in Washington Heights area in New York City.
Yang Dong Geun, Jung Won Young, SHINee's Key, and Dong Woo will play the role of 'Woosnabi,' who runs a grocery store. Seo Kyung Soo, EXO's Chen, and Infinite's Sungkyu will play a character named 'Beny,' who works for a call taxi company and fall in love with 'Nina.' F(x)'s Luna will take over the 'Nina' role. She is a daughter of the call taxi company, which Beny works for.
Photo: magazine 'DAZED' Infinite's Sungkyu graces the cover of the July issue of 'DAZED'!
Sungkyu recently made his solo debut with an album entitled '27.' He tried to portray himself as one with nature like the sky and rivers. See more pictorials and fan interview with Sungkyu in the July issue of 'DAZED.'
We will be viewing the music recommendations from Kim Sung Kyu, the leader and main vocal of Infinite, who are currently rising as ‘group choreography-dols’.
In the idol group market, where everything is neck-to-neck, Infinite rose up immediately as the ‘trend’. They are a 7 membered group who shows the positive points of ‘group choreography’ with their slender bodies. Since there are a lot of members, it seems like it would be easy to forget them, but they are at the top with female fans in their 10’s and are also capturing the hearts of women in their 20~30’s. This group’s leader and main vocal, Kim Sung Kyu (23), picked the two words of ‘diversity’ and ‘teamwork’ as the secret behind the team’s popularity.
“We don’t stick to one type of music color. We work hard to always use different genre’s colors in singles or mini albums. Since all 7 of us have our own distinct color, that point allows us to not be boring. When we sing, each of our parts aren’t set in stone, so we don’t hold back on different vocals trying out singing with a different feel.”
The phrase ‘group choreography-dols’ has been attached to them. The prefix of Shin (新), which was used a lot among early idol groups such as Shinhwa, is a word that is used often when explaining the idol group’s ‘teamwork’. He, who said their teamwork was created through being group choreography-dols, said, “We practice dancing a lot with each other, so we’re the happiest when we hear things like that.”
Defying his parents’ opposition, Kim Sung Kyu joined a school rock band in high school. Then when he said ‘I want to become a singer’, his parents severely objected and said, “We would rather you get out of the house.” One day, when he was talking about college entries with his elementary school friend, his friend said, “Think about whether you’re going to college to join a band or going to college in order to study.” And he asked, “The thing you want to do is music, so is there really a necessary reason to go to college.”
And that’s how he came to Seoul. He, who came up to Seoul because he was ‘crazy about music’, lived in gosiwons (T/N: hostels that usually students lived in to study) and endured each day while working part-time at a meat restaurant and serving at a cafe. A regular customer at the cafe asked him, “What kind of music do you enjoy?” And he just replied with, “Nell.” Then the regular customer said, “I’m Nell’s manager. We’re going to make a dance group, so if you have any thoughts about auditioning, you should come.”
“When I auditioned, I’ll slightly threatened (?) them saying that, ‘If you don’t pick me, I’m going to bother you forever’. After holding back a hurting stomach and auditioning, I went to the hospital immediately and got an appendectomy. On the day that I got released, I was notified that I passed. At first, I was a bit conflicted. I only listened to rock music, so it was a bit unusual for me to try out R&B/Hip Hop music. However, after continuously listening to that kind of music and practicing, I started liking it. Although I was criticized by my school friends when I told them I was joining a dance group, I just really liked singing and learning.”
He said, “Whether I’m part of a dance group or a rock group, I was thinking that I wouldn’t be embarrassed whenever I would be doing music.” Kim Sung Kyu came out as a representative of Infinite and showed his music selection for this week’s ‘Musician’s Choice’. With the topic of ‘Music that you wished would be played somewhere’, the songs he chose were rock and R&B songs. Kim Sung Kyu, who said there is no better happy feeling than when he hears a song he knows when he randomly passes by somewhere. His interest in music continues on beyond the stage.
Music Recommendations
The first album chosen by Kim Sung Kyu: Javier Colon’s [Javier]
“When you want to cheerfully love someone, I think of the song, ‘Crazy’. Although this musician isn’t really famous, I was really surprised when I first heard his songs. I fell for sweetness of it. When I first heard the song, ‘The Answer is Yes’, I started noticing this artist’s existence. So when I found and listened to ‘Crazy’, I felt my heart go restless. It was somewhat sweet and cheerful. And more than anything, I felt that I wanted to go crazy and love as well. Because I listened to this song at the situation where it’s difficult to date, I think those feelings came out even more. Haha. It’s a song that you look for when your love is becoming sad or frustrating.”
The second album chosen by Kim Sung Kyu: Jay Sean’s [My Own Way]
“It’s one of the albums I still enjoy listening to. I move to the rhythm without even knowing? He was a musician that I really liked during my trainee days. I started dancing during my trainee days while listening to his song, ‘Maybe’ and I immediately felt his charm. At first, I felt R&B singers were a bit difficult to follow and following the rhythm and singing like that wasn’t easy as well, but I grew used to it through this song. Should I say that it was when I found out that that there was a song that was a rhythmical and fun as this? I think it’s a good song to listen to when you want to dance. When you watch Jay Sean’s stages, his dance movements aren’t large. I was shocked at the fact that he had the ability to make people cheerful just through his song. When you listen to his songs, you can enjoy it more if you emphasize the bass sound.”
