KIM SUNG KYU
For 16 years, KIM SUNG KYU, the captain and solid leader of the immense ship that is INFINITE, suddenly announced a “departure from trajectory”.
The 6th mini-album, “OFF THE MAP”, presented after 2 years and 8 months, is, as its title indicates, the story of a journey where he leaves the mapped path to search for his own way.
After replacing his identity with a new self through his first solo album “ANOTHER ME”, he has now committed to surpassing even the path of that “other self” to open a new world as a musician with 16 years of career. His deviation, which does not consist of repeating what he has already done but exploring a new path, is interpreted not as a rebellious “deviation”, but as a sincere “expansion” that broadens his universe.
He began by saying that this album was not started with any certainty about a new direction, but that it was a work created with the idea of moving away from what he had done so far.
“I looked at my solo works until now. My music has a strong emotional color, but I thought that having a somewhat cute expression or a close-up of my face on the cover was somewhat out of sync with the music.(laughs) I started this album with the desire for it to be the most different among my solo works.”
He also added that he hoped this album would bring comfort and courage to those of his generation who are searching for their own direction rather than following the dominant trend.
This album was created not only with his own compositions in collaboration with the session band he has worked with for a long time, but also thanks to the major participation of KIM JONG WAN of NELL, his musical pillar and muse, which further enhanced its quality. KIM JONG WAN contributed to several tracks, including the title “Off the map”.
Regarding some opinions that the title track, listened to before the interview, strongly carries the color of NELL, he said “I thought that removing his influence from my musical color would rather be more artificial”, expressing his conviction. “너를 떠올리며” shows explosive synergy by layering the melancholic band sound characteristic of NELL with the lyrical voice and breathing unique to KIM SUNG KYU.
“It’s a combination that fans have been waiting for a long time since our first collaboration 10 years ago, so I really wanted to meet that expectation.”
While talking about his expansion as a soloist, he did not hide his pride for his roots, INFINITE. He explained that although the individual musical result influenced by rock and band music is slightly different, he was proud of the group’s activities because INFINITE’s songs were excellent from their debut.
“Even today, the color of INFINITE is clear. Being in a position where I discuss concepts with the members and make important decisions, I realize again how well the president of (the former agency) WOOLLIM ENTERTAINMENT produced us.”
He also expressed his special affection for the members of INFINITE, who marked a turning point with their 15th anniversary concert last year. He said that being part of this team is a blessing and revealed that he also let the members listen to the album before its release.
“Recently, I had a shoot and let members SUNGYEOL and SUNGJONG listen to it, and they said it was good,” he said with a shy smile. He added that since the members are very delicate and warm, it is difficult for them to give harsh criticism or say “It’s a shame, there are fewer songs?”.
He also mentioned the members’ cute jealousy(?). He once considered forming a band with the session musicians essential to his solo music, but he laughed saying he put that idea aside for a while due to the members’ reactions expressing disappointment, saying “Hyung, are you going to make another team?”.
At the end of the interview, when asked a somewhat playful question, “First place for INFINITE’s comeback vs first place for a solo song by KIM SUNG KYU,” he answered wittily, saying “I want to do both,” adding “If we count the number of times, INFINITE has done it many times and I have done it a bit less solo…”, drawing laughter on site.
The sixth mini-album of KIM SUNG KYU, “OFF THE MAP”, will be released this March 2 at 6 PM (KST) on various music platforms.
Journalist: Shawn
Translator: Shawn
Source: SNS KIM SUNG KYU