The third album chosen by Kim Sung Kyu: Bruno Mars’ [Doo-Wops & Hooligans]
“It’s music that I want to listen to together with a special person. I remember practicing and playing a guitar because I liked this music so much. The song I usually practiced on the guitar was ‘Count on Me’. This song’s lyrics talk about, ‘I’ll hold onto your hand~’, and I think that I can express my feelings with this song when I’m walking down the street with my special person and this song turns on without my fingers curling.
The fourth album chosen by Kim Sung Kyu: Muse’s [Absolution]
“When I feel frustrated, I often look for this album. I listen to the guitar solo in the song, ‘Hysteria’, and feel my thirst be quenched? It was the first song we performed in high school. I was shocked when I saw their live at a rock festival when Muse became really popular. In my 1st year of high school, I listened to Matthew Bellamy’s playing and thought that, ‘It’s something that we really want to play’. However, we had strange performances such as a time when weren’ able to buy a bass accessory because we didn’t have money, so we placed a guitar accessory on it. If you go out onto the streets because you’re frustrated and this song suddenly turns on, you will feel a strong sense of being refreshed. I think the phrase ‘overwhelmed’ will fit best.
The fifth album chosen by Kim Sung Kyu: Nell’s [3rd Album: Healing Process]
“I remember listening to this a lot when I was personally tired. They were songs that comforted me. Although I don’t know what kind of intentions (Kim) Jongwan hyung had when writing the song, ‘Limit’, I think he understands my situation really well. It was a song I listened to when I first came to Seoul and went through a lot of difficulties, but the lyrics, ‘I’m just a person who easily gets hurt by one word, what more do you expect from me—-‘, gave me a lot of comfort. I comforted myself by saying, ‘Since I’m a weak person, I could just live like this—-‘. I was able to not easily get hurt by others and understand myself quite firmly. I especially liked Nell’s unique dream-like feel. It was an album I chose after looking for songs that would somewhat comfort me.”
* * *
‘I want to become a group with infinite possibilities where our team improves every day.’
As the group leader, where does he put his greed into. “Although it’s not really a point that sets us apart from others, I really want to hear that Infinite is a team that really improves. Just like our group name, I want to really have ‘infinite—-possibilities’. I want to always show a new side of us along with hidden talents that can receive comments like, ‘there was a side like this to Infinite’.
Maybe it’s because he wasn’t noticed from the beginning or maybe it’s due the the troubles he went through in the past, but he was modest and said, “I’m always full of thankfulness.” “When we first started, we didn’t even get noticed or have popularity, but whenever I think of that time, I’m so thankful to the point where I feel sorry about how busy we are lately. Because there aren’t many teams who can be really busy, I’m really thankful that we became a busy team.”
Kim Sung Kyu said, “I don’t want to become an idol group who immediately gains popularity and has it easily fall down.” And added, “I want to hold all this passion from the start that hasn’t cooled down and give it directly to the fans.”
* * *
The Main Songs Recommended By Kim Sung Kyu:
1. Crazy by Javier Colon from [Javier]
2. Biggest Mistake by Javier Colon from [Javier]
3. Maybe by Jay Sean from [My Own Way]
4. Used to Love Her by Jay Sean from [My Own Way]
5. Count on Me by Bruno Mars from [Doo-Wops & Hooligans]
6. Just The Way You Are by Bruno Mars from [Doo-Wops & Hooligans]
7. Hysteria by Muse from [Absolution]
8. Time is Running Out by Muse from [Absolution]
9. Limit/한계 by Nell from [3rd Album: Healing Process]
10. Loosing Heart/마음을 잃다 by Nell from [3rd Album: Healing Process]
Hip Hop group Epik High will release their new album on 9th March.
The title song ‘Run’ sends a message out to listeners that one should not lose hope even in times of hardship. The MV director to the MV will be Hong WonGi who did Seo Taiji ‘Moai’, 2AM ‘Even If I Die, I Will Not Let You Go’, SS501 ‘Collection’ and Nell ‘Walking In Memory’.
One of the highlights to the MV will also be that upcoming group Infinite will be appearing in the MV. Infinite is a group preparing for their debut under the same management company as Epik High.
Infinite member L will be the main character in the MV. The other members like Sung Jong, Woo Hyun, Sung Kyu etc. will appear as a band putting up a performance in the MV.
Their company Woollim Entertainment said, “We were hesitant about putting the newcoming group in the MV and even have them as the main characters, we hope that it will be a video showing Infinite’s talents.”
Meanwhile, Epik High will start the promotional activities for their comeback with appearance on KBS Yoo Hee Yeol’s Sketchbook.
Tablo of hip hop group Epik High revealed a new boyband on his Twitter recently. Epik High’s juniors, Infinite, a seven-member boyband under Woollim Entertainment are set to debut sometime soon. Tablo posted on his Twitter that this photo was taken during the video recorded to cheer for UCC at the 2010 Vancouver Olympics, which caused a large amount of interest and anticipation to rise for the video.
The photo shows five of the seven-member Infinite with Tablo and Mithra of Epik High in the back. He said, “We will reveal the last two members later,” causing curiosity amongst netizens.
AJÁNLOM AZ OLDALT
Star who deserves to be loved, INFINITE SUNG KYU
The first album chosen by Kim Sung Kyu: Javier Colon’s [Javier].jpg)
The second album chosen by Kim Sung Kyu: Jay Sean’s [My Own Way]
The third album chosen by Kim Sung Kyu: Bruno Mars’ [Doo-Wops & Hooligans]
The fourth album chosen by Kim Sung Kyu: Muse’s [Absolution]
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